5 minutes with Matt Emery – Comicfest feature

Comicfest 2015 is here! Head over to the Facebook event for all the details and to receive event updates. There are panels and workshops for comic-lovers of all ages, and don’t forget to come along to the Central Library on Saturday 2nd May to pick up a free comic book on Free Comic Book Day, courtesy of GRAPHIC!

Matt EmeryToday we’re talking to Matt Emery about his comic work, and what we can look forward to at his Comicfest panels. Matt Emery has been intermittently active as a cartoonist for twenty years in New Zealand and Australia. Currently based in Melbourne, Matt set up micro publisher Pikitia Press in 2012 publishing works by several New Zealand and Australian cartoonists. He is also active writing and researching historical and contemporary cartooning in Australasia. Online at: pikitiapress.com and guzumo.com

Can you tell us about your current, or most recent project?
Personally finishing a comic about how making offensive comments can affect your life. Also publishing a wonderful comic by David Blumenstein, #takedown: My evening on a pier with pick-up artists and protesters, it goes to print in a week and is available to pre-order now!

What is your favourite part of your working process?
The daydreaming phase of writing while I’m menial day-jobbing or commuting. When I’m doing the writing/editing phase I’ve usually worked everything over in my head and the hard work is done. I found it fascinating to see other writers work similarly there is a great clip of Ray Bradbury discussing his method for percolating ideas.

MattEmery02I also like the inking stage, I can pick up a new brush, a fresh pot of hot black coffee, and have some laughs at my own stupid jokes.

Who/what are some of influences and inspirations?
I admire these people or their work for a lot of reasons, My Mum and Dad, Mai, Ed Wood, Karl Wills, Marjane Satrapi, Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, Tim Bollinger, Moira Bertram, Joe McCulloch, Judge Dredd, Dean Mullaney, Osamu Tezuka, Los Bros Hernandez, H. W. Bennett, Michael Hill Jeweller, Steve Ditko, and countless others…

What are you excited to share with ComicFest attendees? Just a taster!
I’m excited to talk to Rae, Sarah and Indira about the Three Words anthology which is shaping up to one of the most revelatory publications/happenings/conversation starters in New Zealand comics ever. I’ve learnt a lot about comics, cartoonists and people from the conversation around this book already without having seen a page of it.

If you were to enter our cosplay contest, who/what would you dress up as?
Possum Von Tempsky from James Davidson’s Moa comics.

You can catch Matt at his Comicfest panels at these times:
Friday 1st of May 7 – 8.00pm – Panel: The current and future state of New Zealand comics
Saturday 2nd of May 1 – 2.00pm – Panel: New Zealand Women’s Comics with the editors of Three Words
Matt Emery

5 minutes with Sharon Murdoch – Comicfest feature

Comicfest 2015 is here! Head over to the Facebook event for all the details and to receive event updates. There are panels and workshops for comic-lovers of all ages, and don’t forget to come along to the Central Library on Saturday 2nd May to pick up a free comic book on Free Comic Book Day, courtesy of GRAPHIC!

Sharon MurdochToday we’re talking to Sharon Murdoch about her comic work, and what we can look forward to at her Comicfest panel. Sharon is a political cartoonist for The Sunday Star Times and the Christchurch Press. Born in Invercargill, Sharon moved to Wellington to attended Design School. Most of her working life has been as a graphic designer, and sometime illustrator, most notably with Wellington Media Collective, and a stint in South Africa working with a Xhosa women’s community development group, where they did comics on early childhood education and AIDS prevention. Gradually, over the past few years, Sharon has moved into cartooning full-time, although she still doesn’t regard herself as a “real” cartoonist. As well as the political cartoons, Sharon does a cartoon of a ginger cat, called Munro, which runs in the Dominion Post and the Christchurch Press. She has done over 500 drawings of this cat now. She also has two daughters, two cats and one husband. You can follow Sharon on Twitter at @domesticanimal

Can you tell us about your current, or most recent project?
I’m doing political cartoons 3 days a week for newspapers and draw a cartoon of a cat, Munro. I took part in the upcoming Three Words Anthology of women’s comics – I think I made a bit of a hash of it and if I was doing it again I would do it quite differently. Because I trained as a graphic designer I always seem to feel torn between a “designed graphic” and a more spontaneous, freer drawing.

Sharon MurdochWhat is your favourite part of your working process?
Doing the preliminary sketches – exploring an idea. They quite often seem to have something that is hard to retain in the finished work.

Who/what is your biggest influence or inspiration?
Lynda Barry, Wanda G’ag, Lat (a Malaysian political cartoonist), Tomi Ungerer, George Grosz – a German cartoonist/artist from the 1920s-50s, Kliban, Leunig, Tove Jansson. There are many more…

What or who are your favourite NZ comics or creators?
Amongst others, Dylan Horrocks, Ant Sang, Trace Hodgson’s early work, Tim Bollinger, Sarah Lang and my step-daughter Hannah Salmon who does the zine Daily Secretions.

Do you have another job outside of comic creation, or any significant hobbies you enjoy?
I also work as a designer. I’m mother to a 13 year old, which is fairly preoccupying. And I like watching the world go by.

You can catch Sharon at her Comicfest panels at the following time:
Thursday 30th of April 6 – 7.00pm – Panel: From cartoons to comics
Sharon Murdoch

5 minutes with Tim Bollinger – Comicfest feature

Comicfest 2015 is here! Head over to the Facebook event for all the details and to receive event updates. There are panels and workshops for comic-lovers of all ages, and don’t forget to come along to the Central Library on Saturday 2nd May to pick up a free comic book on Free Comic Book Day, courtesy of GRAPHIC!

Tim BollingerToday we’re talking to Tim Bollinger about his comic work, and what we can look forward to at his Comicfest panels. Tim Bollinger has been drawing and self-publishing comics from his home town of Wellington since the early 1980s. His work ranges from 40-page ‘funny animal’ and political parables to shorter satirical and autobiographical pieces, many set in a fictionalised urban landscape based on the geography of his home city. He is a regular contributor to international underground arts magazine White Fungus where, as Comics Editor, he also publishes work by veteran New Zealand comic writer Barry Linton. Tim has extensively researched New Zealand’s nascent comics history, and through his articles and exhibitions has helped shine light on many otherwise little known comic book artists and publishers of yesteryear.

What is the first significant comic related job or project you remember working on?
‘Joe Sputnik and the Mystery of Ravioli’s Father’ a year-long serial for Victoria University’s student newspaper Salient in 1979. (Actually, ‘The Hevs, the Rads and the Straights’ for the Onslow College school magazine in 1975 – but I don’t really talk about that…)

Tim BollingerCan you tell us about your current, or most recent project?
Apart from the odd 1-pager, the last big story I drew was a 20-page comic for White Fungus Issue 13, called ‘Dovetail’, a year or two back. I’m currently working on a long-form narrative in three parts as well as completing a couple of the older stories like ‘Little Eye’. Not to mention my ongoing endeavour to document New Zealand’s undiscovered comics history.

What is your favourite part of your working process?
Drawing comics is the most satisfying, but the hardest work, that I have ever done. My favourite part of the process is looking at the finished pages.

What or who are your favourite NZ comics or creators?
Toby Morris, Chris Slane, Sharon Murdoch, Dylan Horrocks, Hayden Currie, Indira Neville, Brent Willis etc. etc. (too many to name – you know who you are!)

Do you have another job outside of comic creation, or any significant hobbies you enjoy?
Like most NZ comic artists, I have a day job, 9 to 5. Plus I write a lot for other people and spend time as a community activist. My favourite thing is reading other people’s comics.

You can catch Tim at his Comicfest panels at these times:
Thursday 30th of April 6 – 7.00pm – Panel: From cartoons to comics
Friday 1st of May 7 – 8.00pm – Panel: The current and future state of New Zealand comics
Tim Bollinger

5 minutes with Cory Mathis – Comicfest feature

Comicfest 2015 is almost here! Head over to the Facebook event for all the details and to receive event updates. There are panels and workshops for comic-lovers of all ages, and don’t forget to come along to the Central Library on Saturday 2nd May to pick up a free comic book on Free Comic Book Day, courtesy of GRAPHIC!

Cory MathisToday we’re talking to Cory Mathis about his comic work, and what we can look forward to at his Comicfest panel. Hailing from the small town of Waihi, Cory turned his back on a life on the farm and moved to Auckland to study classical animation. Upon completion he travelled south to the city of Wellington where he endeavoured to pursue a career as some kind of an artist. While living in the capital he dabbled in book-store retail, even more study, comicbook making and in general made a nuisance of himself by constantly drawing all the people in the cafes – of which there were many. Fortunately for the general public (and much to the chagrin of anyone with a position in politics), Cory won the 2013 NZ Listener Young Cartoonist award and promptly found himself enjoying brief stints as a political cartoonist, caricaturist and storyboard artist. Flush with his winnings and hard earned “art-monies,” he fled to Europe to study painting and learn how not to speak Italian. He promptly ran out of the aforementioned funds and is now back in Wellington, employed as a concept-artist at the videogame company Pikpok, where they keep him closely supervised and securely chained up.

What is the first significant comic related job or project you remember working on?
It’d have to be my fantasy adventure series, Saurian Era. Significant because it always kept me working on my art and aiming for deadlines in my spare time. It started as an animation when I was a student, then mini-comics which I printed off and sold at expos. In the past couple of years it’s been accepted into the Faction comics kiwi anthology books which has pushed me into using full-colour and taking so much more of the storytelling and world building seriously. It was a massive milestone to see my comic in Faction vol.2 in the comic section here at the library!

CoryMathis05Can you tell us about your current, or most recent project?
My most recent was the climate change themed comic for the Faction – Highwater edition. It was a great challenge to work on a comic outside of my usual dinosaur-centric stories. (Though I still managed to hide a dinosaur in the story!) Right now I’m working on the second part of my, Saurian Era ‘The Reef’ series. I’ve learnt way too much in the last year since I finished part one and am finding it difficult to keep within my original plans – all part of being your own boss I suppose!

What is your favourite part of your working process?
Finishing something! Though the part at the beginning where it’s all crazy brainstorming, drawing and writing at the same time is pretty exciting too. Trying to find the thread that will pull you through to the finished product is always a challenge – especially if your making it solo. I’ve started to really focus on what makes each stage of the creation special, be it thumbing, pencilling, inking or colouring. It can sometimes feel like you’re repeating yourself hitting the pictures over and over again. I take a joy in not finalising any of the text until all the pictures are finished. The characters dialogue develops much like the pictures until the end where I feel like I can finally hear what they are actually saying.

Do you have another job outside of comic creation, or any significant hobbies you enjoy?
I’m working at the video game company, Pikpok, as a concept artist so the comic making has had to take a bit of a backseat as I wrap my head around managing my time with that. There’s a great community of artist here in Wellington so I spend a fair bit of time going to figure, or costume life drawing.
Something non-art related? Whaaaaaat?!

If you were to enter our cosplay contest, who/what would you dress up as?
Haha, since I’m going a bit crazy for the new Last Man comic series coming out of France at the mo, I reckon I could pull off a good Richard Aldana!

You can catch Cory at his Comicfest panel at the following time:
Thursday 30th of April 6 – 7.00pm – Panel: From cartoons to comics
CoryMathis02

5 minutes with Tim Gibson – Comicfest feature

Comicfest 2015 is almost here! Head over to the Facebook event for all the details and to receive event updates. There are panels and workshops for comic-lovers of all ages, and don’t forget to come along to the Central Library on Saturday 2nd May to pick up a free comic book on Free Comic Book Day, courtesy of GRAPHIC!

Tim GibsonToday we’re talking to Tim Gibson about his comic work, and what we can look forward to at his Comicfest panel and workshop. Tim Gibson has produced illustrations for clients as diverse as Garage Project to the School Journal, Peter Jackson to Steven Spielberg. In 2012 he was awarded Creative New Zealand funding to write and illustrate his debut comic series ‘Moth City’ which has since gained a substantial digital readership, the support of leading American creators and was named as one of Comixology’s Top Comics for 2013. This year he took part in the Le Monde’s COMICS ZUR LAGE DER WELT exhibition in Berlin, and visited Taiwan as part of a comic residency exchange.

What is the first significant comic related job or project you remember working on?
I did some comic book colouring (painting under someone else’s pencils) for Christian Gossett’s Red Star comic series when I worked at Weta Workshop. It was my first professional taste of making comics, and it was a long time between drinks before I got another one.

Tim GibsonCan you tell us about your current, or most recent project?
I completed the art for a small comic project for the School Journal last year which told the story of front-line Kiwi miners in WWI. It was interesting not being responsible for the story as a whole, but artists still have to make very ‘directorial’ decisions with regard to placing the viewpoint, the expressions (or acting) of the characters and the general pace and flow of things.

It was great to be included in a piece of NZ reading history like the School Journal, so a bit of a milestone there.

What is your favourite part of your working process?
Playing with the characters in my head, having them interact with one another or their world. The further the story gets to being readable by others, the less avenues and options the characters and I have, so there’s always a bit of a bittersweet conclusion to finishing something. There’s nothing better than having an idea that changes the entire world that exists in your head.

What are you excited to share with ComicFest attendees? Just a taster!
I’m hoping to share my passion for digital comics and animation during my Digital Comics Workshop. It should give people a few tools to tell comic stories differently now that creators don’t have to default to paper. That said, there’ll still be tree-flesh at the workshop, so bring pens.

Do you have another job outside of comic creation, or any significant hobbies you enjoy?
I subsidise my modest life-style with freelance illustration and design work, and the two worlds play very well together and often influence each other. It probably means that my commercial work is more vibrant and experimental, and my experimental comic work is more polished and commercial looking than it might be otherwise.

You can catch Tim at his Comicfest workshop and panel at these times:
Friday 1st of May 5 – 6.30pm – Digital comics workshop with Tim Gibson
Friday 1st of May 7 – 8.00pm – Panel: The current and future state of New Zealand comics
Tim Gibson

5 minutes with Toby Morris – Comicfest feature

Comicfest 2015 is almost here! Head over to the Facebook event for all the details and to receive event updates. There are panels and workshops for comic-lovers of all ages, and don’t forget to come along to the Central Library on Saturday 2nd May to pick up a free comic book on Free Comic Book Day, courtesy of GRAPHIC!

Toby Morris self portraitToday we’re talking to Toby Morris about his comic work, and what we can look forward to at his Comicfest panel. Toby Morris is an illustrator, designer and comic artist who currently draws a monthly non-fiction comic series called The Pencilsword for The Wireless. He has drawn and published his own comics since the age of 13 and now juggles comics, illustration work and parenting two young sons. He has written and illustrated two books and created concert posters for many of New Zealand’s top bands.

What is the first significant comic related job or project you remember working on?
My first comic was terrible – it was called The Amazing Adventures of Okapi and was a really corny story about a superhero crime fighter set at a grunge concert. I was 13, and made a few copies for my friends at school, but really I didn’t know anything about superheroes or grunge concerts. Or comics really, apart from Tintin or Asterix. I think i was just trying to emulate what I assumed a ‘cool comic’ might be like.

At 15 I started a new series called Span that was more personal. I had actually gone to the comics shop by then and discovered some New Zealand comics like Pickle and Absolute Heroes that set me on a better path.

Toby MorrisCan you tell us about your current, or most recent project?
These days my big project is the ongoing non-fiction comics series The Pencilsword which appears monthly on thewireless.co.nz. I’m trying a few new things (for me at least) with it – I’m trying to walk a line between personal and political, and then technically the comics have a little animation on them which has been interesting to experiment with also. It’s the first comic I’ve done that is designed from the start to be read and shared online rather than in print, which is new and exciting for me.

What is your favourite part of your working process?
There is a great daydreamy state you can get into sometimes with drawing that I love where it’s almost unconscious. Time just goes by in a blur, you get really swept up and lost in it. You can’t try to do it – it’s trying but not trying and you can totally tell the difference between drawings where you’ve done it and not. I think of it as ‘the joyous line’. I think the closest description I’ve found to it is the way that Phillip Pullman describes how the Subtle Knife works in the book of the same name. Drawing is like dancing maybe.

What or who are your favourite NZ comics or creators?
So many! Dylan Horrocks was very inspirational for me, still is. His series Pickle was one of the first things I read that really made me want to write in my own voice. Tim Bollinger was another one I read early on that lit a fire for me. Barry Linton was and is the king. I loved the Wellington anthology Pistake in the 90s – Emond, Morse, Dayglo etc – so much attitude. These days there is so much going on, it’s incredible. Hard to start naming people because there are so many. Mat Tait, Robyn Keneally, Sarah Laing, Ned Wenlock, Lauren Marriott/Ralphi, Mary Tamblyn and Alex McCrone, Tim Kidd, Ross Murray, Sam Orchard are a few current favourites that spring to mind. I’ll be forgetting people I bet. I loved Jem Yoshioka’s recent one about the Kimono. I really enjoyed Sarah Lund’s Snap. It’s a great time for NZ comics. There is so much great stuff coming out, more than there ever has been.

Do you have another job outside of comic creation, or any significant hobbies you enjoy?
These days I work as an advertising designer and art director for my day job. It’s a funny thing to balance those two very different worlds. My comics and my job started off as two very different paths – what I love doing on one hand and what I get paid to do on another – but over the years those two paths are slowly getting closer to each other and starting to cross over.

You can catch Toby at his Comicfest panel at the following time:
Thursday 30th of April 6 – 7.00pm – Panel: From cartoons to comics
Toby Morris