Sam Orchard talks about his practice

ComicFest 2022 is Saturday 7 May — and this year will be fully online! Find the full programme on our ComicFest website. ComicFest is a joint venture between Wellington City Libraries and the National Library of New Zealand.

ComicFest 2022 website

Sam Orchard is the Assistant Curator for the Cartoons and Comics archive at the Alexander Turnbull Library and one of the co-curators for ComicFest. Sam writes comics, and creates art that celebrates difference. His ongoing web comic ‘Rooster Tails’ has been running for over 10 years. Written from his life as a queer transgender man, the comic explores themes of mental health, fat embodiment, nerd culture and trans lives.

Sam is also the author of ‘Family Portraits’, a series of short comic stories that amplify the stories of intersectional identities within Aotearoa’s rainbow communities. Sam’s comics and resources about sexuality, sex and gender have been used internationally by SOGI advocates. Sam is currently working on his first full-length graphic novel.

Website: thesamorchard.com
Twitter: @sam_orchard
Instagram: @roostertails

We last year had the pleasure of interviewing Sam  in conjunction with Caffeine and Aspirin arts and entertainment review show on Radioactive FM. The interview was conducted by Caffeine and Aspirin host Liam Wild.

And below is the podcast of that interview for your enjoyment:

5 minutes with Michel Mulipola

ComicFest 2022 is Saturday 7 May — and this year will be fully online! Find the full programme on our ComicFest website. ComicFest is a joint venture between Wellington City Libraries and the National Library of New Zealand.

ComicFest 2022 website

Michel Mulipola is a comic book illustrator and professional wrestler. Auckland-based Mulipola is a self-taught award-winning artist who has produced illustrations for Learning Media, Lift Education, Reading Warrior and independent US graphic novel series Headlocked. In 2006 he won the Gibson Award for Best New Zealand Comic Book Artist, in 2013 he was a grand finalist in the Secret Walls x Aotearoa Live Art Battles, and in 2016 he was awarded the Storylines Notable Book Award for Samoan Heroes with author David Riley. An advocate for comic drawing and creative expression, Mulipola is keen to inspire young talent through regularly visiting schools and running workshops. In 2020 Mulipola published O Le Aiga Samoa with Nafanuatele Lafitaga Mafaufau, the first-ever Samoan language comic book.

Website: bloodysamoan.com
Twitter: @bloodysamoan
Instagram: @bloodysamoanart

Q: What first got you interested in comics?

I fell in love with comics as small kid after finding my uncle’s stash. I became enamoured with the comics medium right from the first page.

Q: What is your average day like?

My days are always hectic with a mix of illustrating, business stuff, video games, school visits, community events, pro wrestling, Zoom meetings et al. Every day is a mixed bag because I don’t really keep a daily schedule, I play it by ear.

Q: Can you tell us about a current or recent project you’ve worked on?

I recently finished an autobiographical comic that will be released as a School Journal by Lift Education. It will only be available in the Sāmoan and Tongan languages as resource for bilingual units in schools around Aotearoa. And I can’t say too much about it yet, but I am working with a very big video game company in developing a new game for one of their franchises.

Q: Do you have any traditions or rituals that help you when you get to work?

I don’t have any rituals or traditions when I work. It’s literally eat, sleep (or lack thereof), draw, repeat.

Q: Who/what is your biggest influence or inspiration?

The comics medium itself has been my biggest inspiration though as a kid, I was heavily influenced by the late 80s/early 90s X-Men stuff from Marc Silvestri and Jim Lee.

Q: What or who are your favourite NZ comics or creators?

It’s odd to think that some of my favourite NZ comics creators are also good friends of mine. I always enjoy work by Roger Langridge, Dylan Horrocks, Toby Morris, Ant Sang, Ben Stenbeck, Rachel Smythe and more. There is an abundance of amazing comic talent in Aotearoa and I am excited to see what will be created by future artists.

Q: What is your dream comic project?

As a kid who loved (and as an adult who still LOVES) superheroes, an opportunity to illustrate a comic story for Marvel or DC Comics is always on the bucket list. I’ve had amazing opportunities to draw some of my favourite pro wrestlers for the WWE Comics by BOOM! Studios. The closest I’ve gotten to thet Marvel dream is illustrating over 300 sketch cards for Upper Deck’s various Marvel trading card lines.

Q: What are you excited to share with ComicFest attendees? Just a taster!

I don’t have too much to share at the moment. With how untethered my day-to-day schedule is, I would not be surprised if something big comes along before ComicFest that I could possibly share with the audience.

5 minutes with Sam Orchard

ComicFest 2021 website

Sam Orchard is the newly appointed Assistant Curator for the Cartoons and Comics archive at the Alexander Turnbull Library and one of the co-curators for ComicFest. Sam writes comics, and creates art that celebrates difference. His ongoing web comic ‘Rooster Tails’ has been running for over 10 years. Written from his life as a queer transgender man, the comic explores themes of mental health, fat embodiment, nerd culture and trans lives.

Sam is also the author of ‘Family Portraits’, a series of short comic stories that amplify the stories of intersectional identities within Aotearoa’s rainbow communities. Sam’s comics and resources about sexuality, sex and gender have been used internationally by SOGI advocates. Sam is currently working on his first full-length graphic novel.

Website: thesamorchard.com
Twitter: @sam_orchard
Instagram: @roostertails

Q: What first got you interested in comics?

I’ve always found comics to be a really helpful way of getting my feelings out. Sometimes I’m not so good at realising what’s going on, so I’ll sit with a piece of paper and pen and drawing helps me realise what I’m feeling, how to express myself, and usually helps me feel better too. It’s basically self-care.

Q: What is your average day like?

I’ve just started as the Assistant Curator of the Cartoons and Comics Archive, and I love it. I’m learning all about the amazing collection that we have here, and looking forward to adding to it over the coming years.

Q: Can you tell us about a current or recent project you’ve worked on?

I’m currently working on my first full-length graphic novel. It’s an adaptation of a Young Adult novel; a coming-of-age punk rock trans comic. It’s loud and proud, and exciting, and I’m thrilled to be working on it.

Q: Do you have any traditions or rituals that help you when you get to work?

My favourite way to warm up is to hop on twitter and ask people for suggestions of what to draw – then spend 30 seconds on each of the weird suggestions I get thrown my way.

Q: What is your dream comic project?

I have a few ideas in the works, but I’m trying to finish my current project before I jump ahead of myself!

Q: What are you excited to share with ComicFest attendees? Just a taster!

I’m really proud and excited about being part of the organising committee for ComicFest. There’s an incredible line up of comic creators, talks and interactive events. I really believe that there’s something for just about everyone – whether you’re a comic lover, a comic creator, or new to comics entirely.

Q: If you were to enter our cosplay contest, who/what would you dress up as?

I’d like to think that older Steven Universe would be my go to, but sadly I don’t have enough hair for that.

5 minutes with Jem Yoshioka

ComicFest 2022 is Saturday 7 May — and this year will be fully online! Find the full programme on our ComicFest website. ComicFest is a joint venture between Wellington City Libraries and the National Library of New Zealand.

ComicFest 2022 website

Jem Yoshioka is an illustrator and comic artist living in Wellington, New Zealand. Deftly weaving words and pictures together, Jem’s comics tell evocative and emotional stories with themes of belonging, place, and heritage.

Her current webcomic, Folk Remedy, is a queer fantasy inspired by Taisho era Japan, folktales and monsters called Yokai. Jem’s previous webcomic a sci-fi romance called  Circuits and Veins, was completed in 2020, reaching 92,000 subscribers and still attracts tens of thousands of readers a month.

Jem’s work has been published in a range of local and international anthologies, including the 2020 publication Lockdown: tales from Aotearoa, published by Christchurch Art Gallery. She won first place in the Chromacon New Zealand Indie Arts Festival Comic Awards in 2013 and 2015 and was shortlisted in 2017.

Website: jemshed.com
Twitter: @jemyoshioka
Instagram: @jemyoshioka
Facebook: @jem.yoshioka.art

Q: What first got you interested in comics?

I have always loved to tell stories and draw pictures, so in a way I feel like I was always on the path to comics. I read a lot as a kid and loved picture books fiercely.

Q: What is your average day like?

I work full time, so I do that, then come home and make comics. I’ve been cooking a lot of hotpot, so that’s been a nice thing to have on hand. Lately I’ve also been playing a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, which is great because it forces me to socialise. Comics can be quite isolating!

Q: Can you tell us about a current or recent project you’ve worked on?

Last year I finished my long-running webcomic, Circuits and Veins, and this year I’ve started Folk Remedy, which is set in a fantasy Japan during the 1920s and references a lot of Japanese folklore. I’ve been publishing it since April and I’m really proud of it so far.

Q: Do you have any traditions or rituals that help you when you get to work?

I always have a spare doodle canvas open, so that if I’m struck by other ideas while I’m working on my comic I can draw them down. Usually nothing much comes of it, but it’s nice to have that little no-pressure space alongside my regular comics space.

Q: Who/what is your biggest influence or inspiration?

Last time I said my grandmother, Taeko. And that’s still true! But at the moment I’m really inspired and influenced by Japanese folklore and history, especially while working on Folk Remedy. I’m especially passionate about the stories of yokai, and their role of both shaping and reflecting Japan as a nation have been influential for hundreds of years, They were at risk of being lost during the Meiji restoration but a series of dedicated scholars across generations are keeping the stories, characters, and traditions alive for us and future generations. I love that these stories aren’t static, but adjust to what’s needed, and even new yokai are born all the time!

Q: What or who are your favourite NZ comics or creators?

Of course Rachel Smythe, my closest friend. But I also love the work of Kay O’Neil, Alex Cara, Tara Black, Michel Mulipola, and so many others I’m forgetting.

Q: What is your dream comic project?

I’m working on them! The thing with comics is you really have to love them to make them, they take so much work. I love working on projects connected to my heritage that get to reach heaps of people. Telling stories about Japanese diaspora, or fiction but from a Japanese diaspora lens is a huge passion of mine, and one that has been present in all my recent work. It’s the most rewarding thing, to have someone else who has struggled with their heritage tell me that my sharing of my journey has helped them with theirs. I hope that through my work I can continue to do this, to share these feelings.

5 minutes with Toby Morris

ComicFest 2021 website

Toby Morris is an Auckland based cartoonist, illustrator and writer best known for non-fiction comics that investigate political and social issues. He produces the monthly series The Side Eye, published by The Spinoff, and is a four time winner of ‘Best Artwork/Graphics’ at the New Zealand media awards, and ‘Cartoonist of the Year’ winner for 2019 and 2020. He has written and illustrated several kids books and three graphic novels, including 2019’s Te Tiriti O Waitangi.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic he has colloborated with Dr Siouxsie Wiles, producing graphics that have been viewed millions of times around the world, and he is now producing graphics and animated videos for the World Health Organisation.

Twitter: @xtotl

Q: What first got you interested in comics?

I was always realy into drawings, then when I was about 9 or so I got got given a stack of old Asterix and Tintin comics, and I just loved those.

Q: What is your average day like?

These days I’m a creative director at The Spinoff and Daylight Creative as well as working on my own comics, so a lot of the time I’m now working with other illustrators, helping them out, then still trying to find time to make my own comics too. It’s busy but I’m really enjoying it.

Q: Can you tell us about a current or recent project you’ve worked on?

I’m got a new book coming out in August that I’m really excited about – it’s called Dad Man Walking and it’s a collection of short comics and cartoons about the ups and downs of being a dad. Lots of what I’ve been working in in recent years has either been very serious politics or socal issues, or over the last year a lot of very serious science or public health graphics, so it was a bit of a change to work on something less serious.

Q: Do you have any traditions or rituals that help you when you get to work?

No not really – I end up working in all kinds of different times and places these days, I’ve had to get good at just getting on with it wherever I am or whatever is going on around me. If I’m working alone I quite like working with some background noise – either a podcast or sometimes a basketball game or a tv show that I’m not really watching.

Q: Who/what is your biggest influence or inspiration?

In terms of drawing style and storytelling I’ve always been very inspired by Herge. In terms of making comics journalism or non fiction comics Joe Sacco has been a huge inspiration.  Then there’s lots of other NZ comic artists I love, and political cartoonists too. And these days I’m working with lots of younger illustrators who make me want to push myself and try and new things.

Q: What or who are your favourite NZ comics or creators?

There’s so many! I feel really lucky to have the chance to commission some artists through our comic of the month series at my job at the Spinoff – I’ll forget people I’m sure, but I’m a huge fan of Ant Sang, Indira Neville, Giselle Clarkson, Sarah Laing, Zoe Colling, Kay O’Neil, Sloane Hong, Hana Chatani, Dylan Horrocks, Mat Tait, Stefan Neville, Dan Vernon, Michel Mulipola, Sharon Murdoch, Sam Orchard… there’s so many people making cool stuff!

Q: What is your dream comic project?

One where I can pause time and just work on one thing for a while! I’ve got an idea for a fictional series that I’d love to do one day. One day I’ll get time!

Q: What are you excited to share with ComicFest attendees? Just a taster!

I’m really looking forward to meeting and talking with Selina Tusitala Marsh,  I love the Mophead books. I’ve always thought of them as comics, so I’m very excited to talk to her about that!

Q: If you were to enter our cosplay contest, who/what would you dress up as?

I’d usually say Captain Haddock, but my hair is too long at the moment for that! Might have to be a werewolf or something, or Chewbacca maybe.

5 minutes with Giselle Clarkson

ComicFest 2022 is Saturday 7 May — and this year will be fully online! Find the full programme on our ComicFest website. ComicFest is a joint venture between Wellington City Libraries and the National Library of New Zealand.

ComicFest 2022 website

Giselle Clarkson is a freelance illustrator and comic artist based near Wellington. Her science illustrations and comics can be found in all sorts of places, from bumper stickers and t-shirts, to Auckland Zoo and the NZ School Journal. She publishes a regular comic about children’s books online at The Sapling. Her recently illustrated books for children include The Gobbledegook Book: A Joy Cowley Anthology and Egg and Spoon: An Illustrated Cookbook (Gecko Press).

Website: giselledraws.com
Twitter: @giselledraws
Facebook: @GiselleDraws

Q: What first got you interested in comics?

When I was a kid I loved Tintin, The Far Side and books by Raymond Briggs but I didn’t realise they were “comics”. I often drew Far Side style cartoons of my own. It wasn’t until I was at university and started reading webcomics that I found cartoons made by women! Discovering stuff like Hark! A Vagrant, Hyperbole and a Half, and Nimona made me realise how broad and accessible the medium was – comics could be so many different things, and I could make them too.

Q: What is your average day like?

I work full-time as an illustrator and my studio is at home. I try to keep pretty standard office hours, but I’m a morning person so all my best work is done between about 7am and lunchtime, sometimes even earlier if I wake up with an idea and can’t fall back to sleep! The best part of working from home is never having to set an alarm clock, wearing track pants, and if a drawing’s not quite working – going out into the garden and pulling some weeds for a bit usually solves the problem.

Q: Do you have any traditions or rituals that help you when you get to work?

I make a mental plan for my workday the night before – if I wake up knowing what my goals are for the day I don’t dither and procrastinate! So in the morning I sit down at my desk with a cup of coffee, and read the news and my social media feeds until the coffee’s gone. Then I put on some music, a favourite radio show or an audiobook and get to it. I have to have something to listen to while I work or else my mind wanders too far away and then takes my body with it.

Q: Who/what is your biggest influence or inspiration?

My favourite picture books from childhood are what inspired me to write and illustrate in the first place, but it’s other people working and making comics and graphic novels in NZ right now that keep me motivated and inspire me to make new work.

Q: What is your dream comic project?

As part of my job I sometimes get to join scientists out in the field or on expeditions and then turn my experiences what I’ve learned into a comic – I just want to do more of that! I’ll always be up for combining my love for comics with my love for adventures in wild and remote places.