Tuesday, February 28, 2017

EVENT: Golden Summer: Ross Murray & Greg Straight




This Friday, come along to the opening night of Golden Summer, a joint exhibition featuring new artworks by Greg Straight & Ross Murray (Highwater, Rufus Marigold).

An ice-cream run to the corner dairy; that road trip up the coast; a cold one on a long, hot afternoon. Golden Summer celebrates all this and more on a nostalgic journey around New Zealand.

Greg Straight’s artwork embodies a longing for simple pleasures from days gone. And Ross Murray’s work explores the way contemporary ideas of nostalgia are linked to the things we consume. Both celebrate collective memories of the New Zealand summer.

The exhibition will be held at Endemic World (62 Ponsonby Road, Auckland), kicking off at 5pm and is sponsored by some iconic NZ brands: Tip Top, L&P, Eta and Garage Project. 

The opening is from 5pm-8pm, and the exhibition will run from March 3rd - 14th. So head along and bask in the presence of iconic images capturing the great Golden Summer

- AK!

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Road to Armageddon 2017: Colin Wilson



Above: Captain Sunshine (1979) by Colin Wilson.

Recently announced as a Comics Guest for the upcoming Armageddon Expo shows in Christchurch and Dunedin in March, Colin Wilson is one of the country’s most successful cartoonists.

He started his career in 1977 editing and self-publishing Strips, the first locally produced comics anthology. In 1979 he also co-created New Zealand’s ecological superhero comic, Captain Sunshine – which featured in my book, From Earth’s End: The Best of New Zealand Comics. Wilson soon realised that to become a professional comic artist he would need to move overseas.


Above: Judge Dredd: The Colin Wilson Collection.

Arriving in London in 1980, Wilson began working for the UK weekly 2000AD, drawing Judge Dredd alongside artists like Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland. While his colleagues looked to the States, Wilson’s eye turned to Europe, as he began a 15-year career drawing his own series Dans l'Ombre du Soleil, and realizing a personal dream by drawing the western Blueberry alongside his artistic idol Jean Giraud aka Moebius.

Wilson returned to Australia in 1996, and while he continued to produce work for the European market (Tex, Du Plomb Dans La Tête), his art also appeared regularly via US comics publishers, on such titles as The Losers, Battler Britton, The Rocketeer Adventures and Bionic Commando



Above: The Example by Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson.

Forming a creative partnership with Australian writer Tom Taylor (who will also be appearing at Armageddon Expo), they have collaborated together on numerous projects. Including such titles as: Star Wars: Invasion, The Example, Jour J, and donated a short story to Funtime #26, Darkest Day: Comics For Christchurch – a comics anthology created to raise funds for the Red Cross in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake in 2010.

In 2013, his European comic series Du Plomb Dans La Tête (published in the US as Bullet To The Head) was made into a major motion picture, directed by Walter Hill, starring Sylvester Stallone, Christian Slater and Jason Momoa. Wilson is currently completing the art for Martha, a book in the very successful European series XIII Mystery, before starting work on a new, original series for Delcourt.

Above: The cover of The Adventures of Captain Sunshine (1979) by Colin Wilson.

This will be a great opportunity for local comics fans to meet and talk to one of our own who has made a career from comics, working at the top of the global comics industry. And maybe also get a rare copy of The Adventures of Captain Sunshine #1 signed! (I believe there are still copies surfacing on TradeMe from time to time…).

Armageddon Expo Christchurch takes place in March 11-12th at the Horncastle Arena, and Armageddon Expo Dunedin follows on March 18-19th at the More FM Arena. For tickets and information visit the Armageddon Expo website HERE.

 – AK! 

Review: Mansfield and Me by Sarah Laing


Above: The cover of Mansfield and Me by Sarah Laing.

One of the great delights of the NZ Summer Holidays is the opportunity to take the time to sit back in the sun and enjoy reading some of the great books released over the Christmas period. When it comes to new graphic novel releases, Sarah Laing’s Mansfield and Me was the ‘must read’ of the summer. Released in October, it spent over 10 weeks on the Booksellers Top Ten List, with strong sales ensuring the book made it into plenty of Christmas Stockings over the holidays.

A graphic memoir, Mansfield and Me traces Laing’s journey to becoming a writer alongside the life of Kathrine Mansfield, one of her literary idols. Memoirs have become a hugely popular sub-genre of graphic novels – drawing praise and recognition from the literary community, from titles as diverse as Allison Bechdel’s Fun Home to the likes of Freddie and Me by Mike Dawson. Laing has a similar starting point to Dawson, whose book discussed his adolescence and fan obsession with Freddie Murcury. Laing mentions her own teen idols - Morrissey, Madonna and Frida Kahlo, but it is Mansfield whose presence is most felt in the background of her everyday life, from community stories to sharing geographically linked childhood experiences.

While Dawson’s book was primarily about a fan experience, Laing’s memoir goes deeper: tracking the intersections between her own life and literary ambitions and Mansfield’s. There are passages in the book where she imagines interacting with Mansfield, almost haunted by her presence - at times Mansfield pops up to offer commentary and faint praise as Sarah’s writing career progresses. These interactions drive one of the most compelling themes of the book: how do we measure ourselves against our idols?

Laing does a great job of seamlessly weaving her life with Mansfield’s, finding places where they intersect (both professionally and personally): both Laing and Mansfield left New Zealand to pursue a career in writing – Mansfield to England, Laing to New York. There’s a passage where Laing writes about moving to the country to flat with her first boyfriend and a difficult flatmate, contrasted to Mansfield’s own country living experience with her second husband John Middleton Murry, and their neighbour novelist D.H. Lawrence, who also turned out to be difficult and demanding host (at one point challenging Murry to a naked wrestling match – as one does).


Above: A page from Mansfield and Me by Sarah Laing.

Laing shares from her own life and experiences very candidly – the eventful missteps in relationships and jobs, and the changing circumstances that ultimately brought her back to New Zealand and her dream of becoming a published writer. A goal she achieved in 2007 with her short story collection, Coming up Roses. She was 34, the same age Mansfield was when she died.

This is a very personal memoir, produced in vibrant watercolour artwork written in Laing’s own handwriting, which really gives you that tactile feel, like you’re reading from a private diary and sketchbook.

It’s a book about that compelling urge to be creative with the time you have – Mansfield achieved so much in a short time, but it was extremely difficult in her last years with tuberculosis. She never got to write that great novel, as she bitterly laments to Sarah after reading her short story collection: “you still have time…unlike me”. Laing has since written two novels and an ongoing blog with plenty of new comics to come.

It’s a remarkable ode to creativity and a personal journey to achieving one’s ambitions. If you love great memoirs and want to experience one that’s a bit unconventional but highly entertaining, this is the one for you.
You can visit Sarah Laing's blog, Let Me Be Frank HERE for more of her comics and out-takes/bonus material from Mansfield and Me. You can also listen to my review of Mansfield and Me featured on Radio NZ HERE.

Mansfield and Me Sarah Laing
336 Pages
Paperback, colour
160x245mm
ISBN: 9781776560691
Published by Victoria University Press
RRP: $34.99

- AK!