 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
OLD NEWS NEWS July 2006 BLOG I've finally started actually using the blog I set up ages ago. It's - well, it's a blog, so you know what to expect. Suffice to say, I intend to update it a lot more often than this website... Here it is. ARE ANGELS OK? The book I've been involved with for much of the last several months is now out: Are Angels OK? The Parallel Universes of New Zealand Writers and Scientists (edited by Paul Callaghan and Bill Manhire), Victoria University Press. The project was a collaboration between the Royal Society of New Zealand and the International Institute of Modern Letters, as part of the World Year of Physics. Ten NZ writers were teamed up with an array of NZ physicists, to see what we'd come up with. In my case, the result was a rather strange 14-page comic about role-playing games. Go figure... You can see a sample of it here, or just go and buy the book (which also has a cover designed and illustrated by me). LES BELLES ETRANGÈRES Well, well, it appears I'm heading for France again! I've been invited to take part in Les Belles Etrangères, a literary festival held every year in France. Each year they choose a country from which to invite a dozen writers. This year it's New Zealand, and as one of the invitées, I'll be visiting France between November 12 and 26, giving talks and generally doing festival-related stuff. More details as they come to hand! Oh, and there'll also be a film documentary and a book (for which I've drawn a 10-pg story called Siso). GOING WEST I'll be appearing at the Going West Readers and Writers Festival in Waitakere City (Titirangi, to be precise) on September 15-17. I will be talking about the Are Angels OK project with physicist, poet and fellow roleplaying gamer Tony Signal. February 2006 RADIO INTERVIEWS I did an interview on Kim Hill's Saturday morning show on New Zealand's National Radio on Saturday February 18th, playing some of my favourite music and chatting about stuff. You can hear it (for the next 4 weeks) here. The music played, by the way, was:
Arvo Part: Fratres
(from the album Tabula
Rasa) The following Sunday (February 26th), I'm also going to be on 95BFM for a while (some time during Imogen Neale's Sunday Best show, from around 10am NZ time). You'll be able to listen to that online (though only live, I think), here. UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND LITERARY FELLOWSHIP Wow! I've been named the new University of Auckland/Creative New Zealand Literary Fellow for 2006. For more info, the University's press release is here. COMICS (with JOE SACCO!) AT THE NZ INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL I'll be appearing on a panel on comics and graphic novels (entitled The Bastard Child) at the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week (part of the NZ International Arts Festival) on Thursday 16 March 2006 (12.30-1.45pm), at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington. The other panelists will be visiting genius Joe Sacco and local luminary Tim Bollinger. The panel will be chaired by Greg O'Brien. ATLAS #2 HITS THE SHOPS Issue two of Atlas is now in comic shops. It's the same format as issue 1, except for the page count (now 32 pages). It includes a new instalment of the title story, as well as the debut of a new serial, Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen. You can see the cover here. I'd like to thank Creative New Zealand for their support in getting Atlas back on track. EXHIBITION NEWS LITTLE
NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND Artwork from the book Little Nemo, 1905-2005: Un siècle de rêves, a book published by Les Impressions Nouvelles to celebrate the centenary of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland, is showing at La Maison Autrique in Brussels. The exhibition includes original art by Winsor McCay, along with artwork from the tribute strips by various cartoonists. My contribution is a four-pager called 'Dull Care.' Also, Several pages of original artwork from Hicksville and Atlas #1 are for sale at the Tinakori Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. For more information, check out Tinakori's website. December 2005 EXHIBITION NEWS NATALE Several pages of original artwork from Hicksville and Atlas #1 are currently showing at Tinakori Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. The exhibition is called Natale, and includes work by various artists - a kind of pre-Christmas miscellany. The work is for sale. For more information, check out Tinakori's website. LITTLE
NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND Artwork from the book Little Nemo, 1905-2005: Un siècle de rêves, a book published by Les Impressions Nouvelles to celebrate the centenary of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland, is showing at La Maison Autrique in Brussels. The exhibition includes original art by Winsor McCay, along with artwork from the tribute strips by various cartoonists. My contribution is a four-pager called 'Dull Care.' COMICS (with JOE SACCO!) AT THE NZ INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL I'll be appearing on a panel on comics and graphic novels (entitled The Bastard Child) at the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week (part of the NZ International Arts Festival) on Thursday 16 March 2006 (12.30-1.45pm), at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington. The other panelists will be visiting genius Joe Sacco and local luminary Tim Bollinger. The panel will be chaired by Greg O'Brien. October 2005 ATLAS #2 You see, patience does pay off in the end. Issue two of Atlas is finished and will be published by Drawn and Quarterly in January 2006. You can see the cover here. It will be the same format as issue 1, except for the page count (now 32 pages). It includes a new instalment of the title story, as well as the debut of a new serial, Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen. I'd like to thank Creative New Zealand for their support in getting Atlas back on track. WINSOR McCAY TRIBUTE BOOK I have a new 4-page story called 'Dull Care' in Little Nemo, 1905-2005: Un siècle de rêves, a book published to celebrate the centenary of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. The book will be published in French by Les Impressions Nouvelles, but other language editions are also planned. There is an exhibition of original art from the book (including work by McCay himself) at La Maison Autrique in Bruxelles, Belgium, from 30 September to 8 January 2006. SMALL WORLD, BIG TOWN Small World, Big Town: Contemporary Art from Te Papa is an exhibition at the City Gallery Wellington, which runs from 10 July to 30 October 2005. It includes several pages of original art from Hicksville and I also designed the signage and advertising art for the show (including a cover for the brochure, which can be picked up free at the exhibition). I'll also be giving a couple of workshops and a lecture at the City Gallery in October (for more information, follow the links): Making Comics for Fun and Profit! (Saturday 15 October 2005, 1-3pm): a cartoon workshop open to aspiring comic strip makers aged 15 years and older. Cost per person is $15. Places are limited. Playing in the Garden: Imaginary Worlds in Art, Stories and Games (Sunday 16 October 2005, 2pm): a lecture on some of my current obsessions (mostly about world-building and the search to escape the tyrrany of 'story'). Making Comics (Monday 17 October 2005): workshops for school groups. Bookings essential. NZ COMICS AT THE ART ZONE An exhibition of New Zealand comics will be held at the Art Zone (part of the Centre of Contemporary Art in Christchurch), opening on October 12th. It will include work from numerous cartoonists, including some pages of original art from Hicksville and Atlas, and also sketchbooks and notebooks from me and others. ILLUSTRATION NEWS A kids' educational book on the life of Audubon with illustrations by me has come out: The Adventures of Audubon, written by Peter Rees, published by ETA/Cuisenaire as part of their Worldscapes series. You can see two of my illustrations for the book here and here. I drew the cover illustration for a new book on recent New Zealand political history, New Rights New Zealand: Myths, Moralities and Markets by Dolores Janiewski and Paul Morris (Auckland University Press). WRITING NEWS I contributed a short account of the impact of French comics on my life to The Colour of Distance: New Zealand Writers in France, French Writers in New Zealand, edited by Jenny Bornholdt and Gregory O'Brien (Victoria University Press). I have written a few book reviews recently for the Sunday Star Times and the Dominion Post, including reviews of Jonathan Lethem's Men and Cartoons, Gerard Jones' Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book. I may put these reviews up on the website some time soon. March 2005 HAPPY NEW YEAR! A little belatedly. You can see my New Year's Message here.
NEW ON-LINE ILLUSTRATION PORTFOLIO I've put up a small portfolio of my illustration work here. This is a smaller selection than the old Illustration area, but includes a few new pictures.
BIZARRO WORLD This glorious new hardcover is now out from DC Comics, courtesy of editor Joey Cavalieri. A sister volume to the earlier Bizarro Comics, it presents brand new stories written and drawn by alternative cartoonists, starring DC superheroes. My own contributions are a Supergirl story (written by Maggie Estep, drawn by me) and a Flash story (written by me, drawn by Farel Dalrymple). There's a sample panel from the Supergirl story here.
WELLINGTON EVENTS On the weekend of 16-17 April, 2005 I'll be in Wellington for two events: Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo (Queen's Wharf Events Centre) and a comics art mini-festival at 91 Aro Street Gallery (91 Aro Street, obviously). On the evening of Saturday 16th April, I will be giving a talk (with Tim Bollinger) at 91 Aro Street.
BOARD ART AT THE DOWSE A painting by me is currently on show at the Dowse Museum in Lower Hutt (until April 17 2005). It's part of a show called Board Art in which artists and students decorate skateboard decks. You can see mine here.
IN BOOKSTORES... My essay The Perfect Planet: Comics, Games and World-Building is published in Writing at the Edge of the Universe edited by Mark Williams (Canterbury University Press). There's a small section on me in Welcome to the South Seas: Contemporary New Zealand Art for Young People by Gregory O'Brien (published by Auckland University Press).
March 2004 MARTIN EMOND Very sad news: Martin Emond (aka "Marty Fuck"), one of New Zealand's greatest ever comics artists, died recently in Los Angeles, where he had been living for much of the past few years. For more news, read the report on Silver Bullet Comics or the discussion on The Comics Journal Message Board. Other reports can be found on Flipside (a NZ television news programme) and Comic Book Resources. Kevin Eastman's tribute is at Heavy Metal and loads of Martin's beautiful art can be found on the Illicit site. Martin will be sorely missed by the entire NZ comics community. Arohanui to all his friends and family.
NEW ESSAY: THE PERFECT PLANET I have written a new (long) essay called The Perfect Planet: Comics, Games & World-Building, which you can now read here. It's based on the talk I gave at 'Creative Writing in New Zealand,' a conference held in Christchurch in September 2003. Mark Williams is putting together a book of all the conference papers, which is due to come out later this year from Auckland University Press, which is where this essay will be published. In it, I look at James Kochalka's The Horrible Truth About Comics, Scott McCloud, Will Eisner, Herge, Tolkien, fantasy, utopia, Time Magazine, the Situationist International, The Forgotten Realms, HarnWorld, Dungeons & Dragons and loads of other stuff (somehow) related to world-building, fiction, Role-Playing Games and computer and console games. Phew. Hope you like it - feel free to send me your comments...
HICKSVILLE NOMINATED FOR AWARDS IN SPAIN AND ITALY Hicksville has been nominated for the "Best Foreign Comic" award, to be announced at the Barcelona Comics Festival in May. Many thanks to Spanish publishers Ediciones Balboa for their support. The official list of nominations is here. And Black Velvet's lovely Italian edition of Hicksville was also nominated for an award this year: the Attilio Micheluzzi Award for "Best Book of the Year." The awards were announced at the Napoli Comicon in March and although Hicksville didn't win, Black Velvet won the Best Publisher award - which was thrilling news. Congratulations and many thanks to Omar at Black Velvet, who has been a delight to work with! Here's a list of the nominees and winners (in Italian).
NEW HIT PARADE I've added a whole lot of stuff to the Hit Parade, including links to some of my favourite websites and downloads at the moment. I realise these should probably be in links, but what the hell...
June 2003 GENERAL UPDATE & NEW HIT PARADE I've done a little updating here and there, including changing the way I use the Hicksville Hit Parade. I'm now just using it to list whatever I'm currently reading, listening to, watching etc - without the extensive reviews I previously wrote (those have now been consigned to an archive page). Feel free to email me any recommendations you might have, based on the list...
ATLAS #2 PROGRESS If you've been patiently (or impatiently) waiting for issue 2 of Atlas, you'll be pleased to hear that work is going well, now that I've finally thrown off the debilitating 'cartoonist's block' which has been plaguing me for several years. I'm now enjoying drawing again and to celebrate, I've put up a sketch of a new character who is introduced in issue 2. I will post more news as progress continues.
HICKSVILLE IN ITALIAN Hicksville is now out in Italian, thanks to the nice people at Black Velvet (they don't appear to have a website of their own yet, but here's an interview with the publisher, Omar Martini). The Italian edition also contains my and Tim Bollinger's essays on NZ comics from Nga Pakiwaituhi o Aotearoa: New Zealand Comics. There have been some reviews already, such as this one and this one - but of course I haven't the faintest idea what they say. If you want to find out any more about the Italian Hicksville, you can email the publisher, at o.martini@libero.it
HICKSVILLE IN SPANISH The spanish edition of Hicksville is now in the final stages of production. You can get a sneak preview of the brand new cover here. It is being published by Ediciones Balboa, who have also published a Spanish edition of Roger Langridge's very fine Fred The Clown. I wrote a preface to that edition, which you can read (in English) here.
KNUCKLES THE MALEVOLENT NUN A new book by Roger Langridge is always an event. But a collection of his landmark Knuckles the Malevolent Nun strips (done in collaboration with Cornelius Stone) is downright historic. The book is NO MORE MRS. NICE NUN: The Collected Knuckles the Malevolent Nun, volume 1, and it's brought to you by the very fine people at Antipodes Publishing this very month (June). Unwisely, they asked me to write the introduction, which you can read here.
GOODBYE TIM HUNTER, HELLO BATGIRL Next month, HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC comes to an end, with issue 25. Richard Case and I have had a great time working on this Vertigo series and we wish young Tim Hunter all the best in all his future incarnations. I think we're both pretty pleased with the final issue, which avoids being a big plot-thread-tie-up-frenzy and is instead intended to provide some emotional and thematic closure to the series. Meanwhile, I've been writing BATGIRL for the DCU part of DC Comics. My first issue was #39 and the artwork for that and the next 5 issues is by Argentinian Adrian Sibar. Starting with issue #45, the pencilling will be taken over by Rick Leonardi. And from issue #41 onwards, the covers are by the fabulously talented James Jean. Batgirl is a lot of fun to write and I've been enjoying it tremendously.
NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE & CONVENTION APPEARANCES I'll be appearing at a conference in Christchurch, New Zealand on 21-24 August, 2003. The conference is on Creative Writing in New Zealand and I'll post more information closer to the time. And I'll also be at the Armageddon PulpExpo at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington, New Zealand on 20-22 September, 2003.
ALAN MOORE TRIBUTE BOOK I am one of many many contributors to a book of tributes to Alan Moore, put together by Italian comics guy Smoky Man and English comics creator Gary Spencer Millidge (of Strangehaven fame). My own contributions consist of two text pieces (one of which introduces a sketch by Chris McLoughlin) and also a drawing. For more information, visit Gary's website here or Smoky Man's website here.
ROLE-PLAYING OBSESSION DEEPENS Yes, I've been playing RPGs since I was 13 (that's a long time ago, girls and boys) and no, I never stopped. Now I'm going even deeper into the subject, exploring the history and culture of these strange games like never before. It's all tied up with a story I want to do, but that'll be a long time coming. In the meantime, let's just say I'm fascinated by it all... And I've discovered some great websites. My favourite is RPG.net, whose forum is something like the 'Comics Journal Message Board' of the Role-Playing scene. An e-zine I've enjoyed is the beautifully named 'Places To Go, People To Be' at ptgptb.org. I'm particularly obsessed with the whole notion of 'world-building' (i.e. creating fictitious worlds in great detail), which has led me to begin exploring the 'published' worlds of the RPG scene for the first time, including Ed Greenwood's vast Forgotten Realms and N. Robin Crossby's wonderful Hârn. I even embarrassed myself recently by giving a lecture at Unitec's school of Art & Design in which I talked about Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, James Kochalka's The Horrible Truth About Comics and - you guessed it - RPGs. You could almost hear my credibility shattering as it hit the floor when I began talking about the AD&D World Builder's Guidebook. He he he... I'm always keen to hear about new paths my research can take, so if you know of any good links, articles, books, interviews etc on the topics of RPG history, RPG culture, world-building, utopias, immersive geographical narrative, etc - let me know. I intend to start an RPG section of my website when I next get some spare time (ha!). In the meantime, I've listed a few things on the Hit Parade...
TV DOCUMENTARY I was recently filmed by the Gibson Group for an upcoming documentary about New Zealand cartoonists, presented by Tom Scott. Most of the subjects are political cartoonists, but it will include Anthony Ellison, Trace Hodgson, Karl Wills and Simon Morse. I'll let you know if I hear any information on screening dates.
March 2003 BATGIRL Yes, it's true. I'm now writing Batgirl for DC Comics. My first issue is #39, which comes out in the week of April 23, and I'm writing it for the foreseeable future. For more details, check out Jen's interview with me on Comiccon's The Pulse.
ALAN MOORE TRIBUTE BOOK I am one of many many contributors to a book of tributes to Alan Moore, put together by Italian comics guy Smoky Man and English comics creator Gary Spencer Millidge (of Strangehaven fame). My own contributions consist of two text pieces (one of which introduces a sketch by Chris McLoughlin) and also a drawing. For more information, visit Gary's website here or Smoky Man's website here.
EISNER AWARD Old news by now, but it's been a long time since the last update! Yes, I won an Eisner Award - for "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition." It's now sitting on the bookshelf next to the fully-posable Tim Hunter doll. Many thanks to everyone who voted for me - and to the jurors who nominated me in the first place! The Pulse did a brief interview with me about it here.
HICKSVILLE IN ITALIAN AND SPANISH Hicksville is now out in Italian, courtesy of Black Velvet. And a Spanish edition is planned for later this year from Cabezabajo. More news as it comes in!
ARMAGEDDON IN AUCKLAND, APRIL 12-14, 2003 I will be at the Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo (as always), at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, on 12-14 April. As will loads of great New Zealand cartoonists (including Cornelius Stone, who has a new Knuckles the Malevolent Nun book out soon; Ant Sang; Jared Lane; Toby Morris; Karl Wills - and many more!), a couple of Australians (including Tim Danko and Michael Fikaris) and some folks from further afield (including John Cassaday and Paul Jenkins).
August 2002
18-YEAR OLD EXAMPLE OF RPG NERDINESS NOW AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING Just one new thing: an ancient and brief essay about Role-Playing Games called Reality Games, which I wrote in 1984 for a New Zealand literary magazine (AND #2). Don't ask why I've posted it here - it's a long story. Anyway, it's now in the Writing section. More updates soon.
June 2002
WHAT'S NEW I've finally put my long essay 'Inventing Comics: Scott McCloud's definition of comics' online in the Writing section. You can read it here - all 9000 words of it. Of course, if you've already got The Comics Journal #234 (June 2001), you can read it on paper instead...
COMICS JOURNAL INTERVIEW My mammoth interview in The Comics Journal (with the celebrated Tom Spurgeon) is now out, in issue #243. You can read an excerpt here. Or you can view the cover (minus the text) here. People with too much time on their hands can also discuss it on the Comics Journal message board here.
ALAN MOORE TRIBUTE Ultrazine (a website based in Italy) has compiled a tribute to Alan Moore. My contribution is here.
HARVEY AND EISNER NOMINATIONS FOR ATLAS Atlas #1 was nominated for a Harvey Award (Single Best Issue) and then I was nominated for an Eisner Award (Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition), for Atlas and Hicksville. I must confess that 'Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition' sounds a bit like winning an award for being obscure, but what the hell - who's complaining?! Thanks to voters on the Harvey and jurors on the Eisner. The Harveys have already been announced (single issue went to the ever-deserving Dan Clowes for Eightball #22 of course). The deadline for voting on the Eisners is July 3 and the winners will be announced at the San Diego Comic Con on August 2.
THE NAMES OF MAGIC TRADE PAPERBACK The trade paperback collection of the Names of Magic (Vertigo), by me and Richard Case is now out. You can buy it here. Or discuss it on DC's Hunter: the Age of Magic message board here. Of course, as always, it's worth visiting the splendid Abracadabra (Books of Magic) website, which is the best source for information about past and upcoming Tim Hunter stuff.
March 2002
VIVA LA FRANCE!! Well, January's trip to France was amazing, naturally. The French scene is on a high at the moment - plenty of amazing comics coming out, thanks in no small part to the 'nouvelle vague' publishers like L'Association, Cornelius, Amok, Ego Comme X etc etc. Even the 'mainstream' books are looking great to me at the moment. And sales are up (hyuk hyuk)! Visit www.labd.com for daily news about French comics (and even an interview with L'Association capitaine J-C Menu). We met some fabulous people - French cartoonists, retailers and publishers, journalists from all over the place, some old friends from America and Britain and some new ones too. Hicksville was pipped for the Alph'Art Critics Prize by Howard Cruse's Stuck Rubber Baby (in French it's got a whole different title: Un Monde de Difference), which was very good news - I think that book is seriously undervalued by the American comics scene and it was nice to see it getting some recognition elsewhere. And for the 'Best Album' Alph'Art Hicksville was beaten by the wonderful Isaac le Pirate by Christophe Blain. So no complaints from me! Also nice to see Marjane Satrapi's extraordinary Persepolis pick up two Alph'Arts - it's a truly wonderful book (well, actually, it's two wonderful books). I got a tear in my eye, too, when we explored the CNBDI in Angouleme; their library would make Mrs Hicks proud. All in all, it was extremely inspiring and just plain wonderful. Thanks again to the Festival organisers and L'Association and everyone else who helped make this such a fantastic trip.
NAMES OF MAGIC COLLECTION The collected trade paperback of the Names of Magic miniseries by me and Richard Case is coming out from Vertigo in May. For more information, visit the splendid Abracadabra (Books of Magic) website, which is the best source for information about past and upcoming Tim Hunter stuff.
ARMAGEDDON I will be at the Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo in Auckland, New Zealand (at the Aotea Centre) on April 12-14, along with plenty of other New Zealand cartoonists (and also a few foreigners - Mark Millar, Frank Quitely and David Mack, to be precise). Hope to see you there...
ATLAS NOMINATED FOR A HARVEY The first issue of Atlas has been nominated for a Harvey Award (for best single issue). Thanks to everyone who nominated it! The full list of nominees is here.
COMICS JOURNAL INTERVIEW A long interview with me will be in the Comics Journal (April issue), along with a cover by me. The amazing Tom Spurgeon conducted the interview, over one long Seattle day in his apartment and then continued it over the phone a while later. You can see the initial rough for the cover here.
ANOTHER TALK BY DYLAN... I'll be doing another talk at the Auckland City Art Gallery at 1pm on Thursday March 28th; a kind of guided tour of the Cartoon Show. I'm very keen for this to be a relaxed and interactive event, so if you want to come along and ask me anything (anything!), that'd be great.
December 2001
UPDATE!! Okay, it's been a while. But there's a lot of new news below and I've also revised a few bits and pieces, including the shop. I've also added: my portraits of Robert Frank and Michael Ondaatje (from The Book of Changes, published by Fantagraphics Books) to editorial illustration an illustration done for AA Driver Education to advertising illustration a strip called 10-7 drawn for a 9-11 benefit book (Dark Horse) to comics the cover to Drawn & Quarterly's 2002 catalogue to editorial illustration the cover to a forthcoming Comics Journal to editorial illustration an Ex-Libris designed for Super Heros (a comic shop in Paris) to editorial illustration a recent illustration on New Zealand's response to the so-called 'War on Terror' for the NZ Political Review to politics quite a bit more info (and a new design) to the Hunter: the Age of Magic page a preview of a health promotion comic called Red Hot, drawn by myself and Timothy Kidd for the Hepatitis C Resource Centre in Christchurch, NZ to comics
VIVA LA FRANCE! I will be at the Angouleme comics festival in January 2002 and also doing a couple of signings in Paris around then, too (organised by L'Association, publishers of the French edition of Hicksville). Angouleme is on January 24-27. The Paris signings are: Tuesday January 22, 2002 from 15.00 to 18.00 at L'ABD, 84 Bd St Germain, Paris 5è, and Wednesday January 23, 2002 from 16.00 to 20.00 at Super Héros, 175 rue St Martin, Paris 3è. Much to my surprise, the L'Association edition of Hicksville has been nominated for two Alph'Art awards: Best Album and the Critics' Prize. I'm very flattered - merci beaucoup!
MY DAD'S NEW BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! Here's a shameless plug for my Dad's new book (twenty years in the making) - Len Lye: a Biography, by Roger Horrocks (Auckland University Press, 2001). It's a gripping account of the life of the artist described by poet Alistair Reid as 'the least boring person who ever lived.' Lye grew up in New Zealand (including several years living in a lighthouse) before heading off to Australia, Samoa, Britain and finally New York (where he lived from the end of WW2 until his death in 1980). Along the way he helped invent direct film (ie: movies made by painting or scratching directly onto the film) and kinetic sculpture, worked with innovative documentary producer John Grierson, became intimately involved with Robert Graves, Laura Riding, Dylan Thomas, the Seven & Five Society, the Surrealist movement and many more of the 'Big Names' of 20th Century art. Why Lye himself never quite became one of those 'Big Names' (in spite of the enormous influence of his cutting-edge art on his peers throughout his career) is one of the fascinating themes of this rip-roaring saga. Of course, it's not just about art - we also ride the roller-coaster ride of Lye's complicated love life in bohemian Sydney, London and New York, which included affairs with artists, psychologists, dancers, photographers - well, you get the picture. We find out why Time magazine once called him 'the English Walt Disney' and why painter Julian Trevelyan said he was 'like a man from Mars.' 20 years after his death, Lye's reputation is on the rise again, with a major retrospective at the Pompidou in Paris and efforts being made to finally realise some of his wildest sculpture designs (including gigantic moving sculptures that are forcing engineers to push the envelope of the possible). So get in quick and find out all about 'Individual Happiness Now,' 'sense games,' 'Free Radicals' and the 'Dance of the Machines' before you get left behind... You can read more about the book here or order it from Amazon.com here. If you're in New Zealand, you might prefer to order it from Horizon Books here. And if you're doubtful about taking the author's son's word for it, check out some of the many rave reviews it's been getting: International Herald Tribune or NZ Listener (As a footnote, Lye was also a fan of the Krazy Kat strip and he used to send them to Robert Graves who would read them and pass them on to Picasso).
IN MEMORIAM: TONY GIBSON Tony Gibson, a really nice guy and one of the great comics retailers, died on November 24, aged 28, after a short illness. Tony's store Gotham Comics is one of my favourite comics shops anywhere in the world. Tony was well known and much-loved among retailers and comics enthusiasts not only in New Zealand but overseas as well, as demonstrated by the tributes that appeared on on-line forums such as Black River Digital, Silver Bullet Comics, the CBA Retailers' Forum and Oz Comics, among others. Gotham Comics carries on, in the capable hands of colleagues, friends and his fiancee Linda. A number of cartoonists and friends from New Zealand and overseas contributed to a memorial booklet/minicomic, which can be obtained from Gotham Comics. An online version will be up soon (I'll announce it here).
OFFICER PUP IS NOW AVAILABLE A great new New Zealand comics anthology is now out, called Officer Pup. Edited by Toby Morris it contains work by Karl Wills, Jared Lane, Roger Langridge and more. It also contains the first episode of my own Aroha. Find out how to get Officer Pup here.
COMICS AT AUCKLAND ART GALLERY The Auckland City Art Gallery is the site of a large exhibition throughout the Summer on comics and cartoons and their influence on painting in New Zealand and internationally. Tim Bollinger has assembled a selection of New Zealand cartoonists' work as part of the show, which will include cartoonists Barry Linton, Cornelius Stone, Eric Resetar, Noel Cook, Ant Sang, Sir David Low, myself (and many more) and painters Colin McCahon, Dick Frizzell, Frank Womble, Mark Braunias and others. There'll be examples of early New Zealand political cartooning, comics lying around for people to read, animated cartoons to watch, prints by Gillray, Cruikshank, Daumier, Lichtenstein etc etc. The Cartoon Show runs from December 14 to April 1, 2002. There will also be a public events programme around the show, including workshops, guided tours and talks. I will be doing two public talks at the exhibition itself: one on Saturday 23 February at 2pm (with my father Roger Horrocks) and another (a solo performance this time) at 1pm on Thursday 28 March. Other planned talks include Tim Bollinger (15 December, 2pm), Chris Knox, Dick Frizzell and more.
9-11 BENEFIT BOOK I recently finished a two page strip called 10-7 for a benefit book being put together by Dark Horse (among other publishers). I'm not sure when this is to be published, but no doubt it will be launched with plenty of publicity in Diamond Previews etc. I think there are now a few such books coming out, including one being put together by Jeff Mason at Alternative Comics, which will have some really good people involved. You can read my 10-7 story here.
D&Q CATALOGUE COVER I recently drew the cover for Drawn & Quarterly's 2002 catalogue. You can get a sneak preview of it here.
COMICS JOURNAL INTERVIEW The indefatigable Tom Spurgeon has interviewed me for the Comics Journal, in two marathon sessions that have no doubt sent the transcriber completely mad. It is scheduled to appear in the Comics Journal #243 (April 2002), with a cover by me (you can get a sneak preview of the solicitation rough here - though no guarantees that the final published cover will look exactly the same).
NEW COMICS NEWS By now, ATLAS #1 (Drawn & Quarterly), the reprint of HICKSVILLE (Drawn & Quarterly), the French Edition of HICKSVILLE (L'Association), BETTER LUCK NEXT CENTURY (Top Shelf) and the first 5 issues of HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC (Vertigo) are all out and about. The Italian Edition of HICKSVILLE (Black Velvet) is in preparation (expected release in Feb-March 2002).
ON THE DRAWING BOARD Here's what I've been working on recently: apart from the 9-11 benefit book story and the D&Q catalogue cover, I've mostly been working on ATLAS #2, DIRTY COMICS and, of course, scripting HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC. The first story-arc in HUNTER is almost all out by now (ie: THE LAKE OF FIRE, issues 1-6). Issue 7 is drawn by a guest artist (the extremely talented Chris McLoughlin, who's done a fabulous job). It's called GOING HOME and serves as a bridge between the Lake of Fire story-arc and the EVIL GENE story-arc (which begins with issue 8, drawn by regular artist Richard Case). I've put more details of these upcoming stories here. Both issue 7 & 8 are intended as easy jumping-on points for new readers. I'm also working on a couple of other possible projects at the moment, but I'll keep quiet about those until they're confirmed.
September 2001 AUSTRALIAN TRIP CANCELLED! The bad news: I WON'T be at Sydney's Comicsfest in September (8th-9th) after all. It's a long story, but the up-shot is that I may attend next year's Comicsfest in April instead. So a big sorry to anyone who hoped to meet up; I hope to see you next year instead... In the meantime, the September Comicsfest sounds well worth attending: Roy Thomas, Colin Wilson and Eddie Campbell will all be there. And if you're there too, look up New Zealand retailing dynamo Tony Gibson of Gotham Comics. He'll have a good range of New Zealand comics to peruse...
August 2001 BACK HOME! Well, I'm back home from the epic North America odyssey. Thanks to everyone who gave me a place to sleep, took me out to dinner, let me sign at their store or otherwise helped make it a really fun trip. One of these days, I might get round to putting some photos up here... AUSTRALIAN TRIP CANCELLED! The bad news: I WON'T be at Sydney's Comicsfest in September (8th-9th) after all. It's a long story, but the up-shot is that I plan on attending next year's Comicsfest in April instead. So a big sorry to anyone who hoped to meet up; I hope to see you next year instead... In the meantime, the September Comicsfest sounds well worth attending: Roy Thomas, Colin Wilson and Eddie Campbell will all be there. And if you're there too, look up New Zealand retailing dynamo Tony Gibson of Gotham Comics. He'll have a good range of New Zealand comics to peruse... NZ CARTOONISTS IN WELLINGTON! Another convention worth visiting will be the Armageddon PulpExpo in Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre on September 15-16. There'll be a gaggle of cartoonists from around New Zealand in attendance. With new comics out recently by Ant Sang, Karl Wills, Tim Kidd, Sophie MacMillan and more, this is a good time to go and meet the local geniuses... NEW COMICS! As promised, ATLAS #1 and BETTER LUCK NEXT CENTURY (a collection of my political cartoons) were both on sale during the North American tour (though we ran out of the latter in Toronto). Both are available now from their respective publishers - Drawn & Quarterly and Top Shelf. ATLAS will be shipping to stores in September. The HICKSVILLE reprint will be available from Drawn & Quarterly in September. HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC is humming along (issue 3 due September). See below (July) for a detailed list of recent releases. Other stuff is in the pipeline - I'll let you know...
July 2001 THE 2001 US & CANADA TOUR! Between July 18 and August 5 I will be in North America, on a signing tour to launch ATLAS #1. Here's my itinerary: SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION (July 19-22): look for me at the Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf or DC Comics booths. For a schedule of my D&Q signing sessions, visit their website: www.drawnandquarterly.com PORTLAND,OR (July 24 at 4:00 pm): Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak Street, Portland, OR. 97205 Telephone: 503.274.1449 SEATTLE, WA (July 27 at 7:00 pm): Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway East, Seattle, WA Telephone: 206.323.8842 NEW YORK CITY (July 30 from 5 to 8 pm): Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 West 33rd Street, New York, NY. Telephone: 212.268.7088 TORONTO, ON (July 31 at 8:00 pm): Innis Town Hall in Toronto, Canada. Contact The Beguiling for more info (telephone: 416.533.9168 or www.beguiling.com MONTREAL, QC (August 2 at 7:00 pm): Fichtre, 436 de Bienville, Montreal, Canada, Telephone: 514.844.9550 LOS ANGELES, CA (August 3 from 5 to 7 pm): Meltdown Comics, 7522 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA. Telephone: 323.851.7223 E-mail: patty@meltcomics.com I will be signing copies of ATLAS #1 at all venues, along with HICKSVILLE (the D&Q edition of which should be available by the late stages of the tour) and HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC #1. And anything else you should care to thrust in front of me... Oh, and I should also have with me a collection of my political cartoons published by Top Shelf as one of their 'Small Batch' deluxe minicomics. This collection, called BETTER LUCK NEXT CENTURY, includes most of my cartoons for the NZ Political Review and a few other magazines. I'll also try and bring along a selection of minicomics, copies of Nga Pakiwaituhi o Aotearoa: New Zealand Comics and original art for sale. In Toronto, I'll be giving a lecture and in Montreal I'll also be signing copies of the new french-language edition of HICKSVILLE (published by L'Association). By the time I get to Los Angeles, I'll be exhausted, so be gentle with me...
NEW STUFF OUT
As mentioned above, I've got a whole bunch of new stuff out: ATLAS #1 (Drawn & Quarterly) - advance copies will be available at my signings in July/August (see above) and it's solicited in the July Previews (shipping in September). For a taste, see here. HICKSVILLE reprint (Drawn & Quarterly) - advance copies will be available at my signings in July/August (see above) and it's solicited in the July Previews (shipping in September). For reviews and samples, see here. HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC #1 (Vertigo) - out July 11. A new monthly series starring the Books of Magic's Tim Hunter, written by me and drawn by Richard Case. HICKSVILLE in french (L'Association) - out now (released in May). Translated by Monique Laxalt. BETTER LUCK NEXT CENTURY (Top Shelf) - collecting many of my political cartoons since 1995 (not the Milo's Week strips mind you - those await some later collection), published as one of Top Shelf's 'Small Batch' deluxe minicomics. This should be available at San Diego and throughout my signing tour. For a taste, see here. INVENTING COMICS (the Comics Journal #234) - my essay on Scott McCloud's definition of comics appeared in the June 2001 issue of the Comics Journal. For theory-masochists only... BIZARRO COMICS (DC Comics) - I have two stories in this hardback anthology of DC superhero comics by alternative cartoonists: I wrote a Supergirl/Mary Marvel story called 'The Clubhouse of Solitude' (drawn by Jessica Abel) and I drew a Hawkman story called 'The Egg-Napper' (written by James Kochalka). This is available now (released in June). HE PATU RERE HOKI MAI (Nga Korero #46) - obsessive completists may be interested to know that my illustrations for Kate de Goldi's short story 'Boomerang' were reprinted in Maori in Nga Korero #46 (Learning Media, NZ, June 2001, ISSN 1170 4802). Their first appearance was in School Journal part 2, no.3, 1999 (and they can be sampled here).
April 2001 ATLAS: Progress report! For all you patient people awaiting the debut of Atlas, there is some good news: issue one will be out in July 2001. And you can see some sneak previews here (including the cover). NEW NZPR illustrations The latest issue of the New Zealand Political Review includes 3 new illustrations by me (they illustrate David Lange's inaugural Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture). There's even one on the cover. You can get a sneak preview of one here. Tim Hunter: Progress report Work continues also on Hunter: the Age of Magic (1st issue out July 11), for Vertigo. The first 6-issue storyline is called The Lake of Fire and will of course be drawn by Richard Case. Meanwhile, all of The Names of Magic has now come out - number 5 hit the stores on April 25, with its resolution to the big question: 'who is Tim really?' Read it and then visit the DC Message Boards and let everyone know how much it sucks (hyuk). Fully functional SHOP! I've updated the Shop section, adding a comprehensive list of Original Artwork from Hicksville for sale, and lists of Pickle back-issues, Minicomics, T-shirts and Postcards for sale. So now you can buy to your heart's content... Lastly: new LINKS. I've added a few new links, including Ant Sang's mighty new website.
January 2001 The NZ Herald site has a very nice little article by Gilbert Wong about the Names of Magic on their arts page, in case you like reading that sort of thing. As for news, well the big news is that I've now got a real job (ho ho) - writing an ongoing series for Vertigo. It's the relaunch of the Books of Magic and consists of a 5-issue miniseries called the Names of Magic (1st issue out December 27, 2000), followed by a new monthly title called Hunter: the Age of Magic. Both are being drawn by Richard Case and you can find out more on the Tim Hunter page.
Other recent work has included:
and of course, my works in progress:
|
