New Years’ graphic musings by Lark Pien. Check out her ‘Little Bird’ blog! 

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New Endless Karma with Dan Cross finished – LAUNCH in Melbourne…

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New Endless Karma with Dan Cross finished – LAUNCH in Melbourne this Friday January 9th 2015   —  M O R E   I N F O   H E R E —  

‘Art as Life’ by M P Fikaris
“This comic book is a story comparing Arte Moris in East Timor to my own art community in Australia.
Arte Moris is a free art school in Dili, Timor Leste set up to help the people re-build after 25 years of war and conflict.”

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READ the entire comic online at: http://artaslifecomic.tumblr.com/

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Australian Women In Comics (via Oh My! Comics):

comicslifestyleheadlines:

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(via http://eles-eyes.tumblr.com / ‘Women in Australian Comics’ FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/253237258182767) A collection of practical ideas for people who want to support women in Australian comics (please add more ideas in the comments):

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– Sarah’s suggestion:…

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Award-winning webtoonist Jon Rosenberg of ’Scenes From A Multiverse’ didn’t even *mention* #GamerGate in his comic. That still got his site slammed by a ‘denial of service attack’.  

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Twitter impressions for the comic seem to be topping out at 350k. It’s a good thing I was DDoSed or people might have seen it.

n— Jon Rosenberg™ (@jonrosenberg) January 4, 2015

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All art © Jon Rosenberg, of course. 

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Jon is a champ and is using all the attention to *highlight* other web cartoonists.

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Let’s make this positive. Tweet me your webcomic link if you’re an artist and I’ll retweet a few of them.

n— Jon Rosenberg™ (@jonrosenberg) January 4, 2015

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Due to ’The Streisand Effect’ he’s also been featured on ’The Nib’. Give him your love and your money. Buy his books, support him on Patreon.

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More via FLEEN: http://fleen.com/archives/2015/01/02/streak/

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(via http://eles-eyes.tumblr.com / ‘Women in Australian Comics’ FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/253237258182767) A collection of practical ideas for people who want to support women in Australian comics (please add more ideas in the comments):

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– Sarah’s suggestion: go and reblog an image from a female comic creator right now and tell people why you like her work. 
– read a woman’s work. Even better, review it on your blog or Facebook page: let your friends know if you enjoyed it. If you didn’t, try another! 
– Seek out the work of a woman in comics you’ve never heard of before. If you like it, share it around. Here’s a useful place to start:http://www.ohmycomics.com/?page_id=174 
– Buy a comic that prominently features the work of a female creator. Eg. the second issue of Oi Oi Oi features only Australian women’s work. 
– if you’re compiling a collection or anthology, make sure you let women comickers know how to get involved. Seek us out and ask if we’d like to contribute: let us know we’re welcome. (Although remember to be polite and not hound us if we say ‘no’.)
– recognise that many female creators make work that is largely unrelated to mainstream western comics in both theme and style. Try to embrace that difference where you find it. 
– invite us to comics events you hold or attend.
– talk to us, ask questions about our work. Invite us to speak on your panels and shows. Ask us about our ‘struggles as female creators’, but try to ask us about our work more often: that’s usually a more fresh and interesting topic. 
– listen to us when we speak. Men are welcome to attend Ladies’ drawing auxiliary speech nights at Squishface, where women talk about their work.
– listen to the Sci-fi and Squeam podcast which often features women in comics. 
– ps. Whether you are a man, a woman, or a comics-enthusiast unicorn, THANK YOU very much for caring enough to want to help. 

Coupla Teza-related coasters in the crop this year

squishfacestudio:

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Last words for the year!

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Here’s a few more photos from our last two events: the third annual Squishface Coaster Show and the launch of Tim Molloy’s new book, Mr Unpronounceable and the Sect of the Bleeding Eye.

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Thanks to our sponsors on Coaster Day, Teza, who supplied us with so much iced tea we carried it over into Tim’s launch as well (appropriate, as Tim is also from New Zealand and also smells like passionflower).

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I’m very pleased to say that everybody thought the stuff actually tasted delicious, even David, who’s not an “tea” guy but is feijoa mad. People even went mad for the bottles, which can now be found in several local homes serving as tomato sauce and spice containers.

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Most of the judges’ favourites are in, but we’re waiting on the final picks so we can figure out who our ULTIMATE WARRIOR SUPERPRIZEWINNERS are! I can say there’s a lot of variation in the picks. Previous years have yielded clear favourites, but there’s a lot of goodies this year. Look for us to announce winners early in the new year.

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Squishface is hereby closed for 2014! Yeah, some of us will still be in the studio poking around, but officially we’re shutting until next year. We want to thank you for coming to our events this year, bringing the kids to Sarah and Ben’s classes and for generally dropping by when you felt like it — because that’s what we’re about!

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Special hellos to those of you who finally walked in the door after enjoying Squishzine Brunstown. You have no idea how many people say, “I’ve been walking past and checking out the window but never stopped in”. It’s been great meeting you! And we’ve really appreciated the great feedback on the book. Hopefully we can do another one day.

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Drawing night returns Wednesday January 7. Be there.

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Squishface’s 3rd birthday party will, as usual, be on January 26, and we hope to have some small surprises for attendees…

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See you next year!

comicslifestyleheadlines:

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Below: Athonk and Michael Fikaris.

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Three Words blog: http://threeword3.blogspot.co.nz/

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Three Words on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/340469276103096/

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Three Words on Twitter: https://twitter.com/threeword3

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Three Words is an anthology of New Zealand women’s comics. Due for release mid-2015, the book aims to make New Zealand women comic artists and their work more visible; and to foster a sense of community through the process of its production. 

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New Zealand has a rich and vibrant comics scene. Mainstream publications have recently tried to document this, but have predominantly focused on men’s comics; tending to emphasize a small number of professional high-profile male artists who advocate for a particular aesthetic and approach to comics. These books have had the effect of simultaneously generating interest in New Zealand comics, while highlighting the invisibility of women’s comics made here.

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Many New Zealand women have in fact made comics over the years, although it’s often hard to find their work. There are a number of related and self-perpetuating reasons for this; the historic male-dominated nature of the comics industry generally; women’s poor representation in anthologies and the kinds of books just described; the limited support by established publishers; and the ephemeral ‘home made’ nature of the comics publishing that has occurred. Many women artists also stop making comics after only a short period.

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We believe the lack of both recognition and sense of community for women comic artists in New Zealand are significant. Three Words works to help redress both of these issues.

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The book is being edited by Rae Joyce, Sarah Laing, and Indira Neville, three experienced comic-makers who come from a variety of perspectives. In developing the book the editors contacted as many New Zealand women comics artists as they could, inviting them both to submit and to be part of a social media community. Both approaches have been incredibly successful; the book features 63 diverse and amazing women artists, and the Facebook group (not confined to the book’s contributors) has become a popular and thriving space and catalyst for the discussion of comics and gender-related issues.

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Three Word’s ‘community-building’ aspect was also recognised by Creative New Zealand who provided the project with a significant grant. This grant will be used to pay contributors for their work. Three Words is apparently the first New Zealand comics anthology to ever do this.

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Artists included in the book come from a variety of communities and backgrounds. This is reflected in the works themselves which range from highly finished professional pieces to comics-influenced fine art, and editorial, experimental works. There are also single panels, strips, and longer narratives in colour and black and white. Artists include Sharon Murdoch, Susan Te Kahurangi King, Kerry Ann Lee, Margaret Silverwood, Olga Krause, Susan Rugg, Coco Solid, Mary Tamblyn, Judy Darragh, Adele Jackson, Pritika Lal, Renee Jones, and Debra Boyask, but there are many more. Artist profiles and work examples are provided on the Three Words blog.

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The book’s unity will be achieved through a unique “three words” concept. Contributors have submitted works of their own choosing, but alongside this they send in three words (any words!) These words are given to another artist to interpret in a single strip comic. This concept provides an opportunity for collaboration and for the creation of brand new pieces. Its constraints also make for a compelling and collaborative motif that will run throughout the book. 

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Submissions are now closed.

awcomix:

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Finished ‘Beer, Eats’ piece. 

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