"Comics erode the most fundamental habits
of humane, civilized living."

Bill Pearson

The American DreamSam Zabel and the Magic Pen
My WorldCornucopiaClick for more

Hicksville at the High Seas!

March 2nd, 2010

Hicksville at the High Seas

Yay! We’re having a launch for the NZ edition of Hicksville at The High Seas (12 Beresford Square, Auckland) on Friday 19th March (6pm). It’s also an exhibition of original art from Hicksville, which will stay open through Saturday 20th March (when Beresford Square is also hosting the fabulous Aroha Day!).

So spread the word - and come join the party!

Hicksville at the High Seas

Podcast interview: the Comix Claptrap

February 19th, 2010

Comix Claptrap
Here’s an interview
I did a couple of days ago with Rina Ayuyang and Thien Pham, for their entertaining podcast series The Comix Claptrap. We talked for a long time, about all kinds of things - from babies to felt-tip pens to the comfort of eventual cosmic doom. Oh, and comics, of course. In fact, I got rather embarrassingly candid about my ambivalent relationship with stories and comics, and why I think Batman should be in jail.

Anyway, you can listen to it as streaming audio, or download an mp3 from The Comix Claptrap’s site. And then make sure you check out Rina’s and Thien’s gorgeous work.

Charity art auction: buy a page from Atlas and help Ella

February 1st, 2010

EllaUpdate: the page sold (to a very generous Wellingtonian who added an additional donation to his winning bid!). And Ella’s family have indeed raised enough money to take her to the conference. A big thanks to everyone who helped out!

This week I’m selling a page of original art from Atlas #1 on TradeMe to help raise money for some very dear friends of ours, whose daughter Ella has growing problems with her eyesight. Ella is one of the loveliest, sweetest kids I know, but her case is unusual enough that numerous tests and treatments have failed to nail the problem.

Click to go to auction

Click to go to auction

Now Ella’s been offered a rare opportunity to have her medical problems looked at by some of the world’s most qualified experts at an international conference in Australia next month. Unfortunately, there’s no funding available to help fly her there and although her folks are some of the most excellent people I know, they just don’t have the money. So with the help of friends and family they’re doing everything they can to raise the funds and get Ella to that conference!

So here’s your chance to own a piece of original artwork by me, and at the same time to help out some really, really nice people.

The auction closes at 9.15pm on Monday 8th February, and (if you’re in New Zealand) you can bid on it here. All proceeds will go directly to Ella’s family.

Note: TradeMe only accepts bids from within New Zealand, but if you’re somewhere else and want to help, let me know; I’m considering doing an eBay auction of another page too (eBay is a bit of a mystery to me, but maybe this is a good reason to finally try it out?).

The Tango Collection

January 22nd, 2010

Tango Collection
I recently wrote a foreword for The Tango Collection - a big fat book of comics about love by over 50 Australian cartoonists (plus a few New Zealanders, including Jared Lane, Tim Molloy and Toby Morris). The comics are selected from eight issues of Bernard Caleo’s love comics anthology Tango, each issue of which is organised around a theme (Love & Death, Love & Food, Love & Sedition, etc). The book is published by Allen & Unwin and is available now!

You can read my foreword below, or else just buy the book and read it in the comfort of your own (or a loved one’s) soft warm bed…

Tango Collection Foreword
Read the rest of this entry »

Exhibition: ‘Taste’ at Auckland Art Gallery

January 21st, 2010

Hicksville page 16
A page from Hicksville (the ‘Bushells Dairy’ page) is in this show at the Auckland Art Gallery until 14 February 2010. The exhibition brings together a bunch of art about food, from some lovely Robin White weavings to work by Andy Warhol, Breughel and Ed Ruscha. There’s even a huge crocheted octopus and a wall of chocolate fish - which you’re supposed to eat!

The ‘Bushells’ dairy I based my drawing on is a famous landmark of Auckland, photographed by Robin Morrison and painted by other local artists (my memory tells me Dick Frizzell, but I can’t now find any reference to such a work. Can anyone confirm that?). The Freemans Bay dairy (on the corner of Wellington St and Hepburn St) has been owned by the Rupa family since 1953 and was turned into a delicatessen and cafe in 2001. The old flaking Bushells sign was moved inside, and replaced with a rather garish new “replica” - which caused considerable consternation at the time, as I recall. People had grown to really love that old sign…

Go to this if you’re in Auckland!

January 21st, 2010


Find out more from Tiny Kitten Teeth or The High Seas.

New story: My World

January 18th, 2010

Click here to read 'My World'

Click here to read 'My World'

‘My World’ was drawn for Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption - a book of comics put together by the remarkable Paul Gravett for UK-based charity Ctrl.Alt.Shift (who use online and traditional media and activism to work against global injustice). I initially intended to illustrate someone else’s story describing their own encounter with corruption somewhere in the world, but in the end I opted for a much more personal strip responding to the whole theme.

For more on the book, visit the Comica festival site or Ctrl.Alt.Shift (where you can buy it for only £4.99).

New story: Cornucopia (warning: contains nudity)

January 18th, 2010

Click here to read story

Click here to read story

This is a story I drew for The Lifted Brow - an amazing Australian journal. This issue (no.6) consists of a book and two CDs and was conceived as an Atlas of the world - with a story, poem or song for each and every country. When the editor asked me what country I’d like to do a story about, I immediately said Cornucopia, of course. He heartily approved of the idea, and so I set to work.

After I’d sent the story to The Lifted Brow, I made a couple of tiny changes to the wording of the story, but to be honest I’m not sure which version works best. So I’m posting the revised version here, and if you’re really curious, you can compare it with the version in The Lifted Brow to find the changes (and then tell me which you prefer)…

PLEASE NOTE: THIS STORY CONTAINS NUDITY AND IS POSTED HERE FOR ADULT READERS.

To buy The Lifted Brow no.6 (or just to read more about it) go here.

New page: The American Dream

January 15th, 2010
Click here for new page

Click here for new page

New page: The Magic Pen

January 13th, 2010
Click here for new page

Click here for new page