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Archive for January, 2010

The Tango Collection

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

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…

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Posted in Books, News, Other cartoonists | 10 Comments »

Exhibition: ‘Taste’ at Auckland Art Gallery

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

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…

Posted in Exhibitions, News | 2 Comments »

Go to this if you’re in Auckland!

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

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

Posted in News, Other cartoonists | No Comments »

New story: My World

Monday, January 18th, 2010

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).

Tags: Ctrl.Alt.Del, My World, Paul Gravett, Stories
Posted in New comics, News, Stories | No Comments »

New story: Cornucopia (warning: contains nudity)

Monday, January 18th, 2010

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.