Above: Online publisher Webtoons congratulates Rachel on her win. The 2022 Will Eisner Awards (aka the comics ‘Oscars’) were held last week during the San Diego Comic-Con, on July 22 at the Bayfront San Diego Hilton. This ceremony saw Wellington cartoonist Rachel Smythe take home Best Webcomic for her global webcomic sensation, Lore Olympus.  An exquisitely illustrated romance, Lore Olympus is centred around the personal lives of the mythological gods. Here's the synopsis: Witness what the gods do…after dark. The friendships and the lies, the gossip and the wild parties, and of course, f ..read more

Above: Chris Knox, Joe Wylie and Barry Linton (via AudioCuture, I believe this picture may have been published in an issue of Strips). I was saddened to hear today that cartoonist and animator Joe Wylie passed away on the 5th of March. Above: an example of Joe's cartooning from the recent reprint of Maureen Cringe. Wylie is probably best known in the local cartooning scene as a founding contributor to the comics anthology, Strips. His main contribution to Strips was his ongoing feature, Maureen Cringe, which was recently republished in limited editions by Spanko Comics publisher Matth ..read more

Above: The Kabuki Comic by Joe Wylie. Copyright Joe Wylie 2021. Following on from the limited edition release of Joe Wylie's The Adventures of Maureen Cringe comic book in February (read about it HERE), Spanko Comics publisher Matthew Campbell Downes has produced a follow-up, The Kabuki Comic - a second collection of Joe Wylie's comics originally published in Strips #7, 8, 9, 10 and 13. For the uninitiated, Joe Wylie was an original contributor to Strips, New Zealand's first widely distributed anthology comic series in the late ..read more

Above: The cover for Bristle Annual 2021 by Sara Riordan. UPDATE: The launch is cancelled due to uncertainty relating to the current COVID-19 Alert Levels, but keep an eye out for this new issue of Bristle at local zine and comics events. There's a new Bristle Annual launching this Saturday in Wellington (as long as the COVID-19 Alert Levels are eased by then...). The new issue features stories by: Matt Kelly, Lorenzo, Gus Mitchell, James James, Sanjana Khusal, Indira Neville, Bryce Galloway, Aaron Christiansen, David Tulloch, and Brent C Willis. - AK ..read more

Above: The Adventures of Maureen Cringe by Joe Wylie. Copyright Joe Wylie 2021. I was recently lucky enough to receive a limited edition copy of The Adventures of Maureen Cringe by Joe Wylie, collecting the complete Maureen Cringe comics that appeared in the iconic NZ comics anthology series Strips, issues #2, 3 and 4/5 in the late 1970s. Maureen Cringe is a Penrose Shoe Factory worker who is on a flight to Kathmandu, when she is inexplicably transported to the 26th century. Rescued from Martians by the Ultratibetan musical warrior Omo K'Chang, she joins the crew of the sp ..read more

There were some great local graphic novels released towards at the end of last year, so while the weather is still fine, here's three graphic novel titles by New Zealand authors to catch up on - preferably somewhere comfortable with a cold drink on hand! Lockdown: Tales from Aotearoa Like scenes from a science fiction novel, COVID-19 spread like a dark storm across planet Earth. When the virus came to the faraway islands of Aotearoa New Zealand, the nation’s team of five million went into lockdown. Nineteen of the best comic artists from around Aotearoa New Zealand have created stories t ..read more

Sarah Laing, Wellington cartoonist and author of the graphic novels Mansfield & Me and Let Me Be Frank, is having an exhibition to showcase The COVID-19 Diaries, comics she created during and about the first COVID-19 Lockdown. The exhibition includes watercolours and some GIANT comics (we're talking A0 sized comics, people!). The opening is this coming Monday, 7th of September between 4.30pm and 7pm at Bowen Galleries, 39 Ghuznee Street, Te Aro, Wellington. If you can't make it to the opening, the exhibition will be on until the 27th of September. It sounds like there ..read more

The winners of the NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults were announced this week, and two titles with graphic novel storytelling elements were honoured with wins in three different categories. Mophead, written and illustrated by Selina Tusitala Marsh won both the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award and the Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction. Mophead recounts Marsh’s journey from self-conscious child unsure of her place in the world to being New Zealand’s Poet Laureate rubbing shoulders with world leaders and literary luminaries, and delivers a powerful message that your ..read more

Above: The cover of The Inkberg Enigma by Jonathan King. Copyright Jonathan King 2020. Out this month is The Inkberg Enigma a new mystery graphic novel from Wellington filmmaker/cartoonist Jonathan King. King's previous films include, Black Sheep and Under the Mountain, with his comics have appeared online and in the Faction anthology and my book, From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics. The Inkberg Enigma is a graphic-novel mystery adventure for eight- to twelve-year-olds in which a girl and boy uncover the secret that has corrupted a town. Miro and Zi ..read more

Dylan Horrocks continues his interview series Quarantoon, in this new episode featuring cartoonist Sarah Laing (Mansfield & Me). They discuss the process behind her daily comics diary, The COVID-19 Diaries. There's also a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at her sketchbooks and writing process for Mansfield & Me, and a discussion about the future of graphic design in the current climate (the recent collapse of Bauer Media and the NZ magazine industry, and the rise of social media). It's a great conversation that you can check out above, or on ..read more