2014 in Review: Tim Molloy

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2014?
I've spent the year writing and drawing my follow up to Mr Unpronounceable Adventures, Mr Unpronounceable And The Sect Of The Bleeding Eye. That's been a lot of fun and I'm very excited about launching it mid December. This year I got on the festival train and attended Adelaide Writers Week, and The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali as a guest. Too much fun.

What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2014?
Simon Hanselmann's Life Zone  was great. Haven't checked out Megahex yet... A friend gave me a big stack of old 2000AD's. Always good. I think this was the year I got into Thomas Ott. He's amazing. Finally checked out Woodring's Congress of the Animals. Jase Harper's Awkwood was bloody charming.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2014?
Seeing my little baby boy turn into a toddler before my eyes. I'm a stay at home dad half the week now and I'm loving it!

What are you looking forward to in 2015?
Hopefully releasing book three of Mr U's adventures. If all goes well,  more festival appearances. Whatever remains of summer after the new year, picnics and BBQs. My band releasing our long overdue first album. Just more of the same, life is pretty good right now.

Tim Molloy Illustration


2014 in Review: Matt Kelly

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2014?
In a word, failure. Perhaps that's ironic, but if so, it is not the funny ha ha kind. I have come to terms with my cartoonist failings more forthrightly this year than I have at any other time I can remember, in the sense of a soul searchingy type dealy. Failure is not such a bad thing. It depends what happens after the failures. I can see a way that the missteps of this year may lead to sure footed progress in the coming future. So, in lieu of a raft of genius achievements or fanboyish acquisitiveness, I'm going to stake a claim on my failures and see if anything comes from the ashes of bitter defeat.

What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2014?
I asked my local library to buy the Witzend slipcase (FANTAGRAPHICS) two volume collection which they did, and I think I'll pin that one with the blue ribbon. Somehow the wonderful library staff attributed central authorship to Steve Ditko and various of the other contributors to this seminal, nay, Ur-underground comics anthology, but I can easily forgive them such a petty mistake, because it is a really amazing reading experience. It is something that I would actually  be happy to call 'Timeless', it seems fresh and vital and messy and of the zeitgeist. I recommend it highly.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2014?
Many things: Skyrim, the excellent British TV show Utopia, the excellent TV show True Detective, the excellent Mukpuddy animated Internet/Mana Party political broadcast ad, Yoga, Life Drawing at the truly great Quarry Arts Centre here in sunny Whangarei, the sun, family and friends, Matakohe Limestone Island Kiwi sanctuary, nature in general.

What are you looking forward to in 2015?
Well, this brings me back to the first question, really. I'm not holding my breath for JJ Abrams Star Wars reboot, but I'll watch it when I get the chance. Basically I look forward to more risk of failure, more success and more drawing, painting and writing. More Pikitia Press products too, naturally. Oh and what the hell, why not World Peace and the restoration of the biosphere for future generations of all the species of life on Earth.

Kiwiman Comics

Word Balloons: Oi Oi Oi! #2 (Comicoz, 2014)

Australasian Comic reviews by Philip Bentley

Oi Oi Oi ! #2 (ComicOz, 2014)

As stated previously it is not my intention to run repeat reviews of ongoing series every time a new issue is released. Having explored the work as initially presented my preference is then to allow it to find its own way out of the harsh light of constant critiquing. However Matt has specifically asked me to review this issue so here goes…

The first issue of this newsagent distributed anthology presented a wide variety of strips, that whilst often individually excellent, to my eyes, failed to jell as a whole. This issue delivers a much more cohesive selection, even if I don’t feel they reach the heights that some of the former issue’s strips did in isolation

Some may attribute this greater cohesion to the fact that all contributors are women, but that seems a fairly fatuous proposal – all bar one of the creators in the first issue were men and there was no apparent concord. Instead the cohesion appears to be fostered by there being a more harmonious mix of styles and stories, and also via some thematic and narrative linkages – a number of the strips are wordless, or largely so, and the theme of metamorphosis/rebirth is evident. But that an entire issue is capable of being filled with quality strips by women is still worthy of note. For much of the last century most comic readers and creators, both here and overseas, were men. So this move does indicate a significant and welcome shift.

Madeline Karutz

The two stand out strips for me are Madeleine Karutz’s untitled opening story and Scarlette Baccini’s “Bug”, as it would happen the two wordless contributions. A wordless strip is generally more challenging to produce, but both these creators pull it off effectively presenting some evocative scenes. Alisha Jade’s “Seven” shows promise and demonstrates a pleasing art style, but given it is but chapter one of part one it is hard to be sure on the story. The other strips are by, Caitlin Major, Sarah Firth and Mel Stringer, with the latter’s fairly naïve style being at bit at odds with the rest of the work, and not as well-realised as some other strips I have seen by her. Kudos also to Lesley Vamos for a nicely delineated cover, even if I fear it is too lacking in a dominant feature to fully fulfil its purpose.

But in case all this has been seen as a disincentive to purchasing let me be clear in stating that despite my reservations about some elements, on average I find both issues to be of decent quality and certainly worth picking up. Merely from a monetary point of view $8 for six or seven quality strips is a steal. And a point that I neglected to mention above is that half this issue’s 36pp is in full colour for no extra cost. (It is particularly well-utilised by Baccini; not so sure that Major makes as good use of it.) You may not like every strip but that’s part and parcel of the anthology experience. But you may also find you end up liking work you wouldn’t otherwise have read.

Scarlette Baccini

Oi Oi Oi! #2 is currently available in bookshops and newsagents across Australia as well as from the ComicOz online store.

2014 in Review: Li Chen

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2014?
I published my third volume of Extra Ordinary this year! It was a lot less stressful this second time around (I published Vol 1 & 2 at the same time in 2012) and I got to enjoy the process more. I'm really pleased with how the book turned out.

What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2014?
I know I've mentioned Yotsuba&! before but I'm still addicted to it. Every time I read it I discover new things that I try to implement into my own work. I've also been getting into Kate Beaton's comics.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2014?  
Every year I get really excited about the International Film Festival and this year I fell in love with a French animated film called Ernest and Celestine. It is such a beautiful, funny, and delightful movie and the soundtrack is great. I can't say enough good things about it, it's brilliant.

What are you looking forward to in 2015?
In 2012 when you asked me this question I said "Making more comics, making more art. Petting cats." That's pretty much still relevant.

exocomics.com