It’s coming up quick: Wollongong’s premier pop culture event run by Wollongong City Council is hitting on the 16th May. The official program for the event is on its way but all the key info is now online. You can find out which workshops you can sign up for, what stalls and clubs you can check out, and which artists you can go and hob-knob with.
Add to that the fact that Wollongong once again gets its own comic shop on the same day, and 16th May is looking like one hell of a day.
For those living in the Illawarra region of NSW, you may be interested that there’s a crowd funding campaign underway. Berkeley resident Shane Mason is opening a comic chop, The Comic Cafe, in the Wollongong Central on the 16th May to coincide with the Comic Gong extravaganza the same day.
The shop is definitely opening, but there’s a crowd-funding campaign underway to ensure it has a wide range of stock when it does. Am I excited? Damn straight I am. There’s nothing better than hearing a comic store is opening, let alone in the neighbourhood. Plus I’m already preparing my CV for the Sunday Jeff position 😉
Have a read of the story over at The Illawarra Mercury or go direct to Shane’s crowd funding page right here. The team also have a Facebook page where you can get updates.
The Bendigo Record, Comic and Toy Fair is fast approaching, and will host an expanded Melbourne Comics panel for the day.
Following the successful launch recently in Melbourne of their anthology Melbourne Comics Quarterly, the Melbourne Comics Community will be doing their first Regional Launch and it’s exclusive to the Bendigo Record Comic and Toy Fair. Melbourne Comics Quarterly Issue 1 second print has a new cover which will be launched at the Bendigo Record Comic and Toy Fair.
Artists confirmed so far are:
SAUCE‘s Falling Star creator – Cristian Roux
That Bulletproof Kid‘s creators – Matt Kyme
From Above comic book creator – Craig Bruyn
Killeroo creator – Darren Close
Gaining Velocity and Melbourne Comics publishers and editor Alana Bruyn and Neville Howard
www.whitecatpress.com creator Dale Maccanti.
Specialist back issue dealers will also be present, as well as vinyl and toy sellers. It all takes place on March 22nd, at the Bendigo Expo Centre, in the Prince of Wales Showgrounds, Holmes Road Bendigo, from 10am to 4pm. For more info check out the Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/BendigoRCandTFair or email Bendigorctfair@outlook.com.
Dammit I wish I lived closer to Bendigo! The 2015 fair is coming up on the 22nd March.
All the details are below or you can check out their Facebook page here.
We’re an unabashed local fan of Comic Gong, which is heading into its third year with the announcement of 2015 dates and arrangements.
The date is set down for Saturday 16th May from 10am to 4pm, and the call has gone out for exhibitors who are interested in setting up.
All the details are here, so get in quick as exhibitor expressions of interest close on 30th November.
As a Wollongong local, I’m a bit excited by this, but that aside, Comic Gong is shaping up to be one hell of a day.
Organised by Wollongong City Council’s Library Services, Comic Gong had its inaugural outing in 2013 and it’s back in a much expanded form this year, slated for Saturday 17th May 10am to 4pm. It’s going to be spread across three venues (all within a couple of hundred metres of each other), with stalls, an artists alley, Cosplay competition and a number of workshops from notable Australian comic creators including Pat Grant and Bruce Mutard.
The artists appearing, are (via the Comic Gong site):
So if you’re Sydney based, it’s well worth the 90 minute drive for the day. If you’re from the Illawarra then you have zero excuse unless you’re getting married. And even then – why not do that at the event itself?
We’ll be there checking everything out and will tweet pics and write a wrap-up afterwards. To get all the info for Comic Gong, here’s the event page.
We’re really pleased to have our first Comics Herald Giveaway! As we’ve covered already, the Oz Comic Con series of events has started making its way around Australia and it’s hitting Melbourne on the 6th and 7th July.
A lot of people are excited about Mr William Shatner being there, but let’s focus on the comics-related guests you can potentially see:
Ben Hutchings / Dillon Naylor / Ryan K Lindsay / Tom Raney / Phil Jimenez / Colin Wilson / Paul Abstruse / Justin Randall / Bobby. N / Tom Taylor / Christian Read / Andrew Constant / Tristan Jones / Paul Mason / Dean Rankine / David Yardin / Jon Sommariva / Freddie E Williams II / Queenie Chan / Jason Palmer / Nicola Scott / Stew McKenny
Check out the full Oz Comic Con guest list over at their website. But now, onto…
The Competition
Thanks to Oz Comic Con we have two weekend double passes* to give away. That means you and a significant other / friend / person you drag off the street can check out the event on both days. And all you have to do to go into the draw for a double pass is:
1. Tell us why you want to go to Oz Comic Con in Melbourne in 30 words or so. Be funny, innovative, controversial, whatever takes your fancy.
2. You need to post your response on either:
a. our Facebook page (you’ll need to like our page – we only send out one update per day usually so you won’t be bombarded we promise)
b. on our Twitter account: we’d love you to follow us but you don’t have to, just do a public response to @thecomicsherald and it’ll be counted
3. Get your response in by Midnight AEST on Sunday 23rd June.
4. That’s it!
We will draw randomly the two winners from those who’ve posted a response as per rules above and will notify you via Facebook or Twitter on Monday 24th June.
Ticket Details
* The passes are valued at $80 each and allow entry into the event on Saturday and Sunday. As per the website, ticket conditions are: The event floor and panel stages have limited capacity as set by the Fire Marshal. Even though your ticket is needed to get into the event, it does not guarantee you immediate access to any event space or the panel stages if it they have reached capacity. We clear rooms between each panel. Most autograph signings and photograph opportunities are of a limited nature. Your general ticket does not guarantee autographs or photographs at the event.The winners will be able to collect their tickets from the speciality ticket desk which will be located near the main entry.
New Zealand. We’re known for producing some pretty impressive things. Lord of the Rings, Pavlova, Zorbing. But what if I told you that some of us were pretty keen artists too? Don’t believe me? You don’t have to. You can see it for yourself this Sunday, at New Zealand’s newest arts festival: Chromacon.
Chromacon is an annual event aimed at showing the world our best and brightest. Over 70 New Zealand based artists – illustrators and comic artists alike – will be in attendance this year. People like Tim Gibson, creator of Moth City , Faction Comics and more will be available for workshops, demos, and just being available to talk all day, giving you the chance to get close and personal with some of our most impressive artists we have to offer.
Chromacon 2013 is this Sunday, May 12th, all day, taking place in the Aotea Centre in Auckland. It’s free entry, so you really have no reason not to check it out. You can find out more information from their website www.chromacon.co.nz, or through their Facebook and Twitter.
I’ll also be in attendance, so if you want to put a face to the name, hit me up on my Twitter, @Pipes815. I’m not nearly as exciting as these people are, but I promise I’ll say hello.
It’s only a week or so until 2013’s series of Oz Comic-Cons commence. I attended last year’s Melbourne show and personally had a good time, but there were some fairly significant organisational issues (here’s a piece I wrote last year for Bleeding Cool on it). More on that later, including a response from the organisers, but first the dates for this year’s Oz Comic-Cons:
Perth: 9-10th March at Perth Exhibition Centre
Adelaide: 16-17th March at Adelaide Showgrounds
Melbourne: 6-7th July at Royal Exhibition Building
The guest list for each city from a comics viewpoint has some good variety. And at least with Stan Lee not attending this year there shouldn’t be quite the frenzy we saw last year on the comics side of things – more time not in lines to check out the work of local creators.
Because of the issues from 2012’s event, I contacted the team behind Oz Comic-Con and asked them what arrangements were in place to ensure there isn’t a repeat. Their response:
We’re not trying to make excuses regarding this matter, as we did underestimate just how many people would want to come to the event. However, the venue controlled how attendees were admitted to the event on the day and chose not to put a priority on pre-purchased ticket holders.
However, attendees that claimed they were not able to gain entry, were not happy to wait until doors re-opened. When doors to the event did re-open, everyone was granted access. This year we’re ensuring that there will be more room for attendees at all of our events. And with regards to pre-purchased tickets specifically, we will be ensuring that attendees with pre-purchased ticket will be prioritised for entry at the event.
So there you have it – it certainly seems that this year’s event is going to be bigger and better than last year’s. Will you be going?
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