Episode #136 features:
Reviews: Thor: To Wake the Mangog / Seventh Son / Generation X pilot
Round Table: Comic Continuity – Is it important or a hindrance?
Top 5: Top 5 Crap Sequels to Decent Films
Plugs: Voting for Round 6: Teal’c vs The Bionic Woman now open! / Paul Bedford’s The List on Kickstarter
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Under Belly Comics have just launched a Kickstarter to release a beautiful limited edition hard cover of Paul Bedford’s The List – The New Commandments, complete with a brand new cover by Vincent Sammy.
We at NCP love Aussie comics, and The List is a great example of them. Even if you already own the soft cover, this new hard cover is a must have.
A KILLER STALKS THE STREETS. He speaks of bearing the New Commandments… of a visit from an Angel… of being God’s chosen Messenger… of a reunion in Heaven with his dead parents… His past is of no consequence. His future is bent toward the completion of his quest. Could he indeed be the bearer of the God’s New Commandments, or is all he simply a madman?
Praise for The List:
“… (The List) is so much more than a simple hack and slash fest featuring gore just for the sake of gore… kept me glued to this book all the way through to its unexpected revelation…” Comicsonline.com (US)
“Bedford, Pop and Bonin deliver a masterpiece.” Scaryminds.com (Aust.)
“The finale to The List was as harrowing a read as I expected from the set-up… Days later I’m still digesting the symbolism of its emotionally-charged ending.” Brokenfrontier.com (UK)
“Immerse yourself into this twisted world, take that leap and do something unique. (The List) has stuck with me like a scar and trust me that is a good thing. ” Morehorror.com (US)
“Bedford controls the story and the reader’s access to it masterfully. If The List was a movie, you couldn’t be blamed for thinking that Polanski, Kubrick or maybe even Scorsese had a hand in things.” Gary Chaloner (Will Eisner’s John Law; Morton Stone: Undertaker)
When you think of ‘comic books‘ what is the first thing that comes to mind?
A quick survey around my work office revealed that for the vast majority of my non-nerd colleagues, ‘comic books‘ meant everything from specific characters, Spider-man, Superman, Batman etc, to common comic book tropes like ‘nerds‘, ‘cartoons‘, ‘Big Bang Theory‘, ‘superheroes‘ & ‘creative‘.
When I then asked which country they most associated with ‘comic books‘, every person responded with ‘America‘ or ‘U.S.A.‘.
This didn’t surprise me, and I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you either.
It is perfectly understandable that to the general public, ‘comic books‘ = America. They have been the dominant force in comic books for many years. But other countries do of course also have their own comic industry; France, U.K., Japan & Australia to name a few.
In fact, the Australian comics industry is rich with passionate and talented creators. Australian comics are reaching a level of popularity and appreciation that they have never seen before and as such are reaching audiences around the world. Whether that be on the world’s largest digital store comiXolgy (Paul Bedford‘s The List, Jason Franks‘ The SixSmiths etc), by winning prestigious Awards (Ben Templesmith, Ben Hutchings, John Dixon etc), or producing acclaimed work for international markets (Tom Taylor, Nicola Scott, Colin Wilson* etc). Australian comic creators are making their presence known, and nowhere is that more apparent than at the various conventions held around Australia, especially at Oz Comic-Con.
As their name suggests, Oz Comic-Con love comics, and ensure that at every event they put on they take the opportunity to showcase as much Australian and International comic talent as they can by featuring the largest range of Australian comic book guests of any convention in Australia.
In their past years they’ve featured a great number of comic creators, including the one and only Stan Lee! But this year they have an even bigger number of Special Guest comic creators and over 90% of them are Aussies! Not only is that an amazing ratio, it doesn’t even count the heap of awesome creators you’ll find in Artists Alley. This is a huge amount of Aussie talent on show and is a great opportunity for their existing and future fans to meet them, purchase their wares and maybe even get a sketch!
And for prospective comic creators, Wolfgang Bylsma, the Editor-in-Chief of Gestalt Publishing, will be present at the event and will be completing portfolio reviews for budding comic artists. Gestalt is Australia’s leading independent graphic novel publishing house, and the portfolio reviews are a wonderful opportunity for those interested in the illustration and comic industry to have their work looked at by a respected publisher. Joining Wolfgang at Oz Comic-Con Melbourne will be some of the talented artists published by Gestalt, including Andrew Constant (Torn, Broken Line) and Justin Randall (Changing Ways).
Australian Comic Creators are some of the most talented in the world. Their output encompasses the whole range, from sci-fi, to drama, to superheroes, to comedy and Oz Comic-Con is the perfect place to check them out. We never miss a show, and neither should you.
For a full list of the Comic Creators at this year’s Oz Comic-Con, check out their site and purchase your tickets now.
* Note: Technically Colin is from New Zealand, but I believe he now resides in Australia, and he is awesome so I wanted to include him here.
Hot on the heels of their recent announcement of the awesome Kristian ‘Hodor‘ Nairn attending this year’s event, Oz Comic-Con Melbourne are following that up by announcing two more awesome guests: Daniel ‘Podrick Payne’ Portman and Arthur ‘Rory Williams’ Darvill!
Better known for his role as Podrick Payne, loyal squire to both Tyrion Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, the Scottish-born Portman has been a recognisable face on the series since its second season. His appearance at the convention is welcome news for Game of Thrones fans.
And, for three years on Doctor Who, Arthur Darvill brought to life the loveable Rory Williams, a companion to Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. One of the most well known stars of the long-lived show, Darvill is also a talented musician and stage actor, currently staring in Once on the West End.
Portman, Darvill and Nairn are just three of the guests who will be wowing crowds at Oz Comic-Con Melbourne, with other celebrities attending including television icon Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver, Stargate SG-1), acclaimed actorTom Skerritt (Alien, Top Gun, Picket Fences) and awarded actress Veronica Cartwright (Alien, Resurrection).
The event will feature celebrity Q&A panels and professional photograph and autographs will be available with all guests, with Portman and Nairn teaming up for a photo option for Game of Thrones die-hards. For those looking for something a little bit special, limited seats are currently available for an exclusive dinner with both Portman and Nairn on July 5.
Hi All!
Ben is one of our listeners and when he heard that none of the crew were able to attend this year’s Oz Horror Con, he graciously volunteered to write up something about his visit there. For his awesomeness I declare him to be an honorary NCP Crewmember! Now enough from me, take it away Ben!
I would like to start this off by thanking FilmInk. Oz Horror Con was my first ever convention, and I was able to attend because I won a competition that paid for my entry ticket!
Oz Horror Con 2013 took place at Donkey Wheel House which is a venue that I had not heard of before. This was a great venue for a horror themed convention. It was dark, atmospheric and quite spooky. As I walked down the set of stairs to the cellars I was on guard, as I was expecting something to come out and scare me (thankfully for my underpants nothing did!).
I had a great time at Oz Horror Con. All the artists I spoke to were friendly and happy to have a chat about their work. It was a blessing and a curse that I set myself a budget because I would have liked to have bought nearly everything I saw. I eventually settled on something personal and low key – a drawing of me as a zombie. This also provided the biggest challenge, trying to do a zombie face (I was just too excited and couldn’t stop smiling).
I will be attending again next year and will be making sure I have two important things, more money and more time. And now I’m looking for the next convention that I should stick my teeth into.
I just want to finish off by saying a thank you to the following people who were awesome to chat to and you should check out their work:
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