Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m exited to annonce that my SF comic strip is now uploaded for all to read on my comics site www.webcomics.co.nz . I’ve been producing this strip for sometime and have decided to actually make them publicly available…well, they have been appearing in The Funtime comics anthology in print but now is the time for it’s online premiere.

Sophie and Gil is a strip inspired by 70’s and 80’s space opera especially ones that took “inspiration” from a certain space flick that came out in 1977. I would recommend the soundtrack to “Battle beyond the stars” when reading it.

The premise of the strip is a young space captain and her robotic (and sentient) crew member travelling the universe and getting into adventures.

So please click on the comics page and I hope you enjoy Sophie and Gil. My little homage to Comic booky space adventure.

The last time I touched on Chch Armageddon, it was to announce that I would not be having a table there any longer, Which is still true but I will be there thanks to the New Zealand comics table and Christchurch Drawfest…Oh yes, I joined Chiristchurch Drawfest as well. This happened last year, Me and my wife were able to help out at the NZ comics table and I was able to do my sketching thing with a fellow Comics creator, the very talented, Sarah Lund. I worked the sunday mourning shift at the Chch Drawfest table doing exactly the same thing. This year, hopefully with be the same again.

Christchurch Armageddon 2018 announcement.

For the past 6 years I have been taking part as an independent vendor at Christchurch Armageddon and once at Auckland. It’s always a hoot to do and I’ve met a lot of people and I like nothing better than doing sketches for people but it’s been getting harder and harder every year to pay for the single table I need and finally I have to call the game. I can not go next year. I love going and being apart of it all but financially, it’s never been worth it.

ctober was the best of times and the worst of times….well, not really but it was a month of note in my world.

I’ll start with the worst first. No Auckland Armageddon for me this year. It wasn’t so bad but I love going to Auckland and I have friends there but it wasn’t going to happen this time. From a vendor point of view, it wasn’t worth it. My stock wasn’t that different from the year before. I would rather be productive than represent last years offerings…but I love doing the show.

But I did have a small presence there…

Funtime comics

I’ve had a story published in the latest Funtime anthology.  This latest offering made it’s debut at the Auckland show.  This is the best of times bit of the post.

The story is an 8 pager called Sophie and Gil. It’s a SF story about a young Starship Captain meeting a Robot.

The Crew

It was almost a year to the day that I first met the NZ Comics people at Auckland Armageddon last year. If you have seen the photos, you know that it was crowded. I decided to break away from my table long enough to go to the New Zealand Comics table and introduce myself and show them my three books. Swimming though the sea of bodies, I finally made it to the table. I met The Editor, Jason and two of the contributors , Mary and Alex (Who has done the cover for the latest issue.) I was impressed with the production quality of the new edition of Funtime comics. I almost fell over when they told me that they were based in Christchurch.  So now, Once a month I go to the Funtime comics workshop and “Work” on new things. It was a nice development in my life.

Funtime comics 28 is available at: funtimecomics.nz

A quick update. Armageddon photos found.

The Office

Christchurch Armageddon 2015 is over for another year…several months ago.  Ugh, my updating of the site has never been that snappy. Some of that has to do with learning how to do it.  Anyway, the show was wonderful, a new location, many people and I never got up from my drawing board.  Honestly, it’s my favourite thing to do is to meet people and do a doodle for them.

By this time of year I would be gearing up for the Auckland show but sadly, this year we are unable to make the trip.

Photos of the Christchurch show will be forthcoming as soon as we find some.

Now, what’s new….

My Comic series Digital Butterfly is back in production. Part 3 is on it’s way and I’m happy with it’s progress.

The birth of Butterfly

For anyone who bought Digital Butterfly 2, you would have seen this:

Print Ad for Digital Butterfly part 3.

This was my homage to print ads that used to appear in magazines like Comics scene. I always wanted to do one. This was designed and drawn the night I finished the production work and features a new character. This scene was supposed to have appeared in issue 3…but that was almost a year ago. In the past year, Digital Butterfly has developed story wise, developments that have rendered this Ad inaccurate. This scene still happens, This new guy will appear (He’s an important fellow.) but we won’t see him until part 4.

The next development is that it’s no longer in Five parts. I see it being done in Eight.  The reason for this is that when it came to the writing of part 3, there was so much in it and to continue with the format of 1 and 2 was unrealistic. Splitting 3 in half and creating 4 from that, short changed 5 and so on. so I reviewed my original plot and rewrote it, which leads me to…

The page format has changed. Parts 1 and 2 follows a 4X4 grid ( more or less ) like this:

The reason for this was for online presentation. Butterfly was originally going to appear on the web first and print later. Each page would be produced like above but be split in half for online presentation. For example the page above (Page 23) would be appear like this:

and this:

The re launch of Batman Beyond had done something similar, I thought it was a good plan but my sudden launch into the print world changed that. When we published the first edition of a collection of short stories in my first book VARIENT, I wanted to add something that was current. All the stories that were already done had been older work that didn’t reflect what I was currently doing so I pulled out the outline of Butterfly and did the first 4 pages as a preview. Butterfly went to print before she saw life on the web. I kept the format and I liked that I could add a lot of story in a single page.

On the advice of a professional comics retailer I decided to change the format to a more traditional 3X3 grid. Part 3 is being done this way and I like the results. Parts 1 and 2 for now will stay in the old grid. I don’t want to think about that right now. Also:

Digital Butterfly 3 and beyond will also appear on the web first. Parts 1  and 2 are on webcomics.co.nz right now (as with the Variant stories) Current print versions are still available. the future of issue by issue editions is still up in the air. When it’s all done, a collected edition is defiantly in the cards and that is my goal with the story. A book to hug and hold (or read if you prefer). One more development:

The print edition will be smaller. Parts 1 and 2 (or the “Pilot” episode as I think of it) were printed in A4. The result was more like a magazine than the traditional comics size. On the advice of the same retailer I decided to change it to something retailers would be used to.

I think that’s all the Digital Butterfly developments right now.

Next Episode will be about a Girl and her robot…in space.

That Time again.

Tea break. 2013 show.

From the new edition of Digital Butterfly 1

Can’t believe it’s that time again! This time, no horse pee. This year the show is out of the stables and into Horncastle arena. March 7th and 8th.

There will be both current issues of my Comics series, Digital Butterfly available in new(ish.) editions.

I will be there with a table again (Table 36) selling my stuff and sketching it up for you folks. This is my favourite part of doing the show. It always amuses me that people like to watch me draw at the tables but think they are somehow disturbing me while I do it. The truth is that I don’t mind at all. It’s all apart of the show.

Hard at work.

In Auckland last year I got all sorts of sketch requests. There were the usual Anime characters, but I also got this:

Zombie Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn. Another sketch request was:

Ninja turtle with a beard.  What they hey! You want ’em. I drew ’em.

My table at 2014 Christchurch Armageddon.

A typical collection of Sketches for sale.

All the people!

Ryan’s stand at Auckland Armageddon is all booked and paid for. Make sure you come along and say hi. He’ll be drawing away and selling his books, sketches and paintings in Artists Alley for the whole of labour weekend.
A-M