Deep Park Comic Book Launch

Pikitia Press is proud to announce the debut graphic novel by David C Mahler, Deep Park, debuted a week ago at The Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, Washington with the Melbourne launch party, 6pm this Friday 27th Sept at The Silent Army Storeroom, 110 Franklin Street, Melbourne.

Deep Park launch Facebook Event page.

David C Mahler's tumblr.

About Deep Park
'The beloved amusement park with it all: carousels, drop rides, a hallucinogenic water slide, an orgasm inducing roller coaster and the cult that worships it. Join a colourful cast of characters wasting a day in the sun, exploring the thrills, and terrors, Deep Park has to offer.'

Deep Park is a brand new Australian graphic novel from a fresh young voice. An equal parts amusing and uncomfortable exploration of repercussions and human failings, the story of Deep Park is presented as seemingly separated vignettes; we follow characters for two or four pages before moving on to another scenario. Only as the book progresses is it revealed how interconnected and co-dependent these stories are, all leading towards a climactic clash between a crazed, genocidal Disney-like figure and a roller coaster worshipping cult of desperation! The fun never stops at Deep Park.

About David
David C Mahler was born in Vancouver, Canada, and after a few formative years in Belgium moved to Melbourne at age ten. Raised on a diet of Calvin and Hobbes, Tintin, Archie and Astroboy, drawing was second nature from childhood. He released his first self-published mini-comic at age nine.

After years of experimenting and developing in the Melbourne small press scene, his quarterly short story comic collection Coracle debuted at the 2013 Melbourne Zine Fair. As well, he has contributed to magazines and anthologies such as Voiceworks, The Lifted Brow, Naturegraffix, Victoria Drug Scene, Dailies and the upcoming Paper Trail.

A current film student at the Victorian College of the Arts, David has also completed a number of short films and animations. Outside of his course, he is currently at work on a weekly web comic, Greyvid, a follow up graphic novel and a mini comic for the Andrew Fulton organised Mini Comic of the Month Club.

  

Pikitia Press News

This weekend Pikitia Press are proud to launch Issue #3 and #4 of Sarah Laing's Let Me Be Frank at the 2013 Auckland Zinefest. The ever prolific Sarah has gathered a selection of her Autobio comics to produce another couple themed issues, this time writing and celebrity. For folks not attending the Auckland Zinefest Sarah will be selling copies of her latest and previous issues from her blog, Let Me Be Frank and the Pikitia Press Store from next week.

In other exciting news Pikitia Press will be a Special Guest at SPX this year. We'll be taking comics from our 'ye olde floppy style' line and a few surprises to be announced next month. Three comics will debut at SPX this year, Love Stories by New Zealand cartoonist Mat Tait, Deep Park by Australian cartoonist David C. Mahler and Despair Party by Matt Emery. Big thanks to Bruce Mutard and Warren Bernard for a lot of the behind the scenes paperwork.

Deep Park Preview - David C Mahler

Pikitia Press are proud to announce David C Mahler's Deep Park another of our ye olde format comics coming hot of the press to you this September. We've been digging on David's prolific output of mini comics for a few years and we're looking forward to sharing his new work with folk everywhere. Please consider supporting David's cartoonist 'lifestyle' by purchasing something from his online store. David details his current fundraising efforts below along with some ringing endorsements from his peers.

 

  

Beard Spotlight: Andrew Fulton

 

Smaller Comics are soliciting subscriptions for a third round of Minicomics of The Month. I signed up for the last years dozen and was pleasantly surprised to receive a variety of minicomics in the mail each month. Minicomics of the Month are posted anywhere in the world and economically priced, I heartily recommend you sign up for a subscription here.

Artists featured on the 2013 roster for Minicomics of the Month are: Neil Sanders, Mel Stringer, Sarah Catherine Firth, Katie Parrish, Christopher Downes, Soft Science, Rebecca Clements, Wendy Mclean, David C Mahler, Erin Hunting, Andrew Fulton, Ben Hutchings.

I asked Smaller Comics Impresario Andrew Fulton a few questions that I really should have put more effort into.

 

Can you talk a bit about the appeal of making minicomics for a cartoonist and utilising a subscription basis for distribution?

For me minicomics are pretty much the perfect thing - I don't know if I'll ever have a "graphic novel" or whatever in me. The subscription model works out pretty great, both I think for the artists and the audience - they've really taken off in the last couple of years. I subscribe to a couple and it's always a delight to find something new and interesting in the mail, especially when it's something where I'm not quite sure what it's going to be. As an artist it's comforting to know that there is a guaranteed audience for the story I am drawing and they aren't going to sit on the bottom shelf. Last season we had about 100 subscribers, and I don't know about other minicomickers, but it takes me a heck of a long time to sell 100 of any other thing I do.

 

This year you're expanding the subs model past 100 subscribers, is there a cap this year? Is there a point that too many subscribers would make the model 'unwieldy'?

Yeah, although I'm not too sure what that number is. I was concerned that 100 would be too many, but that worked out okay for everyone, I think. Part of the appeal of a project like this is the personal touch - people are drawing and printing and folding and stapling and cutting. I wouldn't want to expand too much to the point where that labour becomes onerous and no one wants to do it. Most of the artists are Melbourne based so we might have to organise a monthly stapling party if it becomes to successful.

Tell me about some of the new cartoonists contributing this year around?

First comic out this season will be from Neil Sanders, who I know more as an animator - I'm not sure I have seen him do an actual comic. He does these crazy animated loop things on his tumblr (http://neilsanders.tumblr.com/), all these goofy animals and monsters, it will be cool to see what kind of comics he makes.

Katie Parrish is someone I haven't seen a lot of work out of but would like to see a bunch more. She's one of a few younger cartoonists that I think I mostly became aware of through Marc Pearson, who was in the current subscription round. She does these comics about life and sex and draws these weird lumpy people with pokey noses. It will be great to see what Wendy makes, too - to me her drawings are always crying out for some kind of narrative, but I'm not sure she's ever made an actual comic. And Hutcho always delights.

Read any good comics lately?

I've been enjoying my Oily subscription - the surfing comic from Marc Geddes and Warren Craghead was great, as was The End of the Fucking World, and this thing called Young Dumb and Full of Cum was super funny. Also Maré Odomo's Internet Comics came in the mail recently. He has this sort of messy, pencilly style and comics about everyday things and "feelings". And I really like David King's Crime World series - I got the last one recently - I think it's called The Story of Cop Lopez? It's up on the the Studygroup website, I want to say his style is slightly old-timey and deadpan but that doesn't sound right at all. It's funny anyhow.

Which comic was the worst out of last years twelve?

Well we aren't quite done yet - Sarah Howell should be sending hers out any minute now and we close out the current season with Sacha Bryning. He may disappoint us all horribly. [Editor's note: I've met Sacha and he's lovely bloke and a fantastic illustrator.]

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Fleshtonez

Pics from the comics fair held on the last day of the Fleshtonez exhibition at Paradise Hills in Melbourne.

David C. Mahler

Jnr Blue

Michael Hawkins and Katie Parrish

Marc Pearson

Lee Lai

Simon Hanselmann

People

Michael P Fikaris

Emily Hasselhoof

Michael Hawkins

HTML Flowers

Katie Parrish

Marc Pearson

Michael Hawkins

David C. Mahler

My haul from the comics fair. Turning up early pays off kids, I was very pleased to score Blood & Thunder #1 and Pat Ausilio's Marvel Comics Presents. (There were only 2 copies of each there!)

Stopped off at an op shop in a church hall along the way. They had this cool painting of Jesus and his pals from 1939. The church guy told me he found it out the back of the church a while ago and thought he should hang it up.

Paper Trail

Aniqa Mannan writes about the production of Blood & Thunder #2

Aaron Hawkins interviews Spencer Hall.

Melbourne launch for The Long weekend in Alice Springs at 8pm May 30th Readings, Carlton.

Nat Karmichael writes about the comics of his childhood and the 50th anniversay of the publication of John Dixon's Air Hawk.

Christian Pearce blog.

ENDLESS MANSION featuring Simon Hanselmann and HTML FLOWERS opens may 30th at galeria watdafac, Madrid, Spain. Pre-order catalogues here.

Danny Stanley comics.

Chromacon comic art competition winners.

Amy Louise Maynard reviews Mirranda Burton's Hidden.

 David C Mahler's My True Love (Not for Kiddies).

Good luck to Jason Chatfield this weekend hosting the 67th Annual Reuben Awards.

 

Elf-Fin Trailer.

Before they stuffed her in a yellow leotard and cat whiskers, Ruth Atkinson's creation, Patsy Walker was the star of popular teen comics. Here's a pile of Australia editions of Patsy Walker, all conforming to the A.G.P. teenage code of approved reading.

Paper Trail masthead courtesy of Toby Morris.