Nga Pakiwaituhi o Aotearoa

New Zealand has produced many internationally known cartoonists - Noel Cook, Colin Wilson, Roger Langridge, Martin Emond, Simon Morse, Chris Knox, Dylan Horrocks and more. But less people realise that there’s been an active comics scene in New Zealand since at least the 1940s, with magazines like Strips, Razor and Jesus on a Stick gaining enthusiastic local followings and rave reviews overseas.

Nga Pakiwaituhi o Aotearoa: New Zealand Comics is an extensive survey of New Zealand comics, introducing the rich history and diverse contemporary scene, from the world famous to the local cult figures.

Both the exhibition and the 100-page catalogue were assembled with the support of Creative NZ.

The exhibition serves as a brief history of New Zealand comics and an introduction to the work of more than 50 cartoonists. It first showed at the Small Press Expo / International Comics and Animation Festival (SPX/ICAF) in September 1998 at the Bethesda Holiday Inn near Washington, DC, USA. It will show in New Zealand for the first time in March 2000 at the Aotea Centre in central Auckland (as part of the Armageddon comics convention).

Nga Pakiwaituhi o Aotearoa: New Zealand Comics is a 100-page survey of New Zealand comic book creators past and present. It was compiled and published by Dylan Horrocks to accompany an exhibition of the same name which recently debuted at the Small Press Expo and International Comics & Animation Festival in Bethesda, MD, USA.

Lavishly illustrated, Nga Pakiwaituhi o Aotearoa: New Zealand Comics is the most complete survey of New Zealand comics to date and includes:

Historical essays by Tim Bollinger and Dylan Horrocks
Full-page profiles of 50 contemporary New Zealand cartoonists, including biographical information, contact details and samples of their work
Over 80 illustrations and comic strips from the 1940s to the present

Comics in the Antipodes: a low art in a low place. Essay by Tim Bolllinger on history of NZ comics.

A Letter from Hicksville: why I love New Zealand comics. Essay by Dylan Horrocks on the recent history of NZ comics: here

One page profiles of 50 NZ cartoonists, with biographical details, contact details and a sample of their work. Take a look at a few here: Lars Cawley Adam Jamieson Barry Linton Colin Wilson

Looking for Hicksville, 6-page strip by Tim Bollinger.

4-page strip by Tony Renouf (first published in the 1997 SPX book).

Things to Do When you Aren't Being a Cartoonist, 1-page strip by Tony Renouf.

Nga Pakiwaituhi o Aotearoa: New Zealand Comics
Edited by Dylan Horrocks
Published by Hicksville Press

ISBN 0-473-06708-0
100 pages, A5 (210mm X 148mm), b&w, paper covers, stapled