New Zealand Comic Anthology Officer Pup Released

The New Zealand comic anthology Officer Pup was released this week and is now available from comic stores and magazine retailers around the country.

Officer Pup #1 contains work by 18 comic artists from around the country. The artists include Dylan Horrocks, famous in the world comics scene for his celebrated graphic novel Hicksville (recently translated into French and Italian) and London-based cartoonist Roger Langridge, whose work has been printed by the world’s most prestigious publishers and appeared in comics including Tank Girl Magazine and 2000ad. Also featured is the black humour of Aucklander Karl Wills, New Zealand comic historian Tim Bollinger, members of the challenging comic collective Oats and exciting young up and comers like Martin Molloy, Kerry Ann Lee and Tim Molloy. The work represents a wide range of styles and is by artists of varying ages and backgrounds.

Funded by a grant from CreativeNZ, Officer Pup was born out of editor Toby Morris’s desire to promote New Zealand comics to the majority that have never experienced them.

"There’s a frightening amount of quality New Zealand comics being produced right now," said Toby Morris. "Hopefully, Officer Pup can help New Zealanders realise that comics are a fascinating medium, and that New Zealand’s comic artists are among the world’s best." Since the demise of popular seventies and eighties anthologies Strips and Razor, New Zealand comics have continued to grow in strength, but have lacked a forum to showcase the best of the scene.

Officer Pup hopes to change people’s perception of NZ comics, and will be aimed outside the conventional comic book market. While comics have been a neglected creative medium worldwide, they have still flourished in the New Zealand underground. "It’s that number 8 fencing wire, DIY kiwi tradition," said Morris. "It’s about time that New Zealanders become aware of the great work that’s been going on around them." As an ongoing publication, the biannual Officer Pup will also help the local scene develop and grow stronger still.

Editor Toby Morris is a twenty year old student from Wellington. After three years of weekly cartoons in Salient, and self-publishing his own comic books since 1996 Morris has become a well known figure in the world of New Zealand comics.

For more information, or images contact Toby Morris- email: toby@redkids.co.nz cell: (021) 127 2257 home: (04) 970 6522

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