When the average reader thinks of comics, it’s unlikely that they think of New Zealand or any creators from that island at the bottom of the planet, but that’s not to say that they’re not making comics down there. With the first issue having launched in 2012, “Faction” is an anthology made up entirely of Kiwi comic creators. Industry pros like Roger Langridge and Ben Stenbeck, WETA designer Christian Pierce, and even webcomic creators like Li Chen and James Squires all got in on the action as two more issues have been published since, with issue 3 arriving last month in June.
Editor and contributor Damon Keen was kind enough to talk about “Faction,” upcoming issues, and how a Kiwi comic anthology can reach the rest of the world. For those interested, “Faction” can be purchased in print at www.factioncomic.co.nz and subscribing to the mailing list gets you a free digital copy of each issue.
For those that don’t know, what’s the general idea behind “Faction”?
Damon Keen: “Faction” is an anthology designed to show off the best of New Zealand comics – both to New Zealanders and the world. Anthologies have played an important role in promoting Kiwi comics since the early eighties, and we wanted to continue that tradition.
We also wanted to raise the bar – and print only material that we felt was of a really high quality – as well as taking advantage of lower print costs, and this new fangled Internet thing I heard about on the radio-scope.
How did the idea of “Faction” originally form and how did you go about soliciting these various comic creators to submit a short?
DK: “Faction” formed because I wanted to get my own comics in print! Selfish, selfish, selfish! Only after I started doing a bit more exploring around the local comic community did I start to really get excited by the quality and craftsmanship here, and start to get far more interested in the idea of getting other artists’ work in the public eye. As a graphic designer by trade I knew I had the skills to present the work in a way that really did it justice – and as a lifetime comic aficionado, and creator myself, I figured I knew what made a good comic.
My co-editor Ame Maxwell was still relatively new to comics and she brought the fresh eye of someone who could see beyond my somewhat jaded point of view and tell what might have more populist appeal.
We approached certain artists directly, some I knew vaguely, others not at all – and we advertised on a local art website for contributors. Curiously we had to twist people’s arms a bit to work in colour, believe it or not! I think New Zealand comic artists are so used to having their work printed in black and white, because of the lower costs, that some of them struggled to reach the understanding that, YES, “Faction” was going to be a full-colour book.
We also decided that “Faction” had to be representative of the true Kiwi comic scene – which meant we decided we wouldn’t go to print unless each issue had a mix of male and female artists. Fortunately the proved not to be an issue.
Publishing a small press book, especially one at nearly 100 pages, is no easy task. What was the process like getting initial support from the community and eventually getting the funding to print the thing?
DK: Well, the comic community in New Zealand is incredibly supportive and friendly, and people are generally keen to see projects like this go well. And building an anthology is such a group project anyway, without the championing of it’s contributors and the broader community we never would have made it to issue 3.
Funding the project was more of a challenge! We went for a grant – which we didn’t get – and so decided to try out crowdfunding. Kickstarter wasn’t available in New Zealand at that time, so we used a local equivalent – PledgeMe – where we raised just enough to get the first issue into print. This anthology is such an expression of our local scene that in the end the community nature of crowdfunding the book just felt like the perfect way to make this project happen.
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Unlike most anthologies, “Faction” isn’t bound by a particular theme or idea. Instead it features a myriad of styles, stories, and themes in each issue. What made you take this approach with the anthology rather than something a bit more focused?
DK: Well, quality was our first mandate – the craft of comic creation, art and storytelling chops. The anthologies I’ve seen over the last decade or so in New Zealand didn’t really appear to be edited, they just took whatever came their way, and it meant you got a really mixed bag of stuff quality-wise.
In addition, for that first issue, Amie and I were an unknown quantity to people, so in approaching artists for work, we didn’t want to limit our options by theming that first issue. The local comics community is growing – but it’s still small! So “Faction” #1 evolved into a showcase book – a kind of introductory reader in New Zealand comics.
Issue 2 and 3 are a bit more streamlined I think, in that while they’re not really themed (beyond a strong whiff of scifi and fantasy that is), the work in them works together from issue to issue in a much more unified way.
Now that “Faction” is better known by people, we’re planning on doing some themed issues moving forward. We have an issue about climate change (with a beautiful cover by Tim Gibson) coming up in October and next year we’re going to do an issue celebrating women comic artists here in New Zealand – both things I’m really excited about.
The two stories you’ve personally submitted to “Faction”, one in issue #1 and one in issue #2, are both sci-fi stories, though with two different feels to them. How is it working on the book not only as an editor but as a contributor as well?
DK: I recommend it! It certainly helps keep my motivation up – though more in getting my own comic work done than the other way around. It’s helped make me more disciplined in finishing my comics – in that it’s given me specific goals to work to. It really helps to know that people are actually going to read your work further down the track. I think it’s probably what my comic work has needed all these years. Anyway, I’ve just finished another short story and I’ve got the next one lined up and ready to go – and yeah, they’re both sci-fi. I know what my predilections are!
There’s a certain tension between being an editor and a contributor of course – after all – who edits me? It could be perceived as a kind of double-standard I suppose. On the other hand so much of my own time and money has gone into this that I reckon it probably balances out on the karmic spectrum, or at least gives me a certain leeway. Anyway, no one’s accused me of taking the piss yet!
I know Comixology Submit has been a game changer for a lot of small press publishers. “Faction” #1 is on the platform, but has the inclusion on Submit shown any real results yet?
DK: To be honest, I’ve been so flat out on “Faction” #3 and some other projects the past few weeks since it went up that I haven’t had time to give ComiXology the love it deserves. It’s certainly garnered the first volume a little more attention, which has been great – and “Faction” #2 is going live on ComiXology from July 9, so I guess that’s a sign that I need to knuckle down and start paying attention to my least favourite part of indie comic making – self promotion!
You’ve told me before that comics in New Zealand are undergoing something of a renaissance. As the local scene has grown, how has that affected local comic readership?
DK: Ha! You know, while the number and quality of New Zealand comic artists have just taken off over the last few years, you wouldn’t know it reflected in New Zealand readership. Kiwis are still surprised every time the media does it’s obligatory “Comics aren’t for kids anymore” story every year or so.
Continued belowHaving said that, I think things are slowly changing. Comics are being taken a bit more seriously. Over the last few years there’s been gallery exhibitions of comic work, regular radio spots, and the libraries around the country have become a LOT more supportive. Locally we’ve had a number of graphic novels printed, with more on the way, and frankly there’s a really good, hopeful vibe in the comics community here. If you stand back and take the long view, I think I can just about discern the beginnings of something. Hopefully it’s not a floater in my eye.
Actually, I get asked a lot about the effect that the glut of superhero movies have made on comics here – and I have to say, not a helluvalot. If anything, it reinforces the old stereotypes about comics, and probably turns a lot of people off comics – in the way that superheroes have been excluding so many people for decades. It re-enforces the idea that superheroes ARE comics, and that comics are a genre, not a medium; something I still end up explaining at parties more often than not.
You mention that readership is pretty low in New Zealand. As such, how did you get into comics and eventually start creating them?
DK: I think the vast majority of comic artists here do comics because they are passionate about them and have stories they want to tell. For decades there’s been little or no opportunity to make money out of it, sadly.
I started doodling comics when I was 3 or 4, and never really stopped. I never really got into it too much either – it was a start-and-stop thing for me. I drew a cartoon strip for the local rag in the 80s, a comic for an Auckland Museum in the 90s and for the local council in the 00s, but it was haphazard and really just for fun – or because I had tricked my employers into letting me do comics for my day job!
So I’ve always dabbled, and always come back to comic creation after being away for a few years. But readership was always a problem – I really didn’t see the point in doing the damn things if no one was going to be able to read them. So it was always an uneasy relationship. That’s why the idea of “Faction” made a lot of sense to me; a group of artists, pooling their resources and networks could potentially have a lot more reach than any one of us striking out on our own. So in that sense “Faction” is very much an experiment in trying to grow audiences and grow readership.
Internationally, apart from a few people like Roger Langridge, Dylan Horrocks, and webcomic artists like Li Chen of Extra Ordinary Comics, there don’t seem to be a lot of New Zealanders getting wider recognition. How are things like the internet and digital comics making it to where something like “Faction,” or other Kiwi comics, can get an international audience?
DK: I think in a lot of countries over the last decade, comics are just taking off – and it’s wonderful to see. I’m no expert, but it seems to have happened in Australia and the UK as well – and the variety and number of new indie books coming out from the States is fantastic. There’s a lot of components to this renaissance – new publishers, new policies, not least the Internet and social media, but in particular tablets and of course new delivery software. When the Ipad came out that felt like a real game-changer to me – I could read digital comics in bed finally – and of course those comics could come from anywhere in the world.
I guess the thing about comics is because they’re not really BIG BUSINESS, (at least within the indie world) there’s still a bit more of a level playing field. Small comic artists can compete in the digital area more equally with bigger names, based solely on the quality of their work. That’s a pretty rare thing, and it’s great to see. I know in New Zealand we’d love a bit more attention, and dollars thrown in our direction, but the relative vacuum that we’ve worked in for so long has been healthy as well – it’s built something unique. Now the Internet is allowing our community to flourish and grow in ways it never has before – and it’s going to be really interesting to see how it evolves.
