Community at Supanova & School holidays manga comic book workshop for kids

Hi Folks,

Long time, no update!

Been busy working behind the scenes on things that are super exciting but there are some things I can’t share just yet.

I’m working hard on my next project, it will be intriguing, possibly controversial. Getting excited and look forward to sharing stuff when it’s ready.

Suffice to say I’m much happier with my new art style, it’s getting closer to how I envisioned I might draw all those years ago.

Having said that, just tabled at Supanova Comic Con Sydney for the first time and it was a wild. One of my oldest and best friends Tony tabled with me - this man was responsible for getting me into Batman, Wolverine and comics all those years ago when we were just primary school kids. Tony was so good at selling the comic! “Do you like comics? Do you like comics that glow in the dark?” Then it was on for young and old - Saturday was so much fun.

This was our set up - tabled next to the Legendary Mike Barry all weekend, what a guy. Was so great to hang with Mike and the other awesome con attendees like Marcelo Baez, Voltron John Hanna, Sorab the writer of Bazza the Bogan Barbarian, the two Chris’s and John D.C.. The sense of community was strong and warm. The creators I was lucky to meet really are some of the coolest people.

Allana even helped me make another sign to show clearly that the comic was good value at $20. Then my surrounding table mates told me I wasn’t charging enough for book, UV Blacklight Torch, print and fanzine. I’ll charge more next time, I promise! If you see me in future it’ll be $25, so if you picked one up over the weekend well done.

Met the legendary artist/creator Ashley Wood and writer Chris Ryall. I had dedicated my comic to Ash, so it was really nice to see him and give him a copy. Chris Ryall said some really nice and supportive things a few years back when I first met him. Like Ash, Chris took my stuff seriously when it was pretty obviously made by an amateur creator and that makes a big difference. It kept me going for years when I sometimes felt like giving up.

Those guys are really cool, check out worldofsyzygy.com and especially the new collected edition of Zombies Vs Robots - the art is mind blowing and the story is really fun. Production levels are gorgeous too, it’s a very handsome book.

Other con highlights?

The cosplay was incredible - so good to see Nikaido from Dorohedoro, it just might be my favourite manga of all time … it made me so happy.

And the little Chainsaw Man? Amazing stuff - check out the manga, it’s one hell of a ride, once you start you will soon see why it’s become a global phenomenon. The anime for both Dorohedoro(on Netflix) and Chainsaw Man are great too, don’t sleep on them!

The con highlight was the eleven year old Toby from Bolt Comics family… at the end of the con he had a little pocket money left and had to choose between a toy and my comic. He chose my comic - what a cool dude.

In other news I’m running another School holidays: manga comic book workshop for 9 to 12 year old kids. Happy to say it’s booking out fast, but if you’re a Sydney local and around Friday 7 July from 10am to 1pm it’s at the Ultimo Community Centre, is only $35 and will likely book out so don’t wait too long if you know someone who may be interested.

Hope you’re all doing well and keep on rockin’!

Cheers,
Nima