Dredd 3D movie .. Was it worth it?

Finally we get on the bandwagon and present our take on the Judge Dredd new movie...
here. I suggest checking out that review before reading the following review. >

I've been waiting to watch Dredd 3D for nearly a year, since I heard that it was being made last year. Judge Dredd is not your average 'good guy/'hero'. He is the epitome of a true anti-hero. He might even have been the first comic book character to be a anti-hero.

JUDGE DREDD: Day of Chaos (Comic Review)

2000AD #1743 - The start of Days of Chaos.

JUDGE DREDD: Day of Chaos (from 2000AD.)




When I was a kid, around 9-10yrs old, my friend who lived directly across the street from us was a huge fan of the British weekly comic series. The two of us at such an early age began a love of a genre in entertainment that I wasn't even aware that I was in love with: Science Fiction. Sure we had our favourite TV shows like Knight Rider, Star Trek and Automan, but they were to us just the normal thing to watch.

My friend Regan was in love with the ABC Warriors which was a series that ran in 2000AD. He made sure he got every single issue of the weekly and so in turn I got to read it and for free. We had our own gang of two called the 'ABC Warriors', with out own clubhouse which his father and the two of us built. That was some 30 years ago.

Comfort in Comics: 100 BULLETS

I haven't written anything for 3 months. By written I mean, I haven't written any comic book scripts, nor have I drawn anything. When that happens I usually escape into sci-fi and fantasy based stories. Reading or watching something that has nothing to do with reality always seems to bring me out of the depths that I end up digging for myself.

   So, I did a lot of reading and watching. Being in the dark mode I was in, I picked and ruffled through the pile of graphic novels I have and then got hold of the complete trade paperbacks of 100 Bullets. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's tour de force is a classic crime series. The high concept is thus : A man with a suitcase filled with 100 untraceable bullets would offer you a chance to use it for whichever purposes you wish. What would you do if you were afforded such an opportunity?

Abstract Comics? An interview with NZ artist Draw.

Still ness #01

As a comic fan and creator I stay within the safe confines of what a comic book or comic book page is "supposed" to look like. We have the panels and then the speech bubbles and text. But New Zealand comic creator, Draw has taken a different view of what a comic book page should or could be. 

Because its something new and fresh, I had been meaning to discuss Draw's comics and so it was interesting that he approached me when I asked for submissions from New Zealand Comic Creators on the Facebook site.

COMIC ADDICTS: Tell us a bit about yourself, as most of our readers wouldn't know
who Draw is.

DRAW: Draw is my pen name; I've been making comics since the early 1990s. I
live in the North Island of New Zealand. I try to spend as much time as
I can making comics. Some influences and inspiration: Blakes 7; Harry 
Clarke; Guido Crepax; Arthur L. Guptill; The Dead C; Chris Foss; Charles
Dana Gibson; Jandek; Pre-Raphaelites; Dick Whyte; Lebbeus Woods; and 
Jean Rollin.

Crowdfunding: The Circle Graphic Novel

Crowdfunding is when a whole bunch of people you know and most likely don't know, have an opportunity to support your project. Whatever the project might be. From a short film to a tuition fee to get you to a special course to further your skills, to getting a new computer application off the ground.

Recently there has been a huge variety of websites across the West doing really great things for Creators and Artists as well as for amateurs.  So, I decided to give it a go to see if I could get support to get my graphic novel printed.

(Click on here for my project on Pozible.)

Having tried to get onto the US Kickstarter website, after the initial acceptance of my project, I found out I had to live in the United States or have a US bank account to qualify. So, when I heard about the Australian site, Pozible.com which is a bit closer to myself here, in New Zealand, I decided to have a go.

Will the real Captain America please stand up?

Jack Kirby (& heirs) Vs. Marvel Comics

Yes, I am going there. But for all the right reasons. For a little while now, a court case has been under way to get back the rights or at least get royalties from Marvel Comics for the late Jack 'King' Kirby and his heirs from the 100s of millions made from creations which without Kirby would not exist, such as Hulk, Fantastic Four, and oh, that money spinner, X-Men. Every comic fan/reader must know about Kirby for it goes without saying, that he is as important to American/Western comics as Leonardo Da Vinci is to modern art and as Anant Pai was to Indian comics.

A Hell(Blazer) of a week.

I have been reading comics as mentioned the other week for close to 30yrs. And a small portion of that time I have spent a small fortune buying, selling and re-collecting, after my first collection was burnt in a fire. Amongst those were the Uncanny X-men run from #180-295. Some of the greatest X-Men stories told were written during those years. But I am digressing. Anyway, I restarting collecting 10yrs ago and haven't stopped since. As well as you know writing and creating my own. 

Hellblazer Pandemonium Jami Delano is a Must Read.

Auckland Zinefest 2011 part 2

So, as I mentioned the other day, I was quiet sick and wasn't feeling too good having spent the previous day locked up in my hotel room with the blanket over my head coughing and blowing my nose every ten minutes. But I made it up to the event after being dropped off by my father who had driven me down.


I was really interested to see what the turn out for this event would be like, since it was my first ever Zinefest. All day there was an even amount of people flowing through the tables, looking and buying books and items on display. I bought a ton of items myself.


But being my first Zinefest, I wasn't aware of the difference between a comic book and a zine. So, I sat in on a panel, which was being held below the event at an adjacent room to a wine bar.

Auckland Zinefest 2011 (Saturday pics)

I was pretty sick leading up to the Fest and also during the Fest on Saturday. The article about the day will be up on Thursday, while I wait for the anti-biotics to clean out my system,  but in the meantime here are some pics.


Sorry about no captions. More pics with all juicy details to be added soon... Stay tuned.

Who is Aru, anyway?

A little History… 

Archie Comics, Walt Disney, and 2000AD

The first memory of ever seeing or reading a comic book was in, Nacovi, Nadi Town in Fiji. It was two different ones, an Archie and a Walt Disney Comics, with Goofy etc. Its reading these comics at the age of 7 or 8yrs old that has become the focal point in my life. 

The second memory is, when having moved to New Zealand with my mother in 1981.  A tent created with my knees under blanket at night, a small torch lighting the 2000AD comics, my friend had lent me.

Who would have thought that the from the age of 17 to 21yrs old would see myself spending thousands of dollars on comics and then losing then to the fire in 1999. And then I didn’t pick up a comic again till I began my studies for a Bachelors Degree in Digital Filmmaking in 2003. I got back into the comics as a way of meeting/making news friends in a city, Invercargill, New Zealand. I also started trading in them and also collecting as an investment. And have continued that trend up till now 8yrs later.  

A Writer is Born

A Rising Star from the Rising Sun: Aru's Debut @ CA

Before we begin, let me introduce you to Aru.
Aru is the newest addition tothe Comic Addicts family, currently residing in the land of the Kiwi and is the owner / operator for Rising Sun Comics, based in New Zealand. OK, no more interruption, stage is all yours Aru. Shoot!

The Comic Creators and Their Trials

                                                     by Aru

Much has been written on the trials and tribulations of the Comic Book Writer or Artists, but it doesn't make the issues we face any lighter or smaller. From day to day we are continually faced with the same thoughts that any artist who is passionate about their work face; is what we are doing making any difference? Will the readers accept my work? Will I ever make it? Will I ever make a living from my work?

Sadly none of these questions have any easy answers. Either wise we would either give up. A fellow Kiwi (New Zealander) Dylan Hyrocks has spent 20 yrs. trying to make it into the big times and he has after a while but he would be the first to say how hard it is. Similar, Richard Fairgray, another or of the hard workers in the comic book medium is now getting a greater recognition for his passion.