- Events
- Comicfest 2021
Join us for this fantastic — and totally free — national celebration of all NZ things comics-related. Featuring a whole galaxy of Aotearoa’s finest graphic artists and authors in a full day of events for comic fans of all ages, plus hundreds of free comics to give away for Free Comic Book Day!
ComicFest has been cancelled
Sorry, we are cancelling this Saturday’s ComicFest 2021 to keep everyone safe with the change in Covid-19 Alert levels. Thanks to our amazing and committed artists and sponsors, we will work together to discuss our future options for the events. While you’re at home, check out the amazing artists who have shared their stories on the ComicFest webpage. Thank you for your understanding. Kia kaha and stay safe!
ComicFest 2021 to be redrawn another day
Star-studded line-up
This year’s star-studded ComicFest line-up includes many of Aotearoa’s comic greats in workshops, talks and activities for the whole family.
The talent includes a huge host of award-winning comic artists like Kay O’Neill, Jem Yoshioka, and Dylan Horrocks.
It brings together comic geniuses like Sarah Laing, Jonathan King, Austin Milne, Tara Black, and . Former NZ Poet Laureate and Mophead creator Dr. Selina Tusitala Marsh joins worldwide comic phenomenon Toby Morris for an exclusive live reboot of The Spinoff’s Two Sketches series.
Lore Olympus creator Rachel Smythe, whose works have just been snapped up by the Jim Henson Company will join Mary Guo, creator of the hit children’s series Kiddets to talk about adapting work for the silver screen.
Zak Waipara and Michel Mulipola will talk about super hero creation and celebrating indigenous voices with live demonstrations of their art.
The day promises to be unmissable for anyone who is interested in comics and graphic novels in Aotearoa. See you there on Saturday 21 August.
Programme
Here's the programme for the day. We’ll be updating the page with links to the free tickets in mid-July.
All day | Free comics!
Graphic Comics has generously sponsored this mega giveaway – they will have a wide range of free comics available, there will be something for everyone! Graphic will also be selling a range of New Zealand-made cartoons and comics.
Te Ahumairangi Foyer
All Day | Drawing competition
Head over to our drawing competition table and create your own work of art! Draw us your favourite character from a book, movie, TV show — or perhaps even a character from your own imagination. There’s a panoply of awesome prizes up for grabs!
Prize categories are — 8 and under, ages 9-13, 14+
Te Ahumairangi Foyer
9am to 1pm | Talk and draw in the round
Meet your favourite ComicFest comic/graphic artist as they draw and talk about their work in these informal half hour demonstrations.
Suggested for — all ages
Te Ahumairangi Foyer
9am to 10am | The Inkberg Enigma with Jonathan King
Debut graphic novel sensation and film director Jonathan King discusses the creation of his mystery adventure comic The Inkberg Enigma.
Suggested for — ages 8+
Programme Rooms
10am to 11am | Working in the digital world with Rachel Smythe and Mary Guo
Superstars Rachel Smythe and Mary Guo will be delving into the digital world to explore comics and media produced for the screen. How has the internet and digital art transformed how we think about comics and storytelling?
Lore Olympus, created by Rachel Smythe, is the most popular comic on Webtoons, with over 300million views, and 5million subscribers.
Mary Guo is a comic artist, illustrator and concept art designer. Her work has been used in mobile games like Sewer Rush, and she is the Art Director for hit children’s series Kiddets. She is currently working on a book of illustrations and short comics about Wellington cafés.”
Suggested for — ages 12+
Auditorium, Taiwhanga Kauhau
10.10am to 11.10am | Meet everybody’s favourite axolotl, Dewdrop — with creator Kay O’Neill
Kids (and big kids) are welcome to join the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning illustrator and graphic novelist Kay O’Neill to help create friends old and new for their character, Dewdrop the Axolotl.
Suggested for — ages 4+
Programme Rooms
11.10am to 11.30am | Kids’ cosplay
If you are 12 or under this is your chance to dress up as your favourite comics character (you could even make up your own character). There will be lots of spot prizes and a parade, and it promises to be loads of fun! No weapons or military cosplay please.
For — ages up to 12
Te Ahumairangi Foyer
11-30am to 12.30pm | How to draw heroes – a masterclass with Michel Mulipola and Zak Waipara
This how-to masterclass features two awesome artists who will show you how they go about drawing and creating heroes -- whether they be from real life or from myth. Crack the code of superhero creation with Zak Waipara and Michel Mulipola in this live demonstration.
Michel Mulipola is a Samoan comic book artist who has two big passions in life — comics and wrestling — and who, when he gets the chance, likes to combine the two. His works often feature Pasifika wrestling heroes and recent historical heroes.
Zak Waipara has written and illustrated for comics, created newspaper graphics, children’s books, motion graphics for cinema and worked as a designer for Māori Television’s children’s show Mīharo. He currently leads the Bachelor of Animation Degree at Animation College in Auckland.
Advance booking recommended.
Suggested for — ages 8+
Auditorium, Taiwhanga Kauhau
12.40pm to 1.40pm | Zinefest workshop – Create your own zine masterpiece
Learn how to make comic panels, storyboards and zines of your own with visual artist, designer, and scholar superstar Kerry Ann Lee at our crafting tables.
Kerry Ann Lee is an artist, designer, scholar and educator from Pōneke Wellington. Along with public exhibitions and workshops, Lee teaches graphic design and illustration at the Wellington School of Design at Toi Rauwhārangi, College of Creative Arts at Massey University and is well known for her work with self-published fanzines over the past two decades. She is the founder of Red Letter Distro a punk rock mail-order catalogue-cum-‘occasional distro’ of curated zines, comics and artist publications from Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 2001, Red Letter has supported local and international zine makers through zinefests, art book fairs, exhibitions, talks, workshops, mail order catalogues and distribution networks around the world including in Mexico, USA, Australia, Ukraine, The Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Suggested for — all ages
Programme Rooms
12.40pm to 1.40pm | Giselle Clarkson — from commission to ComicFest artwork
Once you get a commission, how do you go about generating creative ideas that meet that brief? Indeed, how do you get a commission in the first place? And what do briefs usually entail?
All will be revealed in this event with the incredibly talented graphic illustrator Giselle Clarkson.
Giselle’s illustrative works include: The Gobbledegook Book: A Joy Cowley Anthology, Egg and Spoon: An Illustrated Cookbook, Secret World of Butterflies and Hazel and the Snails.
Advance booking recommended.
Suggested for — ages 8+
Auditorium, Taiwhanga Kauhau
1.45pm to 2.45pm | New voices, new perspectives — a panel discussion featuring Rachel Smythe, Tara Black and Austin Milne, and chaired by Jem Yoshioka
The world of graphic art is changing at an amazingly rapid pace — a veritable revolution has been happening in recent years. Developments have included: new definitions of what comprises a graphic work, new platforms with global reach for people to view your work and new high-tech tools to create your works.
This panel features some of the New Zealand artists at the vanguard of these changes, discussing the new opportunities for artists, the challenges inherent in these changes, and — finally — how artists go about taking full advantage of these new frontiers.
Advance booking recommended.
Suggested for — ages 12+
Auditorium, Taiwhanga Kauhau
3.00 to 3.50pm | Two sketches live — Toby Morris chats and draws with Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh
Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh is an Auckland-based Pacific poet and scholar of Samoan, Tuvaluan, English, Scottish and French descent. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in Pasifika literature.
In 2016, she composed and performed for the Queen at Westminster Abbey, and she was New Zealand's Poet Laureate for 2017-2019. Her fabulous book Mophead was the Supreme Winner at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2020.
Toby Morris is known for his online comics that highlight social issues. His COVID-19 coverage for The Spinoff was done in conjunction with Siouxsie Wiles and was shared globally. In his younger years, he played bass for Wellington band Batrider.
Advance booking recommended.
Suggested for — all ages
Auditorium, Taiwhanga Kauhau
4.00pm to 5.00pm | Keynote panel — Graphic novels as a form of personal expression
Our final panel explores the idea of the graphic novel as a conduit for personal expression in Aotearoa, and includes such graphic luminaries as Dylan Horrocks, Sarah Laing, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Michel Mulipola, Zak Waipara and Tara Black, with Sam Orchard as chair.
Advance booking recommended.
Suggested for — ages 12+
Auditorium, Taiwhanga Kauhau
Comicfest2021 is a collaboration between Wellington City Libraries | Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui and the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.
Check before you come
Due to COVID-19 some of our events can be cancelled or postponed at very short notice. Please check the website for updated information about individual events before you come.
For more general information about National Library services and exhibitions have look at our COVID-19 page.
Giselle Clarkson