By Renee Liang, at Auckland Writers Festival 2014

Adrian Kinnaird’s session at the Auckland Art Gallery on his new book, From Earth’s End: The Best of New Zealand Comics, was immediately engaging. As an outsider to this art form, I’m fascinated by how stories can be told in non-linear and highly imaginative ways.

Kinnaird’s knowledge of NZ comics was matched by his enthusiasm for his subject matter, and it was hard not to warm to the images he threw up on screen. 

I wasn’t aware that NZ has had such a wealth of comic artist talent, with a particular strength being that they drew on their personal histories to produce work that was stylish, quirky and unique.  Some (not all) also reflected on that fabled experience, ‘The New Zealand story’, thus contributing to our sense of nationhood.  And of course we’ve had our fair share of cartoonists who have dabbled in superhero creation too, with one of the most popular being 'Captain Sunshine', who was environmentally-conscious long before this became fashionable among superheroes. Rather cynically he was created to market a hilariously impractical wristwatch, but survived long after sales crashed.

Kinnaird’s presentation touched on the influence that comics have had on NZ society, and the various ways that publishing platforms have fed comics to readers, from the ‘penny arcade’ industry to university magazines and more established publishers. 

One particularly fascinating episode in the history of NZ comics took place in the 1950s, when there was a boom fuelled by various publishers realising there was money to be made (and for some, also a desire to foster the art form or promote their own work).  Unfortunately the 1950s comics industry was taken down by the misdirected concerns of a doctor, Frank Wertham, who published a study (later proved wrong) accusing comics of corrupting vulnerable youth. 

Several Acts of Parliament followed which restricted comics content to the extent that it no longer became viable to sell them in public.  Comics became the preserve of edgy campus magazines (we were shown a particularly sordid image by one Dick Frizzell).  But the 1970s saw a resurgence, particularly of work which contained ‘Kiwisms’ – characters who spoke and acted like everyday Kiwis.

Kinnaird revealed that his labour of love – From Earth’s End, initially a blog highlighting NZ comics work and now a book chronicling its history – has further plans to expand, with an independent print publishing company being the next step.  He aims to release one high quality book-length work a year, with the first being a re-release of Ant Sang’s cult serial, The Dharma Punks.

Kinnaird ended by saying that his belief is that independent publishing is a way to self determination for Kiwi comic book artists. He said that although partnering with traditional publishers had worked in the past, doing it yourself gave you greater control.  “The great thing about NZ comic (book artists) is that they give a damn – they’re in it for the work, not to make money, so you get more quality.”