Original ElfQuest WaveDancers on eBay

For the fans who have sent us emails asking where they can obtain out-of-print issues of the original ElfQuest: WaveDancers, here's your answer. Jozef just stumbled across the entire series on eBay. Here are the links: "Search for the True Crown" Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5 and Issue 6. Looks like you won't even have to bid for them. The 'Buy It Now' price is excellent.

The Little Mermaid at the Sydney Opera House

Multi-award winning Australian actress Deborah Mailman (she of the most beautiful smile!) will narrate Hans Christian Andersen's story The Little Mermaid at the Sydney Opera House in May. She will be backed by a chamber orchestra and Israel's Silver-Garburg Piano Duo (pictured) who will perform the orchestral score by composer Lior Navok. The Little Mermaid is the tale of a mermaid who falls in love with a prince. With the help of a sea-witch turns herself into a human so she can be with him, only to be betrayed when he unwittingly falls in love with somebody else. This is a beautiful story of love, tragedy and sacrifice. Recommended for ages 4+.

Date: Saturday 2 to Sunday 3 May 2009; Monday 4 May 2009 (House: Educational)

Time: 10am

Duration: 40 minutes

Venue: The Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Australia

Cost: $26 (standard); $15 (school groups)

Bookings: Phone +61 2 9250 777; Email – bookings@sydneyoperahouse.com

Creative Commons Licences 1

We're just working on the latest edition of Comics Biz, the Australian Society of Authors Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio ezine and we're including a section on Creative Commons (CC) Licences. From our understanding, these are licensing agreements that allow creators to waive certain copyright rights (that is, they “reserve ‘some’ rights” rather than “ reserve ‘all’ rights”). Essentially, CC Licences allow people to use your work in certain ways without payment to you. They can apply to books, comics, music, plays, films, artwork, photos, articles and blog and website content.

We actually didn't know terribly much about CC Licences but after doing some initial research and recognising that we're in an age where copyright is being challenged by the notion of "copyleft", we thought we should also educate our readers in the process. So we'll leave you some research bread crumbs along our way – we're not experts, just students and reporters. We'll bring you some more information soon on the four types of permissions used in CC Licences, as well as the six variations of licences. In the meantime here's a starter video for you.

Australian Political Correctness Gone Troppo & Superheroes Are Targeted!

Caught this story on A Current Affair last week and was surprised to see that comic book superheroes (Spiderman, Batman and Superman) make the grade! (They appear half way through the clip.) Looks like we're going a trifle overboard. Oh, and just so you know, I LOVE it when guys open doors for me! 


Political Correctness Gone Mad

Help Us Choose Our Elf~Fin Titles: VOTE NOW! [Updated 19/4/09]

A few months ago we asked readers to vote for their favourite Elf~Fin™ #1 cover which Jozef is currently in the process of painting. Now, as we nudge closer to publication, we're curious to have your opinion on another aspect of the work. 

When we began developing the Elf~Fin™ story a number of years ago, we actually first blocked out what is now to be the second story in the trilogy – that is, the tale of Illora – Hyfus and Tilaweed's daughter (this is not a spoiler, fans have known about her existence for years but in another context). That "fish out of water" story is pretty much mapped out and has some real hi-jinx in it.

However, as we got talking, as well as listening to our readers, we changed our minds. Tilaweed and Hyfus who have appeared in print before as supporting characters have always been fan favourites as well as our personal favourites (Jozef has always gravitated towards Tilaweed and I towards Hyfus) so we decided to bring them to the forefront as lead characters. Secondly, we wanted to do a mermaid story that – unlike many other mermaid stories (The Little Mermaid included) – took place ENTIRELY underwater. The result was that we decided to switch things around and place Hyfus and Tilaweed into the limelight, which is why the first story is essentially what we would describe as "an underwater love story".

So here's the rub ... our working title for Book 1 has up to now been Hyfus & Tilaweed. Romance stories (no matter what slant they take – tragic, epic, black comedy etc ), often favour titles named after the major characters who find love (eg. Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Harold and Maude, Benny and Joon, Oscar and Lucinda). However, this comic work also sits in the fantasy genre – our characters are elves living on a planet called Elf~Threaal. So in the interim we came up with another set of titles for the trilogy that may be befitting the work if you look at it from the perspective of the fantasy genre itself. We're curious from the point of view of creators, but we're also curious from the point of view of market researchers.

So we want to ask you ... which cluster of titles resonates with you more and (pretending that you didn't know us or our history or the history of this work), which would be more likely to solidify your buying decision? (Please note that even though we know what happens in Book 3, we don't want to flag the story via either title at this moment).

Character name-based titles:

Book 1: Hyfus and Tilaweed

Book 2: Illora

Book 3: TBA

Story/plot point-based titles:

Book 1: The Shuddering

Book 2: The Wells of Shekimminon

Book 3:  TBA

Keep in mind that at this point of time they are ALL working titles. We'll be making our final decision with the publisher but really want to bring your preferences into the discussion.

HELP US by voting (once only please) in the poll on this blog. The closing date will be Sunday 17 May 2009 at 11:59pm. 

UPDATE (19/4/09):  Your early feedback reveals that the issue of titles is not as clear cut as we thought. Some readers prefer a mix of titles for different reasons. We're REALLY interested in your opinions and instincts, so it'll be really useful if you would provide us with additional information in the commentary section of this blog post. Thanks!

The Sexy Men of Supanova

One good reason to have dinner on Supanova Saturday. Hail yea Aussie comics creators and world class talent! (From left to right, top to bottom: David Yardin, Stewart McKenny, Jozef Szekeres, Wayne Nichols, Chris Sequeira, W Chew Chan, Jon Sommariva and Marcelo Baez.) Oh and by the way, the women who attended were just as gorgeous!

Supanova Wrap Up

Jozef and I had a fabulous time up at Brisbane Supanova. I attended in my official capacity as the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio Holder, and Jozef flew himself up as a freelancer but also doubled-up on his portfolio holder role (the ASA usually sponsors one of us per event and he had been flown to Melbourne the weekend before). The ASA's "Legal Self Defence for Comics Creators" panel session went well. Dr Jeremy Fisher, the ASA Executive Director, took all the cos-play in his stride with great humour (you must remember he usually attends literary festivals not popular culture expos!) and did a great Q & A with the Supanova MC David Quinn – they covered creative commons licences, non-disclosure agreements, copyright and lots of other issues. 

We were also thrilled to meet the soft-spoken and exceptionally talented Jhonen Vasquez, creator of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, who did a portfolio review for Jozef and spoke to us for a good 15 minutes before being whisked away by a minder. A masterclass with Australians Colin Wilson and Tom Taylor who recently published The Example through Gestalt Publishing was also on the agenda. They're working on a Star Wars title as well which should be out in July. Onya, guys!

Then on the Saturday afternoon we got to meet Todd McFarlane (see pics 1 & 2) who gave Jozef some thumbs-up feedback on Elf~Fin, some excellent advice on the art of lettering and did a portfolio review for Jozef. He was a fun guy and extremely generous with his time towards us and many other smitten fans (emerging and professional comics creators included). 

Jozef also sat in on an Amber Benson (Tara from Buffy series – see pic 3) session and even asked her a question wrapped up in the lyrics and a musical serenade from the "Once More With Feeling" musical episode the cast did in the sixth season. Tara was both delighted and delightful.

Later on the Saturday evening we had dinner at the Ghengis Khan (a mongolian buffet) with a whole bunch of Aussie comics creators and their partners, which was great fun. We all FaceBooked each other madly after the event. 

I left on Sunday at lunchtime to catch my plane back to Sydney but Jozef lingered in Brisbane for a few more days. We're now armed with lots of reading material some of which we've read – Christopher Sequeira, Dave Elsey and Phil Cornell's original Sherlock Holmes story The Claws of the Chimera is one of the stand outs!