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Interview

Brisbane comics p3

Sing Say, a band who produced a comic to go with their CD; Don Watts, the artist behind Bipp and Trax Intergalactic Real Estate; and Wayne Nichols, a comics artist who has worked on Afterburn, College Hill, Marvel and Star Wars comics...

Sing Say was a band that released a comic-ep, The Story So Far. You read the lyrics in comic form while listening to the cd of music that comes with it. Each band member sings a song on the three song ep. See singsayproductions.com to see and hear one of the comics.
The band features Dan Heck – Drummer, Vocalist and Illustrator; Sam Harris – Guitar/ Bass and Vocalist and Sam Mcconochie – Guitar/ Bass and Vocalist. They started developing the concept in 2009.
Drummer Dan Heck liked Maus and Watchmen. Guitarist Sam McConochie liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. They both liked Ready Player One, a 2011 novel by Ernest Cline set in a dystopian future. In 2044 the world is in a mess with global warming, an energy crisis and social problems. People escape to a virtual world, the OASIS, which has a lot of references to 1980s and ’90s culture. There is an Easter egg in the virtual universe that grants fortune and control of the OASIS to anyone who can find it.
Don Watts created Bipp and Trax intergalactic real estate, a book of comic strips. The book features some excellent black ink illustrations with a lot of detail.
He liked Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, a comic book series made in black and white by Studio Gibli artist Hayao Miyazaki. It originally ran from 1982 to 1994.
He also liked Simon Bisley’s comics for 2000 AD, ABC Warriors.
Wayne Nichols is a Brisbane comics artist who has done a lot of work on U.S. comics. He was the penciller on the comic Afterburn, which is set on Earth one year after it’s been devastated by a massive sun flare. He also illustrated the psychological thriller comic College Hill.
He’s worked as an artist for Marvel Comics (Incredible Hulk, Exiles), IDW Publishing (Orphan Black) Dark Horse Comics (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Falling Skies), and Radical Comics (F.V.Z.A, Ryder On The Storm, Abattoir).
He started off liking the comics Wolverine and Spawn (Image). He liked Frank Miller comics like Sin City, which features Frank Miller’s distinctive shadowy style. He also liked Alan Moore, creator of V for Vendetta. He also liked Preacher, and From Hell. From Hell is about a Jack the Ripper conspiracy theory, and is written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Eddie Campbell who also has a distinctive black and white ink style.
He liked Australian artist Ryan Vella’s comics. And he also liked musician Mike Oldfield’s 2007 autobiography Changeling. See wnichols.com.