In case you missed it, the Australian supernova is over. Why do you care, I hear you ask, assuming you don’t live in the largest island nation on Earth and have perhaps never visited the land down under. I’ll tell you why in a moment, but first let’s get the usual questions out of the way:
- We don’t drink Fosters and we don’t throw shrimp on the grill (it’s shrimp).
- We don’t ride kangaroos around, mainly because their pouches aren’t big enough and they can hit you so hard that they break your ribs.
- Yes, this clip of John Howard hurts every Australian every time we see it. If you want to see real cricket, watch this.
Now that that’s out of the way, I’m going to answer the question that’s been on your mind for three lines, or five minutes if you watched the YouTube video before reading on. Supernova and other smaller conventions like this should be important to you because they’re where you can find some of your favorite creatives that you wouldn’t have found otherwise.
Increased press
That was the biggest surprise of the last Supernova convention for me. I was strolling around and a small booth caught my eye. It was that of a comic book publisher from Adelaide called Amplified Press. Talking to the founder, Owen Heitmann, was a great way to get an insight from a small publisher’s perspective. I bought a few comics that day and had gotten through them by the end of the next day. All of the ones I picked out were nice and light and something I wouldn’t have found anywhere else.
Owen also provided the following quote about Amplified Press:
“I’ve been self publishing my comics for more than 20 years and Amplified Press is a way for me to use the lessons I’ve learned from that experience to benefit other authors. Setting up files for printers, proofreading/editing and deciding on paper size can be daunting for the uninitiated and I’m happy to share what I’ve learned along the way. I tried publishing a multi-artist anthology series in 2009 but around 2017 I realised I had a lot of friends making comics I really liked and I felt publishing under a unified brand could help promote and mutually encourage everyone involved. Amplified Press still focuses on authors in South Australia but this year a travel grant from Arts SA has helped me make a more focused effort to have booths at conventions and other events around Australia. My hope is that Amplified Press will help artists reach a wider audience that they may not have had the resources to reach out to individually. Ideally, it will serve as a springboard for creatives to move to major publishers.
As I’m a one-man operation, the comics I publish reflect my own tastes, but my tastes are quite broad, so Amplified Press has published works ranging from talking animal comics for all ages to adult science fiction to autobiographies and supernatural teen dramas. I’m a fan of everything I’ve published, but I’d like to highlight Adam Gillespie’s intellectual, cinematic graphic novel ‘Koi’, which won an award at the Comic Arts Awards of Australia; ‘Personal Growth’ by Sarah Milne, which combines mushrooms and body horror in an extraordinary use of the comic book medium; ‘Polaroids’, a high school story about fear and monsters by the incredibly talented up-and-coming author Finn O’Sullivan; ‘Doodads’, a kid-friendly collection of short comics by Georgina Chadderton (aka George Rex), whose next book will be published internationally by Penguin Random House; and my own “Sun, Sand & Self-Doubt,” a heartfelt story about sibling rivalry/love and our ability to overcome our fears.”
I love the idea behind this micro-publisher, and if you’re looking for great indie comics when you’re tired of the big publishers, you should definitely check out this excellent small press!
Australian Indie Authors
Another great thing about Supernova for me is that I get to meet authors I wouldn’t normally hear about on my travels on the information superhighway. Supernova has some big names that lure you through the door – this year it was Rebecca Yaros from Fourth wing Fame – but I’m more interested in the smaller authors.
At this supernova I met TR Napper, a science fiction author with books full of dystopian future moods that I really like, and Wole Talabi with his adventure fantasy with African mythology that excites me because we get to see a mythology that is different from the usual Greek, Roman and other Western mythologies that are a dime a dozen in the publishing industry. While these authors’ books are on my pile of shame for not having read them, they are at the top of my list when I get the chance to read them in between my busy schedule of sitting around planning stories and procrastinating on writing stories.
Back pocket
Wrapping up this article, we have one of my returning favorites in the form of the Back Pocket crew! After having the chance to interview them at PAX Aus 2023, I was hooked on the creative madness that is the epitome of this Twitch channel. If you’re a fan of a friendly, inclusive community full of the nicest crazy video game fans you can find this side of the equator.
During their (mostly) weekly streams, you’ll get a great mix of gameplay, in-depth commentary, crazy insanity, and a ton of fun! Plus, you’ll be supporting a group of Australian creators who are offering something fundamentally different to many of the other gaming shows on Twitch. Since you’re reading this article, it’s safe to say you love supporting independent creators (flutters with nonexistent eyelashes), so why not add another exciting and captivating indie favorite to your list?
What great indie developers are there in your area that you’d like to tell others about? Have you checked out any on this list yet? Let us know in the comments below.
