Michael creating comics for about six years until he was about 15. He created a number of characters that appear in his comic stories and strips. Michael did the drawing and his Dad did the scanning, digital colour (under instruction) and loading to the website. The comics are online and available as both zines colour booklets. They have been available at Graphic (Cuba Street, Wellington) and at NZCC - New Zealand Comic Creator stalls (Armageddon and ZineFests) and are at the zine collections of both Wellington and Auckland libraries.
Creating comics enabled Michael to be involved in exhibitions with other comic artists and he has been invited to two Korean comic festivals (BICOF-ICCA, 2012 & 2013). This has provided opportunities to meet many other young artists together with professional in the fields of comics and animation. Michael work has featured in the NZ magazine
Education Today (2012, 2013 2014, 2015, 2016) and the Auckland Libraries webpage -
ComicsNZ (2014).
Cornucopia (zines 1-4) and
Cornered (zines 5-8), full-colour collections of Colonel Kernel comic strips are held in Wellington Library's children's collection. In 2015, Michael's Colonel Kernel strips were accessible on the
GoComics-Sherpa website.
Michael's creations include:
Michael also did the drawing for:
2017
November
Education Today issue 4 contained Michael's interview with Kawabata Makoto, founder and lead guitarist of
Acid Mothers Temple. The interview can be read at -
Interview Avenue.
August
Education Today issue 3 is out and contains an article by Michael - an interview with Mike Duffy of
Newtown Rocksteady asking about his influences, experiences and mentors when he was a teenager. What choices and educational experiences he made to create the musician he is today. The article is the first in a series of planned interviews and can be read at -
Interview Avenue.
Education Today is also making Michael's series of Science Posters available from the magazine. Schools and interested students can contact the magazines to request digital files suitable for printing as posters.
May
Education Today issue 2 is out - first time in a very long time that Michael doesn't have anything included.
March
Education Today issue 1 is out and contains the sixth BRICKS strip from last year. Strip 6 is part of the pull-out A3 poster which has all six BRICKS strips created for Education Today in 2016. The backdrop photo is Michael's primary school. The magazine also used two panels from the 2016 Politics poster on it's editorial page.
2016
November
Education Today didn't release a sixth issue. Will wait to see if BRICKS strip-6 and the poster make it into an issue in 2017.
October
Submitted a sixth BRICKS strip and a BRICKS poster (featuring all of this year's strips) to Education Today.
Though major effort this month went into the
48hr Film Festival. Michael was part of the Naenae Clubhouse film crew that submitted a film into the Wellington Region component of this short film festival.
September
Education Today issue 5 came out in the last week of school term 3, and contains:
Michael attended Teen Summit as a representative of Naenae Clubhouse.
August
School Term 3 has begun and Issue-4 of Education Today is out (Aug5); contains a new
BRICKS comic strip and a pull-out poster on
Politics: Left & Right.
The second Colonel Kernel comic strip collection - Cornered and The Search for the Ancient Skull of the Ancients are both available to borrow from the Children's book collection of Wellington Library.
July
Michael along with five other NZ students attended the
2016 Teen Summit in Boston with ClubhouseNZ (Jul26-31).
June
Education Today Issue-3 came out towards the end of school term-2. The magazine contains a new
BRICKS comic strip and a pull-out poster on
Time Travel.
May
Education Today issue-2 is out and contains a new
BRICKS comic strip and a double-sided two-page pull-out poster all about the
electric guitar.
Copies of the second Colonel Kernel comic strip collection - Cornered have been purchased by Wellington Library. They will be available in their children book collection.
Also this month. Worked completed on the next submissions to Education Today: another BRICKS strip and a new Science Poster.
April
Submitted a BRICKS strip and a new science/tech poster for the next issue of Education Today. Also found out that the issues of Epic Journey provided to Wellington Library towards the end of last year, have been quite popular with young readers.
March
EducationToday issue-1 is available this month. Michael has a new
BRICKS comic strip, a two-page Science poster (A3 comic) and an advert promoting his comic books on Wheeler ePlatform. The science poster is titled -
Superbugs.
Comics created for a University of Auckland -
Philosophy class (Logical and Critical Thinking) are part of online resources for participants. They were created for
Tim Dare and
Patrick Girard and highlight common fallacies.
February
Michael has submitted comics for three projects this month:
1. further BRICKS comic strips for Education Today
2. Science Posters also for Education Today
We will upload the comics when issue no.1 becomes available
3. Five comics submitted for the third project - more information on this once interactions finalised.
January
2015
December
This year all Colonel Kernel comic strips (from Jul29-2011 to Jul14-2015) have been made available through the GoComics-Sherpa. Three strips highlighted this month and nine strips over the year in their weekly Editor's Picks.
Feb16 - Captured (zine no.1 - Food Fight)
May7 - What the Blue Cheese! (zine no.2 - For Corn and Country)
Jun15 - Another Corny Joke (zine no.3 - Children of the Corn)
Sep24 - Casting Call (zine no.5 - Boring)
Oct22 - Lost (zine no.6 - Legend of the Corn Dog)
Oct30 - Flattery (zine no.6 - Legend of the Corn Dog)
Dec3 - Commando Tattoo (zine no.7 - Super Natural)
Dec10 - Musca domestica (zine no.7 - Super Natural)
Dec28 - Enter Like a Trojan (zine no.8 - Cornuted)
The strip - Enter Like a Trojan - available at Sherpa on Dec24 and in their Dec28 highlight list -- and it doesn't even have a Christmas theme!
November
A sixth
BRICKS strip is published in
Education Today this month (issue 6). Available as a A3 poster containing all six strips for 2015. Poster is available as a pull-out in the middle of the magazine.
October
Have provide an ePub version of Cornered to Wheelers eBook platform. Cornered collects the Colonel Kernel strips from zine 5, 6, 7 & 8.
Another
Colonel Kernel comic strip on GoComics-Sherpa has been highlighted in their
Editor's Pick (Oct22 strip - Lost). Fifth time a strip has been highlighted in this way. Very cool.
And then, a sixth
Colonel Kernel comic strip is listed in the GoComics-Sherpa Oct30
Editor's Picks. Wow, considering many of the others were Halloween themed.
September
BRICKS comic strip no.5 is available in September's issue of Education Today. This issue of the magazine also contains a science poster as a two-page pull-out -
Everyday Physics. And a fourth
Colonel Kernel strip has been highlighted in a GoComics Sherpa -
Editor's Pick (Sept22 strip - Casting Call).
August
Wellington Library has purchased three additional copies of
Cornucopia - a
Colonel Kernel comic strip collection. Their original copy has been very popular and the new copies will go out to their larger community branches.
Issue 4 of
Education Today available this month (Aug22). It contains Michael's fourth
BRICKS comic strip for 2015.
July
Cornuted - the eighth Colonel Kernel comic strip zine is completed just in time for the Wellington Winter ZineFest. The Zinefest was at Thistle Hall, Saturday July18 and part of the 2015 Armageddon/ComicCon.
June
Issue 3 of
Education Today available this month (Jun25 - just before the end of term 2). It contains Michael's third
BRICKS comic strip.
A third
Colonel Kernel strip was highlighted in a GoComics Sherpa -
Editor's Pick (Jun12 strip - about zombies).
May
Went to Wellington Library
ComicFest-2015 (Wed-April29 to Sat-May2) to listen to the Thursday and Friday panel discussions. Second issue of Education Today out this month - it contains the second
BRICKS comic strip. And the first Colonel Kernel strip for
Cornuted (zine 8) completed and available online.
A second of Michael
Colonel Kernel strips has been highlighted in the GoComics Sherpa -
Editor's Picks. It is the one that broke-the fourth-wall.
April
Completed the comic strips for Colonel Kernel zine no.7 - Super Natural. This zine seemed to take a little longer than usual and had some rearranging of content. Now only one further zine to do and can complete - Cornered.
Michael had a chance to visit
Chromacon-2015 in Auckland at the end of the school holidays and had a great time talking with all the artists and comic creators.
March
First issue of
Education Today came out this month. Michael created a new school focused comic strip called
BRICKS exclusively for the magazine. To find a copy visit your school and community library.
February
More big news for Colonel Kernel - Part Two:
Two
Colonel Kernel comic books (Cornucopia, Epic Journey Chapters 1, 2 & 3) and the comic CAVES of DOOM (featuring Egbert the Egghead) are available in
Wheelers Books eBook Platform. They can be accessed through schools and libraries.
January
More big news for Colonel Kernel - Part One:
We have started loading
Colonel Kernel comic strips to
GoComics - Sherpa. This is a USA website that carries profession comic strips (as seen in newspapers) and those of budding strip creators (Sherpa). Michael has nearly 100 strips and we will up-load two a week over the next twelve months - starting from the very beginning (2011). This is an opportunity to show the strips and their progression (creation and development) to a new audience.
2014
The full-colour booklet of Colonel Kernel comic strips (zines 1-4) is part of Wellington Library's children's collection. Copies are also available for purchase at Graphic (Cuba St, Wellington).
November
Michael had a stall at
Wellington Zinefest, Saturday November 22. New zines -
Hand-To-Hand Combat and
Epic Journey part-2 were available. The full-colour collection of the first four
Colonel Kernel zines was also available -
Cornucopia.
Education Today issue 6 has the sixth and concluding
Colonel Kernel strip in the series - Escagot captured, escaped, recaptured and rescued.
October
Education Today issue 5 is out this month and includes a
Colonel Kernel strip. It also has a two page pull-out of Michael's
We have sent copies of zines to NZCC in Auckland and they will be available at this months
Armageddon event (October 24-27), including the new comic -
Hand to Hand Combat.
August
Michael's comic created for the ICCA - 2014 theme, Guardians has been selected from the entries. His comic and video (see July below) will be both be on display during the festival.
ICCA is part of the South Korean Bucheon International Comic Festival (
BICOF).
Further Colonel Kernel comic strips are featured on the ComicNZ webpage (August 16) and issue-4 of Education Today.
July
Michael
submitted a comic for the ICCA-2014 theme - Guardians. At the request of the organisers Michael also created a video outlining his experiences at the 2012 and 2013 ICCA events. We understand it will be made available to international children participating this year.
ICCA - International Children's Comic Awards is part of the South Korean Bucheon International Comic Festival (
BICOF).
Comic strips for the zine
Super Natural are being loaded to the
Colonel Kernel website.
Auckland Library is hosting a new blog site for New Zealand comics and comic artists -
ComicsNZ. Michael's
Colonel Kernel will be featured, with up to four strips from Legend of the Corn Dog are expected to be highlighted.
June
A Colonel Kernel comic strip is included in issue 3 of this years Education Today magazine.
May
Michael attended a workshop presented by
Ant Sang on Friday May2. It was part of the two day ComicFest organised by Wellington Library and Graphic and coincided with Free Comics Day (May3). Great session.
Wellington Armageddon is at the end of this month. Michael will help out on the NZ Comic Creators stand during the weekend event. The new Colonel Kernel Zine (Legend of the Corn) and an Epic Journey zine will be available to view and purchase..
April
Education Today issue 2 is out and included a Colonel Kernel comic strip
The sixth
Colonel Kernel zine is completed. It is titled
Legend of the Corn Dog and will be available at the NZ Comic Creators stand at Wellington Armageddon. The Armageddon event is May31 to Jun2.
March
Colonel Kernel comic strips will again, this year, be featured in
Education Today. Each issue will feature a strip from the
Colonel Kernel zine
I Want You in the Corn Army. The first issue for 2014 is out this month.
Each of this year's Education Today issues contains work from a selection of secondary school student comic creators. These are presented in a special middle section of the magazine. Issue 1 features an additional full-page Colonel Kernel strip in it's middle section (also from I Want You in the Corn Army). January
Comic strips are in production for Colonel Kernel issue 6: Legend of the Corn Dog and work has started on Epic Journey Chapter 3.
2013
December
Copies of
Colonel Kernel issue 5:
Boring (the most exciting issue yet) can be found at
Graphic in Cuba Mall, Wellington. Comics and other arts works are also available this month through
Makeshift in Lower Hutt.
November
Michael had a table at Wellington Zinefest (Saturday afternoon) November 23. Lots of fun meeting up with all the other zine creators. Colonel Kernel Issue5: Boring was released at the ZineFest.
Issue-6 of
Education Today has a further Colonel Kernel
comic strip. Many thanks to Geoff and the
Education Today magazine for publishing six
Colonel Kernel comic strips this year. Michael is very grateful for this fantastic opportunity.
Artwork from Michael's comics are available in a Lower Hutt PopUp shop -
Makeshift. The PopUp is focused on local artists of a range of interests and outputs. For Michael it is an opportunity to provide the Egbert poster and pictures, Spacecat images together with cards. You can find the zines too.
October
Michael attended a cartoon/drawing workshop at the
National Library (SatOct12). All the children had a great session with Cory Mathis who demonstrated ways to draw faces and develop characters. Cory creates the comic '
Saurian Era'.
Education Today issue-5 released this month has both a
Colonel Kernel comic strip and an article about Michael's August trip to the ICCA - International Children's Comic Awards at the 2013 BICOF festival in South Korea.
Later in August
Back from BICOF and ICCA events in 2013. The BICOF event was August 14 to 18. Great trip and this time included a visit to Seoul and more opportunities to experience Korean culture. The children's event was over two days, the Thursday and Friday with 40 children participating. This year the the international children came from France, Australia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Mexico and New Zealand. Michael was awarded one of the prizes for the comic he created at the event.
Photos from the week can be viewed at the Spacecat Productions
Facebook page
Early August
Michael has been invited to attend the 2013 Bucheon International Comic Festival (
BICOF) in South Korea. We understand that this is due to winning one of awards at the Children Comics Artists event last year. Very exciting getting to go back to this very large comic festival. Michael will participate in the
ICCA - International Children's Comic Artists event and look to experience as much of the festival as can be squeezed in to the trip.
July
Michael attended the
HighTech Youth Network meeting in Manukau, Auckland during the school holidays as part of the
Naenae Computer Clubhouse crew. Six clubhouses from around NZ gathered together to complete a series of projects. Michael was part of the animation team that created a short movie. An article in the
Manuka Courier - July 26: Modern twist on a classic Maui tale, included comments and a photo of Michael.
June
Fun Saturday June 1st spent helping out on the NZCC - Comic Creators stand at
Wellington Armageddon. Michael sold a number of his brand new Issue-4 Colonel Kernel comic and we caught up with a number of other Wellington/NZ comic and graphic folk.
March
Big news for
Colonel Kernel. A Colonel Kernel comic strip appears in this month's New Zealand magazine
Education Today. There will be a Colonel Kernel strip in each of the magazines six issues this year. Many thanks to Geoff at Education Today.
Education Today is targeted at primary and secondary schools throughout New Zealand. Michael picked six of his favourite Colonel Kernel strips and they are sequenced to present the developing world of corn vs broccoli. The March issue carries the very
first Colonel Kernel strip. Copies of the magazine will be available in your local municipal and school libraries.
January
High comic creating activity now that have hit a new year. Colonel Kernel, Spacecat and BatBat strips and stories are on the drawing board. Looking forward to Wellington Armageddon and the rest of the year.