The Star: June 04, 2020

Thursday June 4 2020 The Star
• By Matt Slaughter
BRENDON WRIGHT never
thought his childhood dream of
being a cartoonist would come
true.
But the 49-year-old took a
chance during lockdown and
submitted some illustrations he
hoped might be accepted for a
publication including new comics
by well-known UK writers
called The77.
The77 is a 68-page quarterly
retro comic anthology with a
style similar to what many people
would remember from the 1970s.
Wright drew the pictures for
British comic writer Steve Mac-
Manus’ story The Tinkling Triangles
and MacManus loved them.
MacManus is most well-known
for being the former editor of
2000 AD, a weekly British science
fiction-oriented comic magazine.
Wright said The Tinkling Triangles
is the story of a celebrity
family who gets booked onto the
wrong flight by their manager
and is heading towards a war
planet in space.
He had given up his dream of illustrating
for comics but it has now
become a reality as The77’s editor
Ben Cullis wants more drawings
from him for the next edition
coming out in August.
Said Wright: “It’s a childhood
passion that had completely died,
you know. I gave it my best shot
and about 20 years ago sort of
realised nothing was going to
go anywhere, so I gave up on it
completely.
“Eventually, I went into illustration
[work] but I still didn’t
think comics would ever go
anywhere.”
Cullis said Brendon had deserved
his place as a regular in
The77.
MacManus is full of praise for
Wright’s work.
“I feel blessed the script
found its way into his Kiwi
studio. He has visualised the
characters perfectly, capturing
each family member’s idiosyncrasies.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Wage subsidy critical to employers – survey
A SURVEY of Canterbury
Employers’ Chamber
of Commerce member
organisations shows just how
critical the wage subsidy has
been, ahead of many wage
subsidy payments coming to a
close on June 12.
The survey was sent to about
8750 business people and received
276 responses.
Of the respondents, 86 per
cent accessed the wage subsidy,
with nearly all whom accessed
the payments indicating that it
helped to keep their business
going. More than 82 per cent
said it has helped them to keep
all employees.
Only 37 per cent said they
would be applying for the
subsidy wage extension which
requires businesses to have a 50
per cent drop in revenue due to
Covid-19.
Of those that would be applying,
92 per cent said it would
enable them to keep their
business going; 78 per cent said
it would enable them to retain
some or all of their employees.
Chamber chief executive
Leeann Watson said the results
Childhood dream comes true
for Christchurch cartoonist
IMPRESSIVE:
An illustration by
Brendon Wright
included in
new UK comic
anthology The77.
His style for the strip evokes
memories of that great Spanish
artist, Casanova,” said Mac-
Manus.
demonstrate how important the
subsidy has been for employers
and employees in the Canterbury
region.
“This survey shows that the
wage subsidy has been a lifeline
for local businesses to continue
to protect the livelihoods of
many in our local community,
reducing job losses and business
failure,” she said.
CREATIVE:
Brendon
Wright’s
illustrations
have been
included in a
new publication
contributed
to by some
well-known
international
comic writers. ​
The77 is available in New
Zealand now through Whitianga
Comics and Arkham City
Comics in Auckland.
NEWS 3
in brief
Arrests after
bottle-throwing
Bottles were thrown, narrowly
missing police as they tried
to break up a house party
in Fendalton on Saturday.
Police were called to a Garreg
Rd property at 11.50pm to
reports of fighting. A youth
was arrested for assault with a
blunt instrument and another
was arrested for disorderly
behaviour.
Heritage grant for
Akaroa lighthouse
The city council has agreed
to give a heritage incentive
grant of $4872 to the Akaroa
Lighthouse Preservation
Society, a registered charity,
which will soon allow visitors
to view the original machinery
inside the structure. The
money will be used for
maintenance, conservation and
display of the mechanism and
machinery inside the historic
lighthouse, and to support
the society to provide public
access. The funding is half
of the $9744 total cost of the
work.
Parking restrictions
likely at hot pools
A proposal to install no
stopping restrictions outside
He Puna Taimoana Hot
Pools in New Brighton was
approved at the Coastal-
Burwood Community Board
meeting on Tuesday. The
restrictions will span 11m on
the east side of Marine Pde to
provide service vehicles with
easy access into the facility,
preventing parked vehicles
from blocking the entry.
Gallery pulls
controversial art
Windsor Gallery has
apologised and pulled
down controversial art
after complaints the works
appropriated Māori culture.
They have removed Rhonye
McIlroy’s art, which included
a painting of a white woman
with a moko kauae, bare
breasted, wearing bondage.
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