Claire Mabey Art blogger Arts Insight

Digital Devil Ink has come up with Tauranga's Super Hero – Tumeki Tahi. Get a chance to meet the artists, who created Tumeki Tahi, at the Tauranga Arts Festival's Big Yellow Community Day on October 26. See their other fantastic comic books, from Digital Devil Ink, on display. Hear Dhaivat Mehta's original poetry (performing in the library). Come down town and check out the comic book action and meet Tauranga's comic wizards.

We caught up with Digital Devil Ink….

How did your group form? What is it called? And who are the people in it?

Digital Devil Ink was formed with the intent to create comics and other works of fiction for like-minded people. Jakob Mahu and Dhaivat Mehta formed the group in 2012, Georgia Corby and Brian Nieremeijer joined earlier this year, and they share the same drive to draw and write comics for others to appreciate and enjoy.

What other comic books/artists/styles influence you or who do you really admire?

As a group, we are avid fans of Western comics, like Marvel and DC, Japanese manga, fantasy and science fiction films and television series.

Each of us, however, look to certain artists more intently. Jakob draws inspiration from Eiichiro Oda, who writes and draws the manga ‘One Piece'; Dhaivat admires the well-known series ‘Dragon Ball Z', created by Akira Toriyama; Georgia is influenced by Hiromu Arakawa, a fellow female artist creator of ‘Fullmetal Alchemist'; and for Brian Yusuhiro Nightow's ‘Trigun' is a great source of motivation.

What comics will you be launching at the Arts Festival?

We will be releasing ‘Crysin', a supernatural anti-hero that fights criminals and other worldly beings,plus ‘Rustic', a pre-industrial era adventure about a young thief and an opium queen.

Describe the Tauranga Super Hero. What are the Tauranga Super Hero's super powers?

Will he/she have a comic book/art on display?

Tumeki Tahi is a mythic steam-punk superhero that is impervious to man-made weapons, can breathe underwater, and has enhanced speed and strength. He will be making an appearance at the Arts Festival in the form of a poster, which we will be also selling.

What is the reason for creating a Tauranga Super Hero?

We wanted to create a unique super hero for the Bay of Plenty we could turn into its own comic book series or be used as a mascot for Tauranga itself.

Does the Tauranga Super Hero have a background story, or a comic book story?

This is a work in progress at this point, but all of us at Digital Devil Ink hope to create issues of Tumeke Tahi revealing his origins and his fight against equally different super villains.

Describe the performance poetry, how is it different to speaking poetry? Will it be your original poetry?

The poetry is going to be read not performed. It will be original poetry written in free verse and spoken just as freely. I will be reading five poems; a few short ones, and a couple of longer ones. All of them will be food for thought for the audience.

What can people expect to see from you at the Tauranga Arts Festival Community Day on October 26?

Expect to see copies of the ‘Crysin' and ‘Rustic' comics on sale, as well as posters of Tauranga's Super Hero Tumeke Tahi; and we will be hosting a raffle. The prize will be subscriptions for future Digital Devil Ink issues. Jakob and Georgia will also be drawing caricatures of patrons.