TALE TOWN
Photo: Benjamin Loh
The annual TALE TOWN comics journal was begun by Elizabeth Marruffo as a project of the Milktooth School of Art and Stories. Since the second issue, it has become a regular feature of the Perth Comic Arts Festival, with each edition debuting at the Festival Weekend. The publication commissions new works from comics-makers who are asked to engage with the theme of the that year’s Festival.
TALE TOWN is also 100% free! Newspapers are given to libraries, book stores, and to anyone else who’d like a free newspaper of comics. You can even read it for free below!
Jump to year:
TALE TOWN: Anger Is An Energy
2025 - Curated by Elizabeth Marruffo
Contemporary media floods us with relentless stories of anger, injustice and violence on a massive scale, but how do we respond as individuals? What do we do with the mad that we feel?
Comics creators were asked to respond to the rise, spread and normalisation of fascist ideologies in the world. The result was overwhelming, with 2025 being the largest edition of TALE TOWN to date. Take a look at these comics to witness how creators have channelled these feelings of anger through a creative act into a useful energy.
Featuring:
Atsushi Kaneko, Campbell Whyte, Aw Shux! Comix (Lux Hannah Pemberton & Shen Zeng), Dandelion Chambers, Hanaé Meyer, Caramel Coda, Link Parsons, Max Loh, Languid Bones, Eden Andrews, Ella Marriott, Al Sarich, S.R. Henderson, Sam Kindlespark, Jorden Allen-Barr, Steven Martellotta, Ali Marbeck, Kero Blair, Mhairi Harris, Fascher, Stuart Medley and Lorena Alvarez Gomez.
Cover Illustration: Jorden Allen-Barr
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Cover Illustration: Stuart Medley
TALE TOWN: Tales from Pandora’s Box
2024 - Curated by Elizabeth Marruffo
We invited comics makers from all over to let us know their thoughts and feelings on what may be one of the biggest mistakes humanity has unlocked – generative artificial intelligence (the great plagiarism machine).
From sassy shakedowns to existential crises, our bold and brave comics makers are getting busy, fighting for the future of human creativity.
So if you share their concerns, then you’ll find camaraderie in these pages. If you’re undecided, let these comics be your guide. And if you’ve already sworn allegiance to our robot overlords, then hopefully these tales will help restore your humanity.
Featuring:
Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, Trace Balla, David Blumenstein, Aśka, Oscar Mckay, Luke Milton, Ariel Ries, Sarah Winifred Searle, J Harris, Nina Dakin, G J Craddock, Campbell Whyte, Soolagna Majumdar, L G Veldenmire, Steven Martelotta, Nathan Vass Viney, Scott Higginbotham and Jorden Allen-Barr.
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TALE TOWN: Who Cares?
2023 - Curated by Elizabeth Marruffo
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It’s a question we often find ourselves asking: ‘Who Cares?’
The 2023 TALE TOWN commissioned new works that invited comics-makers to respond to the cover-up of feminised labour throughout history and how the consequences of this have been sharply brought into view over the last few years during the COVID pandemic. The comics from this edition of TALE TOWN formed the Who Cares? exhibition, which was on display in the State Library of Western Australia in 2023.
Featuring:
Aśka, Bruce Mutard, Campbell Whyte, Claudia Flores, Eleri Mai Harris, Elizabeth Marruffo, Isis Dorado, Joshua Santospirito, Kim Lam, Lauren Marshall, Soolagna Majumdar and Stuart Medley.
TALE TOWN: Tales from the Hermit Kingdom
2022 - Curated by Elizabeth Marruffo
Tales From the Hermit Kingdom provided the PCAF organising committee the opportunity to reflect upon the impacts the pandemic had on their lives and their time spent in lock-down within the so-called “Hermit Kingdom” that was Western Australia.
Contributing artists created short comics works that featured anthropomorphic versions of themselves and came together at the Milktooth School of Art and Stories to design and craft soft-felted dioramas of their lock-down lives.
Featuring: Aśka, Lola Baldsing, J. Harris, Scott Higginbotham, Soolagna Majumdar, Elizabeth Marruffo, Stuart Medley, Bruce Mutard, Sarah Winifred Searle, David Strack, Kristina Turner and Campbell Whyte.
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TALE TOWN: Inglewood
2021 - Curated by Elizabeth Marruffo
The very first TALE TOWN issue was a community project that was held over two months at the Inglewood Library. Local community members of all ages took part in a series of workshops where they created short comics and dioramas that mapped their experiences in the neighbourhood.
The resulting sculptures and publication were exhibited as part of the 2021 Perth Comic Arts Festival.
Featuring: Elizabeth Marruffo, Campbell Whyte and members of the Inglewood community.
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