UA-139927741-1
I have left until today the announcement of the Comicoz Award for Best Australian Original Comic Book for 2013. 93 years ago today (January 5th) Monty Wedd was born. The symbolism of this Award being proclaimed on the birth-date of one of Australia’s greatest comic book artists was too great an opportunity to miss! The Award does not bring its recipient any monetary rewards or worldly acclaim, and the Award bestowed is totally an honorary one. After all, as this Blog only has (ahem!) a modest daily readership – even when a weekly post is not written – and there is little likelihood that the Award will translate into any increased sales. But Awards are fun things and they generate discussion, which is healthy for our medium As writer of the Blog, I make the decision and I am not bribed into choosing the recipient. The Award is simply my summation of who I think is deserving of it, based on the Australian comic books I have read during the past twelve months. As a Reader, you are welcome to disagree and make your thoughts known, but I shall not change my mind, and the Award will still stand… The winner of the Comicoz Award for Best Australian Original Comic Book for 2013 is....(drumroll, drumroll).... .... “The Long Weekend in Alice Springs” adapted by Josh Santospirito from an essay by Craig San Roque.
Reviewed earlier this year in our July Blog (dated July 2nd), this book, set in the Central Australian town of Alice Springs, provokes thought and (as I said at the time) “is a brave and ground-breaking tale”. It never panders to the reader; it challenges them to think about the Australian psyche, and is an intelligent read, certainly not one for those readers seeking an easy escapism. Copies of the book are available for $35 from San Kessto Publications. Click here to be taken to their web-page. |
Comicoz is Nat Karmichael's publishing imprint. Nat is committed to preserving a permanent collection of Australian comic and comic strips. He feels that there is a need to recognise comics' contribution to and depiction of Australian culture.
Nat Karmichael.
Since 2011, Nat has self-published over twelve comic-related books and was Publisher-Editor of Oi Oi Oi! -- the last series of nationally-distributed comic books of original stories to appear on Australian newsstands. He is a member of the Australian Cartoonists Association and edited the Association's journal Inkspot for 14 issues from late 2015. He remains the Lead Judge in the Ledger of Honour Awards for the Comic Arts Awards of Australia (formerly the Ledgers). Nat has now retired from his former occupation as a Clinical Nurse in the Psychiatric Emergency Centre in Queensland's largest public hospital, so that he can spend more time with his long-suffering wife and their six children and fourteen grandchildren. He still plans to publish more comics and comic-related books, the details of which you should see here in the coming months... Comicoz acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay respects to elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples.
Archives
September 2024
Quick LinksAustralian Publications since 1976:
1 x Poster 19 x comics (one a co-production with Cyclone Comics in 1988/9, one a co-production with Cowtown Comics in 2022) 2 x Paperback books 10 x Hardcover books All Australian! |