|
I acknowledge that all celebrations today take place on the traditional lands of the Aboriginal People Today, I would like to acknowledge the strength, resilience and capacity of the Aboriginal People  I note with some bemusement the recent blabberings of the Republican Movement the desire to have this nation run by an Australian Head of State. Many people who know me personally will know that I have very strong political views about the topic. That is, that I too believe that we should become a Republic. But I also believe that if we are going to do this as an expression of our 'maturity' as an Independent Nation, then we should also ditch the Union Jack from our flag. I furthermore believe that rather than 'celebrating' Australia Day as the arrival of the British, it should be the day of all days that we acknowledge the Indigenous Peoples in this land. Instead of calling it Australia Day we call it "First Australians Day". Now that would show our maturity as an Independent Nation!
Rather than all the nationalistic parties that we have, we should use it as a day to Advance Reconciliation between all peoples in this country. A day where we put ourselves out to perhaps meet a blackfella (how many Australians have actually done that in their lifetime?), to celebrate the racial diversity in the country and to acknowledge there are still things to be done to make this an even greater country. I love Australia too, but I love an even better Australia that is even more inclusive, more caring, and one that we can strive towards -- together! Okay, end of my Political Rant. It is also my daughter Natalie Mahal's birthday. So, Happy Birthday to the girl who forever changed me as a person and who continues to bring so much joy into my Life. On this Blog, I usually use a posting around this date to quickly look back at the Comicoz year and detail how many hits and misses there were, as well as talk of the Comicoz plans for the year ahead. At present, there are a few plans for the year ahead that are not quite finalised, so if it's okay with you, Dear Reader, I may defer that posting for another date....feeling, too, that perhaps I have already said enough.  The Inaugural Australian Comic Arts Festival (ACAF) will be held in Canberra on 20-21 February 2016 at the Canberra Novotel. It is a two day celebration of comics, graphic novels, artists, authors, publishers, colourists, inkers, letterers and all things comics.
Saturday will feature a series of workshops, panels and classes, finishing up with drinks and a book launch or two. Sunday will see a traditional artists alley, panel sessions, portfolio assessments, topical musical performances and much, much more! Well, the Great News is that I have been invited to speak on a panel about Distribution: a great honour indeed! I will join Bruce Mutard and Mal Briggs of Impact Comics (and others?) on stage... I have managed to secure time off work: I finish on the Friday night (meaning: I get home about 11.30 p,m, or 2300 hr nurses' time) and then catch the first (5.00 a.m. or 0500 hr) Saturday flight to Canberra (via Sydney!), get picked up at the airport and then straight into a Panel Discussion! (*whew!*) So, if you can get on down and join for a bit of History... this is the FIRST event of its kind in this country... come and say 'Hullo!' to me!! I am excited and really looking forward to it! Want to know more? Here's a useful link to the weekend's program, if you click here. The Australia! volume, raising funds for beyondblue, is now ready for sale from the Comicoz webpage (click here for details). There have been some positive posting on Facebook (mostly from the Contributors), and this has been most gratifying. However, it's not all smooth sailing. As Editor, I must take full responsibility to inform you of some errors that have snuck past me in the production of the volume. No-one likes to admit making errors and mistakes. But I am going to, here and now, in this public forum.  Look closely to see my stuff up! Page 4 before Page 3 ... I had best go back to Primary School. My grandchildren will be ashamed of me... Late in the book, Dave Dye's fine piece Ignorant Savages has had pages three and four placed in the wrong sequence, as you can see in the above photograph. There is no-one to blame for this except me. I take full responsibility and sincerely apologise to Dave for the hurt and distress this has caused him. I cannot undo what is now done, it is there for all to see, and no excuses are on offer. Sorry, Dave. Apologies too, to Sorab Del Rio (who I have identified as another name on the Contents page). And to both Chris Wahl and Andrez Bergen (who has been so kind to endlessly plug the book on Facebook) for incorrectly naming the title of their piece Loser Nobody on that same page. Even more insulting is someone who may feel like a nobody: Greg Gates, whose Biography and Illustration didn't even appear on the Contributors pages, even though he clearly sent them in.... My Sincere Apologies to all... Mistakes are being discovered all the time at Comicoz HQ lately. I was flicking through back issues of Oi Oi Oi! and have just discovered a mistake that has occurred on the inside in EVERY issue so far. Have a look in the indicia (that's the small writing usually at the foot of the Editorial page): I have identified the magazine as ISBN 2203 - 4331 instead of ISSN 2203 - 4331 .... something I shall have to rectify for Issue #8! And have a look at this error, coming your way in Issue #7 ....  Oh, dear! That's a big boo-boo, hey? Well, it's back to the future, as I start work on the Winter 2016 Edition this coming weekend....
 Awesome art and text/lettering by Glenn Lumsden. Here's the first peek at completed cover to the Special Nostalgia Edition of Oi Oi OI! (artwork and text by Glenn Lumsden, layouts by Ryan McDonald-Smith) that will be going ONLY to Subscribers and Pozible Pledgers. This has just recently gone to the Printer. So, now you have to hold on tight and wait for it to arrive!
And, if you have not Subscribed yet -- well, WHAT are you waiting for??!!  Lovely! Art and Poster: Marijka Gooding Somehow, I have to get to this, even though my roster is already posted and it may prove to be a 'hard sell' to Carlene who is sick of comics at the moment. Our garage is full of Trundle (as I seek a national distributor for the book) and Australia! (whose copies have now been sent to all contributors)... Yet, comics stop for no wife*, as copies of Oi Oi Oi! #7 are soon due to arrive from the printer for the Subscribers and comic shops, and the Oi Oi Oi! Special Nostalgia Edition heads to the printer...
* I risk many things by publically printing this here. I saw a sign as I went to work the other day: "Breakdown on the Highway" and a few things at home seem to be breaking down and I am not oblivious to it, nor am I blameless. In fact, I am darn-well the CAUSE of it. Yet, even with such insight, I perilously pursue my vision of an Australia filled with quality comics and comic-related books... Monty Wedd's son Justin last year was honoured that I chose to announce what I considered to be the Best Australian Original Comic Book for the past year on his Dad's birthday. On January 5th.... 95 years ago, Monty Wedd, one of Australia's greatest comic book artists was born. So, as we reflect on one Australian Great, it seems a good day to honour a great piece of modern work. The Award is a personal one, and based on the Australian comic books I have read during the past twelve months. I cannot pretend I have read every book published in this country, and there may be many that you consider more worthy. The idea is that the Award is just for fun (it's not meant to be too serious), and it is merely an honorary one. The recipient doesn't receive a Statuette or financial rewards; but I have no objection to my 'decision' generating discussion, because that is healthy for our medium. No Comicoz book can ever 'enter' the Award (sorry, Neil Matterson!), much as I would like to self-promote my works further. I do enough of that during the year, in any case, and I don't want to show any bias in making the 'announcement'. I thought 2015 was an excellent year for Australian comics. More creators than ever are working in the medium, and the overall standard of both artwork and storytelling is improving. There are more opportunities to showcase comics, with an increasing number of shows appearing in regional Australia. More female creatives are willing to tell their stories, and that is adding to the rise in overall quality. While a 'comic' is still seen by the Australian public as a disposable commodity, there is -- and perhaps I am biased here! -- a growing understanding that writing and drawing comics might be a legitimate means of self-expression. I found choosing this year's 'winner' difficult, given that there were many that were worthy. Two that I will mention (and, co-incidentally that I reviewed on this Blog during the year), and that nearly got the nod, were Decay #19 published by Darren Koziol and Fly the Colour Fantastica, an anthology compiled by Vikki Ong and Eri Kashima. Darren's anthology was a trip down memory lane, with many Australian independent comic characters from the past being written and drawn with all new stories by the original creators! Vikki and Eri's anthology was a high-quality affair: hardback, with 150 pages of beautiful colour, featuring many of the talented female creators presently working in the medium. But the 2015 Comicoz Award for Best Australian Original Comic Book goes to ...... Drumroll, drumroll....... STRUGGLE by Darren Close  The first page of Struggle; Copyright Darren Close Darren Close is the creator of Killeroo. Darren states that the question illustrated above is the most frequently-asked question (above) about his creation. That question, and the 24 hour Comic Challenge organised over the 2015 Queen’s Birthday long weekend, were the starting point for Struggle, the recipient of this year’s Comicoz Award. I consider Killeroo to be not only the most undeveloped character in the local comic book scene in Australian, but also the one with the greatest potential. Rufus is a genetically altered kangaroo bounty hunter with anger issues, and first appeared in his own comic in 2002. The character is typical of many Australian comics from that era: they came out sporadically, most likely when the money allowed, and as a result, very few issues have been released over the years. (By my counting, there have been four other Killeroo comics since that first issue thirteen years ago, not counting his recent appearances in the Melbourne Comics Quarterly anthology.) By Darren allowing his Killeroo character to be illustrated by a variety of artists over the years, this has assisted in the higher recognition factor of the character among artists and local comic Fans. But it has also lead to numerous artistic interpretations of Rufus over the years, and therefore to differing visions of the character. Part of the reason that Darren has had to do this, is because many of the artists who have initially worked on Darren's character have later gone on to alternative success in other ventures. I won't list them, because this is not about them, and you can do yourself a favour by discovering them yourself when you buy back issues of Darren's comics by clicking here!  Cover to the Limited Edition copy of STRUGGLE, Copyright Darren Close. Many Australian comics’ marketing begins on Facebook (or other social media), primarily perhaps because there is a ready-made audience who can 'Like' as they watch an artistic progression. Many do so without having to commit a cent. Darren reports that he initially intended the story to be a "light-hearted" romp of Darren arguing with his Killeroo character Rufus. By competing in the 24 hour comic challenge and posting his story page by page on Facebook, Darren was able to quickly gauge public opinion and obtained vital feedback of this work. In fact, I believe that Struggle typifies the genesis of many modern Australian comics and their marketing in 2015, and one of the reasons why I found it so compelling a read.
But another reason why I enjoyed the ‘read’ as it was slowly page by page, posted on Facebook earlier in the year, is because the story took on a life of its own. It began to take on a darker tone, when Darren decided to move the story to a different place and put it all on display for the public to view and witness. He told of the struggle of a creator (himself), with all the doubts, the self-loathing, and the personal space from within his psyche. Darren told a tale that so many writers and artists experience but few share, and he told it with such brutal candour and honesty. It was a powerful and positive read, and made me think when I had finished re-reading the physical copy: “That is why I read comics!” I won’t spoil the outcome of Struggle in case you have not discovered it. Darren tells me he still has about 100 units available of the initial print run of 300 copies. This, the limited print run, is again typical of a modern Australian comic in 2015. But Struggle is much more than a typical comic. If you have not done so, I strongly urge you to purchase a copy from Darren. Read and immerse yourself in it.... Struggle is the Honorary Winner of the Comicoz Award for the Best Australian Original Comic of the past twelve months. |
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... 
Nat by Charlotte
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
October 2024
Quick Links
Australian 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!
|
RSS Feed