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Easter 2024. Time to reward the readers of this blog/website with the latest news from Comicoz! Last post I intimated about some of the new projects I am working on. Firstly, Iron Outlaw is still chugging along in the design stage. I'm not sure at this stage how I plan to get the book distributed around the bookstores in this country (most especially in Victoria, where it ought to be in every library in the state). But that's a concern for another day. Rob Feldman's comic, Fridge Boy from Space, is at the printer now, after we had to made some small design modifications. (The printer did not recommend saddle-stitching, due to the number of pages in the comic.) We made those changes and the comic should be ready to take on the road soon.
Which leads me to the next topic: Which events will Comicoz and I be appearing at in 2024? Here's the scoop! I'll be attending Comic-Gong (for the first time!) on Saturday, May 11th. Run by the Wollongong City Council for many years, this is an event I have longed to attend: and now, without the constrains of my employment, I can be there! I am really excited about this! Rob Feldman should be there with me, so that's an opportunity to have your copy of Fridge Boy From Space personally autographed! Later in the year, I'll also be attending Bendi-Con (in Bendigo, Victoria). Although the date and details have not yet been finalised, I understand that Friday, August 23rd is the likely date. Dillon Naylor will be a guest of the event, so if you need your copies of Rock n Roll Fairies or Batrisha and the Creepy Caretaker signed, that's the place to head! I have not yet heard if Comicstreet is going ahead in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall in 2024, but if it does (and I seriously hope that that's the case), then you'll see me there too! I'll try to convince Graeme Cliffe to come along to sign copies of his book, From 'Sunbeams' to Sunset: the Rise and Fall of the Australian Comic (1924-1965). Incidently, if you want copies of this or any other book from Comicoz, jump on to the Store page of this website (do so by clicking here).  Okay, so you want more news...?! I'm soon going to be working on the second issue of an Air Hawk comic! The first issue will be available at all the events (listed above). I also need to point out that this second issue is planned to be distributed internationally! And, something I didn't mention above, Fridge Boy From Space is going to have two editions! One will be available to Australian readers (and is being printed now), and one is planned for an international release in September. This international edition will not be available to Australian readers except at the shows Rob and I attend. But wait -- there's more news...!! Yes, besides the above-mentioned comics travelling the world, sharing Australian stories with the world, there's also ...a new book in the works! Drum-roll please...!!  I'm super-excited to share (and publicly announce it here for the first time to loyal readers of this blog) that I have signed a publishing deal with Rebellion, under their Treasury of British Comics imprint, to reprint the complete adventures of a classic 1960s comic strip, The Cloak. Not familiar with the title? No problem! I'm going to tell you a little more a little later (above is just a short pictorial teaser), simply to say that creator Mike Higgs and I are hoping to have a "big name" writer (who is a fan of the character) pen the Introduction. (I won't drop any more announcements, as I think that is enough excitement for one day! I really do have your interests at heart, you know!) Happy Easter!  I've been struggling over the past few months with many competing interests and issues, leading - if you are a faithful reader of this site - to some neglect of Comicoz news. That's not to say nothing has been happening (just the opposite!), it's more about trying to find time to attend to all these things. There's time needed to work on personal relationships (always a fragile environment, especially when I'm not always as "100% present" as I ought to be). Sadly, I'm sure my children (and grandchildren) recognise this. There's the time that paid employment takes away from said relationships (and the time taken and needed to travel to said employment). For me, there's also the toll that the type of employment I work in brings, with shift work, the emotional strains of the work, and management's misguided (in my opinion) attempts to address even some of the ongoing issues of that decimated experienced workforce, post-COVID. There's also the time required to creatively work on projects, past and present (and into the future). And, of course, personal things that life throws at you. The loss of our two dogs within a six-month period last year was a tough time, most especially for Carlene, who was always home with them all the time. And then, there is the need for self-care to ensure one doesn't become a victim of all these competing issues and interests...
So, for those readers of this site, this is just a way to say "sorry" you have haven't heard much from me, and to explain why you have been so neglected! Although some of those issues are going to be resolved in the coming week: I am retiring from my place of paid employment! It's always been a balance. Do I work to fund some of my projects (something that has taken place over the past ten years) or do I allow the projects to begin to fund themselves? Honestly, I'm super-excited about the projects ahead. Allowing the projects to be more commercially viable is something that's going to have to happen now, or other future projects will fall! We'll see which way it goes in the coming months... With some dismay I learnt that the company that was distributing all my books (Novella Distribution) has gone under. I had wondered why no-one was answering my phone calls, why emails were not returned, why money promised had not arrived into accounts... It's a pity the financial troubles of the company had not been relayed to those whose products they rely on (the various publishers and creatives). But for Comicoz, it's nothing new. From the collapse of the Bookworld retail chain when we brought out our first book (John Dixon's Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor), to the change to the Australian Government's parallel distribution laws just before The Men Behind Superman was released, to Denis Jones and Associates' liquidation ... we've seen it all. It's really a matter of trying to keep ahead of the game, something I've not done particularly well if I am honest. I've mentioned here on this site before, that I'm concerned that there is a limited shelf life for comic creatives on crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter. Even though I have used the medium (even as late as last year), and that it is presently successful for a lot of Australian comic creatives, I personally don't want to rely on it into the future. There has to be a different business model. I'm not going to discuss that here at this moment, but these changing circumstances will bring a change to the future direction of Comicoz that I shall share with you in the months to come. In the meantime, I just thought I would explain why you've not heard from me lately, and to resolve to share a little more of what's going on into the future the next time we meet here....! |
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.
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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!
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