 Yesterday, I gave an undertaking to Margaret Cameron, Manager of the National Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour, that I would present her with the layout plan for the Emile Mercier book I am working on for them. I've decided on the cartoon to appear on the front of the book, and (as depicted here) the cartoon for the back. Just thought I would share here....
 Is there anyone who doesn't like entering competitions? When Jimmy Bancks died before finishing his last Ginger Meggs comic strip (back in 1952), he left behind this incomplete gag. The Ginger Meggs website is seeking creative people to complete the strip, as part of the early celebrations when the feature turns 100 later this year. Here's where you can find the details, by clicking here: Competitions — (gingermeggs.com)
 I'm hoping Jeff Keane will allow me the liberty of sharing this cartoon from his calendar. The older I get the more I tend to reflect on things past and society's current directions. I remain concerned that as a society we are not kind enough to one another, and I'm not really sure why that is. There is certainly a loss of the sense of community in areas where we now live, and if communities are not connected, then the country as a whole is not. And as a result, further from there, countries are not: already we see countries becoming more suspicious of each other. Discord is sown, sometimes to the point of not being able to go back. As I reflect on recent past history, we know where that leads to, and I remain concerned that people (well, especially those in the West) have forgotten the horrors of war. It remains something foreign to us, but unless we start working on first improving relations between our neighbours I (sadly) fear that that may be the direction more communities may experience. I hope not, and I remain committed to ensuring as best I can that it does not happen.
It was World War II that brought American cartoonist Bil Keane to Australia. He was a serviceman, stationed in Scarborough, Queensland (not far from where I now live). He met his sweetheart while here, and they married and settled in the United States. Eventually, Bil created the comic strip The Family Circus, which detailed his family life. In the late 1980s I communicated with Bil, and spoke of commonalities: living nearby where he had served, and having a family. One of my daughters was called Penelope Joy, but she asked to be called "PJ" (perhaps because it was easier to 'spell' at school!) -- and she still is called that name today. I met Bil's son Jeff, who now carries on his Dad's newspaper strip, just a few years ago now when he came to Queensland to meet his Mother's side of the family. What a wonderfully generous man he is: in January a calendar arrived in the mail, sent by Jeff. The calendar details some of the exploits of his Family Circus, still with his Dad's gentle humour. Some find it a little too sentimental, but perhaps I see it as a reflection of where I'd sometimes like to see where we, as a society, could be. In a kinder, gentler place. Writing to Bil, having a loving daughter PJ, meeting Jeff: these are just some of the highlights of my life. Today, I have reproduced this month's cartoon that appears on Jeff's calendar. I hope you like it. Be kind to each other. |
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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