 Margaret at the 2018 Stanley Awards, when she accepted the Jim Russell Award on behalf of the National Cartoon Gallery. Photo: Nat Karmichael. I often use this website (and the Comicoz Facebook page) to highlight some of the comic-related books I am working on or events I am taking part in, occasionally I review some of the other cartoon or comic events taking place or books being published. But I rarely talk of someone who is not a cartoonist or who does not draw comics. Today, I'll make an exception.
I've been working on the Emile Mercier book for the National Cartoon Gallery for some time now (and presently have the pages in the hands of the two designers working with me on the project), and part of this has involved contacting Margaret Cameron, the manager of the National Cartoon Gallery. Margaret and I spoke about the project last week, and she told me her of news. Today she has made it official, with her announcement "that the time has come for [her] to move on and let new blood take the Gallery forward from here". Margaret has been an amazing powerhouse behind the Gallery's recent refurbishment and extensions. She has ensured that it will be the most significate bricks and mortar structure dedicated to cartoons and associated (comic) arts into the future. She says she has moved from "knowing little about cartooning apart from [her] childhood Sunday newspaper readings" to being aware of just how important cartoonists (and, thus, comic creatives) are "in recording and reflecting contemporary life". I don't think I have known anyone (perhaps with the exception of Jim Bridges) who has been such a passionate supporter of the medium. Certainly no-one has been able to bring this cartooning vision into such a tangible reality. So while Margaret plans to still be involved at "this year’s Rotary Cartoon Awards and Stanley Awards and also the November exhibition to celebrate 100 years of Ginger Meggs" her greater input is going to be greatly missed in cartooning circles. All the very best to you, Margaret! |
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. For numerous years he has been the Lead Judge in the Ledger of Honour Awards for the Comic Arts Awards of Australia (formerly the Ledgers). These days Nat dreams of retiring from his 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. And perhaps publish some more comic-related books. 
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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August 2023
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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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