 Don't you get just a little bit jealous that the Comicoz printer delivers with the pre-newsstand release order ON TIME and EVERY TIME? Thanks, Mr King! And the photograph does not do the wonderful wrap-around cover artwork of David Follett justice -- the glossy cover really brings out the fabulous artwork! Subscribers will have copies posted to them today (if I can get organised) or Monday at the latest. If you are not a subscriber, you will have to wait until the newsstand release of early January before you'll be able to get your hands on a copy! (Click here for a $28 subsciption for the next four issues.) Alternatively, copies will be available from tomorrow and all weekend at Brisbane's Supernova Pop Culture Expo.... Come and say "Hullo!" at the Australian Cartoonists' Association's stand! Appearing with me will be Gary Swamp Clark (not Sunday), Jules Weirdo Faber, Martin Woody Robinson and Phil No Middle Name Judd. It's okay, Phil, I don't have a middle name either....  Long time readers of this Blog will know that The Long Weekend in Alice Springs, won the totally honorary Comicoz Award for Best Australian Original Comic Book for 2013. The 2014 Award will be announced on this Blog on January 5th, 2015. In the meantime, Josh Santospirito has recently posted these short films based on his Graphic Novel. If you have not already done so, I do suggest you purchase a copy of the book (availably by clicking here from Sankessto Pubublcations). Or, if you email me [email protected] I can sell you some of the copies I still have in my office. Josh's webpage is offering copies post free within Australia for all Christmas orders....after all, there is only one month to go! If you haven't read the book, have a look at these short visual films, as they give you a good idea of the book's contents. The words were written and narrated by Craig San Roque, and recorded by Ross Muir at Reddirt Recordings at Alice Springs. The Art, comic adaption and film were all by Joshua Santospirito. The copyright in these works is owned by Craig San Roque and Joshua Santospirito, 2014 and was reproduced with Joshua's permission.  The 2014 Stanley Winners! (Missing: Roger Fletcher, who was getting the band, the Stanley Steamers, warmed up.) This is not the posting some of you are looking forward to. Maybe next time. Here is the complete list of the 2014 Stanley Award finalists and winners (in bold) from last Saturday night at the Menzies Hotel in Sydney: Animation: Matt Bissett Johnson, David Blumenstein, Rolf Heimann, and Peter Ryan Winner: Peter Viska Caricaturist: Terry Dunnett, Anton Emdin, Judy Nadin, and David Pope Winner: David Rowe Comic Book: Rob Feldman, Tim McEwan, Bruce Mutard, and Dean Rankine Winner: Roger Fletcher Comic Strip: Jason Chatfield, Gary Clark, David Follett, and Glen Le Lievre Winner: Tony Lopes
Editorial/Political Cartoonist: Christopher Downes, Mark Knight, David Rowe, and Cathy Wilcox Winner: David Pope Illustrator: Nigel Buchanan, Anton Emdin, George Haddon, and Eric Lobbecke Winner: Pat Campbell Single Gag Cartoonist: Oslo Davis, Glen Le Lievre, Mark Lynch, and Andrew Weldon Winner: Cathy Wilcox Cartoonist of the Year: Pat Campbell, Anton Emdin, Mark Knight, Glen Le Lievre, and David Pope Winner: David Rowe  Dorothy Wedd flanked by (some of) her extended family, after accepting on behalf of her late husband Monty, his induction into the Australian Cartoonists' Association's Hall of Fame. Best Cartoon on the Night was won by Luke Watson The Jim Russell Award for contribution to Australian Cartooning: Media, Entertainment and Art Alliance  (Three of) The late Monty Wedd's beautiful granddaughters. My photo does not do them justice. At the 30th Annual Award night ceremony of the Australian Cartoonists' Association, held at the Menzies Hotel in Sydney last Saturday Night, there was a special segment that filled me with some personal pride. Way back in the early days of my Membership (in about 1988, I think it was, when the ACA was known as the Australian Black and White Artists' Club), I attended my very first Annual General Meeting. I made a couple of suggestions at that meeting, not only because I believed in them, but also because I thought the Club should the follow them up, as representative and custodians of Australia's past cartoon heritage. At the time, former Member May Gibbs' house "Nutcote" was in the process of being resumed by the North Sydney Council. I had become a member of the May Gibbs Foundation, which sought to preserve this building and the surrounding grounds, with the aim of "establishing a May Gibbs Museum and Gallery, detailing her life and works for the benefit of all Australians". I felt that the ABWAC should support this cause. (I made a detailed case for this in the Third Issue of John Dixon's Air Hawk Magazine, that Gary Chaloner and I co-published in the Summer of 1988-1989.) I am happy that the campaign was successful (click here for a link), although the Club at the time chose NOT to become involved. Perhaps it was because I was a new Member, or for whatever reason, my second suggestion in 1988 was also quashed! Due to the history of the Club, I felt that a Hall of Fame to honour past practitioners of the cartooning medium, should be put in place. Time moves on, and here we are, with the Australian Cartoonists' Association now celebrating (in various names over the years) its 90th Anniversary and its 30th Award Night! Somewhere between my suggestion in 1988 and my decision to re-join the Association more recently, I am really chuffed to see that the Association has put in place a... Hall of Fame! I may not have been instrumental in seeing it come into being (my Membership lapsed in the early 1990s due to other external personal issues, rather than any dissatisfaction with the Club), and I many not have been there for the vote, but I still secretly see it as 'my' 1988 suggestion!* * Hopefully the Minutes of that AGM recorded that as fact! Past Winners have included: Jimmy Bancks (creator of Ginger Meggs), Stanley Cross (The Potts, Wally and the Major), Smiths Weekly cartoonist George Finey, and political cartoonists Will Dyson, Percy Learson and Pat Oliphant. This year, three others were inducted...and they were: political cartoonist and animator Bruce Petty, someone we have covered in recent months -- the late Monty Wedd, and Bluey and Curley cartoonist, the late Alex Gurney. Due to my past involvement with Monty's family over the past couple of years in the production of Ned Kelly, the Australian Cartoonists Association's Secretary Peter Broelman asked if I would be willing to give a speech. I actually declined, feeling that Roger Fletcher might be a more appropriate choice, given his life-long passion for Monty's work. It was lovely to see the genuine surprise and emotion when Dorothy Wedd was made aware of this award the Association bestowed upon her late husband. And wonderful to see the crowd stand and applaud following her short acceptance speech.... But behind the scenes, there is another story I thought I should share in relation to this year's inductees. When Peter asked me if I would speak, he also let me know the names of the other recipients of this particular award, and mentioned that the Association had been unable to locate the next of kin for Alex Gurney.... Since our move to our new home, my books and comic-related books remain somehow without order. Still, I was able to locate these beauties...
The first was a retrospective look at Alex and his Bluey and Curley strips. For those who were not at the Stanley Awards, and missed Lindsay Foyle's wonderful off-the-cuff summation of Alex's life, here's a quick précis that I obtained from this book (and some extra information from "Panel by Panel")... Alexander George Gurney was born in England in 1902 and his mother moved to Hobart, Australia when he was three months old (which surely makes him an Aussie). He was keen on cartooning, even from primary school age. After he completed his schooling, he studied art, both by correspondence and at the Hobart Technical School, and while he was also working as an apprentice at the local electrical generating authority. A number of his drawings were accepted in a variety of papers before he made the move to the mainland in 1926. Alex then worked for Melbourne's "Morning Post", where he met and then married his wife. When the newspaper folded shortly after in 1927, the Gurney's moved to Sydney to work for "Beckett's Budget". I was here he created his first comic strip, Stiffy and Mo. This was followed in 1928-9 by Daggs, or sometimes known as Daggsy, a full-page weekly cartoon for the "Sunday Times". But the Depression made life difficult. "It was hard to find work, and ... even harder to get paid", his son reported in the book. Still, in 1932 he was offered a contract as a political cartoonist, and thus began an unbroken twenty-three years run of work for the Herald and Weekly Times. The first twelve months were spent in Adelaide before he was asked to move to Melbourne. And it was here that he first began drawing Ben Bowyang in 1933. Learning that the newspaper's leading cartoonist, Sammy Wells, was returning from England at the beginning of the war, Alex Gurney set about creating Bluey and Curley. John Ryan contends the first issue ran in November 1939, although the 1986 John Gurney/Keith Dunstan book states it was on February 1st 1940. Bluey and Curley, appeared in fifty-three publications: all around Australia, and in Canada, New Zealand and New Guinea.  The illustration shows a picture of Alex Gurney, as a self-portrait, found in the other BLUEY AND CURLEY book. Used with Permission. "Gurney's outstanding sense of humour was backed up by detailed panels containing a great variety of angles and well-balanced figures. Acknowledged as one of Australia's finest cartoonists, his particular strength was his ability to capture the flavour of the Australian character, as seen through the eyes of Australians. A very nationalistic strip, Bluey and Curley covered all facets of Australian humour." -- John Ryan, Panel by Panel. Alex Gurney's made many trips to the armed forces, including overseas and was an accredited war correspondent although never an official war artist. He passed away suddenly in 1955. His characters Bluey and Curley continued (by Norm Rice and Les Dixon) until they were discontinued in 1975. Seeking to help Peter Broelman in locating the next of kin of Alex Gurney, I was unable to find much useful information from the Gurney/Dunstan book (although as a historical piece it is highly recommended, if you can get hold of a copy). However, as luck would have it, at a date I can no longer recall (but I think about 2000), the Global Arts Link in Ipswich (Queensland) ran an art exhibition ("Bluey and Curley, Portraits from an Era 1939 - 1955") that not only displayed iconic Australian artwork by artists like Nolan and Dobell, but it also included the originals by Gurney. Which is the reason I went to see it in the first place! Luckily I had also picked up a copy of the brochure, seeking to have a memento of the occasion...
So, this has been a (rather long-winded) discourse about some of the background investigating that I did behind the scenes of the Australian Cartoonists' Association's Award Night last Saturday. Maybe my next posting will talk about some of the other recent investigating I have done about some other Australian cartoon....
It always feels like the beginning of the Holiday Season - that time of year when I am preparing for the annual Australian Cartoonists' Association's workshop and Award Night. I have bags to pack, internal pages of the Fourth Issue of Oi Oi Oi! to start working on, emails to get up to date. AND...I have an extra special sense of excitement about my Sydney visit next weekend that centres around two separate events related to the weekend that I cannot yet share! One is related to the Award Night, the other will take place AFTER the annual get-together...
I know that sounds like a Big Tease (and it is!), but you will just have to wait and return here to read all about this Big News... Just reviewing my thoughts about future directions for Oi Oi Oi! Should the comic magazine be targeted more for younger Australians? Interested in your thoughts. I have received feedback from some readers, but thought I would canvas a wider audience here. Just received another review. (Click here to read it.) And even though I didn't (really) reply, it has got me thinking about people's perception about what a comic is or should be....
I am pleased to report that TWO Comicoz Books have been entered into the Picture Book section of this Annual Award -- Rob Feldman's Cartoons, Comics and Cows in Cars and Ned Kelly, Narrated and Illustrated by Monty Wedd. Which one would I like to see win? Why, it's a bit like saying which child do I love better! Congratulations to all who worked on both books...
 Copyright Peter Player: Don't mess with him! HOO-RAY!! I have finished Night Duty and now can try to catch up with my emails. I have been behind, so please excuse me if you are one of many expecting me to get back in touch with you... In the meantime, how do you like this ad from cartoonist Peter Player that he plans to insert in his new comic book called 58008. If you would like a copy, send me an email to [email protected] so I can let Pete know that there are a few people who crave his humour! Pete has eight pages in the Third Issue issue of Oi Oi Oi! (at the printer right now). And while we are talking Oi Oi Oi! (when am I not talking about it?), there is a well-written review covering the Second Issue on line. Click here to read it or type in http://hellyeahwritersbloc.tumblr.com/post/101227093317/review-of-oi-oi-oi-second-edition to find it.  Peter by Peter. A short Biography about Peter Player. Written and drawn by Peter Player. Peter is an ex-soldier, steelworker and barman and now contributes anatomically questionable cartoons to The Picture. He has also worked for the Beano and Dandy. He says he doesn't like to talk too much about himself, usually leaving that to ex-wives.
|
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