This caricature is on the reverse page of a 1975 letter John Ryan typed. It would be remiss of me not to mention John Ryan this month. It was forty years ago that John, the Grandfather of Australian Comics, passed away shortly after his seminal book Panel by Panel was published.
On or about the date, I got in touch with his wife of the time, Jan, and arranged a meeting with her and Australian comic writer-researcher Graeme Cliffe. Graeme thought they had never met; but Jan knew otherwise! Way back, earlier this decade, they both attended the launch of my first book, John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor....
John was pivotal in both our comic lives, so it was nice to remind Jan of the great influence he had on us personally, and of course the whole medium both locally and internationally. Jan, in turn, was able to regale us with tales of long ago, when she and John entertained the giants of the Golden Age of Australian comic books in their Sydney home before their move to Brisbane in 1970. John Dixon, Stan and Reg Pitt, Paul Wheelahan, Keith Chatto, Phil Belbin, Monty Wedd: they may appear simple entries in both John and Graeme's books, but Jan was able to talk of all these people in a wonderful personal way, because they were all friends in the day-to-day life of the Ryan household....
The visit was capped off by being able to present Jan with a copy of Graeme's book From 'Sunbeams' to Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Australian Comic Book (1924 to 1965) (available now by clicking here).
On or about the date, I got in touch with his wife of the time, Jan, and arranged a meeting with her and Australian comic writer-researcher Graeme Cliffe. Graeme thought they had never met; but Jan knew otherwise! Way back, earlier this decade, they both attended the launch of my first book, John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor....
John was pivotal in both our comic lives, so it was nice to remind Jan of the great influence he had on us personally, and of course the whole medium both locally and internationally. Jan, in turn, was able to regale us with tales of long ago, when she and John entertained the giants of the Golden Age of Australian comic books in their Sydney home before their move to Brisbane in 1970. John Dixon, Stan and Reg Pitt, Paul Wheelahan, Keith Chatto, Phil Belbin, Monty Wedd: they may appear simple entries in both John and Graeme's books, but Jan was able to talk of all these people in a wonderful personal way, because they were all friends in the day-to-day life of the Ryan household....
The visit was capped off by being able to present Jan with a copy of Graeme's book From 'Sunbeams' to Sunset: The Rise and Fall of the Australian Comic Book (1924 to 1965) (available now by clicking here).
 Graeme with Jan |  Guess who took a liking to me during the visit, sitting on my lap for most of our conversation! Say Hullo to MISSY everyone! |
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