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In the fortnight from November 30th to the middle of December, there’s been what has seemed like an endless parade of award events within the Australian cartooning world, that I decided to assign myself the job of recording some of them for posterity! (I won’t comment on the Stanley Awards, as I have already covered them. I’m sharing this article for consideration by Steve Panozzo, The Australian Cartoonists Association's Inkspot editor.) The Comic Arts Awards of Australia. The Comic Arts Awards of Australia (formerly known as the Ledger Awards) were held within the Australian Cartoonists Association’s conference schedule. This was arranged with the goodwill of both organising parties. Let’s commended both for ironing out any impediments in allowing the event to take place. It allowed attending members of the ACA an opportunity to experience the thrill of a different type of award ceremony. The major difference between the awards of the CAAA’s and the Stanley’s is the method of selecting the winners. While the ACA’s Stanley Awards are chosen by one’s peers, the members, on a popular vote (except for the Hall of Fame inductees and the Jim Russell Award recipient), the CAAA’s awards are chosen by different committees, with each committee member deemed an ‘expert’ in their field. Organiser Daniel Rathbone and MC David Quinn introduced the ceremony to an expectant, excited audience. There was standing room only for latecomers! No messing about, the Ledger of Honour Awards (for past creatives and those with an influence on the local medium for twenty-five years of more) were speedily announced. The “Dead-Set” Ledger of Honour was awarded to James Charles (“Jimmy”) Bancks, creator of Ginger Meggs. Dillon Naylor was a popular choice for the Living Ledger of Honour, presented by long-time fan and ACA Member, Jeremy Macpherson.  Jimmy Bancks - Original drawing The other awards were for comics published within the 2023 calendar year and were selected by the judges prior to the ceremony from an earlier-announced shortlist. They were accepted in person by most recipients, or remotely by those unable to attend, as follows: Bronze: Amphibia Nor Part 2 by Logan French, Bradley Adan, and Kieran Jack. Bazza the Bogan Barbarian: Vampires and Vegemite by Sorab Anthony Del Rio, Don Ticchio, Emerson Dimaya, Alzir Alves, Edvin Estrada, and Adam Ramos. Mandatory Fun by Mike Greaney. Manta #1 to #10 by Jorden Allen -Barr. Silver: A Fistful of Pain by Ryan K Lindsay, and Louie Joyce. Adventure Illustrated by Gary Chaloner, Graeme Jackson, Michalandos, and Tim McEwen. Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures by Jason Pamment. Ghost Book by Remy Lai. Octane Render: Cartoonists Talk About A.I. Art by Davide Blumenstein, and Emile Friedlander. Ruined by Sarah Winifred Searle. Sun, Sand & Self-Doubt by Owen Heitmann. Gold: Deadsheet by Benji Bajorek. Everything Eventually Connects by Sarah Firth.
When announcing and accepting Jimmy Bancks’ award on behalf of his family, I was able to give a quick shout-out to the ACA for allowing the time slot to be allocated to the CAAA. But an opportunity to spruik the ACA in more depth to a captive audience was lost. After all, up until just before the event, the CAAA hadn’t chosen a venue, and indeed earlier in the year was planning on holding it on an alternative Canberra weekend. In previous years, the Comics Arts Awards of Australia have published an annual book documenting the winners as well as announcing the Platinum Award. Both were strangely absent from this year’s proceedings, and in my opinion made the event somewhat poorer as a result. The Platinum Award is awarded “to acknowledge an individual’s or entity’s contribution to the comics making community in Australia: someone who selflessly helps to further the form and advance its creators” (somewhat like the Jim Russell Award at the Stanley’s). Given the ACA allowed the CAAA event to take place during its conference, the centenary of that organisation, and the recent insertion of a comic book award within the Stanley’s, it wouldn’t have been out of place to have awarded the Platinum to the Australian Cartoonists Association … in my opinion! To be fair, it was Daniel Rathbone’s first year in attempting to run the Comic Arts Awards of Australia. He has already asked for nominations for comics published in the calendar year 2024, as well as seeking qualified judges for that event. There was a lot of love from both parties (the ACA crowd and the CAAA group), with some members from ACCC comic crowd later attending the Stanley Awards. That shows that a cross-pollination of the two groups can occur, without tramping on the feet of each other, and augers well for the future. 2024 Rotary Cartoon Awards Sadly, it’s not been a great year for the National Cartoon Gallery. A forced closure earlier in the year (details of which I shall omit from this report), the organisation was keen to get back on its feet. Enter, Bruce Nelson the new Manager of the NCG, who’s doing his level best to get things running smoothly again! Bruce quickly organised a small group, comprising of Dahna Knight (newly appointed Marketing Co-Ordinator of the Gallery), John Shakespeare (recently retired cartoonist), and someone called Nat Karmichael (soon to be retired Mental Health Clinician) to judge the finalists of the 2024 Rotary Cartoon Awards. I’m not sure who selected the finalists (there were some hanging on the walls that I personally would have selected), but this trusty trio got to work just before the ACA Stanley’s to view them! The final selection in choosing the winners was made in a Zoom meeting about a week before the formal ceremony, held on December 14th at the National Cartoon Gallery. Personally, I felt there were tough choices to be made (especially the Political section)! There was also a new section called the “Framing Room Prize” selected by those framing and preparing the works for the Gallery’s walls.
Here are the results: The Framing Room Prize was a tie between Tony Lopes’ cartoon “Koala Wants a Wife” and “Jullian Assange’s Shawshank” by Harry Bruce.
  Political: D-Day by Rob Emerson (winner) Colour Gone by Cathy Wilcox (runner-up) Comic Strip: Perspective by Ian Jones (winner) Road Rules by Phil Day (runner-up) Caricature: Kiss My Arse I’m Rich by Xavier Ghazii (winner) Sport: It’s Just a Game by Harry Bruce (winner) Flares by Peter Player (runner-up) Special category (Football, Meat Pies, Kangaroos, and Holden Cars) in light of the new (top) section opening up in the Bunker Gallery of a wonderful array of Holden cars from yesteryear. Hop In, We’re Off to the Footy by Tim Mellish (winner) Straya by David Morris (runner-up)  Traditionally, the Cartoon of the Year has been awarded to either the Political or the Caricature cartoon winners. This year though, the judges take was a little different. Here’s what one said (permission to use granted): “We're all dwarfed by the events of the world in 2024: the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and at home it's Homelessness, the Cost of Living, and numerous other ills of the country. Sometimes it's the quiet moments we have, among the bustle of the events of our day, that count. [There was a cartoon that] was a gentle reminder to be kind to ourselves, and something we tend to forget.” The unanimous decision for the Cartoon of the Year was Perspective by Ian Jones. I was sitting next to Ian when the announcement was made. He sat there for ten seconds in stunned silence before coming to the stand to accept his award and the well-deserved accolades.  Accolades must also go to the Coffs Harbour Rotary Club. It’s the 36th Annual Cartoon Awards, and (as Manager Bruce pointed out) is the richest cartooning prize within Australia. (Bruce is hopeful the prize pool can be increased with more sponsorship in 2025.) While the event was not well attended (there would have been about forty people in attendance, and only four representing the Australian Cartoonists Association), there’s scope for much improvement.
Steve Little, one of the volunteers in attendance, believes that more people are coming to visit the Gallery, initially for the cars on display. But he says many are now leaving with smiles on their faces after seeing the cartoon selections on the wall. As cartoonists, the best we can do is to patronise it, or at least share its existence with others. The National Cartoon Gallery hasn’t had a lot to smile about in 2024, but perhaps with this new management there are happier days still to come. I just want to thank all the people who contributed to Rob Feldman's Kickstarter campaign. We've just posted a Facebook video (click here to see) that we recorded while we were signing the books and rewards last Saturday. I'm happy to report that all the Rewards have now been sent out. Making, I believe, a lot of people happy this holiday season. Meantime, I have to start thinking about plans for 2025...
Today, I'm desperately trying to get all my email ducks lined up. I thought this month would be a little "quieter" for me, but it's turning into an even busier month than November! Where do I start??! Why not the Big One: The 2024 Stanley Awards. I may have to come back to the other activities (the Comic Arts Awards of Australia, the Rotary Cartoon Awards, future plans for 2025 and beyond) a little later... The Australian Cartoonists Association’s 40th Annual Stanley Awards was held at Old Parliament House (in the Museum Of Australian Democracy in Canberra last Saturday night. I was honoured to present one of the Bronze Awards (for Comic Book Artist). Here were the Finalists...  I was a bit nervous giving the speech (as always!) but warmed up and enjoyed the opportunity. It ended up being a tie between Dean Rankine and Dr Paul Mason! (Megan Herbert accepted Dean's on his behalf and I accepted Dr Paul Mason's on his behalf.) Here's a list of the other recipients on the night. Bronze Awards went to: Animation Cartoonist - Edmund Iffland, Book Illustrator – Dean Rankine, accepted on his behalf by Megan Herbert. Comic Strip Cartoonist – Ian Jones (Bushy Tales), in Ian's first-ever win! Illustrator - David Rowe, Editorial/Political Cartoonists - David Rowe (again!), Event Cartoonist – a disbelieving Steve Panozzo, Illustrator – Judy Nadin, and, Single Gag Cartoonist – Judy Horacek. Here's a picture of the happy recipients with MC of the night, Peter Berner. And, wait! Who's that in the front??!  It was an absolute honour and most humbling to accept the Jim Russell Award "for significant contributions to Australian cartooning..." presented to me by my close mate, Rob Feldman! Other major winners included Arthur Mailey, Unk White, and, Gary Clark ... into the Australian Cartooning Hall of Fame. Capping off an incredible night was David Rowe, the Cartoonist of the Year with the Gold Stanley. Naturally enough, I was in a state of shock, so I didn't take as many photographs as I normally do. But here are some highlights from the night...
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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.
In 2024, the Australian Cartoonists Association bestowed Nat the honour of The Jim Russell Award for his "outstanding contribution to Australian cartooning". He is available for public speaking. Since 2011, Nat has self-published over twelve comic-related books and many more comics. He is presently the Membership Secretary of the Australian Cartoonists Association. He is the Lead Judge in the Ledger of Honour Awards for the Comic Arts Awards of Australia (formerly the Ledgers). Nat has now retired and spends most of his time with his long-suffering wife, occasionally seeing 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 on this website 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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