Adding to the delight, is the fact that the publisher has been willing to allow some local creatives an opportunity to write and illustrate brand-new stories based on these characters, bringing them into the modern era. So, reading new stories by Jeremy Macpherson and Shane Foley has added to the charm of the series. And Glenn Lumsden! How great is it to see Glenn writing, lettering and illustrating again! Here's the first page of part three of his Phantom-Shadow team-up. The magazine should still be on sale in newsagents around the country.
2011: Insanity Streak - Striving for Quantity by Tony Lopes
2012: Kinds of Blue (anthology) Karen Beilharz (Editor, Contributor)
2013: The Long Weekend in Alice Springs by Josh Santospirito
2014: The Anzac Legend by Dave Dye
2015: Struggle by Darren Close
2016: These Memories Won't Last (interactive comic) by Stuart (Sutu) Campbell
2017: Post Traumatic (anthology) by Bruce Mutard
2018: A Week in Warrigilla (web comic) by Teloka Berry and Pricilla (Pi) Wu
2019: The Phantom (Issue #1850) by Matt Kyme (writer/artist), Graeme Jackson ('digital special effects') and Roger Stitson (editor)
My selection for the Best Australian Original Comic for 2020 is a web comic. Australian Jason Chatfield was born in Australia in 1984. He won the Bill Mitchell Award for Best Young Australian Cartoonist in 2005 at the Australian Cartoonists Association's Stanley Awards. In 2007 he commenced writing and drawing the Australian comic strip Ginger Meggs. He subsequently went on to become President of the ACA (2010-2012) before moving to New York and becoming the President of the (American) National Cartoonists Society, a position he's held since 2019. With the Ginger Meggs comic strip due to celebrate its centenary in 2021, we're likely to hear/see a lot more of Jason Chatfield in the coming twelve months.
However, it's a non-Ginger Meggs cartoon that I have selected as this year's best. Living in New York, Jason experienced first-hand the ravages of the virus that has swept the world throughout 2020. His COVID-19 Diary is the winner of the 2020 Comicoz Award for Best Original Comic. Here's the link where you can read it in full.