Ledger Award nominees...

Partners in Crime: Mr Rob Feldman, Cartoonist Extraordinaire and Comicoz Publisher Mr Nat Karmichael; Photo taken near the lower ground toilets at the Menzies Hotel on the occasion of the 2014 Australian Cartoonists' Association's annual Award Night. (It's such a long story, it's not worth bothering trying to explain it here....)

The Nominations for the 2015 Ledger Awards are now open!
From the Comicoz stable, I have nominated every comic related book published in 2014 for these Awards. I do urge every comic creator to do likewise! You can view the "Long List" (everyone who nominates) by clicking here. No doubt this will be quite a substantial list when entries eventually close!
From Comicoz, I have nominated:
Ned Kelly, Narrated and Illustrated by Monty Wedd,
Oi Oi Oi!, and.
Rob Feldman's Cartoons, Comics and Cows in Cars
(My favourite book of 2014...although you know I am biased!)

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Comicoz Principal Nat Karmichael (this is weird talking about myself in the third person!) has nominated Montague Thomas Archibald ("Monty") Wedd for the 2015 Platinum Ledger that "acknowledges individuals from the past and present and their contributions to the [comic] art form". Naturally, Monty would be in the "inactive" category ('a person  deceased or retired from the rich past of Australian comics who helped shape the art form in some meaningful way'). Last year, I was honoured to accept the Award on behalf of John Dixon.

This is what I wrote about Monty Wedd in my nomination of him for the 2015 Award:

Monty Wedd (1921 - 2012) was passionate about Australia and Australian History. In his later years, he attempted to share this passion with his historical weekly newspaper features: Ned Kelly (1974), Bold Ben Hall (1977) and The Making Of A Nation (1988).
Earlier in his career, after a stint in the armed service during World War II (both in the Australian Army AND the Royal Australian Air Force!), Monty was active during the Golden Age of Australian Comics (1942 - 1960). He created many comics, with his most memorable characters being The Scorpion and Captain Justice.
Monty was so passionate about Australian History that he established the Monarch Museum in 1960 (and still running in Williamtown, near Newcastle). He also helped usher in history, with his daily comic strip Dollar Bill (1965-1966) educating the Australian public about the conversion of our currency from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents.
Monty was also a pioneer in the Australian animation industry, working as a layout artist in the early 1970s on Marco Polo Junior verses The Red Dragon, The Lone Ranger, Rocket Robin Hood and Super Friends (and more). The book that he illustrated, Australian Military Uniforms 1800 - 1992, remains a seminal reference work in its field.
Monty contributed a monthly comic strip to Stamp News, and for many years illustrated stories in The Australian Children's Weekly.
Monty Wedd shaped the art form with his passionate belief that not only could comics entertain, they could also educate Australians about our own history.