Review of the First Issue of Oi Oi Oi!

A most literate and lucid Review of the First Issue of Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi! (and fellow publisher Silent Army's anthology Dailies #4) can be found on Matt Emery's wonderful Pikitia Press Blog. (Click here for the link.) The review is the first in what is planned to be an on-going association with Australian comic luminary Philip Bentley. When Philip gives his constructive feedback it always comes with honesty, and from years of experience in the Australian comic arena. I have mentioned Philip's book A Life in Comics in a previous posting, so perhaps a quick recap of his background is in order.

Philip was one of the co-founders of Melbourne's Minotaur, working there from 1977 right up until 1989. From a creative perspective, he was Publisher/Editor of two 1980s publications Inkspots and Fox Comics. But for mine, his lasting legacy is going to be the sadly under-circulated magazine that he has been publishing since 2005: Word Balloons.

These self-published volumes feature in-depth interviews with many Australasian comic artists, writers, creators and publishers. As such, I see them as future reference material for future Comic Historians, where the material enclosed will be well-mined for information. The magazine also serves as a time capsule for the local comic scene, with Philip reviewing many publications since 2005 within the pages, which is a similar course that he plans to follow in his Pikitia Press contribution. Personally, I came across Philip's Word Balloons quite late in its run, but I highly recommend all people with a passion for the local medium pick up some (or all!) of the Back Issues Philip has on his own personal Blog. Click here for Philip Bentley's Fragments from a Second Shore.

(I note that Matt has the earlier issues (#1 through to #9) on his Pikitia Press store, accessible by clicking here.)