What I've been up to on my holidays...

I've had some time off work for the past three weeks (with one week to go). We were planning on going on a trip in our new campervan, but unfortunately it is not quite ready (and, besides, we were given a surprise when son Will came to visit us). Still, the time has been a productive one...

​Early in the holiday, I was able to finish editing another issue of INKSPOT (my tenth) and, with the help of caricaturist Steve Panozzo, we were able to work on it and still hope to have it out for next weekend's Supanova in Melbourne. *I'll share the cover once it arrives from the printer, because the person on the cover has no idea they are ON the cover!

​I've also had a bit of time to begin cleaning up what is called "the music room" in our home. In its former lifetime, it was a garage. These days there is not too much music being played in there; it also doubles as my 'publishing empire'. I must confess, the place has been a bit of an embarrassment, due to the state of untidiness of the area. So, I have spent a considerable amount of time in there tidying it up....to the point where music now can be played there! And it now looks half decent!
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​And I am really pleased I did tidy it, for in the meantime, see what is soon coming from the printer....

Also about to soon go to the printer soon will be From SUNBEAMS to Sunset, and the book about Superman's creators. This book was to be called "Truth, Justice and the American Way: The Joe Shuster Story" until it was discovered that "Truth, Justice and the American Way" has been copyrighted by DC Comics. The American publishers are planning on still calling it "The Joe Shuster Story" and are already seeking orders from Diamond (the comic book distribution company). 
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​I admit I feel I am a bit behind the eight-ball in getting the local version out; but then the local version is going to be much improved on the American version. For starters, the Comicoz version will be larger. At 210 x 290 cm it will be a reasonable size, but the Americans - for some reason - are going smaller, and cruelly harming artist Thomas Campi's work, as far as I am concerned. There are also going to be more 'extra' pages in the book, with Thomas describing his artistic process, and writer Julian Voloj providing some additional text pieces that will beef the book up.
​The title will now be: "Truth, Justice and the American Dream: The Men Behind Superman"....sounds better, right?

I've also decided to give this website a bit of a spruce-up. At the present, although it is easy for me to work on, there are a lot of factors that seem to mitigate against it. A google search of (say) "Australian comics" does not list Comicoz within the top ten, as many Indian web-designers have been emailing me to tell me. Sales need to improve to justify the space I am taking up in our home, after all! 

​Now that the 'music room' is tidy (or tidier?), I have found many doubles of books and comics. I plan to sell many of my books and comics from my collection (the ones I did not publish). Besides offering some of my books at cheaper prices, I also plan on listing my publications at Ownaindi. Have you heard of it? It's a web-site that specialises in the sale of Australian-owned comics and books. Click here for the link.

And what else? There is one other bit of news. But I may leave that until next posting. After all, this is a holiday from work, and it should be time spent away from comics and certainly time to spend with my lovely wife. So, perhaps I ought to wind up here and take her to the movies, as I promised her I would...