What's been happening....

It has been AGES since I last placed an entry on my Blog to let all you good Readers know what has been going on in my world of comics, and for this I must apologies. As the Jimmy Buffett song goes: "If the phone doesn't ring, you know that it is me"... 
You may think that I may have been doing nothing, but in fact so much has been happening that I have simply not had time to record it here for you or for posterity. Still, for anyone who may be in the remotest bit interested in my life in October 2015, here's what's been going on...
For starters, not only was I awarded the greatest honour late last month of being made an Honorary Committee Member of  my beloved Australian Cartoonists' Association, but I was also given the opportunity of editing the official Members' Magazine, Inkspot...
Much to my dismay, the Magazine, once appearing every three months in our letterboxes, has been left in hiatus for the past three years...with only about three issues seeing print within that time. I have always seen it as an integral part of the Club (okay, Association), and especially valuable for Members who are not connected to the internet or who don't live in the cities, where the Membership may be more active. So, with the wonderful assistance of cartoonist Phil Judd and The Bunker's new Manager Chris Barr (and moral support of cartoonists Dave Emerson and Steve Panozzo), we have recently brought out our first collective issue (see the picture above)... The trick now, of course, is to continue to bring out an issue every three months; and with the experience of Oi Oi Oi! behind me, I know that this will be no easy task...!!  

In the meantime, I have also had to manage all Comicoz things as well. The Sixth Issue of Oi Oi Oi! is soon due to hit the newsstands (in about a week's time, so I am told), the internals of Australia!, the beyondblue anthology is at the printer (as Lesley Vamos works on the cover), and -- just yesterday! -- the printer's proof of Neil Matterson's Trundle book arrived from the printer.... Just above is the first public showing of its cover! I am really pleased with the printing and how it looks: a book that many Australian families will treasure in the years to come.

Arriving in the months ahead, too, is a really exciting development in the life of our flagship title Oi Oi Oi! After mulling over the idea for months, I have decided to run a Superhero story in Issue Seven. This will be an ongoing series, and I truly believe the Issue will become a real Collector's Item in years to come, if all goes to plan. I won't say anymore just yet, but because you have read it here, you are one of the first to have read about this exciting news...and one of the first to see the art roughs (just below)....