From a new Aussie publishing venture, Silver Fox Comics, comes this new Australian comic that I saw (and bought) on the weekend: Zorro! Now for those who remember Zorro from years gone past, I strongly urge you to check out this little beauty! It won't be what you expect! http://www.silverfoxcomics.com.au/ is the web-site that it is available from, but it is also available in...the newsagents!! How refreshing to see an Aussie comic once again on the stands! (When was the last one seen there? Come on, comic trivia buffs, let me know the last you can recall!) So, take a bow Sorab Del Rio: it is an effort to be applauded and celebrated. Besides publishing the magazine, Sorab has also written the two adventures within, "The Defeat of Destiny" and "Love Never Ends". I am not familiar with the artist, Emerson Dimaya, but he has nicely paced the story and gives the whole package a wonderful professional look. Letterer Don Ticchio rounds up the creative panel who worked on the book. As with most Australian comics the internal pages (48 of them!) are in black and white, but I feel that that adds to the feel of the stories. Colour would have diluted some of Emerson's work in my opinion. The cost of the book is a most reasonable $4.99 (although as we no longer have 1c pieces, I am uncertain why it wasn't simply rounded up to $5). If I were to offer one criticism, it would be that there is no invitation to readers to submit a letter to the publisher/creative group, although some industry 'names' have given their evaluations. Granted, there is an email address in the indicia (that people like myself utilise), but sometimes it is good to ask for readers' reactions to the Issue. Letters (snail or email) are always a good tool to assist in making an assessment on how well the readers feel the creative group went; they are, after all, the life and blood of any comic magazine or book.
Another book that I just accidentally found when surfing the internet for goodness knows what now, is this project from Melbourne. "Word Balloons" is published by Second Shore, "a boutique Australian publisher" (whatever that is supposed to mean!). You can read about it and learn how to order it at the web address at the bottom of this collumn. This is going to be another project that is going to get my $$ sight unseen. Why? Simply, the man behind this fanzine is none other than Philip Bentley. For those not in the know, Philip was one of the initial driving forces behind Australian comics' resurgence in the early 1980s, with his Editorial hand assisting in two wonderful projects: Inkspot and The Fox. He was also co-founder of what was once known as Minotaur Books (now simply "Minotaur" I understand). Minotaur Books (ah, old habits die hard!) was always supportive of the emerging local comics scene at the time, and I can recall a wonderful array of (comic) magazines that were supported by the store until the focus switched to Sydney in the late 1980s with the arrival of Cyclone Comics.... So, here's the web page: http://secondshore.blogspot.com/2011/04/word-balloons-12-april-2011_15.html Let's get behind these great Aussie Products! And just let everyone know you read about it here on the Comicoz web-page! (And if you know of any other comic-related projects, please contact me so I can tell the world!!)
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