I'm sitting down writing this blog post in somewhat of a hurry. It's not long before January 5th, when I release this page to the reading public! It's being written hurriedly as -- once again -- I am heading down south (to Victoria) to attend to family matters that won't be talked about here. (It's got nothing to do with comics.) For those who do not know, and who have never visited this blog before, I must offer an explanation...and for those who do know and have returned again (thank you!), you will have to skip a few paragraphs or just put up with my ramblings...

Every year on this date (January 5th) I share my thoughts on the comics I have read and liked over the past twelve months. Can you believe it? This is the fifteenth year I have announced my "Award" for the Best Original Australian Comic! Fifteen years! Why January 5th? It's the birth date of Monty Wedd (1921-2012), one of Australia's greatest comic creators from the Golden Age of Australian comics, and my way of remembering him. What is the Award? Well, it's a bit like Marvel Comics' "No-Prize": there's no official award, and no monetary pot of gold for the recipient. It's merely a personal subjective accolade to the creative/s within Australia's comic community to acknowledge the work they have done and that I have discovered over the past twelve months. Sometimes I 'discover' a work late, and occasionally early, so the twelve months isn't worked on a strict 1st January to 31st December 2025 timeline. Do I have biases and are my 'judgements' inconsistent? Of course! I have not been to every showcase of Australian comics (I was saddened I was not able to attend Adelaide's Papercuts Festival in September), even though Festivals and crowd-funded sites are the place I mostly learn about new comics. I also confess to not having read every comic published in Australia (I'm still waiting on my copy of Will Eisner's collection of John Law, written & illustrated by Gary Chaloner to arrive, for example). To remove some biases, however, any comic published by me (or my imprint Comicoz) is ineligible to 'win'. So, Dillon Naylor fans, or those who liked The Compete Iron Outlaw, will be disappointed.

So, who were the lovely recipients of my 'awards' in previous years? Okay... here's my list...!

2011: Insanity Streak - Striving for Quantity by Tony Lopes
2012: Kinds of Blue (anthology) Karen Beilharz (editor, contributor)
2013: The Long Weekend in Alice Springs by Josh Santospirito
2014: The Anzac Legend by Dave Dye
2015: Struggle by Darren Close
2016: These Memories Won't Last (interactive web comic) by Stuart (Sutu) Campbell
2017: Post Traumatic (anthology) by Bruce Mutard
2018: A Week in Warrigilla (web comic) by Teloka Berry and Pricilla (Pi) Wu
​2019: The Phantom (Issue #1850) by Matt Kyme (writer/artist), Graeme Jackson ('digital special effects') and Roger Stitson (editor); Frew Publications (publisher)
2020: COVID-19 Diary (web cartoon-'article') by Jason Chatfield
​2021: The Riddle of the Grey Malkin, by Glenn Lumsden (writer), Jason Paulos (artist), Glenn Ford (editor); Frew Publications (publisher), running in Issues #1899-1903 and #1905-1907 of The Phantom comic
2022: Flock (Chapter 1) Created, written and illustrated by Paul Mason, Edited by Amanda Bacchi, Lettered and designed by Wolfgang Bylsma; published by Gestalt Publishing Pty Ltd.
2023: Adventure Illustrated (Number 2). (Anthology). Edited and produced by Gary Chaloner. Issue features a Cyclone Force story with Killeroo (by Gary Chaloner, Darren Close, Graeme Jackson), Greener Pastures (by Tim McEwen, Michael Michalandos), and Red Kelso (by Gary Chaloner).  Published by Cyclone Comics.
2024: Squishbook (anthology) David Blumenstein (editor, contributor), with other contributions by Ben Hutchings, Sarah Howell, Jo Waite, Scarlette Baccini, Briar Rolfe, Alex e Clark, Patrick Alexander, Jin Hien Lau, Ive Sorocuk, Alex Pavlotski, Nicholas J. Johnson, and Warwick Holt. Published by Squishface Studio, Melbourne. ​

First of all, I feel I ought to get my most controversial selection out of the way. I'm going to 'award' the best reprinted comic to a limited-edition mini-comic that was sold in only small quantities at SCAMP (the recent Sydney Comic Arts Market Place). Now, confession: creator Rob Feldman and I shared a table at SCAMP, and I have recently published Rob's comic Fridge Boy From Space. I have also previously published works by Rob (the black and white hardcover and now-out-of-print Cartoons, Comics, and Cows in Cars way back in 2014). Within those madcap pages, you would have come across an eight-page feature called Elvis Shintaro - Samurai Detective. So, while I have published Rob's work previously, I had no hand in the printing of this publication. This is the best reprinted comic over the past year in my opinion...and sporting a brand new colour cover too to boot. (Please note: you do not need to have any working knowledge of Japanese to enjoy this comic!) Available via Rob on Instagram at @comic_Rob_art or via email at [email protected]

My favourite overseas comic in 2025 was the first story in Issue #1100 of DC's Detective Comics, "Lost and Found". Written by Aussie Tom Taylor (and illustrated by Mikel Janin), this wordless tale was the first comic I have been able to get Mrs K -- who is not a comic reader -- to read in years. And we both agreed it was an entertaining 'read'. Highly recommended. Copies should be available (if not sold out) at your local comic shop.

There's also another comic that was originally published overseas that came to my attention in the collected trade paperback version. Godzilla: Skate or Die was published by IDW Publishing over five issues. Four best friends (and mad skaters) find a great spot to build their own skatepark. Then!... Who should make a bee-line for their park? Action aplenty in Central Australia in a fun series written and drawn by Louie Joyce. I found in this book a wonderful way to introduce young people to the joys of comics and graphic novels. I shared the collected volume as a birthday present to one of my granddaughters (age 13) later in the year. Available via all bookstores that sell Penguin Books.   

It's pleasing to see many more publishers willing to publish longer graphic novels, and I hope the practice continues. I was late in learning about Allen & Unwin's 2024 release The Sweetness Between Us, but I could have missed it altogether. Despite the market clout that some of these big publishers have, why are so few graphic novels not publicised more widely? Or am I simply not party to the mediums that do promote this type of book? Sarah Winifred Searle has created a large (over 230 pages) story that will no doubt appeal to the teen plus audience, but one that I found appealing too. The story revolves around Perley (a recently diagnosed diabetic) and Amandine (part of a "respected vampire family"!) and the implications therein. I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. Which just goes to show, you can't judge a book by its cover (or the blurb on the back)....! Available from most book stores or from the publisher here, this book has already won some awards (none of which influenced my selection when I added it to my list of favourite books I read in the past year).

An example of how not to judge a comic by its cover!
Language Warning!

Here's a comic by "a Brisbane cartoonist and 2D animator" who always seems to find interesting things to share stories about! Matt Rice has produced a small (20-page) comic called "In Defence of a Decent 'Fuck'. I must confess that the fact it's a local product and talks about locations familiar to me and recollection of younger days (Rocking Horse Records and 1989 Brisbane), ensured that I had a bias towards this comic. Comics are, after all, a personal thing. What I find relatable, someone else may find bizarre. Still Matt, who I would imagine was not born at the time of this true story's telling, does know how to tell an engaging tale; the subtitle to the comic (A Brisbane History Comic) sums the comic up succinctly. I'm filing my copy along side the trilogy of Fitzgerald-era books by Matthew Condon, as it's an essential read for people who are concerned about the present-day increasing encroaching censorship in our lives. I'm not sure where you can pick up copies of this, and when Matt tells me I shall let you know here!   

I want to acknowledge Frew Publications here. Rene White, Glenn Ford, and Dudley Hogarth continue to publish and have comics distributed on the Australian newsstands. While I am not a great fan of their main comic character, The Phantom (*gasp*, it's true), I do like the fact that the 'Frew crew' are supporting Aussie talent, and I often succumb to the temptation to purchase the comics when I know it contains works by Jason Paulos (whose artwork has reached another level this year), Shane Foley, Glenn Lumsden, and all. I was going to nominate a story written by Matt Kyme in this year's listing, but by the time I got around to the local newsagent the copy had already sold out. (I read it in the store and should have bought it straightaway!) I must do myself a favour in the new year and look for a copy in Frew's back issues department...

And so, here we are at the end of the day (for me), and the end of the blog (almost, for you, dear reader). As I mentioned earlier, comics are at times a very personal thing. Mrs K and I have spent more time away from home this year than in any other in recent memory. Most of the time we have been looking after other people's homes. And their dogs. It was probably made a little easier after we had 'gotten over' the loss of our little dogs, Max and Moo. Anyway, for your edification, here are all the dogs we have looked after this year:

There's something about dogs. I won't list the cats we looked after! They are not as interesting. (Cat lovers, don't be upset!) During the course of the year, I learnt of a comic that somehow allowed me to feel an emotional response to the artist's work. The comic was published in 2024. I only read it this year. It was such an emotional read, and conveyed the emotion in the illustrations within. I thought it a brilliant piece of comic writing, that all other comics I read didn't come close to hitting me with the same impact. Without further ado, the Best Original Australian Comic that I read in 2025 was....

Fanfare...

Fanfare...

Fanfare...


Kobi Dog by Fionn McCabe.

I was drawn to Fionn's work at SCAMP, where I purchased a copy of his comic "Leathery Little Saints". Unfortunately, he was having a quick break at the time, so I didn't have the opportunity to chat with him. Sadly, I didn't pick up (or read) Kobi Dog on the day either, and his website indicates the comic has now sold out (sadly). Perhaps if there is enough interest in the work, he will consider re-printing it! Of course it's a personal choice: the comic resonated with me!

Kobi Dog is a short, 20-page mini comic which tells the tale (no pun intended) of his dog Kobi, or more specifically, Fionn's reactions and thoughts at the loss of Kobi. The emotional weight of the story rests with deft brush strokes that convey the emotion (and that only a comic could convey). Does it sounds lightweight? It's not! It's one of the most powerful comics I've read in a long time. By the end of the comic, the reader almost feels as if he has known Kobi. Fionn adding an actual photo of his dog towards the end of the narrative adds further impact to the narrative. And the ending on the back cover: "He was a bit of a dingaling, but he was my dingaling." added an extra sense of poignancy to the works. 

​In short, Fionn teaches Animation and Visual Communication schools at the University of Technology in Sydney. He is a co-founder and co-producer of Read To Me (a live visual storytelling event that has now showcased the works of hundreds of local Australian artists). Details about all of Fionn's comics (and about Fionn himself) can be found on his webpage which you can access here. 

Feel free to discuss and debate or offer alternative suggestions (it's still a free country!). My Comicoz Best Original Australian Comic for 2025 is Kobi Dog by Fionn McCabe.

Just before I announce my annual awards (on this website on January 5th), I discovered this morning that Comicoz has had praise heaped on its pointy little head as Comic Publisher of the Year...in the 43rd Episode of Club Damingo (presented weekly on YouTube by Australian comic heavyweights Gary Chaloner and Tim McEwen). Of course, it is a group effort: everyone in the Comicoz team put in something, to bring the results you read. I have just thanked the entire team who pitched in (in every large and small way) during 2025, with the plan to bring even greater comics to the reading public in 2026! And so, on behalf of that team, I'd also like to thank Gary and Tim for their praise. (You can hear them summarise the year past on this episode below...Comicoz in mentioned about half way in.)  My personal CONGRATULATIONS! to the all the other comic creatives praised in the broadcast. As most readers will know, the comics world is a medium that doesn't get the attention it so richly deserves, so the acclaim was most welcome. 

I'm desperately typing this before my 6*th birthday (okay, okay, it's my 68th birthday) tomorrow! And I'm left wondering why I find it so hard to keep this blog up to date. No, not really wondering: there's so much happening in Comicoz HQ, that it's just plain difficult to keep up to speed. I do try to keep all the up-to-date news here first. And so, let's do that...!
Over the past twelve months I have been trying to secure the rights to a comic strip that first appeared in the 1940s. And, earlier this month, I was informed that the Durack family are not interested in reprinting Nungaree & Jungarree. The 53 Instalments appeared in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph from March 1942 and ran until February 1943. Given the family's background, I feel that a reprinting of the feature could have helped raise the profile of comics as a serious artform in this country (as happens in Japan, Europe), rather than the sad perception in Australia that it's a juvenile and disposable commodity. Still, I shall respect the family's wishes. (Anyone interested in learning more about Elizabeth and Mary Durack, here's a recent radio broadcast talking about them. Please click here.) 

​Of course, it's not the first time I have had my hopes dashed! There are so many comics that are deserving of publishing...and only limited time to do it! Others that I have attempted to publish in the past included biographies on the Ginger Meggs' cartoonists by former Bulletin editor Lindsay Foyle, Stanley and Reg Pitt's Silver Starr and other works, Coogan by Peter Player, and the two that I most regret: Syd Miller's Us Girls and Verity Aloha by Michal Dutkiewicz. Of course, there were various and individual reasons why these didn't go ahead (which I need not get into here). Sometimes there hasn't been an official "no" and more "not at this time" which has me ever hopeful...that...one day....! (Jackaroo and Flash Damingo by Gary Chaloner comes to mind!)

Still, ever forward is the way to go! There are still books to publish and discoveries to find! I'm ever grateful for the opportunity to have published some works that I didn't expect to publish. Pop Culture & 2 Minute Noodles is one: Dillon Naylor's co-creation (with James Paisley) of five characters within a share house in the inner Melbourne 'suburb' of FitzKilda! The book has only just been released and collects - for the very first time - all the stories from the 1990s Drivel comic before it branched into its own comic of the same name (Pop Culture & 2 Minute Noodles). What I like about the book is that not only does it collect all the obscure comics the characters appeared in during its run, but that there are new stories that may have been written in the era (but never published) and illustrated by a wide array of cartoonists. The book is a reflection of those times. I'll be placing it on my Store site as soon as I have enough copies to sell. (And, for a limited time, I'll be offering - free! - a 32-page "Supplemental Issue" to go with it!  (*See below.) In the meantime, I'm desperately trying to get copies out to meet the needs of all the people that supported the project in my recent Kickstarter.

Speaking of Kickstarters, Iron Outlaw is now in the hands of everyone who supported its Kickstarter run. I was a little concerned that the feature (that only ran for a year in 1970-1) would be too obscure and that I would not reach the target. How foolish am I! There were two videos made during the campaign: one by Rob Feldman and one by Ryan McDonald-Smith. Well, between them both, the goal was reached, the books have been sent out to all the supporters, and I couldn't be happier! I'm extremely proud of this book...

And, speaking of Rob, he came with his family up to Brisbane a little while ago, and I returned the favour by coming down to Sydney (for the comic festival SCAMP) and caught up with quite a few people. (And not everyone could be caught up with: Tony Lopes, Andrew Dixon...)

Of course, not everything is fun and games. Rob Feldman kindly accommodated and chauffeured me around Sydney. We caught up with Air Hawk designer Don Ticchio soon after he had his heart surgery. And since my Sydney visit, I ended up with some heart issues of my own (none that required surgery, thankfully). As a result of Don's surgery, the Air Hawk book has been delayed (although now back on track): Health before Comics. Always. I really am fortunate to have lived a relatively healthy life...

On return from Sydney, things have not really slowed down any (hence, my delay in posting on this blog)! Graeme Cliffe and I were invited by Drew Roller to speak on comics/Ned Kelly/Monty Wedd/Iron Outlaw on a documentary he's producing (and planning to have completed in 2025). And did you think Graeme and I would not take up the opportunity?! We were invited to speak at Lawrence Daniels' Comic Book Cafe for the recording session that took place earlier this month (on 5th December). The theme of the documentary is - as I understand it - to talk of Ned Kelly's impact on Australia's culture, in film, comics, music, books...

And the day after...it was time to welcome Dillon Naylor to Brisbane for his Pop Culture 2 Minute Noodles book launch. A (very) small crowd. Well, I was disappointed (and perhaps a little embarrassed): plugging it frequently - almost daily in fact - on Facebook and getting only ten people show up. At least his Melbourne show, a week later, was well-attended and Dillon sold out of all the books he brought along!

So, where does that leave us? Time for some scoops? (This will see who reads all the posts!) I've been invited to judge the Comic Arts Awards of Australia for the 2024 year. Much more daunting that I thought! I spent a good amount of time considering my verdicts (which I shall refrain from disclosing here). I'm not sure who the other good judges were/are, and nothing has been discussed collectively just yet. The event is going ahead (despite my earlier concern that it was going by the wayside), and I am fully supportive of it. So, keep January 31st free! Tickets are available ($25 each, to attend in person, or $25 to join the live stream (which is what I opted for). There's also an option to donate something extra (which is what I also opted for).

Want to join the event? Click here. It's being held at the New South Wales State Library from 6.30pm. There are a lot of things I don't know about it (so don't ask me!): Will there be a Platinum Award? Will there be a comic or magazine to record the event for posterity? Will it prove a success? I hope the answer to all these questions is a resounding YES!!!

Speaking of Awards: the Comicoz Award for Best Original Australian Comic for 2025 will, as before, be announced on this Blog on January 5th 2026. Between now and then, I have a birthday, and then Mrs K and I are again house-sitting for (just under) a week and, yes, it's going to be over Christmas. Time for me to gather my thoughts and consider which comic I decided this year to be the most worthy... Also between now and then, I am also preparing to get more work completed on another Air Hawk volume. And because you have read this far, it's only fitting that you are given another scoop! Here's the cover to the next Air Hawk volume Don and I will start working on in the New Year...

I'm hurriedly writing this before I head off to Brisbane's Supanova today. Only as a punter, though. Friend Sorab Del Rio (Silver Fox Comics) has suggested that I consider getting a stand in 2026. And if I have my John Dixon's Collected Air Hawk Dailies book ready, I probably need to find a means of exposing the potential buyers somehow about its existence! So, a sensible suggestion I suspect... but something to consider another day!

Meantime, I'm all booked to head to the Sydney Comic Arts Market Place next week. Mark it in your diary and then come and see Rob Feldman and I at Leichhardt Town Hall (corner Marion and Norton Streets) between 10am and 4pm on November 15th.

And I have spent this week sharing Dillon Naylor's proof copy of Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles with people. Especially the Brisbane comic shop, Comics Plus (in Annerley), who have agreed to be the first outlet to launch the book. It's all happening on the 6th December at 1.30pm (at Shop 13, Annerley Arcade, 478 Ipswich Road)...and it's a FREE event, so no excuse for not coming if you live in Brisbane. There's also a launch happening a little later in Melbourne at Squishface Studios. (I'll let you know dates/times soon.)

In the meantime, there's a little time to tell you about the next book I am going to start working on...but why not let the picture do the talking...??!

My last post was looking backwards to the time spent in Bendigo (and Melbourne), but there's never enough time in life to look back for too long. So tonight, while Mrs K watches a dubbed movie on SBS, I thought I would spent a little time talking specifically about what has taken place in the past two months (or so).

Mostly, it's been trying to keep my three Kickstarter campaigns going, or winding them up. Somewhat foolishly, I think now, I had three going in reasonably quick succession. I started Iron Outlaw on ANZAC Day, finishing it on 8th June. Dillon Naylor's Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles commenced on 25th July (or was it a little before, when I lost track of the date?) and it concluded a month later on the 24th of August. It felt like the Air Hawk campaign began a week later, although it was actually the 3rd October that it was launched and concluding just yesterday (2nd November). It sounds like there was plenty of time between the events, but when one has to take other factors into consideration...there really wasn't! Moral: Don't Crowd Your Crowd-funding campaigns!! To be honest, though, most of Dillon's campaign was carried out by Dillon and designer Jeremy Macpherson.

Firstly, while down south (as those who have followed this Blog will know) there was limited access to the internet available to us ... and our internet usage was limited to the local library or using my granddaughter Charlotte's computer. And, of course, I wasn't really in Bendigo for the campaigns, was I?! Rosie (the dog) demanded our love, care and attention (in that order)! I've always tried to keep for posterity the video campaign of the various Kickstarters I've run, and why should today be any different? Let's start with Iron Outlaw, right?!

This was the first one that ran, designed by Rob Feldman. However, designer Ryan McDonald-Smith felt that a more hard-hitting approach was needed. So, he reworded my original text and also supplied a brand new video...

I didn't have any input into the Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles video. Overseen and approved by Dillon Naylor, here it is right now. It ran for the complete campaign. Thanks to Dave Watts for the original theme (composed in 1997), artwork by Dillon (and Glenno Smith), clip assembly by Josh.

Finally, there were two clips that featured in the Air Hawk campaign. Initially I used a video that I designed (and one that I can't seem to locate any more). However, it wasn't long before Frantz Kantor came to my aid and asked if I would mind if he designed one! Of course I didn't! I'm usually reluctant to include my talking head on a video, but Frantz convinced me otherwise. Here are the two clips: the first the long version, the second used as a reminder towards the end of the campaign...!

So, there we have it; all for posterity!

Now the task ahead is to work on completing these campaigns, by getting these books out to the public! Iron Outlaw's book has arrived, and already all books have been sent out (I completed those last weekend). If you missed the Kickstarter, you can still obtain a copy here on this website. I'm also hoping to have a book launch (in Melbourne preferably) in early 2026. Already the feedback has been positive. (I am quite proud of the book.)

Dillon Naylor's new book Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles is soon to arrive, and a Brisbane book launch is planned for that one (more news on this with my next post). And, my beloved Air Hawk? Sadly, designer of that project, Don Ticchio, has had some major surgery. I'm planning to come down to Sydney to the Sydney Comic Arts Market Place (SCAMP) in less than a couple of weeks, and will see how well Don is doing then. (if you're in the vicinity, come along and say "G'Day!" -- I'll be there on Table 23 with Rob Feldman. It's my first comic festival in Sydney for many years!) But, perhaps, more news about that, and other future projects, ought to be held over until my next post: I have, after all, many address labels to prepare now that these Kickstarter campaigns are over...! Until then...

For about two months, I've been without my personal computer, and so information about what's been going on in my Comicoz World has been limited to Facebook postings (which I manage on my mobile phone). So, here I am, back again, sharing stories of where I have been and what I've been doing....

It's been simple really: we've been looking after Rosie. Not our youngest daughter Rosie (or Rosanna), but Rosie: a lovely little dog -- Jack Russell x West Highland terrier, at a guess -- while Rick and Eva (the owners) went overseas. And, surely, I'd be somewhat amiss if I didn't share a picture of her, wouldn't I??!

Rosie lives in Strathfieldsaye, which is just outside (almost a part) of Bendigo in Victoria. Which, coincidentally, is where four of our grandchildren live. So, it's been a pleasant experience (despite the cold!) taking young ones to and from school, watching the grandsons play in their respective football Grand Finals - which they both lost! - and doing the sorts of things grandparents do. However, our prime purpose was to take Rosie on an hour-long walk each morning at 6 in the morning, and look after her home. It also allowed Carlene and I to also catch up with some family friends from long ago.

And, of course, being so close to Melbourne, it allowed me to catch up with many from the local comic field. You'd think that two months would be long enough to catch up with everyone, right? Well, no. There were so many people I would have liked to have caught up with, but sadly time just did not allow. Here are some lovelies I did find time to share some moments with...

​So what's been happening in the world of Comicoz since our return? I must share a little later on, so stay tuned!

Hullo Australian comic lovers!
Well, I'm still house and dog-sitting with Mrs K. We're going to be here a further few weeks, returning to our Comicoz HQ by mid-October. If you need to chat to me, please try via Messenger or Facebook as Nat Karmichael (Comicoz) or email via [email protected]
I'll update what I have been up to soon after my return.
Kind Regards,
​Nat. 

Hullo Comicoz Enquirer!

Carlene and I are presently house/dog sitting in Strathfieldsaye (near Bendigo), in a home with internet but no computer access. (I'm typing this one finger and letter at a time on my tablet!) NOT ideal if I want to share all my Comicoz news with you! To catch up, it might be best to follow me on Facebook as "Nat Karmichael (Comicoz)" until I can get back to my home computer. Which, sadly, won't be until October!!

Still, maybe some time for some quick news: IRON OUTLAW is at the printer. POP CULTURE & 2 MINUTE NOODLES is being reviewed (the proof copy has arrived). Sadly, no work has been done on THE CLOAK. However, JOHN DIXON'S COMPLETE AIR HAWK DAILIES (the first of sixteen volumes) is being laid out. Other projects are in the wings....

More news soon....once, as they say in the Classics, "normal service will soon be resumed"....!

Edward Kenneth “Ken” Dove; 3 November 1935 – 14 May 2025.

This is the article I wrote for Inkspot, the Journal of the Australian Cartoonists Association.

​Ken Dove was born in Brisbane. He married Judy in 1957 and had two children, Kerry and Stephen. He worked in various full-time jobs: clerking, office and warehouse managing (and even a stint as a security patrol officer) before he decided – in 1976, at age 41 – that his “first love” was cartooning! He made a commitment to himself that he would give himself five years to get a full-time job in the business.
Initially, the work came from creating many single-panel gags, freelancing in magazines like Australasian Post, People, Racing Car News and Motor Manual. Three sample series were developed, with Dizzy Daisies (about gardening) running in Ken’s local suburban newspaper (and, later, the Townsville Bulletin) until he “ran out of ideas”.
Ken placed an advertisement in the Australian Journalists magazine seeking a gag writer. John Duthie was one writer who responded, and together they created a series called Punters Glossary (about horse and dog racing). In late 1978, Ken became employed as a full-time artist for Nationwide Souvenirs, drawing Australian Pubs which were then screen printed onto T-shirts. He also secured the commission of caricaturing John Ryan for the seminal work on Australian comics, Panel by Panel.
Unfortunately, the market for T-shirts faded quickly. Ken was still able to carry on cartooning though. He began drawing a cartoon called Slattery Creek when his writing collaborator, Bob Morrow, decided to move his family from Adelaide to Queensland. About that time (December 1980), Ken’s first marriage ended. He moved closer to Bob’s family in Bauple (between Maryborough and Gympie). “[It allowed us] to continue our joint effort without relying on the postal service to relay ideas and progress drawings”.
While waiting for the strip to be marketed by Sol Shifrin, Ken and Bob developed a series of black and white greeting cards. Their work came to the attention of Murray Views in 1981, leading to Ken being employed as an artist designing images for this nationally distributed tea towels and postcard souvenirs company. He worked for them for eight years.
Ken’s workmate Joy was a member of the Gympie Arts Society and encouraged him to join. In winter 1982, Ken fell ill to a severe case of the Flu. He gave up cigarettes, was nursed back to health by Joy, and began his life-long spiritual journey by becoming a committed Christian.
The following year, the Arts Society had an “Art in the Park” promotion, and Ken undertook doing life drawings of people for the very first time. When conducting a cartooning course for the Society, Ian Pedley (the editor of The Gympie Times) noticed his talent and offered him the opportunity to draw a weekly political cartoon. The emphasis was on the goings-on of the local Gympie district and surrounds. It was an association that lasted ten years.
In December 1985, another association took place – Ken and Joy married. In 1989, Murray Views offered Ken an opportunity to train in computer graphics. However, Ken declined and instead chose to set up his own business as a live caricature artist. At the time, construction had begun in building Australia’s second Ettamogah Pub (based on the Australasian Post’s cartoons by Ken Maynard). Proprietor Lindsay Cooper was agreeable and thus began Ken Dove’s seventeen year (or approximately 64,000 drawing) run as a caricaturist! “Where better to set up for a ready supply of Aussie and international visitors looking for some Aussie humour?” reasoned Ken.
From 1998 to 2000, Ken and his wife Joy travelled from Brisbane to Cairns, where they followed three tours of Queensland’s Agricultural Shows. However, the touring exacted a toll: Joy suffered from bronchiectasis. After continuing to work locally, Ken chose to retire in 2007 (aged 72) and became Joy’s full-time carer for the next six years.
Ken returned to work in 2014-5, travelling with Queensland Shows from Maryborough to Cairns. “[I was not] so keen on the physical discipline of early rising …setups and dismantling the gear” and retired again at age 80 in 2016. By then, Ken was living in a gated community on the Sunshine Coast. He decided to join a music ensemble, and it was here that he met Barbara. They married in 2016.
For most of Ken’s life, he held dear his Seventh Day Adventist faith. He was a very active member of his local community. He passed away suddenly of a heart attack and didn’t quite make it to his 90th birthday (something he was looking forward to)! I’ve known Ken since 1983 – when we worked together on a comic book, still unpublished – and I always found him to be a gentle, kind man with a wonderful sense of humour. He’ll be sadly missed.