Local Comic Creator Day April 2021

 

Local Comic Creator Day April 2021

You know when things are getting back to pre-COVID normal when people can come together to celebrate their hobbies and interests that are not related to a church or a sporting event.

Before the pandemic, Melbourne was awash with exhibitions, conventions and “swap meets”. There wasn’t a weekend that went by that didn’t have some event scheduled. Antiques, quilting, cars, toys, records, cards, many bundled together as collectables fairs. Some of the biggest of these events (along with the quilting and home shows) were the pop culture conventions. Events like Supanova, Pax and Oz ComiCon are annual shows that ran the whole weekend including Friday and attracted 20000 people a day. Ironically, the venues where these shows are usually held -The Exhibition building and Centre-are now the venues for the mass COVID vaccinations.

As well as these 3 massive pop culture conventions were several smaller lowkey versions, but as the big ones became larger and more expensive to be part of, or enter, the smaller ones became dominated by Identity Politics and became somewhat exclusive.

So, after everything shut down Alternate Worlds co-owner Joe Italiano entertained the idea of running his own comic convention when things began to return to some

Joe (Left) & Peter Hughes- owners of AW

semblance of normal. Joe had had experiences with such a task as he and a group of friends were responsible for one of the first comic conventions in Australia in the late 1970s. His idea was simple, a small comic creator convention where local artist and publishers could present to the public, similar to his original concept. The larger conventions like those mentioned earlier had become bloated circus’ full of merchandise, cosplay (where fans dress as their favourite characters) and last chance arenas for near-forgotten actors from once popular shows that were cancelled decades ago. It had got to the point where comic creators were allocated an area in the corner, sometimes in a separate building from the main event. Joe wanted to get back to basics. COVID set the scene for this to happen.

 On April 17, Melbourne had its first comic convention in nearly 18 months at Alternate Worlds in Bayswater. Under the more accurate title Local Comic Creator Day.

So, like the fanboy I am, I strolled down the road to pay it a visit.

Gerald Carr

It goes a lot towards a show’s credibility when the calibre of the talent attending is bordering on legendary.  Foremost was veteran cartoonist Gerald Carr, winner of The Jim Russell Award, given by the Australian Cartoonists' Association for significant contribution to Australian Cartooning and the 2019  Ledger of Honour recipient. (the Ledgers being the OZ Comic Industry’s equivalent of the Oscars). With him, he had samples of his work that spanned nearly 60 years.

 

Gary Dellar of Reverie

Coming all the way from Sunbury was Gary Dellar publisher of Reverie comics whose first publications came out in the early 1980s, Gary had recently revived the publishing house after a long hiatus and is now producing a high volume of titles that include some of Australia’s greatest and newest talent. Some which he shared the table with artist and writers like Rob Lisle, Peter Lawson, Haydn Spurrel and George Hall. Also among the older crew were bona fide underground comic royalty Steve Carter and Antoinette Ryder, collectively known as SCAR who appeared in just about every major publication in Australia, as well as several international titles and have the dubious honour of being banned by the Bjelke -Petersen Government in the 1980s. Amongst this lot was Darren Close, whose creation Killer Roo is one of the more popular and best-selling titles in Australian comics for the last 10 years. These and many other up and coming creators were more than generous with their time.

As the show was being held in the warehouse adjacent to the Alternative Worlds shop, space was at a premium, but it added to the cosy atmosphere and the shop still managed to set up a display of classic Australian comics and magazines, some worth several hundred dollars and important parts of this country’s publishing history. I will admit it was a nice change not being surrounded by 50 stalls selling Pop Vinyl figures and dodging people dressed up as the Hulk, Thor and Spiderman or 25 different girls dressed as Sailor Moon in every aisle.

It was pleasant to go back to the roots of the comic convention scene, to meet the creators and check out their work. Because I know in a year or two it will be back to full bore circus mode.

THE WRITING CHALLENGE

 The Writing Challenge

The story behind this short comic actually being made is long and frustrating. Written about 10 years ago it was submitted to DECAY Horror magazine originally where it was accepted but two artists pulled out missing deadlines and when DECAY basically became a vessel for publisher Darren Kozil's own stories it was left by the wayside.

Not to be forgotten as I thought the story had some merit I submitted it to FutureQuake in the UK where it was accepted also but suffered the same fate as DECAY. It was abandoned by the artists who couldn't make the deadlines. So I was pleased when another Aussie took the reigns KEN BEST and it was finished with plenty of time to spare to make the December 2020 edition of the FutureQuake anthology.

So now that it's been out for a bit, here is a low res copy.

COpies of FutureQuake are obtainable for Dee's Comics in Canberra

I PUBLISHED A COMIC ONCE.

I PUBLISHED A COMIC ONCE.

WOMBAT COMICZ 1984

Way back in the early 1980s my brother Joe and I wrote, drew and published our very own comic. It was a bucket list event before bucket list events were popular.

We both grew up on KG Murray reprints of DC characters and MAD magazine but were truly inspired and hugely influenced by the American and European underground comics like ZAP, Dopin’ Dan, the Fury Freak Brothers and Slow Death. Artists like Robert Crumb, Robert Williams, Gilbert Shelton, Paul Mavrides, Ted Richards and Rand Holmes were drawing stuff that blew our collective minds and we wanted to do what they did.

I don’t know if many of you remember the 1980s, but I don’t have great memories of it. The fashion was terrible back then, I winced at the New Romantic fluffy shirts, big coats and stretch jeans, shoulder pads on T-shirts and the ridiculous all black and stud wearing Goth’s back when it was in vogue, now I just cringe. Mainstream music was horrendous and would only get worse until the decade was over. All the hopes we had of growing old enough and getting some of that hippy free love and sex was crushed by the AIDS spectre. The best thing about the 80s was the underground culture bubbling underneath the surface offering alternatives to the commercial onslaught in the press, TV and radio.

Phantom parody

As kids, both Joe and I loved to draw, whether it be copying pictures of Superman or drawing big fantasy football games on butcher’s paper. I do remember Joe’s style growing out of his love of drawing Fred Flintstone and then watching that character evolve into a cigarette smoking, beer chugging ocker. I had a hard time keeping a character constant and my ability to draw hands was non-existent whereas Joe seemed to have no trouble at all, all up his skill set at drawing was far superior to mine, I accepted it and encouraged it.

Living in a house with three teenage brothers, Joe was youngest, then me and our two older brothers, there was always fighting and arguing as the pecking order was kept in check. With this was also a lot of ribald humour, practical jokes and immature shenanigans. You must remember this is a time when baby jokes were the height of popularity, a new joke was like a new meme these days, everyone wanted to know a new one and be first to tell it. For example, when the first Space Shuttle exploded in 1986, there were jokes going around before the rocket had hit the earth.

This kind of humour influenced many of the stories that we worked on, which I’ll get to later.

As we left school and got jobs, we found we had quite a bit of disposable income, whilst I spent mine on music, books and guitars, Joe spent his on writing pads and pencils and ink. As I tried to master the guitar, Joe concentrated on his art and storytelling. Every now and again he’d show me a thing he was working on and I’d be impressed but rather than say how good it was I’d say “That’s not funny, that’s sick” which seemed to impress him more. It got to the point where I decided that if he could do this I could too, and I started doing my own stories, occasionally swapping ideas.

We would often pick up our growing collection of underground comics and use them for reference for layout and ideas and marvel at the simplicity of it all, we started to research the artists themselves, finding a book about the U.S underground scene in the local library or a magazine article.  There always seemed to be a constant theme, if you wanted to do something badly enough and no one would do it for you. Do it yourself. As we were building up this collection of comics Joe and I decided we should give it a crack and do our own.

We had no idea what we were doing, how to present the artwork, how to format, who would print it and how much.

For some unknown reason, Joe was obsessed with copyright and wanted to know what it was and how it affected his artwork. He thought it was some legal requirement akin to setting up a mortgage. That it needed to be registered with some legal firm or faceless Government department. I simply went to the library (I keep mentioning this “library” place kiddies. It was a really useful resource before they put Google in your phones) I read a few chapters and was satisfied I had a grasp on it. Joe, however, wasn’t, even though I showed him all my findings, he wanted to ask anybody and everybody who ever worked in a bookshop, a newsagent or street vendor who sold comics, because they were “professionals”. Most who looked at him as if he was “special”.

With the whole copyright mystery solved and behind us, we next needed to know who would print our comic. Places like Kwik Kopy were popping up in suburbs around Melbourne and were offering quick and simply printing services, though at the time limited. They liked our idea but suggested a more traditional printer for our job. We had a mate who worked for one of the larger printers. Packer’s I think it was and he suggested a smaller local guy in nearby Oakleigh.

By this stage, we were getting all our facts and figures in place, but we still didn’t have enough pages of content to actually print. The guy who owned the printers was understanding kind of chap, he had to be with two complete amateurs asking all the wrong questions. Straight away he saw a problem with the samples we had brought along with us. I liked to draw on A4 paper, but Joe liked to do everything on A3. The printer said if we wanted a standard comic, he would do it in A4. Joe would have to redraw everything. Well, that was never going to happen, and the project nearly died right there and then, when the printer seeing our devasted faces and sensing a lost job said that he could shrink the originals, but we may lose detail. We were hacks, we didn’t give a shit and we were happy again. The printer asked when we wanted to start, and we said when we get enough pages to fill the book. When we left, I turned and saw the guy shaking his head in disbelief.

It would take us nearly a year before we finally finished. I know it was a passion but we were both in our early twenties and life had to be lived. No sitting alone in a garret, anguishing over work for us two.

The main story.
Legends of the Dreamtime.

We had managed to cobble together 52 pages with a cover that we wanted to be in colour. It consisted of a six-page story on angry pens and pencils by me, a whole heap of one and two-page jokes influenced by MAD magazine by Joe and myself and the bulk taken up by a seventeen-page epic called Legends of the Dreamtime by Joe. A story that told the adventures of two drunken marsupial’s, a koala and a kangaroo that incorporated many a 1980s news story including Aboriginal rights, the Lindy Chamberlain debacle and that time a semi-trailer drove through a pub in Alice Springs, a reluctant superhero and a regurgitating giant frog. All through the comic in either one-page gags or running underneath the main LotD story as three-panel gags (similar to Gilbert Shelton’s Fat Freddy’s Cat.) were one of Joe’s favourite characters, the Rats. These little Rat’s Tales (as they were titled) were usually bad jokes we all told each other when we were drunk and were never in good taste. To look back at the comic as a whole these days, it would never pass the vetting stage of the printer if they had a modicum of self-respect.

The Nolan's Research Time. Joe on RHS

Just prior to taking the finished product to the printers I transferred to Queensland with my job and the bulk of the final stages of the comic were left to Joe to manage.

There were some minor problems. It was cheaper to just leave the inside cover and back page blank as a cost-saving measure. Then the printer had a problem with the cover as it was a parody of the popular Life Be In It Ad campaign. The printer said he could get a grant because of the nature of the publication but if it had advertising anywhere in the comic it would be void. This grant, unbeknownst to us up till this point was factored into our price. Eventually, it was agreed that the cover was of satirical intent so passed the litmus test for the grant. The printer wanted 50% up front for artwork and preparation and the other 50% on completion collection six weeks later in March 1984. As luck would have it I came home for a holiday the day after Joe collected the comic from the printer. In the shed was 10 boxes each containing 100 copies of Wombat Comiz- the Z on the end to appease our punk aesthetic. I liked what I saw and promptly pointed out the obvious. Joe, who was obsessed with copyright failed to put one single copyright symbol or notice anywhere on the comic. The printer who was so concerned about the advertising implied on the cover put his own little printing blurb on the otherwise blank back cover. Aside from that, I was impressed. Dad. Who read it said, “I don’t see the humour in it” Mum who didn’t read it said “It’s lovely dear”

While I was home we barnstormed some ideas on how to get rid of the rest of the comics after we had sold or given away copies to all our friends and family. We devised a strategy to try and push it through the local Milk Bar, newsagents and even the pub, possibly going into town to see if someone would take a few copies. We thought of making a whole heap of stickers and sticking them everywhere. Places like urinals, bank and post office windows and Stop signs. I went back to Queensland and after six months I came back and found nothing had been done, Joe was going to go to the Small Café at Monash Uni. But the week before the Federal Police went through it and he decided not to do it. So we still had nine boxes of comics and no real desire to get rid of them. The whole process seemed to take the steam out of it for Joe and me coming back, I felt like all the momentum had run out. At the same time our Dad got seriously ill, so we just moved on to other things.

RAT TALES

About fifteen years ago, the family home was sold and Mum was moving to smaller premises, we had to clean out the place. Part of the many things that were thrown in the large skip bin was one and a half cartons of Wombat Comicz. Some water damaged the rest in fairly good condition. Joe and I looked at them for a minute or so, discussed if we should keep the good box and decided to ditch the lot, remarking that in the fifteen plus years earlier how the hell we managed to unload so many? I quick look in the bin later the next day (it was out in the street) and I noticed both boxes had been taken, everything else remained. Joe continued to draw and even took some classes but when his new job took him all over Australia, he just didn’t have time anymore, I got married and started a family and we never got round to issue two.

It’s crazy these days looking back when this all happened. Faxes were new technology and used that horrible thermal paper, photocopies were a great tool if you could get hold of one but they were still limited in what they could do and the kind of quality they offered.  Only the other day I scanned, printed and bound an original copy of Wombat Comicz in a few minutes from my office.

You’ll never find Wombat Comicz in any Australian comic or small press, even ‘zine histories because of its provincial distribution. But after all these years I’m still proud of it, and I can say I published a comic once.  

Also published in BBCN Issue 270 August 2018

DAVE DYE - The ANZAC Legend Graphic Book

Dave Dye’s The ANZAC Legend


Recently at the AMC Expo – a convention that caters for all things Geeky, such as comics, movies, collectibles and lots of normally sane people dressing up in rather elaborate and crazy outfits- It is also a great place to meet other Australian artists and writers. I was fortunate to catch up with author/artist Dave Dye. Dave is responsible for the ridiculously well researched history book told in graphic novel form: The ANZAC Legend. Dave’s passion for the project comes from his 28 years served in the Australian Regular Army where he obtained his Diploma of Visual Arts and where he worked amongst other areas in the Intelligence Battalion. Dave’s work as an illustrator was varied including signage, education and propaganda. This work even led him to a stint in Iraq before he retired to concentrate on his Magnum Opus. The ANZAC Legend is novel as it is told in sequential form (as in comic book) and makes it more accessible as the reader follows the events that led up to, include and go beyond the Gallipoli landing. On his retirement Dave spent three years and over 5,000 hours preparing the book which includes detailed maps drawn from Dave’s first-hand view of the area after taking countless photos on his trips to the peninsula. In writing the book Dave has tried to keep it historically accurate and clearing up certain myths that grow over time due to conjecture and short cuts in storytelling. While not a complete history of Australia and New Zealand’s involvement in the Great War, the ANZAC Legend as Dave puts it: ”The book was created to act as a record of the events from the declaration of war, through those leading up to an including the landing on the 25th of April 1915 at Ari Burnu by the ANZAC’s. It also records the events of the first week and a half after the landing….The story is presented in a manner which makes it easier for the layman to understand why, who, where and what took place.” I believe he has done a sterling job in presenting a comprehensive and easy to read history that is compelling and suits all ages.

Over 200 pages of finely detailed work.

From students to history and war buffs. Dave hasn’t ruled out going beyond this book and continues to tell more of the involvement of the ANZAC’s in World War One, but at this stage it’s one book at a time. The book itself produced by Dave’s own publishing house Wotsleft Books was originally released in 2014 and contains over 200 pages detailed pages. It has been well received winning ComicOz “Best Australian Original Comic Book of 2014” as well as being short listed in the 2014 Ledger Awards – the Oscars of Australian comics. Dave works as a freelance illustrator these days operating out of Mildura. You can find out more about Dave and purchase the ANZAC Legend at www.wotsleftbooks.weebly.com

Dave Dye (Left)

Originally published in the BBCN Issue 255 Novenmer 2016

Comic Covers Meet Classic Rap Stars.

CLASSIC MARVEL COMICS COVERS REMIXED TO SHOWCASE OLD SCHOOL RAP LEGENDS
Original article via Dangerous Minds web site HERE

The Night before Christmas

This is a five page short from DECAY No.20 2015 written by Myself and drawn by Carlos Angelli. There is a link to his other work on the right hand side of this blog.

I'm quite proud of this. Pat Mills of 2000AD fame even thought it was a nice piece. Refer here

Low quality for obvious reasons.

Comics in the works.

Comics in the works.
2016 is shaping up to be a good one with two of my stories ear marked for release this year.
FoeKiller Jones a swashbuckling tale drawn by talented Argentinian artist Carlos Angeli is due for release next month (April 2016) in Retro SciFi No.3 from Dark Oz publishing.
Two sneaky samples from FoeKiller Jones a Flash Gordon type hero and his long suffering technical assistant.

Later this year another short Sci Fi story will appear in Shane W Smith's Anthology All The King's Men. This anthology uses guest writers to add to the Shane's existing universe of science fiction graphic novels.
The story is about greed on a galactic scale and the consequences to obtain the greed on others.

There are other projects being worked on and I will reveal more of those later as the progress.

Comics and how some times language of the period doesn't translate that well.

Comics and how some times language / slang of the period doesn't translate that well.
As far as I know all these panels and covers are legitimate.
Sorry for lack of credits as these have been piling up from bits I've been saving as I found them from facebook posts from over the last few months.

 

Art to My Writing - Steven Austin

Over the last few years I have been blessed to have some incredibly talented artists take my writing and transform it into something beyond my expectations. Over the next few posts I'm going to upload some of these artworks with links back to their respective artists.
FOR A LARGER VIEW OPEN  EACH IMAGE IN A NEW WINDOW.

Steven Austin  

Steve Austin also was a major contributor in the second phase of the Game of  Kings.Steve like Peter added other elements not used in the poster roll out but helped enhance the project back story , thus expanding the book.

Steven is a freelance artist from England who draws story boards for film and TV but also draws comics for various publications.

Art to my writing - Peter Fairfax

Over the last few years I have been blessed to have some incredibly talented artists take my writing and transform it into something beyond my expectations. Over the next few posts I'm going to upload some of these artworks with links back to their respective artists.
FOR A LARGER VIEW OPEN  EACH IMAGE IN A NEW WINDOW.

Peter Fairfax
Peter was a contributor on the Game of Kings Project. The six panels below were an unexpected and pleasant  addition  late in the series. Though contributed late in the second phase they helped fill out the earlier T Shirt inspired First phase mainly dominated by designers. Peter with Steve Austin combined to tell a short section of the back story explaining the lead up to the Battle.Peter is also known under the pseudonym Sturstein which he released the comic Valentine's Dei with his wife Sammi Emery.

This image below is Peter's contribution in the Battle i which the Titan is destroyed by the Black Army Centaur Knights.