Inkspot 70

THE OFFICIAL ACA MEMBERS MAGAZINE |

ink spot

COFFS HARB

FEATURE STORY:

cartoons galore! exhibition wrap-up

OUR 2013

www.cartoonists.org.au

issue # 70

!

E U S S I SPECIAL INCLUDIN

NEW COLUMNS:

FROM THE EDITOR, ncs (us) & PCS (UK)

AN TARY AWARDS G THE 25TH RO

milestone:

swamp’s 10,000th strip

D MUCH MORE

...

and more interesting things: interview, REVIEWS, PARZ, upcoming COMIC EVENTS...

We love your work!

ink spot

president’sparlay

Caricature by Chris Barr

issue # 70 CONTENTS President’s Parlay...................................................................P1 A Word from the Editor........................................................P2 Parz..................................................................................P2-3 Cartoons Galore! Exhibition wrap-up........................P4-5 PCS News (UK)........................................................................P6 NCS News (US)........................................................................P7 Question Time.....................................................................P8-9 Tails from the Web: Internet Cartoonists....................P10 2013 Rotary/Stanley Awards.....................................P11-14 Phil Judd’s Cartoon Connection....................................P15 Gary Clark’s 10,000th Swamp strip................................P15 Graphic Novel technology...............................................P16 Upcoming Comic Book Events......................................P17 Reviews..........................................................................P18 Comics: Horror......................................................................P19 Old Dogs, New Tricks....................................................P20-21

--- ACA Board --Patron Vane Lindesay

Mike Nicholas (WA) mike@cartoonists.org.au

President Jules Faber jules@cartoonists.org.au Deputy President Jason Chatfield deputy@cartoonists.org.au Secretary Peter Broelman secretary@cartoonists.org.au Treasurer Kerry-Anne Brown treasurer@cartoonists.org.au

Take a look inside Australia & New Zealand’s media The Walkley Magazine – Inside the media in Australia and New Zealand would like to thank all the cartoonists and illustrators who have helped make it Australia’s premier media magazine.

The Walkley Magazine is the only forum for discussion of media and professional issues by and for journalists. An intrinsic part of our publication, Australia’s artists have drawn many of the great debates in over 70 issues of the magazine.

Published online and printed quarterly The Walkley Magazine is mailed to 10,000 journalists artists and photographers, standing as a record of all the news in the craft and profession of journalism. The Media Alliance and the Walkleys congratulate all the winners of the 2013 Stanley Awards and we look forward to supporting you well into the future.

To contribute or subscribe call 02 9333 0913 or email walkleys@walkleys.com

Membership Secretary Grant Brown membership@cartoonists.org.au --- Committee --Nigel Bell (QLD) nigel@cartoonists.org.au Tim McEwen (NSW) tim@cartoonists.org.au Rolf Heimann (Vic) rolf@cartoonists.org.au Ian McCall (SA) ian@cartoonists.org.au

--- Aca Affiliated Orgs --National Cartoonists Society President: Tom Richmond www.reuben.org Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain President: Terry Christian www.ccgb.org.uk FECO President General: Peter Nieuwendijk www.fecoweb.org --- Inkspot Team --Editor: Nigel Bell Sub-editors/writers: Jules Faber, Jason Chatfield, Dee Texidor, Tim McEwen and Lindsay Foyle Layout ARTIST: Chris Barr Cover illustration:

by Tim McEwen

Inkspot is produced four times a year by the Australian Cartoonists Association PO Box 318 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 inkspot@cartoonists.org.au www.cartoonists.org.au Phone: 1300 658 581 ABN 19 140 290 841 Australia Post Registration PP 533798/0015

Well, we’re running a little later than we’d hoped but we’ve got there in the end! This issue of Inkspot has of course been crafted lovingly by our Inkspot team, headed brilliantly by our editor Nigel Bell and our graphic designing whizz-kid Chris Barr. Both of these fine fellows have done a simply superb job as I’m sure you’ll agree! (Content has been ably provided by our many and numerous contributors who got their stuff in on time whereas this parlay come in a little behind deadline.

Sorry about that).

For those who didn’t attend the Stanleys there’s plenty of photos and evidence from our annual weekend in November. Last year it was held in Coffs Harbour to coincide with the 25th annual Rotary Cartoon Awards and it was a great deal of fun. I highly recommend starting to plan your Stanleys weekend for this year - we’ll be in Sydney and we’re targeting November 15 and 16 as the dates (venue confirmation pending).

2014 marks the 90th anniversary of the ACA and we intend to make the Stanleys a big one! If you live in or around Sydney and can help, now is the time to let someone on the ACA Committee know. Many hands make light work and the more help, the better the show!

The New Year is a good time for our Membership to reflect on the changing states of cartooning in Australia.

Cartooning will always go on, just as it always has, constantly finding its newest path. Often we need to wait for media outlets to catch up to how far ahead we are as creators of content. But hang in there. Change is a constant but with patience there will always be new ways for us to show people what amazing things we can do.

Don’t forget you can contribute to helping keep the ACA name out there by creating events of seeking ACA approval to represent at existing events. And

when we have more awareness in the community, more opportunities for cartoonists can grow from that.

It’s your ACA – make it work for you to your best advantage! On that subject, this year I’ll be spearheading a committee to put us into the public spotlight at Supanova. We need volunteers who can come along and draw caricatures or cartoons for the public and talk about what makes the ACA so important. Events will be held in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast.

Please email me if you can help at your local Supanova, if you want to come along and sell your wares or if you have products we can sell on your behalf. My email address is over there on the left.

Now, I suggest you get comfortable and hook into Inkspot. It’s your magazine from your Association.

Contributions are always welcome!

Cartooning forever!

parz!

Liedekijn: The Song of Heer Halewijn was a unique group sequential exhibition in Canberra that was accompanied by an art book/catalogue. Based on a medieval Dutch poem translated into english and broken up into 24 parts, each part was given to a separate artist to illustrate. The resulting exhibition told the story through pictures and words.

Some took a purely illustrative approach, while others treated their section as a comic book page. The book is printed beautifully and is still available here: http://emmajeans.bigcartel.com/product/liedekijn-artbookpreorder.

Work from the exhibition can be seen here: http://liedekijn.com/?p=520 or http://liedekijn.tumblr.com/

a word from the editor Hello, my name is Nigel, I’m the new Editor, and with Chris Barr as Graphic Designer - his Swinging Jack to my Tom of T.H.U.M.B. (if you’re old enough, you’ll get the reference) - we are the production team on this new-look “Inkspot”. We are only able to pursue this new direction with “Inkspot” by doing what any successful endeavour has done in the past: stand upon the shoulders of the giants that came before us. And the giant before us was Steve Panozzo, to whom the ACA owes a great deal, as do Mr Barr and myself in this venture. The feedback so far has been generous and positive but, and it’s an important ‘but’, not uncritical. To me, that is how it should be. As Editor, it is my intention to produce a Professional Quarterly Journal, with the intention that our Professional Organisation should be represented by a publication that presents as such and not something more ‘populist’ – allowing the joie de vivre and education of its articles to be more easily enjoyed through this clear standardisation of content. Chris, on the other hand, is here simply to blow your mind with sharp, witty and (importantly) colourful Graphic Design.

The acme for many a cartoonist in Australia has been to have a career as an Editorial Cartoonist.

Editorial Cartoonists, as we know them today, rely on newspapers and, in the next 10 years, I predict that that print media simply won’t exist in Australia - certainly nothing as we know it today. This then, I think, is where “Inkspot” has a role: showing the diverse skills of the professional cartoonists within its ranks. It is seriously thinking-outside-the-box time (or, in Andrew Dunn’s case, Box-Ed time - p.

11) That bit of cheeriness done, please read and be invigorated and inspired by the wonderful work we do - and we do!

Cheers, Nigel.

Every year, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney hosts a one day Zine Fair, and every year there’s all sorts of amazing printed material to browse through and buy, with about a half of it being DIY comics of some sort.

The event was on last May, with vendor tables selling out extraordinarily quickly and the exhibition space being packed all day with interested shoppers.

new members full Membership

DON’T look now its Don’t Look Now by Paul Jennings and Andrew Weldon!

Both these guys are excited and proud about the recent release of Don’t Look Now, a four book kids’ series, for ages 7 to 11, that Andrew has created in collaboration with childrens’ book legend Paul Jennings. Woop! Each book contains two stories - the first two books are a major August release by publishers Allen & Unwin, and the second two come out in October.

The project has been a massive one for Andrew, dominating his life for the last 18 months +, and gosh it’s come up a treat! Can’t wait for you to see it.

Wollongong, about an hour south of Sydney, recently celebrated it’s inaugural comic-book-based festival wonderfully named Comic Gong.

With consultancy help and a marvellous poster illustration from Marcelo Baez, the one day event on May 18th was extremely successful from all accounts and will only be bigger and better next year.

Many comic creators from The ‘Gong, Sydney, and even Melbourne, were on hand, selling their goods, doing workshops and sketching, including Torkan’s Roger Fletcher.

Andrew Dunn (see P11) Dean Rankine (see P16) Maria Scrivan (US) (see P17) Robert Black Harry Gold Tsunami Lee Michelle Commandeur Sarah Firth Ken Best Ryan Holland Associate Membership Di Batchelor (NZ) Michael Barnes Ian Melody Christian Hansen

feature story

Cartoons Galore!

Exhibition wrap-up

by Christophe Granet

In June 2013, I made contact with Top Ryde City, my local shopping centre, to see if they would be happy to support an exhibition of ACA Members cartoons, caricatures and illustrations. A couple of weeks went by and I must admit I had given up hope of getting a response. However, I finally received an email from one of the Events Managers. It just happened that Top Ryde City was celebrating its third birthday mid-August and they were interesting in hearing a proposal to help with their birthday celebrations. I met with the Top Ryde City Management Team and did the hard sell on the amazing talent of the ACA Members. A few days later, I got the nod to produce a formal proposal and start planning. All was settled for a launch on the 17th of August and for the exhibition to last two weeks.

After contacting the ACA Board to gain the necessary approval and support, I put the final details to the proposal, ready to finalize with Top Ryde City. Things went a bit pearshaped then. Suddenly, I got a frantic email from Top Ryde City telling me they had been approached by the organizers of the “Hungry for Art” festival sponsored by the Ryde Council and were asking me to liaise with the “Hungry for Art” organizer and work around the festival’s needs.

After numerous emails and phone calls, the format was a launch of the “Cartoons Galore!” exhibition on Saturday the 24th of August (12-noon to 2pm) as well as two “Pop-Up” events on Thursday the 29th of August (6pm to 9pm) and Sunday the 1st of

September (2pm to 5pm). I did not realize the last Pop-Up event was on Fathers’ Day until my wife told me. As I explained to her, I did not choose the dates and the 1st of September was the actual major attraction of the “Hungry for Art” festival: The “Art Trail”, when artists from around Ryde were opening their studios to the public. Ryde Council provides a map where all the attractions and times were listed and the “Cartoons Galore!” exhibition became an official event of the “Art Trail”.

It was now the beginning of July and panic was setting in. After a final approval from the ACA Board, an official call for submissions was sent to all ACA members on the official mailing list on the 5th of July 2013. As expected, a vast majority of ACA members jumped to action and hit the delete button or ignored the call completely. What I was after was for every member willing to support the exhibition to send me up to five A4-prints of their artwork along with a short bio that would be displayed next to the cartoons. One of the rules dictated by Top Ryde City was that they were reserving the right to veto any artwork that would be put on display. As the shopping centre is a public place, it was a fair enough condition. I thought the instructions were clear and that without the need to produce specific artwork and only provide prints, not originals, I would be flooded with responses. My mailbox stayed however almost empty, apart from the usual bills...

So, after a few more weeks passed by, and me frantically trying to email people to send

artwork, I was still only receiving a few contributions. To be perfectly honest, I was feeling pretty disheartened at that point.

Eventually, after frantically emailing and begging for help, Lindsay Foyle managed to get a few of his contacts to send artwork and Tim McEwen forwarded the call to his list of comic artist and graphic novel friends. Finally, things were picking up and I ended up with submissions from 63 artists.

The artwork was quite diverse, with single-gag cartoons, comic strips, caricatures, editorial and political cartoons, book illustrations and graphic novel and comics pages.

Small problem though, Top Ryde City management freaked out when they realized the exhibition would run right in the middle of the fierce battle that is the 2013 election campaign. This meant that they vetoed most of the political cartoons as well as, as expected, anything that had swear-words or nudity. All in all, about 30 pieces of artwork were banned from being shown, leaving me frantically apologizing to some people and begging for replacement cartoons that would be deemed more appropriate. Top Ryde City Management were apologetic as personally, they loved the “banned” cartoons, but were afraid of the controversy they could generate.

Now, we were coming close to the launch and it was time to plan this event itself.

Rob Feldman came to my aid and offered

to MC the launch, which, I have to admit, was a huge, HUGE, relief for me. Another 15 or so cartoonists agreed to come on the day to help, draw free caricatures, draw live for the public and interact with the public.

Top Ryde City was in charge of renting the display boards but these were only delivered on the Friday afternoon prior to the Saturday launch. So, with another famous last word, I told my wife that I would take the kids with me as it would not take me too long to Velcro all the artwork in place. Sure thing, even after my wife joined us after work, it took my two kids, wife and I, almost five hours to get everything up! Note to self: Keep that in mind for next time!

For the big day, we gathered around 11am for a 12-noon launch. Rob came with his microphone and sound system which made the formal speeches so much easier to hear. First, Rob introduced himself and the ACA briefly, then handed over the microphone to Cassandra, the organizer of the “Hungry for Art” festival.

Cassandra talked about the festival in general and thanked Top Ryde City and the ACA for their support. Steve Panozzo then gave a much wider description of the ACA and its history and he was followed

by Tim McEwen who talked about his involvement as an ACA Board Member and the Australian Comics Scene. Finally, Rob announced that the Cartoons Galore!

Exhibition was formally opened.

It was time for all ACA Members present

to interact with the public, draw live, caricature the crowd and talk to fellow ACA Members. Although planned to finish by 2pm, we only left Top Ryde City at around 3:30pm. Only six contributors gathered at my house after the launch for afternoon tea and an early dinner (pizzas).

I must say it was a rather pleasant end of the day and we had some very good laughs.

All in all, I believe the launch went rather well and I would like to thank all who were involved. Rob Feldman was fantastic as an MC and I am so grateful he volunteered to help!

As far as I understand, the exhibition has been well received and the “Hungry for Art” organizers and Top Ryde City management have indicated that they would consider running a “Cartoons Galore!” exhibition next year as well.

PICTURES (from far top left): “Happy chappy” Nathan Seabolt; Tim McEwen showing his portfolio; Rob Feldman drawing a Pir-r-r-rate; Jock Brodie caricatured by Tim McEwen.

pcs column

ncs column

News from Across the Ditch (UK)

by Tim Benson

The Political Cartoon Society was born in 2001 when I was asked to put on an exhibition on the former Sydney Bulletin cartoonist and creator of Colonel Blimp, David Low, at the Houses of Parliament. Having completed a PhD on Low, Westminster wanted me to put on the exhibition but stated that they could not fund it as it could not be seen that the British taxpayer was paying for it - the cheek of it all! I launched the Political Cartoon Society in order to attract members interested in political cartoon art, who would then, hopefully, help me raise the funds required.

The launch was a great success as we had a large initial uptake of new members. A charity cartoon auction, organised by the Society, immediately raised £15,000 and then soon after BBC History Magazine came on board and provided the rest of the funding. The exhibition was a huge success situated in Westminster Hall where Charles I was put on trial and where previous monarchs had been laid in rest. I included many of Low’s most famous original cartoons in the exhibition, including Very Well, Alone! , which had actually been signed

by Winston Churchill before being given to Air Chief Marshal Sir John Slessor, then responsible for Coastal Command during the Battle of Britain. I also located a film of Low being interviewed in 1957, and this was shown to visitors at the end of the exhibition.

By now, the Society was publishing a quarterly newsletter, and had instigated its own cartoon awards, that being the Political Cartoon of the Year award. I then looked for premises for the Society, which were opened in September 2004 in Central London. There we put on regular exhibitions of political cartoon art both contemporary and historical. Between 2004 to 2010 we published 14 books ranging from biographies of Low, Strube, Zec and Illingworth to visual cartoon histories of the 1956 Suez Crisis, the Labour and Conservative Parties and cartoons from the Independent Newspaper.

In 2010, we went online with the largest cartoon gallery on the web specialising in British, American and Australian original political cartoons.

For the 100th Anniversary of Gallipoli in April 2015, I am putting together a book entitled Over The Top: A cartoon history of Australia at war. This will cover Australia’s involvement in the Boer War through the two world wars up until the present conflict in

Afghanistan. If, anyone has information or material that can assist me with the research of this book please do not hesitate to contact me. The cartoons will have all featured in Australian newspapers. For the end of this year, we see the launch of The Best of British Political Cartoons 2013 which is being published by Melbourne publishers Scribes who have produced a long running Australian version.

Tim Benson, UK. PS: I forgot to mention that I opened a cartoon cafe on the South Coast this June with an exhibition of Soviet cartoons on the Cold War. PICTURES (clockwise from top left): Sir David Low exhibition at the Houses of Parliament in 2002; Cartoonists Martin Rowson and Steve Bell at the political cartoon gallery ; Cartoon Cafe; Cartoonists Dave Brown Steve bell martin Rowson and Peter Brookes at the political cartoon society’s cartoon of the year awards.

NCS Cartoon News from Up Over

by NCS President Tom Richmond

The ACA’s cousins at the National Cartoonists Society in the States have fully recovered from their annual Reuben Award Weekend (at least our liver’s have) and have spent the summer and are moving into fall with many different programs and events that we have/will be participating in. Here are a few: San Diego Comic Con - The NCS had it’s usual booth space at the largest of all comic and pop culture conventions in June in San Diego. Artist signings and appearances included Bill Amend (creator of syndicated comic strip Foxtrot), Greg Evans (creator of syndicated comic strip Luann), Jeff Keane (cartoonist, The Family Circus), Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman (creators of syndicated comic strip Baby Blues), Steve McGarry (creator of syndicated comic strip Biographic, Kid’s Town) and many others. Big crowds ensued when illustrator Luke McGarry was joined in signed a promotional poster he illustrated for a summer music festival by the festival’s founder and well known movie star, Jack Black!

Jack Davis: From the Beginning - The Southeast Chapter of the NCS participated in a gallery show opening honoring the incomparable Jack Davis in his hometown of St. Simons Island, Georgia at the Glynn Art Association Gallery. The spectacular show of dozens of Jack’s originals kicked off with a panel about Jack’s influence on the world of cartooning and humorous Illustration with longtime MAD Magazine editor Nick Meglin, former Southeast chapter chairman and illustrator Jack Pitttman, and myself, currently the NCS president and also currently a MAD artist.

A presentation on Jack’s illustrious career and several cartooning workshops for kids took place the following day. One of the all-time greatest of humorous illustrators, Jack Davis is best known for his work on such legendary E.C. comics as Tales from the Crypt, MAD Magazine, hundreds of movie posters and album covers, cover work for TIME, TV Guide and many other prominent magazines and advertising.

USO “Drawing for the Troops” trips - Two groups of NCS cartoonists travelled about the country and the world drawing for wounded warriors and serving soldiers and personnel both in-country and overseas as part of a continuing program to entertain and thank the men and women of the US armed forces serving stateside and abroad. Visits this year included

Afghanistan, Kyrgestan and VA hospitals in Florida, DC, Texas and California. The NCS was first formed in 1946 after groups of cartoonists did “chalk talks” for soldiers during World War II, continued during the Vietnam War and in the present day during the conflicts in the Middle East. The NCS cartoonists put aside politics to support those who are selflessly serving our country.

The Ohio State Festival of Cartooning - In November many NCS members will be gathering in Columbus, Ohio for the grand opening of the new Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, to take place during their tri-annual Festival of Cartoon Art. The newly expanded facility will house the largest collection of original cartoon art, printed cartoons and comics and related research materials in the world. Festival speakers include Brian Bassett (creator of syndicated comic strip Red and Rover), Matt Bors (editorial cartoonist), Marc Boutavant (Children’s book illustrator, Around the World with Mouk), Eddie Campbell (cartoonist on Bacchus, From Hell), Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez (creators, Love and Rockets), Dave Kellett (Creator of webcomics Drive and Sheldon), Kazu Kibuishi (creator, Amulet graphic novel), Patrick McDonnell (creator of syndicated comic strip Mutts), Dylan Meconis (creator of webcomic Outfoxed), Stephan Pastis (creator of syndicated comic strip Pearls Before Swine), Paul Pope (cartoonist, Batman: Year 100), Hilary Price (creator of syndicated comic strip Rhymes with Orange), Jeff Smith (creator of Bone).

Meanwhile plans move forward for the 2014 Reuben Award Weekend, May 23-25 in sunny San Diego, California!

PICTURES (clockwise from far left): Poster by Luke McGarry for the NCS booth at this year’s Comic Com; The usual gang of NCS idiots doing a good thing for wounded soldiers in the US and abroad; a Jack Davis original whic is part of the exhibition ‘Jack Davis: From the Beginning’.

question time

Interview: BD Artist Raoul Cauvin

by Christophe Granet

PICTURES (top left to right): The man himself, Raoul Cauvin; The Bluecoats ©Dupuis-Cauvin & Lambil; Cedric ©Dupuis-Cauvin & Laudec; Lampil ©Pauvre-Cauvin & Lambil.

Q: When were you born?

A: I was born in September, 1938.

Q: Where do you live?

A: I live in the town of Nivelles, Belgium.

Q: What did you study when you were growing up?

A: I studied commerce for four years then went to the “Institut des Beaux-Art de Saint Luc” in Liege for five years (Saint Luc is a renowned fine-art school).

Q: You started up your career at Dupuis in 1960. What were your duties then?

A: At Dupuis, in the beginning, I learnt, like many others before me, to apply lettering. Then I transferred to the studio TVA Dupuis where I worked for nine years as a camera operator on black and white animations of the Smurfs, for example, or some short films for various festivals.

Q: When did you decide to start writing scripts for BDs, and what was your first script about?

A: When I started at Dupuis, because of my lack of drawing ability, I tried to start writing BD scripts. I was first helped by Eddy Ryssack, then by Tilleux. My first scripts were short-stories. I wrote a number of them at first. My first full script (44 pages) was the first album of “Les Tuniques Bleues” (available through CineBook in English as “The Bluecoats”).

Q: How many BD series have you written scripts for?

A: According to Wikipedia, I have

contributed to 22 BD series! As for the number of albums, I have to admit I have lost count, but it has to be a rather large number! Even Wikipedia stopped counting after November 1999 when the tally was 237 albums!

Q: Now that we have an idea of how many series you have worked on, any idea on how many albums were actually sold?

A: There again, Wikipedia needs to be consulted and I am credited as having sold 45 million albums. However, a recent survey

by Dupuis has me listed as having sold over 50 million albums. I am the first to be surprised by these numbers I have to admit!

Q: Two of your series are now available through CineBook in English: “Les Tuniques Bleues” (“The Bluecoats” following the adventures of two US Union soldiers during the American Civil War [five albums]) and “Cedric” [three albums]. Have you received feedback from readers of the BDs in English?

A: Several of the series I have worked on have been translated into a number of languages, including English, but I have to admit I have never been made aware or received direct feedback from those readers.

Q: There are over 50 albums of “Les Tuniques Bleues” (I have all of them!). The first one was published in 1972, over 40 years ago. (Note that the American Civil War only lasted for 4 years!). Lambil was the illustrator for most of the albums. Are you now both experts on the American Civil War?

A: Lambil and I have worked for so long on this series that it is true that we know that period of the US history rather well.

Q: Have you travelled to the USA often to seek inspiration or research historic facts or places?

A: I have been to the USA a number of times, but mostly to visit cities or regions.

I’ve mostly learnt about the Civil War through books. Going to the actual warsites is rather pointless as the battlefields are now empty.

Q: Can you tell us how you work exactly (the sofa!!!)? How long does it take you to write a script for “Les Tuniques Bleues” for example?

A: Ah, the sofa, I can see you’ve done your research! Well, I cannot sit myself in front of my computer and hatch a script.

When I have the seed of an idea, I lie down on the sofa. I think about the idea for hours and it is therefore while I lie on my sofa that the stories do come together.

The next step is then to write it down once it is all worked out in my head. I usually write a 44-page script in about two to three months. It is hard work to fill 44 pages with good ideas!

Q: Do you do a frame-by-frame script with dialogues before you give the story to Lambil?

A: Yes, I give Lambil a frame-byframe story with little sketches and the dialogue. Let’s say that he is given 44 pages describing a story that he can then study and start illustrating.

Q: Do you sometimes influence the way the story is illustrated?

A: I wouldn’t dream of influencing the illustrations. Lambil is a true professional.

He knows his craft all right. I have never been disappointed by his illustrations.

Q: “Cedric” is completely different from “Les Tuniques Bleues”. Cedric is a young boy and the format of an album is basically a series of gags over four to

five pages. How do you find inspiration for “Cedric”? Is it by watching your grandchildren?

A: As you say, “Cedric” has nothing in common with “Les Tuniques Bleues”. He is a boy like many others, neither better nor worse. I take my inspiration from my own childhood as well as from real people that I knew while growing up.

Q: “Sammy” was also a very good series that I used to read when I was growing up. There again, the stories are based in the USA during prohibition in the 1920s (40 albums). Why did you stop the series in 2009?

A: Yes, Sammy was a character that was living during prohibition when alcohol was prohibited and Al Capone was a notorious figure. I loved this series, but the public eventually lost interest after 40 albums. Once a series does not meet a certain level of sales, the editor axes it these days...

Q: You seem to have only published through Dupuis. Have you been published by another publisher?

A: I have not solely published with Dupuis. I have also published through Casterman a number of albums with Carpentiers. The series was called “Les Toyottes”. It was a long time ago... [I have the five albums of “Les Toyottes”, about a band of rats having survived after the humans destroyed the planet: Great stuff!]

Q: How do you know so much about the universe of a hospital (“Femmes en Blanc”, a humorous series about nurses and doctors) or the police (“Agent 212”, a humorous series about the police) in order to make the readers laugh?

R: I started writing about “Les Femmes en Blanc” after a stay in hospital. My bed was next to the nurses’ office and I could hear them talking to each other. At this stage, I made the decision to tell their stories, while injecting my own twists

of course. Apparently, the series is very successful, thankfully. [31 albums to date] Q: How many series are you currently working on and which albums will be published soon?

A: I am currently working on six different series. Sometimes I try out an “extra” - an album on competitive sport for example that I got Bercovici to illustrate. Just to try something new, for fun...

Q: Do you attend many BD Festivals every year?

A: These days, I attend fewer and fewer festivals. I have attended so many in the past. Now, I try to leave this to the new generation. Attending a festival is actually a lot of work and is very tiring. I am not twenty years old anymore and I get tired a lot more quickly than before.

Q: What BD prizes have you won?

A: Prizes? Well, I have won many, some were trophies, and some were medals or drawings. It would be actually hard to list them all. The best prize for me though is that the public likes reading my albums. I cherish this public recognition.

Q: Have you had the occasion to come to Australia?

A: No, I have never had the chance to come to Australia. I have travelled a lot around the world but never made it to Australia. Maybe one day...

Raoul Cauvin, it has been a real honour having you answering my questions.

If, by any chance, you find the time to come to Australia, the members of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association would love to have the opportunity to meet you in person!

www.cartoonists.org.au

tails from the web

stanley awards

So... what’s Liff then?

by Rob O’Connor

Liff is not quite life. It’s a daily comic strip that I created for fun, using my family as the subject. The accuracy in which they are portrayed varies to the point where, if I were to plot it out graphically, it would probably make a very nice bell curve. I thought it was important to put that disclaimer in the title, but people still ask the question.

How the strip came into being is your standard get-up-off-your-bum tale.

For a few years I made weekly cartoons on h2g2, the Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy website. Then life got in the way and so I stopped drawing until it wasn’t in the way.

Well… that’s the simple version. There was a bit of lethargy involved too. Oh, and selfdoubt. Life wasn’t completely out of the way either, so all of this had to wrestle with the desire to write and draw. For fun. Fun was important!

So Liff was created as a discipline builder really (as boring as that sounds). I needed something that would get me out of my rut, that would get me quickly producing and publishing something new every night and that had set boundaries but creative openness. A comic strip was perfect for that!

And so it began.

I got away from the television/gaming console/interwebs for an hour or two every night to write and draw about our addiction to televisions, gaming consoles and interwebs. It became a place to write jokes about current affairs, share something funny or clever that my significant others had said that day or just point out how much families can be entertaining, clever and stupid creatures that work off their own internal logic.

As a discipline builder, it has definitely been successful.

While it’s not a very art-heavy strip – most of the comics I wrote used images I created in Week 1 – it’s helped push me to come up with something almost every day for two years. It even built up a small but loyal audience, something that I was extremely chuffed about. I’ve got to say: nothing keeps you on your toes more than people eagerly expecting the next instalment!

It was also successful as a kick-starter. The knock-on effect of creating the comic led to, amongst other things, regularly participating in the OzComics challenges on Facebook and illustrating an eleven page story for Ozone Comic’s Killeroo and a full 32 page issue for Square Peg’s Dave: Zombie Hunter. Both are comics that have pushed my abilities immensely while simultaneously allowing the fan boy inside me to cross something off my bucket list. I hope to keep this momentum and variety going and come up with new projects.

Another knock on effect was the realisation that, after 300 odd strips, the comic had done its job. Like all projects, there were good writing days and not so good ones but, overall, I’m really proud of it! I would never consider Liff as completely closed but, for now, it is.

I hope you visit the site, see something that makes you think back to an equally stupid thing that’s happened in your household and chuckle.

Enjoy!

COFFS HARBOUR 2013 Oh what a weekend! The 25th Rotary Cartoons Awards kicked off the festivities on Friday evening, following with the Stanley’s Conference and Awards night on Saturday.

Congratulations to all winners and commiserations to all those with hangovers the next morning ‑­- you know who you are.

As the saying goes, ‘a picture says a thousand words’.

We’ll let the following pictures speak for themselves...

rotary awards

PHOTOS BY STEVE LITTLE

stanley awards

PHOTOS BY STEVE LITTLE

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1) Cartoonists and guests gather for the Rotary Cartoon Awards ceremony. Here they are waiting for the bingo to start. 2) Happy 100th birthday Bill Ryan! 3) Hec Goodall, Peter Byrne and Steve Panozzo lean to the right. 4) While Matilda Rowe leans to the left with dad, David. 5) The Cartoon of The Year by David Rowe. 6) Rob Feldman goes “pew pew pew”.

7) Jason Chatfield listens into Peter McAdam, Jim Bridges and Rob De Groot. 8) Nat Karmichael and Steve Panozzo with the two Toms - Tom Hamilton-Foster and Tom Richmond.

9) Gary Clark discovers a Swamp he can’t recall drawing. 10) Chris Barr gives his shirt buttons to Mark Rhodes and Andrea Tyrrell. 11) Dee Texidor goes Salvador Dali on us. 12) Phil Judd steals his own work. 13) Briony and Christopher Downes. 14) Mark Lynch sheds a tear when his texta runs dry. 15) Tom Hamilton-Foster cuts the Rotary birthday cake. 16) Australian MAD editor DJ Williams and Judy Nadin outside the loo. FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS GOT TO: www.rotarycartoonawards.com.au

1) Master of Ceremonies Peter Berner shows off his profile. 2) Peter Byrne and Jos Valdman. 3) Gary Clark with his Stanley Award. 4) Dee Texidor and Judy Nadin. 5) Jules Faber steals David Blumenstein’s pen. 6) Special guest Tom Richmond is presented with a smock. 7) Aww, true love! - Anton Emdin and his Gold Stanley. 8) David Rowe, Stanley and Chris Downes. 9) Jack Le Lievre gets a Richmond! 10) Jason Chatfield caught on Facebook. 11) Grant Brown’s winning Cartoon On The Night - the theme was “Where’s Roger?” 12) Mark Knight captioned his own acceptance video. 13) Lila and Rolf Heimann think two heads are better than one.

stanley awards

phil judd 2013 STANLEY AWARDS Illustrator Pat Campbell Levent Efe Anton Emdin David Follett Eric Lobbecke

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Comic Strip Artist Jason Chatfield Gary Clark David Follett Tony Lopes Allan Salisbury Single Gag Cartoonist Dean Alston Matt Golding Judy Horacek Glen Le Lievre Luke Watson

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Caricaturist Terry Dunnett Judy Nadin David Pope Tom Richmond David Rowe Editorial/Political Cartoonist Mark Knight Bill Leak David Pope David Rowe Ron Tandberg Comic Book Artist David Blumenstein Anton Emdin Dave Emerson Tim McEwen Josef Szekeres GOLD STANLEY AWARD Cartoonist Of The Year Peter Broelman Pat Campbell Anton Emdin Glen Le Lievre David Pope David Rowe

20 14) Glen Le Lievre accepts his Stanley from Chris Downes. 15) Dave “Emo” Emerson is all smiles.

16) Rob Feldman and Tony Lopes. 17) Mark Rhodes and Andrea Tyrrell. 18) Neil Matterson with Pamela Monteith. 19) Phil and ‘Lady’ Judd. 20) The Class of 2013 (Left to Right: Glen Le Lievre, Gary Clark, Tom Richmond, David Rowe, Anton Emdin, Jules Faber, Russ Radcliffe and Peter Berner).

We highly recommend starting to plan your Stanleys weekend for this year - we’ll be in Sydney and we’re targeting November 15 and 16 as the dates (venue confirmation pending).

SILVER STANLEY AWARD Jim Russell Award for contribution to Australian cartooning Russ Radcliffe

The next gen is in good hands

Phil Judd’s business ‘Comic Express’ ran a couple of workshops over the Easter break for the Redlands Art Gallery in the Brisbane area. There were two workshops aimed at different age groups, 5 to 7 year olds, and 8 year olds and above. It was held by the gallery under the banner ‘Cartoon Connection’ and aimed to introduce children into the gallery world. The one for younger participants was a ‘Cartoon Monsters’ workshop and the second for older children was ‘Creating an original Cartoon Character’.

The Art Gallery then put on a professional

exhibition in June to August exhibiting all the children’s works framed and hung professionally in their gallery. There was even a special opening party complete with Caricaturist (Nigel Bell) and face painting.

Phil does a lot of workshops throughout the year and has recently held his 300th workshop! In only four years that’s a haul! He says it’s still fun and hopes one day to draw as well as the five year olds he regularly comes across in his classes.

To see more on this event and his workshops check out the Comic Express Workshops page on Facebook.

Gary Clark’s 10,000th Swamp strip

ACA stalwart Gary Clark has achieved a remarkable milestone; his 10,000th daily comic strip Swamp. That’s 10,000 days of hard slog Monday to Saturday equalling 32 years. Swamp was first published in the Sunshine Coast Daily in 1981 and since then his popular menagerie of creek and lagoon inhabitants have entertained readers around the world. Swamp is very popular in Scandinavia and also appears

on upscale casual and sportswear in Japan.

The popular characters in the comic strip are : Ding Duck, Wart & Mort Frog, Old Man Croc, Bob the Crayfish, The Dung Beetles, Air Traffic Controller, The Ants and The Bludgerigar. Ding Duck and the Air Traffic Controller are popular worldwide in aviation circles. Wart & Mort Frog are popular with organisations and websites that promote water quality

and sustainability and a clean, green environment.

“To mark this milestone, I would like to dedicate Cartoon No: 10,000 to Ryan Campbell. At 19, Ryan became the youngest pilot to have flown solo round the world in September 2013. Ding Duck was his mascot”, Gary said.

graphic novels

upcoming comic book events! compiled by: tim mcewen

South Australia

New South Wales

Comics with Friends and Strangers What: Monthly meeting of folk who like or want to get into drawing comics. Gold coin donation.

When: Third Monday of the month, 6:30-8:30pm.

Where: Tooth and Nail Gallery, 26-28 Coromandel Place, Adelaide.

Web: https://www.facebook.com/ ComicsWithFriendsAndStrangers Email: geerex27@gmail.com

All About Women – Drawn From Life: Love In The Time Of Comics, Alison Bechdel What: Creator of comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and graphic novel Fun Home: A Family, as well as the infamous Bechdel test, speaks.

When: Sunday 30th March, 2014, 1:45pm.

Where: Sydney Opera House (venue to be confirmed).

Web: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/ whatson/aaw14_drawn_from_life.aspx Worth: $25

Australian Capital Territory

Recent advances in Graphic Novel technology

by Bernard Caleo

PICTURES (from top left): The Long Weekend in Alice Springs by Santospirito, Joshua (San Kessto Publications 2013); Pat Grant’s Blue (Top Shelf Productions, 2012)

As an interested commentator on Australian comics culture, I have been excited to observe the publication of a number of long form comic books, or ‘graphic novels’, over the past few years. I think it’s a significant development in a couple of directions: firstly, these graphic novels are the comics publications which manage to break out of the hermetic worlds of comics (with their specialty shops and pop culture conventions), and zines (with their specialty shops, mail order services, and festivals) and find new readers as they pop up on the shelves of bookstores and public libraries. Because they find a space within literary context as ‘books’, graphic novels are reviewed in newspapers and journals. They represent a direction out towards a new audience, for whom comics might be a medium that they have not read since childhood, if at all. The other direction that graphic novels point us in is back towards the makers, the cartoonists, and the comics culture that surrounds them. Graphic novels are just one part of comics culture, but their presence signifies a healthy comics publishing scene.

Two graphic novels which have appeared in the past year are particularly exciting: both of these books do things with content and form that are particularly satisfying. Both of them could be made nowhere else but Australia, because they tackle subject matter which lies at the heart of Australian society and culture.

Blue, by Pat Grant, published in 2012, is the story of three ratty teens living in Bolton,

a coastal town, who wag school one day in order to go surfing but end up walking up the train tracks to check out the body of the ‘blue person’ who’s been killed by a train. These blue people have arrived on the beaches of Bolton in their makeshift, gimcrack boats, looking for a new life, and they have made the good people of Bolton very uneasy. If this story sounds familiar, it should.

Joshua Santospirito’s The Long Weekend In Alice Springs was published this year, and is the adaptation of the essay of the same name

by Craig San Roque, a Jungian psychologist who has lived in Alice Springs for many years. Santospirito spent some time in Alice Springs as a mental health nurse and the trauma that he witnessed there rendered the making of this comic necessary – the book is his processing of elements of the toxicity of life in Alice Springs, particularly for the Aboriginal people .

Both these graphic novels tackle darkness lurking at the heart of Australian culture.

They represent places and people and problems which we recognise and, before you decide that you can’t read any comic which is so unrelievedly serious, let me say that yes, both of them are really funny too.

Pick them up. Laugh and think.

[Bernard Caleo makes comics, broadcasts about comics and teaches about comics. In 2012, he made the feature documentary Graphic Novels! Melbourne! with filmmaker Daniel Hayward. cardigancomics.com]

Canberra Zine Emporium Zine Fair 2014 What: Part of You Are Here’s Publishing Fair. A day celebrating all things of a papery D.I.Y nature.

When: Sunday 23rd March 2014, 11am-4pm.

Where: Gorman House Arts Centre, Braddon.

Web: https://www.facebook.com/ events/621533091245612/ Email: canberrazineemporium@gmail.com ACT Comic Meet-Up What: A monthly meet-up for those interested in the creation and reading of comics. Come and drink beer, show work, draw pictures, find collaborators, get feedback, make friends.

When: First Sunday of the month.

Where: Wig & Pen Bar, Canberra House Arcade, Alinga St, Civic, Canberra.

Web: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/68955695475/

Sydney Comics Guild What: Sydney based group of professional and amateur comic artists enthusiasts/fans.

When: Workshop every 2nd Saturday; Social Meet-up every 4th Saturday; Midweek meeting on Thursday fortnightly.

Where: Various in Sydney.

Web: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/SydneyComicsGuild/

Victoria Squishface Studio Monthly Drawing Night What: An informal evening of drawing.

Gold coin donation encouraged.

When: First Wednesday of the month, 6-9pm.

Where: Squishface Studio, 309 Victoria st, Brunswick, Melbourne.

Web: http://squishfacestudio.com/events

Squishface Studio Ladies Auxiliary Meetings What: Creating comics and cartoons as explained by two guest lady cartoonists.

Gentlemen welcome. Drawing ensues after. Snacks provided. Gold coin donation encouraged.

When: Last Thursday of the month, 6-9pm.

Where: Squishface Studio, 309 Victoria st, Brunswick, Melbourne.

Web: http://squishfacestudio.com/ events Monthly Melbourne Comic Creators Meetup What: An opportunity to get together and meet up with other amateur and professional comic creators to talk comics, network and show off your latest work.

When: First Saturday of the month, 2pm on.

Where: The Prince Alfred Hotel, 191 Grattan St Carlton.

Nationwide

nationwide OzComics drawing challenge What: Home of the weekly Draw-off Challenge.

When: Weekly.

Web: https://www.facebook.com/ozcomics There are many large and grass roots comics events happening around the country. If you know of any, please pass the details along to Tim McEwen at: tim@unrealism.com.au

Australian Cartoonists’ Association Exhibition at the 2014 International Cartoon Festival of Saint Just le Martel (France) Invitation to Australian Cartoonists The Australian Cartoonists’ Association (ACA) is organizing an exhibition of Australian Cartoonists’ artwork as part of the 2014 International Cartoon Festival of Saint Just le Martel (France) Having been running for over 30 years, the Festival this year will run from the 27th of September to the 5th of October 2014.

The festival mostly caters for single gag cartoons, editorial and political cartoons, caricatures and illustrations.

The name of the exhbition will be: “Australian

view of the World and Australian Humour”: “Le monde vu par les Australiens et Humour Australien”: Political/Editorial cartoonists to send cartoons with a global flavour or understanding (i.e, no local Australian politics and politicians).

Caricaturists to send caricatures of well known people (internationally recognised).

Gag-cartoonists to send preferably “visual gags” (any theme), gags with an Australian flavour or gags that would translate well (no puns!).

Illustrator to send “Australian-flavoured” illustrations or illustrations that can be enjoyed visually without the context of the article or book they are meant to illustrate.

Each artist can contribute up to a maximum five A4-prints (NO ORIGINALS!) to be collected by Christophe Hagen.

The DEADLINE for sending me your artwork is 15th of APRIL 2014 (although the sooner the artwork is sent, the better).

If you are interested, to see the instructions for inclusion, please visit http://www.hagencartoons.com/ACA_Saint_Just_le_Martel.html or contact Christophe by email at Hagen_Cartoons@hotmail.com for a postal address.

reviews

comics

by Tim McEwen

Changing Ways: Book 1

By Justin Randall.

Published by Gestalt Comics. April 2010. 128pp, $29.95 http://www.gestaltcomics.com/product/ graphic-novels/changing-ways-book-1/ www.justinrandall.com Everything I’ve heard about “Changing Ways” has been positive, but I expected to be let down either because of the hype or not enjoy it because of the art style. In the end the art turned out to be entirely appropriate and the hype hadn’t lead me astray.

The art isn’t my favourite style for comics as it normally creates a very static and staged feel to the storytelling. I’ve found that a photographic base for the pictures, as seems to be the case here, can snap me out of the suspension of disbelief really bringing attention to itself. Done with the right amount of skill and style though, it can work, and it certainly does here.

Regardless of the method of art production, the storytelling from panel to panel and page layout are very good.

In For The Krill’s 1 & 2

By Jill Brett and Greg Holfeld.

Published by Panic Productions. 36pp and 32pp. $2.95 each. http://inforthekrill.blogspot.com.au/ http://gregholfeld.com/ This is a really fun and interesting comic centred around Max, a haiku writing penguin who smells a rat. In the first issue we’re given large amounts of backstory and character history in enjoyable ways: some poetry, some action, some banter. We learn that Max is penguina-non-grata, has a penchant for haiku and conspiracy, and regardless

Randall manages to keep spontaneity through the use of line work and reworking and redrawing the original photography or perhaps expanding on it or using it only as inspiration.

This negates any of the detracting effects I was afraid of. The success of the storytelling is also due to skillful planning at the thumbnailing stage and an understanding of the flow of the comic book page resulting in the right impact and pacing.

The other thing that really helped me overcome any misgivings I might have had about CW1 is the great story, which barrels along with barely a rest for most of the book. It’s a compelling thriller/ mystery with a supernatural conspiracy twist. The story takes place within the span of one night and it’s a testament to the strength of the writing that I couldn’t wait for that night to be over, much like the characters trapped in this nightmarish situation, so that I could breath a sigh of relief. The fact that the story happens within such a short space of time adds to the thorough feeling of claustrophobia and urgency, making it all the more riveting. There’s also the of past indiscretions still engenders loyalty from at least one friend and a politically/socially powerful ex-girlfriend.

The story telling style is never overly wordy and often whole scenes (pages worth) are wordless. This may have a tendency to burn through pages, but it’s the brave “let the pictures tell the story” type of story telling that I like with plenty of silent “pause” panels, pregnant with acting and meaning. There’s also many scenes of very good dialogue and witty interplay between characters which do a great job of presenting character, motivation and relationships. Holfeld has the ability to enable the words coming from characters mouths to have a tone and accent, and not just because of the witty dialogue from he and Brett, but also because each character design makes it so. Not easy when working with the invariable look of Antarctic emperor penguins, but achieved by creating a unique look for each of the principals.

The character designs are solid, elegant and forceful, with plenty of

unshakable feeling of foreboding - that things are bad right now, but are going to get much worse very quickly.

This story and its telling could easily have become long and rambling, instead it’s economically written and tightly edited to something much sleeker.

Similarly, the characters are deftly defined, with most of their exposition and personality coming easily from their actions and from the events.

This is only the first instalment in a longer story. Gestalt Comics has recently released the second book and I’m eager to see the story continue to play out. scope for the rubbery faces and action reminiscent of Looney Tunes cartoons.

Holfeld’s animation experience shows in the character drawing and acting, giving them exaggeration in physicality and expression matching that of the plot. There’s just as much fluidity and intelligent design to each page. There’s a number of times where staging and exposition get wonderfully surreal with a sense of theatre in some passages with a narrator-like soliloquy to their delivery. We’re often treated to clever scene transitions utilising the sweep of characters and/or action to do what might otherwise have been done with a wipe or dissolve if this were animated.

There’s a solidity to the line, even as it flows and bends with life, that creates volume to everything, an absence of crosshatching or feathering, with just enough linework curving around forms to give them style and weight. Solid blacks anchor a lot of the panels and the figures within. Unbroken expanses of white not only evoke the environmental setting but are also used for the sake of simplicity and clarity, often omitting line, leaving the implication of solid form to the tapering contours or blacks.

Time for horror fans to rejoice ...and lose some sleep

by Darren Koziol

DECAY is Australia’s leading horror anthology comic-book/magazine, for mature readers. Each issue contains a collection of short stories covering the A to Z of horror, from Aliens to Zombies and everything in between. There have been 16 issues of Decay published in three and a half years, since issue #1 was launched in March 2010.

Decay is a showcase of the incredible talent Australia has to offer, giving creators a place to show off their wares. No other publication offers such diversity and creativity, with such high production standards. There have been over 100 creators contributing so far, from every corner of Australia (all listed on the “Creators” page of the Dark Oz website), plus a few international guests too.

Decay is a superb mix of horror stories.

Some issues have had themes running throughout, such as: “Christmas”, “Cthulhu”, and the “End of the World”. Issue #17 will be an “Ozploitation” issue and #18 will be a “Retro Sci-Fi” special (the first PG rated issue of Decay). Issues 17 & 18 will be launched over two BIG weekends of Oz Comic-Con at Perth and Adelaide in March/April 2014.

All stories are short one-offs but there are some recurring characters and titles. All zombie stories are set in the “Oz Zombie” universe, sometimes featuring Dan and Sally driving their 1974 VJ Valiant hardtop.

There’s also the “Sisters”: three beautiful, sexy, frequently naked and extremely violent Vampire sisters.

Decay artist Dave Follett won the 2012 Stanley Award for Australia’s best ‘comic book artist’ for his work in Decay: a short 2-page story titled “Strange Appetite” which ran in issue #9. Written by Decay creator

Darren Koziol, Dave interpreted the story in his own unique and brilliant way and highly deserved the award.

Many of Australia’s top creators have worked for Decay. But Decay also gives new talent a place to get their work published.

Decay has always been a mix of professional and independent underground talent.

Originally an all B&W title, it now contains 40% colour in 52 pages per issue, published at the large A4 magazine format.

Dark Oz is the publishing name behind Decay. Dark Oz has produced some other comics but Decay is its flagship title. You can find out more about Dark Oz on the website at www.darkoz.com.au. While there be sure to check out the Decay page to see all of the issues of Decay published so far.

Dark Oz is always looking for more talented artists, illustrators and writers to contribute to future issues. Feel free to contact Decay editor Darren Koziol any time with any questions by email at darkoz. decay@bigpond.com or decay@darkoz.com. au.

Decay can be purchased for $8.00 per issue in selected comic book specialty shops around Australia, at most conventions (Oz Comic-Con, Supanova, etc), or with PayPal on the Dark Oz web site for $10.00 per issue (including postage anywhere in Australia).

PICTURES (clockwise from top left): Decay 13 art

by Charith Wijewardane; Strange Appetite strip

by David Follett; Decay 14 art by Rayaan Cassiem; Selection of Decay covers.

old dogs, new tricks!

Nik Scott has had gags, strips and illustrations run in national (Australia) and international (US, UK Canada, Finland) publications including the Sydney Morning Herald, the Bulletin, The Canberra Times, The Green Left Weekly, The Jewish News, The Lamp, Rolling Stone, Prospect, National Lampoon and the New York Times.

He has illustrated more than 100 books for publishers including Simon and Schuster, Allen and Unwin and Macmillan Education

rolf heimann is a Melbourne cartoonist, puzzle maker and author (who has also been an Industrial/Product Designer, Draughtsman and Painter).

He is the author of over thirty books, including novels, travel books, cartoon collections, but mainly of children’s books, which have been translated into German, Danish, Spanish, and Chinese and have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Cartooning since the mid-seventies, Rolf

was named Australian Cartoonist of the Year at the 19th annual Stan Cross Awards in 2003, for cartooning excellence.

In 1974 he protested against French atmospheric nuclear testing by sailing his yacht La Flor (renamed Greenpeace IV for the voyage) into the Mururoa testing area, but arrived after the final nuclear test for the year - if nothing else, Rolf now has a radiant smile and a glowing tan.

Maria Scrivan is a member of the National Cartoonists Society in the US (being the Co-Vice President of the Connecticut Chapter of the NCS). Her work appears in MAD Magazine, Prospect Magazine (UK), Parade Magazine, Funny Times, Mashable.

Dean Rankine is a veteran of the Australian comic scene. He’s currently Writing and Drawing back up stories for Simpsons Comics (Published by Matt Groening’s Bongo Comics). A regular contributor to Australian MAD Magazine, Dean drew, ‘My Mother is a Brain-Eating Zombie’ and ‘Flatman and Ribbon’ for the UK’s longest running comic, The Dandy.

and have worked on several government health campaigns.

Having won a couple of national Rotary awards for cartooning, his work has also been exhibited in Paris, Vienna, Boston, Sydney and Melbourne. He has also drawn editorial consumer cartoons for Choice (consumer advocacy) magazine for ten years.

Nik is a member of the Australian Cartoonists Association and the National Cartoonists Society in the US.

com and Salon.com. She also has work licensed with Nobleworks Cards, American Greetings, Check Advantage and Neatoshop.

A professional illustrator/cartoonist, Maria is also a two-time Ironman Triathlon finisher.

Dean’s other credits include comics in; Mania, KidZone, Krash, K-Zone, Wacky But True and Kids Alive magazines. His collection of work, ‘God’s Love is Like a Conjoined-Twin’ is published by Lamp Post.

On the side he produces health education brochures like, ‘Bogan Bunny’s Guide to Drinking’ under the banner of, ‘Ground Up Comix’.

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PICTURES (clockwise from top left): 1. Star Trek parody by Dean Rakin; 2. More for Eagle Eyes puzzle book cover by Rolf Heimann; 3. Instagram Moses by Maria Scrivan; 4. Vermeer by Nik Scott

I always try to walk new paths.

For me, being creative means freedom.

Michaela Maginot | Graphic Designer

Cintiq 24HD touch

Cintiq 24HD

Cintiq 22HD touch

Cintiq 22HD

Cintiq 13HD

on-screen drawing | stand rotation | pen & multi-touch Pioneers are people who do things first and take them to the limit. Graphic Designer Michaela Maginot tries out the innovative Wacom Cintiq features for her wide range of creative activities, enabling her to combine analogue and digital elements with up to 400 layers in just one piece of work. www.wacom.com.au Š 2013 Wacom Company, Limited. All rights reserved. Wacom, the logo and Cintiq are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Wacom Company, Ltd. All other company names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Modifications and errors excepted.