Inkspot 86

Issue #86, Winter/Spring 2019 www.cartoonists.org.au

ACA Board

Patron VANE LINDESAY

President JULES FABER president@cartoonists.org.au

Deputy President DAVID BLUMENSTEIN david@experienceillustration.com

Secretary STEVE PANOZZO steve@noz.com.au

Treasurer MARTINA ZEITLER treasurer@cartoonists.org.au

Membership Secretary PETER BROELMAN peter@broelman.com.au

Committee: ROBERT BLACK robert@robertblack.com.au

NAT KARMICHAEL comicoz@live.com.au

IAN McCALL mccallart@bigpond.com.au

JUDY NADIN judynadin@optusnet.com.au

CATHY WILCOX cwilcox@fairfaxmedia.com.au

Affiliated Organisations

National Cartoonists Society

President: Jason Chatfield www.nationalcartoonists.com

Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain Secretary: John Stilgoe www.ccgb.org.uk

FECO

President-General: Peter Nieuwendijk www.fecocartoon.org

Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (PCO)

Chairman: Clive Goddard www.procartoonists.org

Your Inkspot Team

Editors: Nat Karmichael & Steve Panozzo

Editor - InkSpotlight & Your View: Phil Judd

Contributors: Dean Alston, Daniel Best, David Blumenstein, Shelley Brauer, Jim Bridges, Peter Broelman, Margaret Cameron, Simon Chadwick, Jules Faber, Lindsay Foyle, Paul Harvey, Leigh Hobbs, Judy Horacek, Bruce Kane, James Kemsley, Vane Lindesay, Steve Little, Ian McCall, Stuart McMillen, Kerry Millard, Judy Nadin, Ramise, Dean Rankine, David Rowe, Peter Viska and Martina Zeitler

Cover Image: Australia Post

Inkspot is (usually) produced four times a year by the Australian Cartoonists’ Association in January, April, July and November.

Deadline for next issue is 14th DECEMBER

PO Box 5178

SOUTH TURRAMURRA NSW 2074

ABN 19 140 290 841

ISSN 1034-1943

Australia Post Registration PP 533798/0015

Presidential Palaver

Welcome to this latest (and I do mean ‘latest’) edition of Inkspot. It can be tough to bring out our mag when our great volunteers have to contend with whatever life throws their way, so thanks for your patience. Fortunately though, this one’s coming out right before the Stanleys weekend, so all the info you need is inside, including the whole program of events across FOUR BIG DAYS in Canberra! That’s right, FOUR! I can’t wait to hit Canberra and check it out next month, catching up with all you cool folk I only get to see every so often.

Speaking of cool folk, a big congratulations to former ACA President, Jason Chatfield, who was elected earlier this year as the President of the National Cartoonists Society in the US. There’s maybe a joke in there about Presidents but I’m gonna let it go through to the keeper and move on. All joking aside, Jason is, of course, our very good friend and I know he’s going to do a bang-up job of being President... again.

Moving on to tragic news, we were saddened recently to learn of the passing of the Chairman of the Cartoonists Club of Great Britain, Noel Ford. Noel was a

staple of the British cartooning industry for decades and his death has been a terrible loss to the field. On behalf of the ACA, our warmest and sincerest condolences are extended to his wife Margaret, his daughter Sara, and his extended family and friends.

I’ll leave it on that sombre note, but a quick reminder that if you haven’t voted for your choices in the Year Book yet, get on it! Votes must be with KPMG on or before 15th November. All the tools you need are in the Year Book, so hop to it! Then, hop into this ripper issue of Inkspot. Then get to Canberra! See you on 5th December!

Editorial Notes

First of all, an apology for the delay in getting this issue of Inkspot to you all. An unexpected series of family matters and work priorities took a toll on the Inkspot team. But here we are - finally!

Sadly, some features have been held over, such as the promised celebration of John Ryan and the 40th anniversary of Panel By Panel, which you will be able to enjoy next time. On a personal note, I’d like to offer my warmest congratulations to Jason Chatfield on his elevation to the post of NCS President. What a baptism of fire he’s had! Also my deepest sympathies to my British buddies on losing the remarkable Noel Ford. Vale, mate.

Back in Issue #73, Jules wrote that a couple of Queenslanders planned to “build Inkspot back to its former glory”. Here we are now, a further 14 issues since then! The best and most satisfying part of working on Inkspot has been transforming it from a once-a-year sort-of publication to a regularly published magazine that we are all proud of. This issue may be my last as Editor for a while: I’m in need of a break. I’d like to thank everyone who has worked with me and shared my vision over that period: Phil Judd, Chris Barr, Dave Emerson, Judy Nadin, Cam Winks and Steve Panozzo (who has kindly taken over the helm). And my thanks mostly to Carlene, who has allowed me this indulgence for so long.

JASON CHATFIELD

Happy 99th Birthday, Vane!

On 2nd October, ACA Patron Vane Lindesay turned 99. The day before, he received a birthday visit from Leigh Hobbs and Judy Horacek, followed by another visit a few days later by ACA Treasurer Martina Zeitler, who was brandishing a rather neat collection of tributes by Vane’s professional friends and colleagues, including Paul Harvey, David Rowe, Matt Golding, Steve Panozzo and Roger Fletcher among many others.

THE STANLEY AWARDS

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2019 Stanley Awards and Conference. It’s time to book!

STAMP OF APPROVAL

LEIGH HOBBS is officially an Australian Legend - and Mr. Chicken is along for the ride!

THE LEDGER AWARDS

It’s the comic book industry’s night of nights and DANIEL BEST was there. Thrills! Spills! Ian McCall! Photos, too!

ROWE IS TOPS AT THE 2019 ROTARY CARTOON AWARDS

The Australian Financial Review’s David Rowe has taken top honours for the tenth time at the 31st annual Rotary Cartoon Awards, presented on 7th September at the National Cartoon Gallery, Coffs Harbour.

While the prize pool was down, enthusiasm remained high with the soon-to-be-renovated Gallery exhibiting 196 of the cartoons submitted in five categories. Fiona Katauskas won first prize in the Political Cartoon section, with Rowe picking up the merit award. Buddy Ross walked away with first place in the Open section, with the merit awarded to Tony Lopes.

Lindsay Foyle won for Sports and Malcolm McGookin went home with the merit prize. Simon Schneider’s cracking portrait of George Pell earned him first prize in Caricature, with Rowe picking up yet another merit award.

The perennial Mark Lynch accepted his Comic Strip win on video, with newcomer Paul De Zubicaray, or “Zoob”, taking out the merit award. The award for the Special Theme: Under Construction - an apt theme, given the Gallery’s looming facelift - was presented to McGookin, with Ross going home clutching the merit award.

CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP

Associate members KATHY LANGLADE and RAMISE met at the Stanleys in 2012. Have a look at what they’ve been up to!

MY FAVOURITE PAGE

How does a comic page captivate the reader? STUART McMILLEN analysis one of his more successful comic pages

BEYOND THEIR PENS

VANE LINDESAY looks at the quite remarkable life of the late, great GEORGE SPROD

ROGERS & GASKILL

A farewell to two cartooning greats: Australian caricaturist JOHN ROGERS and cartooning’s man-of-the-world, DAVE GASKILL

REGULAR FEATURES

Where

Bridges takes the

with

CARTOONISTS’ ROLL CALL! L-R: Malcolm McGookin, Al Rose, Phil Day, Tim Mellish, Lindsay Foyle, Tony Lopes, David Rowe, Buddy Ross, Paul De Zubicaray and Ian Jones

QUEENIE CHANBADIUCAO JULES FABER

This year’s Stanleys conference features guests and speakers from across the cartooning (and actual) world!

THURSDAY 5 DECEMBER

We kick things off with a midday launch of the Hawkie Exhibition, a great collection of cartoons of former PM Bob Hawke at the Hotel Kurrajong with former senator and Stanleys ‘93 guest speaker Graham Richardson.

FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER

Official launch of Behind the Lines 2019, the year’s best political cartoons in King’s Hall at MoAD at 11am. We then retire to the House of Reps chamber for a preview screening of Kasimir Burgess’ challenging new documentary, The Leunig Fragments.

At 6pm you can also choose to pick up a ticket to see some of Australia’s finest artists going head-to-head in the Cartoonist All-Stars game show! Think Rockwiz but... y’know, with drawing.

SATURDAY

7 DECEMBER

Saturday is day 1 of the conference, so haul your sorry bones into MoAD’s O Space for the always exciting AGM, and then a presentation from the ACA on this year’s wideranging illustrators survey.

The talks begin short and sharp, as a succession of speakers hit you with 5 minute presos on Who’s Paying Artists. Following this, Cathy Wilcox will be In Conversation with Kasimir Burgess about his Michael Leunig doco.

After the break, you’ll hear about Technology and the Future of Drawing from international manga star Queenie Chan, and then meet some fresh faces at The New Members Meet-And-Greet! Then it’s off to lunch at one of MoAD’s fine eateries, Terrace Café or Hoi Polloi

We end the first day with two excellent headliners: Badiucao is a Chinese-born Australian political cartoonist whose activist exploits have angered the Chinese government, and whose aborted Hong Kong gallery show is the climax of the ABC documentary China’s Artful Dissident.

35th Annual Stanley Awards and Cartoonists Conference Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra December 6, 7 & 8, 2019

SHARON MURDOCHWILLIAM McINNES

BOOK ONLINE: www.cartoonists.org.au/register

HOTEL: www.hotelkurrajong.com.au

Promo Code: ACA2019

David Blumenstein will probe him for advice on How To Speak Freely.

Sharon Murdoch is one of New Zealand’s bestknown political cartoonists, and joins us all the way from Invercargill to talk politics, cats, activism and her awardwinning work for Stuff and the Sunday Star-Times. She’ll be chatting about Anger On An Island

Then it’s Australian cartooning’s night of nights, The 35th Stanley Awards, hosted by Nick Schultz/Max Connors/John Curtin himself; William McInnes!

SUNDAY 8 DECEMBER

We’ll start a bit late on Sunday with Hacking Cartoon History: major institutions are archiving Australian cartoon his tory, but what can individuals do to fill in the gaps? Then we get a private screening of the documentary about Badiucao, China’s Artful Dissident, directed by Danny BenMoshe.

The Stanleys keynote follows, and it should be a

DEAN RANKINE JACKIE FRENCH KASIMIR BURGESS

barn-burner -- a spirited lecture on “How To Sell 120,000 Copies In Three Weeks - Guaranteed”, from prolific author and former Australian Children’s Laureate Jackie French AM, followed by a panel discussion with Jackie French, Jules Faber and Dean Rankine!

The conference is over, but the fun isn’t! See Canberra off with a tour of the National Library’s kids illustration exhibition, Story Time, led by curator Grace Blakeley-Carroll.

Behind The Lines is a celebration of Australian political cartoons held annually by the Museum Of Australian Democracy. You can check them out at www.moadoph.gov.au

STANLEY REGISTRATIONS*

Register online at www.cartoonists.org.au/register. Do it now! See you in Canberra! The Stanley Awards dinner includes an hour-long cocktail reception from 6:30pm, a three-course dinner and a 3-hour drinks package. Cash bar from 9:30pm.

PLEASE NOTE: Schedule subject to change.

HARV’S Footy Stars

Paul Harvey’s new book, Harv Footy Stars: 30 Years of Caricatures, was treated to not one, but two launches, in July and August.

The first was held at the MCG Library on 3rd. July, featuring fellow caricature legend John Spooner and Ian Cover (The Coodabeen Champions) in a talk about Harv’s passion for drawing caricatures.

Despite “shocking” weather, a vibrant crowd turned up to support Harv and the incomparable Mark Knight as they gave the book another birthing at Richmond’s London Tavern on 28th August, aided and abetted by MC Peter Viska

Harv Footy Stars retails for $59.99 and is published by Wilkinson Publishing. It’s available now through all reputable booksellers.

Phil Judd (below) has illustrated the first two of a series of three children’s books by author Yvette Poshoglian (of Ella and Olivia fame).

Published by Scholastic, the books have the umbrella title Puppy Diary and are aimed at a 5-to-8 year-old audience.

“It was pretty eye opening to see the work in print and how it all came out,” said Phil. “It is a buzz seeing them in the shops and having children bring them into workshops to have them signed.”

Book two has just been released - both carry a retail price of $9.99.

DAVID and his TECHNICOLOUR DREAM BOOK

We see David Rowe’s incisive takes on world politics seemingly everywhere, so it’s more than a little surprising that he has only now got around to releasing his first cartoon collection.

Edited by Russ Radcliffe and published by Scribe, Politics Now collects 204 of Rowe’s best cartoons from the last five years.

“Looking at David’s work is like a history of art and film,” says Radcliffe. “All cartoonists dip into famous paint

ings and stuff like that, but the range in his stuff is extraordinary. One of my favourites is from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal on the end of Malcolm Turnbull as PM. I don’t know where that came up from, but it was just a piece of genius.”

Politics Now is arranged thematically, the front half of the book dealing with Australian politics and the tenure of three Prime Ministers, with the back end tackling international affairs. The book retails for $32.99 and is out now.

Spooner blessing the faithful

Harv signing his life away... again

Ian McCall and Harv at the London Tavern in Richmond

PHOTOS BY JOHN ALLISON

Mr. Chicken Goes Postal!

IF Leigh Hobbs thought his life would return to some sort of normality after a two-year term as Australian Children’s Laureate, then 2019 was out to prove him wrong.

This year had barely started when Australia Post announced that their annual “Australian Legends” stamp series would feature five stars of children’s literature - namely Mem Fox, Morris Gleitzman, Alison Lester, Shaun Tan and Leigh Hobbs.

“It’s obviously an honour and I’m thrilled, but in my case maybe the term ‘legend’ is a bit over the top,” he said.

“Cartoonists, children’s book writers and illustrators are too often placed (or, rather, misplaced) at the very bottom of the artistic and literary pile.

“The importance of humour is often undervalued, so I thought it excellent that Australia Post gave some of us in kids’ books the gong with our faces and our work.”

Despite the enormous impact cartoons

have had, and continue to exert, on Australian life, it seems rather odd that cartoonists have not had their work honoured more frequently on Australian stamps.

Tony Rafty became the first caricaturist in the world to have his work on postage stamps when his caricatures of Darby Munro, Victor Trumper, Sir Norman Brookes and Walter Lindrum became the foundation for the “Australian Sporting Personalities” series in 1981. Ginger Meggs joined Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, characters from The Magic Pudding and Blinky Bill in the “Classic Children’s Books” series in 1985.

Cartoon characters by Roland Harvey were used for the first joint US/Australia stamp issue in 1988, a precursor to the mammoth “Living Together” series later that year, which featured the work of 26 cartoonists and celebrated Australia’s bicentenary. Since then, only a 1998 issue honouring Michael Leunig (“The Teapot of Truth”) and 1999’s “Children’s TV” stamps, featuring Mr. Squiggle, have given acknowledgement to the creative output of our cartoonists. Leighs’ stamp

marks the first time a cartoonist’s face has appeared on an issue, which is certainly an event. Surely licking the back of one’s own head must be a strange experience?

“Yes, I admit I have used my stamp already - a number of times,” Leigh said in February. “The timing is great as I’ve just completed all the artwork for the next Mr. Chicken book, Mr. Chicken All Over Australia. All this attention would go to his head if he had one.”

Indeed, Mr. Chicken All Over Australia has now been let loose across the country and Leigh will be accompanying the release with a national speaking tour through schools and libraries. He will be joining the State Library of NSW’s Spring Family Sunday on 24th November.

Mr. Chicken All Over Australia is out now!

ISBN 9781760296964

Allen & Unwin, rrp. $24.99.

RIGHT: Leigh Hobbs joins a very select group of Australians honoured with their own postage stamp! BELOW: Mr. Chicken visits the Great Barrier Reef! BELOW RIGHT: Leigh Hobbs’ new book, Mr. Chicken All Over Australia

Jules Cracks a Max A Serendipitous Start for Faber’s First Book!

On Wednesday night, 27th May 2018, I mentioned to Becc that I needed a new project. So, the next day, I started adapting a project I’d started where I recorded all the misadventures I’d had as a kid. I printed foolscap lines onto my preferred card for drawing and started handwriting/doodling the stories as if told by my fictional best friend, Max. Within a week, I’d handwritten/drawn 30 pages but stopped myself going further in case I was doing it wrong for publication. I had a meeting on 31st May with my publisher regarding illustrations for the latest Dr Karl book I was illustrating, so thought I’d take the pages along and ask her advice.

The meeting ended and I whipped out the pages and showed them, asking how I would submit a final manuscript in this style. I was told they’d treat this as a first draft and it would likely require redrawing and adaptation into a font over handwriting. It was what I needed to know, so I made to leave.

Then my publisher said she loved itcould she make a copy and treat it as a submission? I’d submitted a lot of book ideas to various publishers before (with no success) so it seemed ironic that some half-formed idea, nowhere near complete, should pique someone’s interest! I said it was okay, but emphasised that it wasn’t my intent when showing her the work.

On Monday morning, 4th June at 9:00am, my publisher called me and said she’d shown it around on the weekend; everyone loved it and could she take it to her acquisitions meeting on Wednesday? I felt like my head was spinning but said sure, that would be okay. Having been rejected by so many publishers previously, I kept my hopes down but something in the back of my head was confident that this was the one that was going to stick.

On Wednesday I was at a school visit with some author and illustrator friends and told them the story. Everyone

was marvelling at how swiftly it had all happened. I had checked my email frequently but there’d been no word. I figured it hadn’t got up after all.

The next day, I called my agent and lamented the fact that it wasn’t to be; he emailed the publisher for confirmation. Nothing happened for several hours and I figured that was that. I’d got close, but no cigar... still, that was something.

Then an email arrived from my agent, forwarded from Pan Macmillan. I’d been offered a two-book deal on the strength of those original 30 pages!

We then worked out how to achieve what I’d envisioned, as it wasn’t possible to hand-write the whole book (which I would have preferred) due to a variety of reasons. What we were doing hadn’t been done before, so we had to create a range of solutions on the fly, which, while exciting, was a lot of hard work.

THE QUEST AHEAD

Fortunately, the second book in the series (due in April 2020) will be far less

work now we know how to achieve the desired results. I have a much broader vision for the series, should it take off, but whether that happens is entirely up to whether kids enjoy it or not!

For my first solo kids book, I couldn’t be happier working with Pan Macmillan. They’ve done everything they could to bring my often “out there” ideas to life.

So, what is The Quest Diaries of Max Crack about? It’s about Max, a new kid in Piddown, who decides to leave his embarrassing life behind him and do all the things he’s always dreamed of doing. He calls them his ‘quests’ and he soon makes a best friend who helps him out.

One thing I’ve realised is writing about your own childhood is heaps of fun! You can fix the things you hate about it, make the things that sucked heaps better and embellish the things that were awesome. Everyone has great stories from their childhood. What you might think is ordinary is not necessarily the way other people will see it.

That said, while it’s loosely based in reality, there’s really no one in the book who exists in real life. Most of them are just there because that was my experience, but they all become background characters to the main friendship between the two main characters, Max and Frankie.

I drew it like an 11-year-old would draw it, so it was really liberating. If I made a mistake, it didn’t matter, I’d just cross it out and do it again, much the way a kid would. I didn’t have to close all the lines or even stay on model at times. I never felt stressed by the process, it was all just lots of fun.

Jules Faber

The Quest Diaries of Max Crack, published by Pan Macmillan Australia, is out now and retails at $12.99

ABOVE: Jules Faber’s cover art for The Quest Diaries of Max Crack breaks many of the established conventions of book design

Could I Have a Receipt?

Lindsay Foyle

If all goes to plan, Lindsay Foyle’s first (and, by his reckoning, probably last) book of cartoons will be launched on 27th November at The Corner Gallery, Stanmore. Festivities begin at 7pm and everyone is welcome.

The 100-page A4-sized book, titled Could I Have a Receipt?, features a selection of some 300 cartoons from Lindsay’s cartooning career, with some going back 30 years, many of them from Lindsay’s days at The Bulletin and The Australian.

Now or Never

Judy Horacek

Due to be released into the wild on 10th December will be Now or Never, aka Horacek X.

“It will be my tenth cartoon collection and, coming in at 288 pages, will be my longest yet,” Judy said. “The cartoons cover all my familiar themes – the environment, feminism, social justice, progressive politics and other causes dear to my heart, along with plenty of simply silly cartoons about the absurdity of life.

“And for some reason, quite a lot of giraffes.”

All the cartoons are all from Judy’s twice-weekly gig in The Age, from 2017 until October this year, when she made the decision to finish up at the paper.

“I’ve been talking about moving away from cartoons and onto other things, such as more writing, and writing mixed with drawings,” said Judy. “Part of this was giving up my cartoon spots in The Age.”

“So this book will almost definitely will be my last cartoon collection (although not my last book by any means).”

Uniquely, Now or Never was only able to be purchased through the crowdfunding platform, Pozible. Unless you subscribed to the fundraiser, a copy will prove very hard to find indeed. Supporters were tempted by a range of rewards, such as unique or limitededition prints, as an incentive to invest in the project.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT’S NIGHT, Melbourne

On 3rd September, the Australian Cartoonists’ Association held a Deputy President’s Night in Melbourne, a novel twist on a familiar theme!

The annual President’s Night, an evening of talks and dinner, has been a long-held ACA tradition in Sydney and this was Melbourne’s attempt to do something that I promised would absolutely be “deputy as good”.

It was a great night in Fitzroy North! We filled The Motley Bauhaus’ little black box theatrette and heard from fabulous guests Megan Nairn (formerly of Cartoon Network (USA) and now studio manager at League of Geeks and founder of Big Sister Studio) and Lisa Dempster (former CEO of the Melbourne Writers Festival and currently Executive Manager of Public Participation at Yarra Plenty Regional Library Service).

We talked about comics, animation, publishing, living as an artist, taking care of yourself and more! Thanks to everyone for coming, ACA members and “civilians” alike. We made some new friends and I think even launched one or two new projects on the night!

Extra thanks to Zac and Jason at The Motley Bauhaus for teching it up, recording the chat for future release online and for the mini-pizzas and ribs, which were a big hit with the starving artists...

David Blumenstein

Megan Nairn, Lisa Dempster and David Blumenstein

Peter Foster, Rob Mason and ACA Patron, Vane Lindesay

2 0 1 9

Another season of Ledger Awards has come and gone, and the recipients have collected their trophies. The Australian Cartoonists’ Association was one of many to sponsor the event.

Every recipient was well deserved, and the shame is that every work on the Ledgers Short List couldn’t have been awarded a gong. This year, Gary Chaloner handed over the organisation of the awards to his fellow committee member Tim McEwen and the results were stellar.

The awards ceremony took place on

26th April in the elegant Gallery Room at the State Library of New South Wales. Steeped in history, the Gallery Room was the perfect venue for the awards. The room was packed with people from all walks of life: artists, writers, creators, publishers and those simply interested in seeing what the Ledgers were all about. It’d be a safe bet to say that nobody came away disappointed, as the evening was one highlight after another.

Bernard Caleo did his usual sterling job as Master of Ceremonies and kept control of the evening, even if he gave

the illusion of teetering on the edge of anarchy at times. ACA committee member Ian McCall accepted the first Ledger of Honour for Gerald Carr, and Jeremey Macpherson presented the second Ledger of Honour award to Reginald and Stanley Pitt

Accepting for the Pitts were Reg’s daughter Jasmine Henderson and his grandson, Julian. Both Ledger of Honour speeches were informative and, at times, very personal and emotional.

A new dimension to the Ledgers had creators take the stage to give readings

Bernard Caleo, Master of Ceremonies

Jules Faber and Gary Chaloner

Graeme Cliffe, John Clements and Nat Karmichael

Ian McCall, accepting for Gerald Carr

STORY BY DANIEL BEST

PHOTOS BY NAT KARMICHAEL AND STEVE PANOZZO

Rob Feldman and the tin lids

Warwick and Justin Wedd

from their works. Thomas Campi and his Australian publisher, Nat Karmichael read from Truth, Justice and the American Dream: The Men Who Created Superman; they were followed by Marc Pearson (The Claw: The Terrible Beautiful Claw), Pricilla ‘Pi’ Wu and Teloka Berry (A Week in Warrigilla), Sandra Broman (Esther! A True Story) and finally Bailey Sharp (My Big Life). The readings were well received by all in attendance.

The Bronze Award for the evening was presented to Sharp’s My Big Life. Broman, Alisha Jade (Neither Here Nor Hair), Rachel Ang (Swimsuit), Wu/Berry were all worthy recipients of the Silver Ledgers for their works. The Gold Ledger was accepted by Campi for his (and writer Julian Voloj’s) graphic novel Truth, Justice and the American Dream: The Men Who Created Superman.

Karen Dwarte, founder of Comic Conversation, was a worthy and popular recipient of the Platinum Ledger, for her outstanding service to Australian comics. Full details on all the winners can be found on the Ledger Awards’ web-site (http://ledgerawards.org).

The night did not end with the awards though, as the after-party kicked on for another few hours at the SLNSW where everyone mingled, congratulated winners and simply caught up with friends, old and new. This social aspect of the Ledgers is always a highlight for everyone concerned, with much laughter and good conversation to be had over drinks and nibbles. It ended too soon for some, and people drifted off into the night, for nightcaps and more conversations before heading back to hotels and homes.

The Ledger Awards committee once again proved that this annual event is one of the must-attend nights for anyone interested or involved in the Australian comic book scene. If you miss the 2020 Ledgers, you will regret it!

Karen Dwarte is congratulated by Queenie Chan

Thomas Campi celebrates with Nat Karmichael

Sandra Broman raises the fashion stakes with her win

Jasmine Henderson and her son Julian accept on behalf of Reg and Stan Pitt

Mariangela Parisi, Geoff Richardson, with Stuart and Megan Hipwell

Tim McEwen is stalked by the paparazzi

Bailey Sharp

2

A CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP

Kathy and Ramise on Working With Their Inner Child

Associate ACA members Kathy Langlade and Ramise met at the annual Stanley Awards weekend in Sydney in 2012.

“We struck up a conversation and ended up swapping contact details,” said Ramise. “We’ve stayed in close contact since.”

TALKING ART

“People have often said that my cartooning style is whimsical and fun,” muses Ramise. “I didn’t do much art as a child, although I tried; I was not encouraged but knowing how to draw was what I craved.

“I do most of my art now with my inner child. Ramise the adult holds the pencil and my inner child tells me what to draw. Often, as adults, we override that internal small voice but that voice, our inner child, is connected to the magic and the whimsy. I could never think of the ideas for the quirky stuff I draw if I was trying to think of ideas as an adult.

“I’ve had to learn to understand how to get from the left side of the brain to the right side of the brain and then to the whimsical child.”

Kathy has always been interested in cartooning and has valued the support and inspiration from other ACA members.

“As I am taking my art into different directions, I am always looking for opportunities to incorporate cartoons into my work, whether it be merging cartoons with art forms that wouldn’t normally use cartoons or using graphic novel layouts for storytelling,” she says. Kathy has completed two small comic zines and a children’s picture book, which she self-published in late 2018. Kathy is currently working on her second children’s book.

“Kathy has been a godsend to me,” says Ramise. “It can be a challenge to find supportive networks for our art journeys when you live in regional areas.

“Kathy lives in Lake Macquarie, about 3 hours drive south of where I live in Bonny Hills; we get together at least twice a year, maybe more if there’s an art event that we want to go to together.

“Kathy took me to my first Supanova and my first zine fair in Sydney: that was a real eye opener! I was astounded and excited to see the amount of comic zine makers,” she says. “The enthusiasm from all the indie comic makers was infectious and I came home with a new understanding of how I could get my cartoons and comics out into the world.”

Kathy explained that they have both developed various cartooning and art skills through formal courses completed over the years.

“We are now continuing our art education by teaching each other as we fill in each other’s skills/ knowledge gaps from the different focus areas we each have.”

GETTING TOGETHER

“We are like a couple of big kids playing, there’s lots of laughter, ideas come tumbling out at such a fast rate,” Ramise says. “I had no idea how much collaboration with Kathy would open up and diversify my art journey.

“We usually bring each other new books to look at: children’s books, graphic novels and comics and we also share videos. We spend a lot of time playing with pencils, pens and paints; we do drawing exercises such as drawing with our non-dominant hands, trying out different media, inventing drawing games and sharing our art journal work with each other.”

“Our latest collaboration was over the Christmas holidays with my comic, Rocketman, which I started a few years ago (see an example below); it was inspired by a group drawing exercise in Drawing Words and Writing Pictures by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden

“I had felt stuck with where to go with the process. Kathy’s newly-acquired knowledge from a recent children’s book writing course was invaluable in helping me with the pagination. This allowed me to plan the comic book sequence and move into the next stage for completing the project.”

With Kathy’s support, Ramise was able to set the intention to finish her comic this year.

“We are now focused on bringing our own projects to completion and making them products,” she said. “I will admit I still feel scared and a bit overwhelmed by the process so we have a weekly check-in chat to support each other, which motivates me and helps me overcome obstacles with the project.”

“There are a lot of benefits to collaboration including: giving each other honest feedback about our work which helps us improve our art - a pair of fresh eyes and an honest appraisal can mean the difference between not feeling happy with an artwork to ‘yay, it sings!’

“We don’t always agree, but we make suggestions while staying true to ourselves as artists and people,” Ramise said. “We explore the suggestions and have a willingness to listen to each other and try new things. I can see from our latest gettogether that we are evolving into professionals, one finished product at a time.”

FUTURE PLANS

“In 2019 we committed to a 5-minute weekly check-in chat to keep us accountable and on track, said Ramise.” Kathy’s working on her second children’s book and I am onto the next stage of putting Rocketman onto the computer for digital colour.

“Kathy is also helping me develop a series of classes to teach comic-making for adults with their inner child. We will also continue to make collaboration videos, including interviews about our work and processes, which will be on our YouTube channels (coming soon!).”

You can find Ramise’s art on Instagram @ra_mise and Kathy @ bubblegumdays.

Kathy assists Ramise with storyboarding and sequencing Rocketman

ABOVE: Kathy’s range of self-published children’s books

LEFT: Ramise’s response to Kathy’s challenge to “draw three pictures with a kettle”, completed initially in pencil, then cleaned up in ink and watercolour.

Ramise (left) with Kathy

artwork analysis

My Favourite Page of Comics Art

Earlier this year, I drew a page of comics art that pleased me more than anything else that I have drawn during the past two years. After 12 hours of brainstorming, arranging, and drawing, I walked away feeling satisfied and proud.

Afterwards, for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about that page (see above). Because I am so happy with how it turned out, I decided to write this article explaining my satisfaction.

It’s a double-page spread (pages 9 and 10) of my latest comic, Tagging Public Spaces. Now, let’s dig deeper into why I like the page so much. Let me emphasise that I am proud of this page as a work of comics art, rather than as an illustration. In other words, I am proud of the combination of these elements:

• caption boxes

• panel borders

• panel arrangement

• negative space (white space between the borders)

• the illustration

• the way that this page fits into the overall 26-page story

To show what I mean, let’s have a look at the illustration itself, with all the borders and text removed (right).

by STUART McMILLEN

The illustration is nice. But it is also run-of-the-mill. Without the text and borders, it lacks the purpose that it serves in my Tagging Public Spaces comic. Let me explain further what I mean by the purpose of a comics page. My job is not a cartoonist. My job is not an illustrator. My primary job is a comics artist.

There is a difference. Comics is about storytelling. Comics is about the panel-by-panel communication of an idea to the reader. In other words, the illustrations are just one of the many simultaneous elements that comprise a comic. The text,

panels, spacing and arrangement are equally as important as the illustrations themselves. Because of this, illustrations are a relatively minor component of a comic. Illustrations that do not serve the story of a comic can be a detriment to the reading experience.

Every page that I draw is experienced by the reader in conjunction with the other pages of the comic. My readers read my comics by scrolling from left to right. So, I have to think about how each page relates to the previous and subsequent pages.

Here is a look at how this Dolmio page fits with its neighbouring pages:

coloured for emphasis. I also included the face of the young woman in the top-right as a feature that draws the eye.

As you can see, the reader finishes the previous page with their eyes near the bottom of that page, where the black caption box is. And the reader will begin their next page with their eyes in the black caption box at the top of that page. So, with this page, I needed to bridge that gap.

As a comics artist, my job is to guide the reader’s eye across the page. As the reader’s eye travels, I must use the combination of text and artwork to reveal information about the story that I am telling.

Here is the path of a reader’s eye across this page of artwork:

After this initial read, the compositional elements encourage the reader to scan across the page one more time. After reading the four large panels, the reader notices that there are three smaller panels that reveal more part of the artwork. These encourage the reader to circle back towards the spraypainted wall in the bottom-left, and to then have one more scan across the page.

Please note how all elements of the page help to guide the reader’s eye from the bottom-left to the top-right:

• the text boxes step up, as we move from left to right

• the arrangement of the panels gradually creeps upwards, as we move from left to right

• I use the ‘negative space’ of white in the top-left and bottom-right to guide the eye away from those parts of the page.

• I composed the illustration so that the two major elements were in the bottom-left, and top-right. These were brightly

My primary reason for breaking the scene into panels was to raise the viewer’s gaze towards the sky, as though they were looking up towards the billboard. Each panel provides a ‘step’ in the staircase towards the next destination. To create those steps, the gaps between the panels become important compositional elements.

As Scott McCloud famously highlights in Understanding Comics (1993), it’s the spaces between the panels that most engage the reader’s imagination.

The blank space between the panels gives your brain something to do, as it mentally fills the gap. In this Dolmio scene, we imagine the missing arrows on the spray-painted wall, the missing car windshield, or the missing overhead power lines (above), and it feels good to use our imagination.

The broken-up scene simply looks more visually interesting than the single unbroken scene does (again, refer to the comparison at the beginning of this article).

Another reason why I like the page is because the composition matches the purpose of the page. My comic, Tagging Public Spaces, draws a comparison between billboard advertisers and graffiti artists. Earlier in the comic, I argued that billboard advertisers claim the visual spaces of our cities in the same way as the ‘tags’ of graffiti artists.

This image (right) from, Tagging Public Spaces, is critical of billboards for being corporate ‘tags’ similar to graffiti ‘tags’. Yet, the purpose of the Dolmio page was to go one step further. Namely, to argue that billboard advertisers are worse than graffiti artists because they claim the skies with their structures.

Knowing the purpose of the page was important, because I knew that I needed to directly compare a graffitied wall with a billboard tower. Since we are so used to reading from top-to-bottom, I needed to find a way to make the reader’s eye move from bottom-to-top.

As I described earlier, I used the text boxes, panel arrangement, and compo -

sition to do this work. I’m so glad that I could create artwork that served the purpose of the page with such effectiveness.

I understand that most readers of Tagging Public Spaces would not notice these compositional factors when they read my comic. To them, the page would have looked relatively unremarkable. This is largely because the role of the comics artist is to do as much work as possible to ensure that the reader has a smooth reading experience. If you are skilled, the reader will not notice the subtle decisions that you have made while composing the page.

I was inspired to write this article after mentioning how happy I was with this ‘Dolmio’ page on social media. In turn, it has inspired me to re-conceptualise some of the pages of my upcoming comics from my Twenty-Five Arguments Against Billboards series.

Hopefully this article explains why I like this page so much and gives insights into the deliberate choices that sit behind my compositions.

If you have enjoyed this article, please consider supporting Stuart McMillen via his Patreon page.

Life’s a Pitch Getting Your Animation Series Off the Ground

by PETER VISKA

Kitty is Not a Cat is an Australian animated television series which first aired on 7TWO (Seven Productions) in Australia in 2018. It was produced by BEC Studios for Kitty is Not a Cat Productions. This article was written by CEO Bruce Kane in response to Peter’s request to supply Inkspot readers with some details of recent Australian animation projects.

Kitty is Not a Cat is one of those ideas that arrives in the middle of the night and you scribble it down, not sure whether it is the best idea you’ve had or the stupidest!

Taking it to market a few months later, we were informed it was quite possibly both. Fortunately, Niki Hamilton and the team at Channel 7 saw something in the story of a little girl wanting to be a cat, living in a house full of cats. She meows, the cats talk and try to teach her how to behave as a human...despite human behaviour making no sense to them.

Our initial attempts to explain this unusual premise to the international market turned out to have been worthwhile after all as the follow up was strong. With Channel 7 now partnering, we were able to secure a world-wide distributor in Jetpack and seek other funding. Film Victoria and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) were extremely helpful and supportive and we found ourselves up-and-running

with a 52 x 11-minute series.

Key to the programme’s appeal are the beautiful designs of Maurice Argiro Interestingly, these came first and the concept formed around them as we were determined to bring Maurice’s designs to life before quite knowing what the premise would be. This is back-to-front to the way we normally work but somehow it came together.

We are now midway through our second series with the same partners onboard and we are blown away by the response. Kitty Is Not A Cat is now playing in over 80 countries and has been translated into more than 25 languages. It is about to be released as a series of books by Hachette Publishing and a few games are currently in development.

Sometimes those middle-of-the-night moments pay off... that said, it really helps if you have Maurice Argiro’s designs there in the first place!

Bruce Kane

Dean Rankine is a Melbourne-based comics artist and writer, best known for his work on Simpsons Comics. He’s contributed work to Rick and Morty and Invader Zim (Oni Press), Underdog and Pals and Rocky and Bullwinkle : As Seen On TV (American Mythology), The Beano and The Dandy (DC Thomson) and Australian MAD (Next Media), as well as contributing illustrations to Morris Gleitzman’s Extra Time and Help Around the House (Penguin Random House), the A Funny Thing Happened to Simon Sidebottom series and On The First Day of School (Scholastic).

interview by PHIL JUDD

When did you first start drawing/cartooning? Do you have a first memory?

I think like the majority of us I started drawing when I was young. I was kind of a weird, shy kid. And I found something about drawing really satisfying. Also, I’m a praise monkey. So, I sucked up any positive feedback about my pictures like it was crack! One of my earliest memories of that was in kindergarten when a teacher said she liked a drawing of a possum I’d drawn. From then on I was hooked!

What was your first break in the business?

In Victoria (where I live) the education department used to put out these school magazines (Comet, Pursuit and Explorer). I started doing bits and pieces for them when I was nineteen. Which is a really long time ago now!

DEAN RANKINE

What category of cartooning does your work cover? What formats do you use?

Comic books are what I do most. For the last couple of years, I’ve been illustrating more “young reader” books. Occasionally, I’ve drawn some comic strips, one-off gags and picture books. Anything to survive really. At conventions, I draw people like they’re a Simpsons character. So, I guess you’d have to add “caricaturist” to that list, but not in any traditional sense!

How do you create your ideas?

If I’m writing something I’ll more often than not start doodling and create a mind-map until something appears. It’s more of a process of foraging and sifting through through sand to find that hidden gem - as opposed to building the sandcastle outright!

What comes first - the drawing or the writing?

If I’m doing the script, it’s the doodling, then the writing and then I’ll thumbnail the pages. If I’m working from someone else’s scripts then it’s going straight to thumbs. And then maybe roughs if needed.

What materials, technology and methods do you currently use to create your work? Any favourites?

For years I’ve penciled on photocopy paper, scanned and then inked/coloured on a drawing tablet. But just this year I’ve gone completely digital. And I love it!

Have you ever won any awards for your work?

I received a Ledger Award for my creator owned comic, Itty Bitty Bunnies in Rainbow Pixie Candy Land a couple of years ago. To be recognised by my peers in that way was pretty damn amazing.

What’s the best thing that has happened so far in your cartooning career?

Scoring The Simpsons really has been life-changing. For that I’ll be forever thankful.

Any advice, tips or insights you could offer your fellow cartoonists or those aspiring to be?

You have to be looking at always improving your craft. I’d also add how important emotional resilience is. ‘Cause you receive a lot of knock-backs. The rest is made up of the hustle and the grind. Rinse and repeat.

Do you have any favourite Australian cartoonists?

David Yardin, Jon Sommariva, Al Barrionuevo and Thomas Campi.

Who would you say are your five favourite cartoonists that inspire you?

Sergio Aragones, Scotty Young, Matt Groening, Alex Toth and liked John K, but from what I hear, he’s a bit of a creep.

What are your favourite five comic strips, books or films that have inspired and motivated you?

Ren and Stimpy, Footrot Flats, Battle of the Planets, The Simpsons... and pretty much all the Saturday morning cartoons when I was growing up!

Any obscure cartoonists you can suggest checking out?

Not really.

Where does your current work appear?

Simpsons Comics and Futurama Comics, mainly. I’ve drawn in Hellboy and I Hate Fairyland. I did a cover for Rick and Morty and recently contributed to Invader Zim and Rocky and Bullwinkle. I’ve illustrated books for Scholastic and Penguin Random House. I’m currently drawing Underdog and Oggy and the Cockroaches.

Where can we find out more about you, your business and your work?

I sporadically update my DeviantArt portfolio which can be seen at www.deviantart.com/deanrankine/gallery and I spend way too much time on Facebook and Instagram.

What are you currently reading, cartooning or general-wise?

I’m reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I’ve had a copy for years and decided that this is the year that I need to get through it. It’s slow going.

What music do you enjoy? Do you listen to anything whilst working?

I’m easily distracted! So, I tend to listen to the same stuff over and over. Currently it’s acoustic covers and Amy Winehouse on Spotify.

Do you have any other special talents besides cartooning? Or talents you’d like to have?

Not a one. If I really wanted something I’m sure I could work at it but nothing else motivates me like drawing does.

“ I’d also add how important emotional resilience is... you receive a lot of knock-backs”

where are they now?

The sixth in a series of “catch-ups” with hard-to-find cartoonists as they sit down and have a chat over a cuppa with IAN McCALL. This issue: KERRY MILLARD

would be fun to do some cartoons for their newsletter, Yaps and Yelps; there was such a nice response that I decided to see if I could get work as a cartoonist until I went back to being a vet.”

Kerry’s cartoons were first published in 1986 and by 1988 she was drawing regularly for The Sydney Morning Herald Her work has appeared in Medical Observer (for 26 years), The Law Society Journal, Readers’ Digest, Dolly and The Bulletin among many more. Kerry has won two Stanley Awards for Single Gag Cartoon Artist, was smocked in 1999 and had fun on the ACA committee. A highlight of her career was when Bill Leak told her that she was one of the few cartoonists whose work made him actually laugh out loud.

in which Kerry appears for about two seconds.

Over the last few months I have written about some of our more senior Victorian cartoonists, telling their story and seeing where they are. Now, I’m exploring further afield to talk with cartoonists from all over the place. So, here I am with Kerry Millard.

“I brought myself to Australia from Canada in 1973, became a veterinarian and took a short a break to move and have babies,” Kerry explains.

“I was taking my completely unhinged dog to a training club and thought it

“Then, with a bunch of drawings in hand, I approached a number of publishers about illustrating children’s books,” she remembers.

One editor rang back and Kerry’s work has now been published in 34 books (two of them she both wrote and illustrated), published in 22 languages. She’s won several awards including the Children’s Book Council’s Book of The Year for Younger Readers. Nim’s Island, written by Wendy Orr and illustrated by Kerry, was made into a feature film

“One of my shorter career moves... but I got to be hugged by Jodie Foster and kissed by a sea lion.”

These days, Kerry lives extremely happily in Tasmania and while she keeps a toe in cartooning, her other persona is busily painting as Kerry Thompson and playing the fiddle.

Kerry’s paintings may be seen online at www. kerrythompsonsgallery.com and at the brand new Mawson Gallery in Hobart. It’s more than 30 years later, and she never did get back to being a vet.

Ian McCall

Alan Moir holding his coveted induction trophy to the Australian Cartoonist’s Hall of Fame

Kerry receives her autographed cartoonist’s smock in 1999

Kerry in her Tasmanian studio

Woodbridge Hill - Le Weekend

August Sunday at Gordon Tasmania

BEYOND THEIR PENS

This is the fourth in a series of articles on Australian cartoonists who have written published books, composed stage plays or have made a significant cultural contribution.

This issue: GEORGE SPROD

by Vane Lindesay

The editorial doldrums of the mid-20th Century in Australia was a period when cartoonists, among others, left Australia for London where Fleet Street editors had not been slow to recognise the talents of that generation of graphic satirists. During that period, Australia lost the talents of Arthur Horner, John Jensen, Bruce Petty, Martin Sharp, Bruce Cavelier, Pat Oliphant to America and to London, the wonderfully eccentric self-taught cartoonist George Sprod.

We have no record of whether Sprod attended art school or any other learning method. We do know that George Napier Sprod was born during 1919 and, when a youth, lived in Magill Road, Adelaide, South Australia. He was at school during the worldwide economic depression, where he was listed as “hopeless” and admitted to being lazy; later, at Norwood High School, he displayed no change of attitude.

At eighteen, Sprod left Adelaide and rode to Sydney on his bicycle leaving a rather terse note in the letter box: “It will be one less mouth to feed”. Mounting his bicycle, he began his journey to Sydney, but he sold the bike at Hay in New South Wales and finished his journey to Sydney by train, where he hoped to secure work as a newspaper cartoonist. George soon discovered that this was not to be and, hopes dashed, the now-penniless nineteen-yearold laboured for short terms at various lackey-like tasks; among these was that of a street photographer, which was at the time a municipal law-breaking activity and resulted in a court appearance and time spent in Long Bay Gaol, detailed in Sprod’s

autobiography, Life On a Square-Wheeled Bike, published in 1983.

During the misery of the depression in 1939, the Australian Prime Minister, R.G. Menzies, delivered his “melancholy duty”, announcing “consequently Australia is at war with Germany”. As this affected Sprod, he was in an agony of indecision, “roaming the streets all night” before deciding to join the army.

George gave his thoughts on the propensity for human conflict:

“In most of the wars Australia has been involved in we have no business to be there in the first place. What was it to do with us if the Maoris wanted to keep their own land, or the Boer farmers their independence?”

In the light of this credo, Sprod’s decision to join the second Australian Imperial Forces, has less to do with his patriotism but more to do with economics, as it was with many men who enlisted. So, George Napier Sprod became a gunner with the 2/15th Field Regiment, 8th Division A.I.F.

Gunner Sprod was not to know how fateful this decision to volunteer would become, for his regiment was, together with units of the British army, to become a captive for three-and-a-half years at the infamous Changi Prisoner-of-War camp after the British surrendered to the Japanese upon their occupation of Singapore. Somehow, Sprod avoided much of the punishing cruelty, despite Japanese in-

fliction of forced labour on the Burma railway. When questioned about his POW experience, George’s response would be a muted, “not very pleasant”.

Sprod’s third illustrated volume of prose, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross: Sydney’s King’s Cross, Ancient and Modern (1989) offers fourteen short essays describing, with shrewd observation, people and places related to Sydney’s unique district with twenty-five full-page cartoons. His text and cartoons in all three books were produced after his twenty years in London where he had the rare distinction, after leaving Sydney’s Daily Telegraph in 1949, of walking into Punch’s London office building as an unknown artist and to have four of his cartoons immediately purchased. After he returned to Australia in 1986, he was encouraged to continue sending his drawings to Punch.

Recent research has revealed that Sprod, now back in Sydney, was invited to write a piece for the Australian Book Review. This was to be an essay on the subject of humour as practiced by writer/artist Barry Dickens, a pen man for whom Sprod had no respect as a “funny man”. In his role as critic, Sprod has left us with his lengthy creed in ABR’s Issue 79 in April, 1986:

Amid this background of captivity and its consequences of deprivation, Sprod managed (as did fellow prisoner, English cartoonist Ronald Searle) to somehow acquire scraps of blank paper and ink to graphically record their experiences whilst prisoners of war. Whilst Searle drew the cruelty and suffering, Sprod was at the other end of the scale, writing and illustrating the lighter, humorous aspects under Japanese rule. The yarns and drawings were eventually published in 1981 in Bamboo Over My Shoulder (subtitled Changi: The Lighter Side). Included are drawings from his Smoke-Oh prisoner-of-war journals, which were “circulated in the sick bays to try to cheer up the patients a little”. Those copies that were not “knocked off” are held in the Australian War Museum. Smoke-Oh consists of well written, quite funny yarns and the stories are plausibly narrated.

Sprod’s sharpness of mind is exhibited in numerous ways - the odd French word or quote, references to famous paintings or historical events together with humorous turns of phrase - for example, his cartoon “See No Weevil” (above) illustrates a yarn about a POW gunner “of such delicacy, he would pick all the weevils out of his rice before eating it”.

Sprod’s wit is further evident in his other prose titles. In Life On a Square Wheeled Bike, he writes like an academic, but, unlike academia, Sprod introduces humour and wit to his writing.

This caricature of US President Donald Trump won Judy Cartoon of the Year at the 2017 Rotary Cartoon Awards

“Humour is much too precious a business to be left to humorists: it is up to others to find it funny, while the comic goes about his trade with desperate lugubrity. This humour that goes out of its way to be funny falls flat: dryness is all.”

When George Sprod died in 2003 at age 84, an extraordinary talent was Australia’s sad loss.

Many have wondered about the name “Sprod”. A sprod is a species of the smaller fish. In his particular field of endeavour, George was a whale. He was inducted into the Australian Cartoonists’ Association’s Hall of Fame in 2018.

Sprod in 1940

Vale John Rogers (1933-2019)

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of John Rogers on the morning of 25th June, 2019. As previously mentioned in Inkspot (#80), John had suffered a stroke and was also struggling with cancer. Over the last few months, his condition had declined and John was very restricted in his movement.

John had spent his career as a police officer in the Victorian Police Force. He used his incredible caricature skills and worked within the constabulary to help solve crimes. In 1972, John won a Churchill Fellowship to travel and look at different international police forces and see what crimebusting techniques they were using. He came back with mountains of research and developed the Indentikit system. On occasions, John would bring the Identikit home and his kids would make funny faces with it. His ability to capture likenesses famously helped in apprehending “Great Train Robber”, Ronald Biggs.

John also drew caricatures of politicians and artwork for football posters, cards and advertising. He was able to briefly celebrate his 86th birthday with his family just before he passed away. He is survived by Dot, his wife of 65 years, 3 children and 10 grandchildren.

Ian McCall

Since the setting up of the Victorian chapter of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association during the 1980s, there have been several members with origins from overseas. Of those, three of these talented members served as members of the Victorian Police. These officers had graphic skills used in identifying criminal law breakers. Among those police officers, was Sergeant John Rogers, who had been posted to the Fitzroy Police Station.

Older ACA members recall John’s boisterous good humour and hospitality at his home where we were shown his mini museum of cartoons, books, badges and related police memorabilia. Among these items I admired was his father’s World War II Home Guard tunic, commenting how I regretted discarding my army tunic when I went to England. Later, to my startled surprise, at our ACA meeting, John presented this tunic to me as a gift. Items like this one are, if in fine condition, rare and expensive.

That was then. Later, John could not attend our club meetings as he was in quite bad health; a condition that was to cause his death during June 2019, aged eighty-six.

Vane Lindesay

Left to Right: Bill “WEG” Green, John Rogers, Tony Rafty and Vane Lindesay

John’s AFL caricature of Fitzroy’s Bernie Quinlan

Caricature of Rogers by George Hddon

Vale Dave Gaskill (1939-2019)

It is with great sadness that we report the death of British cartoonist, Dave Gaskill. Despite recently undergoing major surgery, his death on 6th July at age 80 was unexpected; according to his editor at the Church Times, he was working as normal almost until the end. Dave received the Stanley Award for Comic Book Artist in 2010, recognising his first graphic novel, Moll Perkins in America.

David Thomas Gaskill was born in Liverpool on 27th May 1939, the son of Ernest Gaskill, a sergeant in the Royal Air Force. Gaskill wanted to be a commercial artist, but in 1952 his careers advisor steered him towards an engineering apprenticeship; this led to work as an engineering draftsman. Gaskill worked first in Britain, where in 1962 he also began two years of evening classes at Stockport College, Cheshire. He then worked as an engineering and design draftsman in Germany and South Africa.

Gaskill’s first published cartoon appeared in the letters column of the Manchester Evening News in 1971, but he didn’t become a full-time cartoonist and illustrator until 1973, by which time he was living in South Africa. He then spent twelve years working as editorial cartoonist for the Sunday Express, Citizen, Star, Financial Mail, The Sunday Times and Rand Daily Mail, as well as doing work for magazines, advertising agencies, and television - where he was resident cartoonist on the series Take My Word

In 1986 Gaskill was offered work on The West Australian in Perth, and moved to Australia, where he also contributed to the Business Daily in Melbourne, and sent cartoons to the News of the World in London. In 1987, Gaskill moved to Auckland to work for the New Zealand Herald, whose regular cartoonist was retiring. Later that year Gaskill returned to England, where in January 1988 he became the editorial cartoonist on Rupert Murdoch’s Today newspaper. Gaskill remained at Today until the paper ceased publication in 1995. He then worked briefly for the Mail on Sunday, but in 1996 moved to Murdoch’s Sun newspaper. After leaving the Sun in 2003, Gaskill spent four years in Glasgow, working for the Sunday Mail, before returning to England to live. Gaskill also worked for the Independent on Sunday, and for the last 17 years has been working for the Church Times and Financial Advisor, until falling ill. His first graphic novel, Moll Perkins in America, was published in 2009 to glowing reviews.

I met Dave Gaskill in 1985. I was a novice, hired to replace the incumbent who was leaving. The West Australian had already hired Dave Gaskill. Perhaps I was a backup?

Anyway, Dave had come from South Africa where he had worked on The Star. He was a Pom, originally from Liverpool and brought up in Stockport, Cheshire. He had endured a messy separation from his wife and his life was was in disarray.

The West put us to work together sharing a made-to-order office, doing three days each. Dave worked using an Osmiroid pen and his stuff was wonderful. His caricature and comic strip work was genius and his penmanship superb. He was genial and happy to teach, luckily for me. Dave taught me how to use perspective and many tricks of the trade.

He rode a red racing bike and suffered many falls on his way home from the pub with his dinner hanging from the racing handlebars in a plastic bag. His separation hit him hard and he relied on the lager cure.

We had a year or so together and we hit it off. He became a friend for life. Dave eventually returned to England and met Irene, who was soon to become his second wife. Irene rid him of his demons and made him happy. Dave and Irene returned to Perth in the 90s for a visit and I caught up with him several times on my journeys to the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival.

Dave was so clever. And such a good man. Talented, fun- loving and gracious. I marvelled at his skill and I will miss him . Especially his Dave-drawn Christmas cards with all of his news inside.

Rest in peace my mate and love to Irene.

Dean Alston

Dave Gaskill pictured at the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival in April, 2006 PHOTO: James Kemsley

Reviews

Harv Footy Stars: 30 Years of Caricatures

by Paul Harvey

Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing

ISBN 9781925642858

160 pages, $59.99 (available at www.booktopia.com.au)

I can say from the outset that this is the best book on caricature I have ever seen!

It’s also the best-designed caricature book ever produced in this country. Paul Harvey is footy mad. He thinks, watches, dreams, eats and even still plays football... and he caricatures ALL aspects of each player. Every single player kicks, marks and tackles in their own way and/or style.

Harvey takes it all in, every little bit of action scanned forensically, then turned into a stunning holistic portrait. Even John Spooner - no slouch at caricature himself - reckons that Harv is possibly the best caricaturist this country has ever produced!

This is a bloody big book (30cm x 37cm) and it’s crammed with sketches, water colours, oils, digital, logos, emojis, footy cards, finals posters, magazine covers and even those old fashioned illuminated certificates they give to Brownlow medalists... Harv can do it all.

The use of white space in this book is spectacular. It’s designed to enhance the action of each page; and as you turn these pages you are continually surprised and delighted as it brings new designs, shapes and sizes. You also feel that you have the originals in your hands... few books ever achieve this.

If you like caricature you should buy this book, even if you don’t follow footy, it’s that good! It’s just a damn shame that mostly only footy fans know of Paul’s work. While I’ve been aware of Harv’s work for 20 years, nothing prepared me for the wonderful shock of all those beautiful caricatures crammed into one book.

A lot of the work is reproduced full-size, so it will certainly give you years of pleasure and enhance your knowledge of caricature.

I suggest you buy this book through Paul’s website (www.harv.com.au); he’ll autograph it for you, which is better than lugging it around (did I mention it’s a BIG book?) on the chance that  Harv is in town!

All of his drawings tell stories about the men and women and their individual styles and passion for the game. As I mentioned at the outset, this is the best book on caricature I’ve ever seen... and its Australian! If you love caricature or want to learn more about it, buy it!

Jim Bridges

The Australian Cartoonists’ Association wishes to extend grateful thanks to our generous sponsors for their continued support for Australian cartooning Inkspot is proudly printed by