John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor

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An Introduction1 (And A Beginning) Political cartoonists get it easy. They have a point to make about the world and society in which we live. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees doesn‟t matter; there is pertinence to the real world in the cartoon. So it is easy to accept an editorial cartoon as a reflection of the times. Comic-strip cartoonists rarely are taken as seriously. Perhaps because the prime purpose of the strip artist is to entertain, readers tend to dismiss the work as being of no intrinsic value. That a strip can be read in moments compounds society‟s perception that this art form has little overall worth. But this is superficial thinking. Comic-strips are a legitimate art form and remain as much a part of a nation‟s popular cultural heritage as do, say, a local film or music industry. Sadly, little attention has been given to the comic medium in Australia. A study of local comic-strips would show how much they also reflect the unique Australian way of life – perhaps not as consciously as the editorial cartoonist but certainly in a manner that would bring pleasing results. The comic-strip Ginger Meggs was based on the cartoonist Jim Bancks‟ youth. It reflected an Australia before television and illustrated how youngsters of the 1920s and „30s spent their free time. During the „40s, when Australia was at war, comic-strips such as Bluey and Curley by cartoonist Alex Gurney also mirrored our way of life. Gurney‟s humour was based on his observations of Australian troops in army camps and those fighting in New Guinea. In the 60s, Gerald Carr‟s short-lived comic-strip Brigette centred on that decade‟s fashions, language and mores. And, for the Bicentenary of European settlement in 1988, artist Monty Wedd created The Making of the Nation, which accurately matched our nation‟s introspective mood of the time. Rod Craig, a comic-strip which ran from 1945 to 1955, was drawn by perhaps the most under-rated Australian artist-cartoonist, Syd Miller. The strip was filled with Australia‟s preoccupations of the time: black-market operators, Nazi war criminals and the arrival of post-war migrants. The dialogue for Rod Craig was written in the era‟s vernacular. It became so popular that it was serialised for radio – the first Australian adventure strip to be so honoured. Miller also created Us Girls, a comic-strip that not only reproduced the female fashions of the period but also made many references to the Melbourne Olympic Games of 1956; sadly, the strip is almost unknown due to its brief appearance (1955-1957). Perhaps it is the inaccessibility of the original material that leads Australians to be dismissive of the comic-strip‟s worth in reflecting our unique way of life – strips are soon forgotten and are left in bound newspapers, gathering 1

Some of the themes of this Introduction are re-visited from Karmichael, N. (Ed.). (1988). John Dixon's Air Hawk Magazine (First Edition). Comicoz: Redcliffe. Karmichael, N. (1990, November 20). Time to Take Comic Strips Seriously. The Bulletin, p. 98; Australian Consolidated Press: Sydney.


dust in libraries. I feel there is a need to preserve for future generations a permanent collection of the finest Australian comic-strips. What better way to begin such an anthology than by presenting a series of complete and unabridged Air Hawk adventures? Written and drawn by artist John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor remains Australia‟s 'most successful adventure strip‟ (Horne: 70), running in many newspapers from 1959 to 1986. Perhaps paradoxically, this comic-strip reflects a way of life that still remains foreign to most Australians: outback Australia. Based on the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Northern Territory Police, Air Hawk‟s adventures would appear on first reading to have no real relation to urban Australia; however, many stories were formulated from events that took place at the time (for instance, Skylab falling on Western Australia, the nation‟s debate over the uranium issue and the appearance of Halley‟s Comet). Air Hawk is regarded by many as „one of the best-drawn flying strips ever' (Gifford: 105); certainly it has won creator John Dixon critical and peer acclaim over the years. Yet few attempts have been made to compile anthologies on this body of work, and even less have given a historical background to this important Australian adventure strip artist‟s life. This volume seeks to correct these oversights. Most First Edition Editorials tend to include seemingly endless congratulatory messages to all involved in their publication and much rhetorical exaggeration. Whilst I am most grateful to all who took time out to assist in any small measure in the production of this book (and there is an Acknowledgement Page for that purpose), John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor needs no such hyperbole. Mainly because the volume is intended as a celebration of John Dixon's life and craft; and simply, the artistic quality of the contents speak for themselves. If any concession is made to those statements, it is that my expressions of gratitude are directed to you, dear reader, for your support in purchasing this book. My many sincere thanks. In the meantime, more needs to be done to educate the Australian public in the value of the local comic-strip and its contribution to and depiction of our popular culture. The time has come, if the famous Stan Cross cartoon may be paraphrased, to stop laughing… the preserving for posterity of Australia‟s comicstrip heritage is a serious matter, and I am hopeful that this is merely the first volume dedicated to that goal. Nat. Karmichael, Margate, Queensland. May 2010. References: Gifford, D. (1990). The International Book of Comics. (2nd Ed.) The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited: London. Horne, M. (Ed.) (1976). The World Encyclopedia of Comics. Chelsea House: New York. Ryan, J. (1979). Panel by Panel. Castle Australia: Sydney.


First published in Australia in 2011 by Comicoz P.O. Box 187 MARGATE 4019 Queensland

Special Cyber Space Edition 2012. Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor (including all prominent characters featured in these published adventures and the distinctive likeness thereof) are Copyright © John Dixon, with all rights reserved. No reproduction by any means without prior written permission. The Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor adventures reprinted within this volume have been reproduced under licence from John Dixon, the Copyright Holder. The articles and reflections contained in this book have been edited by Nat Karmichael; Copyright remains with their respective authors. They are identified within the book and all have been used with full permission of each Copyright holder. Most photographs and artwork used in the book have also been used with permission of the individual Copyright holder, although a few items were used with ownership being unclear. Attempts were made to identify the owners of these in order to seek their permission to use them: any person knowing the owner of any uncredited photograph or artwork, please contact the publisher to ensure future editions acknowledge that contribution.

Cover artwork by Eddie Campbell. “Eddie Campbell is both writer and artist on a number of comics including, Alex: The Year Have Pants and The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard, and the artist on Alan Moore‟s monumental From Hell. He arrived in Brisbane too late to catch Air Hawk in the Courier Mail but remembers if from The Menomonee Falls Gazette, a paper whose type we shall never see again. It dispensed with the news and just ran the daily comics. Almost all of them.”

Original Air Hawk Lettering by John Dixon New Lettering and Cover Layout by Michal Dutkiewicz. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-In-Publication entry Author: Dixon, John Dangar 1929 – Title: John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor / Writer and Illustrator, John Dixon ; Editor, Nat Karmichael. Edition: 1st edition. ISBN: 9780980653502 (paperback) Subjects: Comic books, strips, etc. – Australian Other Authors/Contributors: Karmichael, Nathaniel B 1957 – Dewey Number: 741.5994

Proudly printed and bound in Australia.


Thoughts and Appreciations of John Dixon This book was initially planned simply as a collection of daily Air Hawk adventures. However, in preparing it for publication, I somehow was made increasingly aware of the number of people who had stories to tell of the strip's creator, John Dixon. It became apparent that those then-unrecorded tales gave further insight into the history of not only Air Hawk but also John Dixon, the artist, the storyteller and the person. So this segment of John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor will be something special – reflections of a wonderful Australian artist's life and times as recalled by those who have known him best. Whilst it was not possible to keep the publishing of this book a secret from John, the content of and contributors to this section have been kept from him (as a surprise!) – until now! Nat Karmichael.


Thoughts and Appreciations of John Dixon By his niece Cheryl Following your request for material on Uncle John (Dixon), I have posted off material concerning the family history. John Dangar Dixon did not follow the route of his ancestors and become an engineer, surveyor, inventor or adventurer. John's Great Grandfather Robert Dixon was a surveyor and explorer [in Australia] in the early 1800s. Some of his achievements included being the first white man to both explore the Valley of the Grose and to climb Mt Hay; the first to survey Goulburn Plains (now North Goulburn), and the road from Muswellbrook to Gunnedah. A copy of his original plan to lay out the city of Brisbane (dated March 24th 1840) remains in the John Oxley Library (in Brisbane)2. Many of us are dreamers. But I suspect that the time and place in history, and a determination to follow a dream allow some a forum to come to the front. John Dixon was one. He had a drive to take his dream – a creative, inventive and adventurous side, like his ancestors – and brought it to fruition, not only through his art but also through the development of story lines that were uniquely Australian. Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor celebrates our landscapes and those characters from the Australian bush. Robert Dixon contributed to the opening up of a new country while John, his Great Grandson, gave a voice to the Australian character that had grown out of that country. I always remember Uncle John as the uncle who was quiet and gentle but with a wicked sense of humour. There was always a glint in his eye as if there was something ready to bubble forth.

Reflection © Copyright 2009 Cheryl March. Edited by Nat Karmichael from an email dated November 28th 2009 and printed matter supplied by post. Written in June 2010. Reviewed by Cheryl March in June 2010, before publication. Reprinted and Edited with the permission of the Copyright Owner.

2

The map is held in the John Oxley Library's Reading Room on level 4 of the State Library of Queensland (Call number RBM 841.16 00003 e 1840). Although the Library does not permit photocopying of rare maps, the staff will allow members of the public to make copies with a digital camera (without a flash).


Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor: Daily Story Number 44 “Thunderhead” Written and Drawn by John Dixon This adventure was first published from Saturday September 6th 1975.

John Dixon says: “The young children in this story, Gary and Tippy Hindmarsh, are loosely based on my son and daughter (Andrew and Jaydi). The Met station is fictitious and so are the bad boys who plunder the Pegasus. One of many ancient wrecks along the North West Coast of Australia...the Pegasus holds a secret...”


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Thoughts and Appreciations of John Dixon By his Friend and Fan Nat I regularly began reading Air Hawk relatively late in its run, in the mid1970s (co-incidentally, from the final adventure in this volume) when I was able to access the Brisbane Courier-Mail on a daily basis within the boarding house I was living in at the time. I began corresponding with John Dixon in 1980, initially through his Agent Brian Foley (and inspired by a letter John Ryan had written to me in the early 1970s while I was still at school). It wasn‟t until after John Dixon had left Air Hawk for the United States that I first read Thunderhead. I had long admired John‟s artwork, but it wasn‟t until I read the next two week‟s sequence that I realised what a great storyteller he was. And it was this fortnight‟s run (presented here exactly as the newspapers' editors would have received the copy) that motivated me into publishing a more permanent record of John Dixon‟s Air Hawk work. For mine, this that follows is the standard that all adventure strip practitioners should aspire; this is John Dixon‟s finest work, his finest hour. John: many thanks for the many years of pleasure and for taking time out to write to this Fan. Reflection © Copyright 2010 Nat Karmichael. Written November 4th 2010.


These two pages reflect a completed week's work by John Dixon, and each page represents a single page of original artwork (reduced from the original).


The manner of their display depicts exactly how the newspapers' editors would have received the copy ready for publication. For more details read The ‘Lost’ John Dixon Interview ...later in this book.


These two pages reflect a completed week's work by John Dixon, and each page represents a single page of original artwork (reduced from the original).


The manner of their display depicts exactly how the newspapers' editors would have received the copy ready for publication. For more details read The ‘Lost’ John Dixon Interview ...later in this book. (Yes, this has been written previously, but maybe this is to see if you are paying attention and reading every word that is being written!)


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The „Lost‟ John Dixon Interview This Interview was conducted by Nat Karmichael in February 1990 for the planned but never published Seventh Issue of John Dixon's Air Hawk Magazine. Inkspot, the Journal of The Australian Black and White Artists' Club, printed a heavily edited version of the interview in its Autumn 1991 Edition (Number 16).3 The first unedited transcript of this interview appeared in Italy‟s Fumetto, a wonderfully produced comics-related magazine, in its May 2002 Issue (Number 42). Appearing here in full for the first time in English, then, is this much-delayed John Dixon Interview! Acknowledgement here should be made of the kind contributions from and the generosity of spirit of Giuseppe Trovato – without his assistance, this Interview may never have seen print.

Nat Karmichael.

The Australian Black and White Artists’ Club mentioned throughout this book, in now known as the Australian Cartoonists’ Association. The Association has a long history, dating back to its formation in 1924, and has been a major influence in the Australian Comics scene. The Association deserves a more extensive coverage, and perhaps that may be addressed in a future volume of John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor. However, for Comic Fans interested in learning more about the Association in the interim, a good starting place is the Association‟s web-site: http://cartoonists.org.au 3


Q1. Had you always wanted to be a comic book/strip artist? JOHN DIXON: The answer to this question has to be yes. As a boy living in East Kempsey, New South Wales, I clearly remember my absolute fascination with the Sunday colour comics. Drawing was a passion with me, but growing up to become a professional artist of any description seemed an impossible dream. My father, who was Headmaster at East Kempsey Primary School, had higher ambitions for his son – more stable and lucrative prospects like Engineering, Medicine or even the Teaching profession. No offspring of his would become an artist starving in some grubby garret. Alas, in later years my dear old Dad reluctantly resigned himself to the fact that young John was a hopeless case and would indeed join the ranks of starving artists. Worse, a comic artist...the creator of literature my father had banned from his classrooms. But shame slowly turned to pride when his boy actually began making a little money. Comics took on a new meaning. The profession was an honourable one after all.

Above Photo: Young John Dixon.

Q2. Did you have any formal art training? JOHN DIXON: Apart from attending a life-class in Sydney for a few months to study figure drawing, I had no formal training. I found the workplace a great school, although Iâ€&#x;m sure the training and discipline gained in an Art College would have benefited me a great deal. Interestingly enough, most of the comic artists and cartoonists I have known shared my experience. We learned our skills the hard way with little or no formal training. However, when someone asks me if they should go to Art School, I encourage them to do so. Foundation work, such a perspective and figure drawing, is invaluable.


Q3. Who were your earlier influences? JOHN DIXON: My earliest influence was most certainly my Mother. At the time, I considered she was just another hobby painter. A very good one, but like most kids we tend to take our parents‟ skills for granted. Looking back on her work, I realise she was extremely talented. Speaking of talent, something I share with a large number of cartoonists is their admiration for the works of Milton Caniff, Alex Raymond and Hal Foster. There are many others, but these three in particular impressed me a great deal. A later influence came from my friend Phil Belbin who encouraged me to tackle the challenge of colour illustration. But for Phil I would probably not be doing what I do today. I‟m still not sure if I should thank him or beat him over the head. It‟s a tough medium. (Editorial Note: At the time of this interview, John was painting in colour. Since the Interview, Sydney Artist Phil Belbin passed away. Not before John‟s thoughts were made known to him, fortunately!) Photos Above and Right: John with his Mother

Q4. How did you first break into comics? JOHN DIXON: After completing my education at Cooks Hill Intermediate High, I became a trainee window dresser at a softgoods store. I later obtained a position as an advertising artist in the same company. Then in 1945 I moved to Sydney and took a series of jobs with Art Departments and Advertising Agencies. I was living in a hostel at the time and one of the fellers there was reading a comic book; a local production and it was terrible. “Geez”, he said “You could do better than this!” So I decided to give it a go. I wrote and illustrated a story, which took me six months in my spare time to complete. It was eighteen pages, entitled The Sky Pirates. I took it to a Sydney publisher by the name of John Edwards of Leisure Productions and he bought it. He also offered me a full-time job as a comic artist/writer which I accepted with relish.


Q5. I notice that even your very early comics reflect an interest in aeroplanes. JOHN DIXON: Yes; I think my penchant for flying goes back to when I was a kid. I grew up in the country and was in primary school when World War Two started. At that time most boys were interested in planes, but to me it was sheer fascination. A fascination which has remained with me „til the present day. Right: An early school drawing by John.

Q6. Would you like to talk about those comics? JOHN DIXON: Well, Tim Valour was the first title I produced, and that went on for the whole ten years I worked at H. John Edwards. I was doing both Tim Valour and Crimson Comet at one stage which was quite a workload...talk about burning the midnight oil. We were paid per page, so the more we did the more we earned. I was saving to buy a block of land, so I was working really hard. I was starting at six in the morning and finishing late at night. At the time I was writing and drawing fifteen pages per week. John Edwards treated me very well. I was being paid three pounds ten shillings (about $7.00) per page. Another publisher offered me about double the rate, but I knocked it back. I told John Edwards about the offer and the next day he gave me an 80 pound bonus! That was a fortune to me. I also produced other titles working for various companies for short periods. Captain Strato for Young‟s Merchandising, The Phantom Commando for Horwitz (I was also doing a lot of full colour paperback covers for them at the time), and I spent about three years revamping and updating Catman for Frew Publications. Left: Tim Valour, Issue 19. © John Edwards, Leisure Productions. Present day Copyright Holder Unknown. Please contact the Publisher.


Q7. Was it a deliberate decision to move from comic books to work as a newspaper strip artist? JOHN DIXON: Yes it was, but one that paid off. During World War Two an embargo on overseas comic books created a boom for the local industry. About 80,000 copies of each title were being published during this period. After the [Second World] War the embargo was lifted [in 1959] which, along with the advent of television [in 1957], dealt the relatively small Australian comic industry a crippling blow. The local quality was highly competitive, but not the prices. Publishers could buy syndicated material from overseas, particularly the U.S., at far cheaper rates. Result, the Australian artists were forced to seek other mediums. That included myself. The alternative was to create and sell a newspaper strip. Enter Air Hawk. Q8. Where did you get the idea behind Air Hawk? JOHN DIXON: It had to be Australian. Otherwise the papers wouldn‟t have been interested. There were two themes that interested me. One was outback flying involving the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the other was the Northern Territory Police. Why not combine the two? Hence Jim Hawk working in collaboration with Flying Doctor Hal Mathews and Police Sergeant Bob Fenton. Janet Grant completed the team. What I was looking for was an idea that would give me great flexibility both in art and storyline. I feel it was a good choice. Q9. What audience were you writing Air Hawk for? JOHN DIXON: Judging by the Fan letters I received over the years, the age of readers varied from six to sixty. However, I tried to aim more for the adult. Q10. Had you ever planned for Jim Hawk to marry Janet Grant? JOHN DIXON: Not really. The truth is I‟m not much good at the mushy stuff. Q11. How did you work on constructing the adventures? JOHN DIXON: The basic plot for a story would usually take the form of a short synopsis. Maybe a few sentences. From there I would write the script one week (six strips) at a time. Editorial Note: John Dixon elaborated on this in an email written on March 7th 2010: “My method was unconventional to say the least. Most artists and writers prefer to draft the whole story before proceeding with the artwork. However, in the case of Air Hawk I preferred to write and illustrate the strip week by week, virtually making it up as I went along.


“The first step for me was to think up an interesting title. This really set the ball rolling. Then I drafted the first week's dialogue with a brief description of each panel (three panels per daily strip), with the last panel ending with a mini cliffhanger. The trick was to (hopefully) keep the reader guessing.” This method had one distinct advantage over drafting the entire story in one sitting. By doing it in weekly segments, I had much more time to develop the storyline and I feel it resulted in greater spontaneity. “Another ploy was to run two stories parallel and have them converge at the end of the episode. Then there was the frantic rush to meet the deadline, usually after an all-nighter. It was great fun.” Q12. How long would it take to individually plot, write, pencil, ink and letter a week‟s Air Hawk adventure? JOHN DIXON: The six daily strips were always worked up as a single job. Three strips to each sheet of paper. The week‟s script would be written in about half a day or less. Next the dialogue would be lettered in. Then came the panel divisions, which meant I meant I could start pencilling. Editorial Note: Two weeks of the preceding adventure „Thunderhead‟ have been reproduced as John Dixon describes here. That completed, all the faces and hands would be inked. The face is the focal part of an illustration and as such is very important. If the face is wrong, the whole page is weak. Then comes the pen outlining of both figures and backgrounds. The final inking with a brush is the making or marring of the job and as such must be done with flair and care. The contrast of fine line and bold blacks can create a fascinating illusion of three dimensions. Photograph Reprinted Courtesy – “People” Magazine. Photographer Unknown.

But I digress. The question was, “How long does it take to complete a week‟s work?” Each strip would take less than a day to produce. My work day would begin at 8 o‟clock and when dinner was ready at night I‟d knock off. I didn‟t work at high pressure all the time. Including writing, art, business dealings (which is all part of the job) the average was five days. Gag strips are quicker but detailed adventure strips such as Air Hawk require more time-consuming effort.


Q13. What sort of materials did you use? JOHN DIXON: The best paper for this medium is a matter of personal choice but my selection was Turkey Mill Kent. I forget the weight but it was thin enough to use a lettering guide underneath the sheet. This is a great time saver. Ruling all those lines on every page is a real pain. The Windsor and Newton size 2 series 3A Sable hair brush and also the size 3 series 7 are good for the broad ink work. A good fineto-medium nib is good for the foundation line work. For the lettering I used a fountain pen with a gold nib. I didn‟t fill it...just dipped it like a regular pen. It worked fine. HB pencils are good in the cooler weather while H is fine for the hotter months. A Pelikan SP20 eraser is excellent for the final clean up. A lot of nobleed opaque white for corrections and you‟re in business. John working in his Sydney studio, 1966. Reprinted Courtesy – “People” Magazine. Photographer Unknown.

Q14. I wonder if you could talk about some of your Assistants on your Sunday Air Hawk? JOHN DIXON: I had been doing the Sunday Air Hawk for about five years before I started the daily [in 1963]. Producing both versions proved too much. So, I looked around for an assistant and met Mike Tabrett, who had great potential. I trained him and he ghosted the Sunday page for about five years. It certainly eased my workload. Later I got in touch with Hart Amos. At the time he was fed up with the comic business. He‟d been drawing Devil Doone comic [for Man Junior Magazine] for thirty years, and didn‟t want to get back into the comic rat-race again. However, I managed to talk him around, and he ghosted the Sunday Air Hawk for me for eight years! Keith Chatto, also a former comic artist, was a part-time cameraman at one of the TV channels and used to love drawing strips in his spare time. He was quite happy to do a bit of ghosting for me on the Sunday Air Hawk. He worked for me for about five years. I eventually let the Sunday Air Hawk lapse [in 1980] because it was more trouble than it was worth. I couldn‟t do both the Sunday and the Daily myself, so I simply concentrated on the Air Hawk daily.


Q15. Why was it so hard for Air Hawk to crack the U.S. market? JOHN DIXON: Australians are able to understand and identify with overseas strips and films because they have been brought up on a diet heavily spiced with U.S. and British material. Conversely, the U.S. reader has not been exposed to „foreign material‟. At least, not until Crocodile Dundee and other great Aussie movies hit the screens... My strong feeling is the U.S. market may now be more receptive to Australian material of all mediums. Q16. Why did you leave Air Hawk? JOHN DIXON: After 27 years of producing Air Hawk I found that new and original story ideas were becoming more difficult to come by. Then in 1986 I was offered the position of Art Director/Illustrator with Defense & Foreign Affairs magazine in Washington DC [in the US] which I accepted. The decision to cease production on the strip was a difficult one to say the least. On the credit side, Air Hawk continues to be published using repeats going back thirteen years. My friends in the Outback live on. Left: John working on another oil painting while working for Defense & Foreign Affairs. Photographer Unknown.

Q17. Will Australia?

you

be

returning

to

JOHN DIXON: To visit – every chance I get. To work – certainly if the work is available. Ideally I would like to alternate between Australia and the U.S. Maybe that opportunity will come soon. Q18. Are there any modern artists/cartoonists whose work you admire? JOHN DIXON: The list of my favourites is extensive, but Paul Rigby ranks with the best in my book. My favourite colour illustrator is Phil Belbin. That man has outstanding talent. Q19. What was the high point in your tenure on the strip? JOHN DIXON: There were two high-points in my life with Air Hawk. Obtaining the very first sale with the Perth Weekend News was heady stuff. The second came over twenty years later.


It was the night of the inaugural Australian Black & White Artists‟ Club Awards [in 1985] when my peers honoured me with the „Best Illustrated Adventure Strip Artist‟ Award. This, and having the „Stanley‟ presented to me by Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, was one of the proudest moments of my life. Something I will never forget. Photograph Courtesy – ACP Magazines. Photographer Unknown.

Q20. Anything disappointing during the period of time you worked on Air Hawk? JOHN DIXON: A couple of times film offers were made and this is something I would love to be involved in. It is disappointing that nothing has happened so far. But I‟m a hopeless optimist – something will come along. So if there are any Film Producers out there reading this....!! Interview © Copyright 1990 John Dixon and Nat Karmichael. With additional material from email correspondence March 7th 2010. Reprinted with the permission of the Copyright Owners. Photographs and early John Dixon artwork supplied by the Family of John Dixon and reproduced with permission. The Photographs of John in his Studio were published in an article by “John Swords” in “People” magazine [December 14, 1966 Edition; pages 44 and 45]; reprinted courtesy of the magazine‟s present Copyright Owner. The Photograph of John and Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke was published in the “Bulletin” article covering the 1985 Australian Black and White Artists‟ Club Award night; reprinted courtesy of the present Copyright Owner.


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John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor Edited by Nat Karmichael Now, why not read the complete Volume? 200 pages in length, with FOUR other Air Hawk adventures inside, an Award-Winning Article on the history of Australian comics, Recollections of friends and family of the life and times of Australiaâ€&#x;s greatest adventure strip artist... Details on how you can obtain your copy are available at... http://comicoz.weebly.com

Proudly printed and published in Australia by Comicoz ABN 80 784 984 690 at Margate Beach, Queensland


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