November 2011 – Doctor Comics

Last month I spent a wonderfully productive week in Fiji…on behalf of the Japanese Embassy and the Japan Foundation in Sydney…to present a lecture and workshop at the School of Arts, Language and Media, University of the South Pacific. I also introduced films at an Anime festival held there. It was part of Japan Culture Week 2011 in Suva, the capital city on the largest of the 300 islands. It seemed like an act of cultural colonisation…with the raising of the Anime and Manga flags and the flying of their colours on Treasure Island…creating a little Anime and Manga paradise in the Pacific Ocean.

Lecturing on the global spread of Japanese pop culture in the 1980s. (Photo by Louise Graber) — _{Dr. Michael Hill at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji…presenting a slide lecture for the Japan Foundation on the global spread of Japanese pop culture in the 1980s. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

My lecture titled Up In The Air: Anime’s Journey To The Stars described the global success of Japanese animation…and its rise to prominence both in the film world and in popular culture. It covered the work of Osamu Tezuka and its international success. It also referred to Rintaro’s involvement with him as an animation director on Astro Boy…prior to his subsequent productions that included his Tezuka homage film Metropolis…his adaption of Leiji Matsumoto’s manga Galaxy Express 999, and of Sanpei Shirato’s manga The Dagger of Kamui. Describing Shirato’s beginnings as a kamishibai artist…before moving to manga and the alternative publication GARO…the lecture included anecdotes from my time as a lecturer at Sydney College of the Arts…and the University of Technology, Sydney where I observed the growing interest of students in Japanese popular culture. They became fascinated with manga, Anime, cosplay, fashion,…J-Pop, scanlations, computer games…cameras, turntables, TV game shows,…food and fashion, not to mention learning Japanese and visiting Tokyo. The lecture concluded with an analysis of the productions…and the rise to prominence of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli…who, like Tezuka, found both both an international audience and critical acclaim.

_{The tools and materials for the printmaking workshop. My Rugby woodblock print is on the table alongside some of my art postcards and printmaking tools. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

In addition to the theory lecture I presented a practical arts workshop…demonstrating the printmaking technique I had developed as part of my artistic practice. Based on the Japanese creative print movement Sosaku Hanga,…and the work of Koshiro Onchi and Shiko Munakata in particular. I showed examples of my work that had been made using this approach and methodology…and applied to my prints, postcards, T-shirts and comics.

_{Dr. Michael Hill teaching printmaking techniques to students of the University of the South Pacific. In the foreground his Rugby themed woodblock print is being studied. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

After the demonstration the students had the opportunity to make their own prints. By chance, the cultural activities took place in the same week as the Rugby World Cup finals…and the only paint colours to hand were those of the Wallabies, yellow and green. My own rugby woodblock print (being passed around the class, in the photos above) provided some amusement and interest.

_{The ‘sosaku hanga’ creative printmaking workshop. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

Downtown, on the roof of the Village Cinema complex Batman and Spiderman look down…intrigued at the sight of people going in to see the Ninja super hero Kamui. It was here that the Anime Film Festival was held each evening. Films screened included Galaxy Express 999…The Dagger of Kamui…Laputa: Castle in the Sky and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Anime is now a fixed part of the Japanese cultural coat of arms…emblematic of the country’s long history of graphic arts which feeds into and nurtures both Anime and manga. The week long festival of Anime films and supporting cultural events was an alternative offering to American movies…and helped spread Japanese popular culture in the South Pacific.

_{Village Cinema Centre, Suva, with superhero cinema on the screens. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

In the hotel pool in Nadi, my friend the octopus. (Photo by Louise Graber) — _{At the bottom of the hotel pool in Nadi, the elegant octopus tile design. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

Doctor Comics in shark jaws at the University of the South Pacific. (Photo by Louise Graber) — _{Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics playfully poses in shark jaws at the University of the South Pacific in 2011. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

_{In the Fiji Museum in Suva, the Eel God sacred club. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

In addition to my admiration of the octopus and various fish I am also a fan of the eel. During my Fiji visit I was pleased to find that the eel had acquired the status of a deity…and a creative one at that…in Melanesian mythology. Below is an artwork I had created, featuring eels once found in the Parramatta River near Blacktown in Sydney.

My own eel art work(print, painting and collage-© 2009 Michael Hill). — _{My impression of the freshwater eels once found and fished in the Parramatta River near Blacktown, Sydney…a mixture of printmaking, painting and collage-© 2009 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics.}

Another treasure inside the Fiji Museum was this old metal Hopkinson & Cope printing press…imported from England in earlier days. At my printmaking workshop in Suva I demonstrated an alternative, Japanese method…that employs one’s body weight as a press instead of a device such as this.

_{Old metal, pre-digital printing press. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

On this “Treasure Island”…in addition to the art and marine life…there were collections of coconuts, palm trees and flowers including red hibiscus and white frangipani.

Big frangipani presence on the island. (Photo by Louise Graber) — _{An example of the abundant frangipani presence on the island. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

Many thanks to Sayuri Tokuman and Susan Yamaguchi of the Japanese Studies & Intellectual Exchange Department…and Tokiko Kiyota, Director of the Japan Foundation in Sydney…and to Nobuko Iwatani, Mako Nakauchi and Mele of the Embassy of Japan in Fiji..and His Excellency Yutaka Yoshizawa, Ambassador of Japan, for their ideas, assistance and support with this project.

INVITATION: Please respond to this post if you would like to make a comment…or suggest topics for future posting. Being new to blogging I would love to hear any feedback about my posts. Are they too long?…have too many images?…or too much text?…or there are too many of them?…or not enough? Michael.

Dr. Michael Hill aka Doctor Comics.

There are books, cats, fish and the occasional bicycle that appear in my comic…the one which I am currently in the process of creating. The title is BLOTTING PAPER. The principal character, Doctor Comics, is an alias of mine…an avid reader and collector of comics. He has two pet talking cats who also read comics, preferably graphic novels, and who regularly eat fish…sometimes these two activities are combined…despite the good doctor’s distaste of stains on his comics fish is a favourite dish of the Doctor’s, too,…but not whilst reading comics! The first chapter refers to books and comics, including graphic novels, both cats and one fish. The location, Glee, is a fantasy label for Glebe, the suburb of Sydney in which I live. It is a bookish suburb near the academic precinct…Sydney University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Technology, where I work. Being tertiary education territory it has several bookshops, cafes, restaurants and pubs…and is within walking distance of the Sydney Fish Market…which is of special interest to the Doctor Comics character and his cats. I go there often, myself but leave the cats at home. The Bookseller of Glee (below) is a portrait of Roger Mackell, the proprietor of one such bookshop, Gleebooks…and a good friend of mine. Doctor Comics shops at and occasionally writes reviews of graphic novels for this bookstore. The proprietor refuses to sell coffee and cakes! With the emerging trend of cafes in bookshops, I wonder how long he will manage to hold out?

_{The Boookseller of Glee. (B&W print of pen and ink, drawing and collage-© 2009 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Two of the fish featured in the story. (Digital scan of woodblock prints-© 1998 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

In addition to drawing, cartooning and printmaking, photography is being incorporated as a graphic tool. Below are two photographs from the Sydney Fish Market that have been graphically manipulated and merged…one of stacks of shipping containers…the other of me shopping with a bag of fish that I have purchased. The photographs were subjected to a graphic treatment then collaged together…to show Doctor Comics returning from his shopping expedition. He is carrying a bag of fish and wearing a backpack which is full of books and comics .

_{Doctor Comics has been shopping. (Photo by Louise Graber overlaid with my graphic treatment-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Hand coloured version. (Photo by Louise Graber overlaid with my graphic treatment-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Despite the intention and the progress made…it is now looking likely that the first issue of my comic won’t be published this year after all. It is nearing completion, however, and I feel certain that I shall have something to show in early 2012. In the meantime there are these blogged progress reports. The shape of the comic continues to move in an “artist book” direction. It retains some semblances of an art comic, and an Australian one at that, despite some Japanese influences. The figure in the overlaid drawings below, is the older Doctor Comics character, doing some printmaking in his studio. It goes on!

_{The comics art scholar turns his hand to making comics. (Felt-tipped pen drawing-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Trying out letter type. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

There has also been some script editing. This has resulted in both extensions and deletions. I found that I needed more space to convey some sequences which weren’t working…and other parts were either too difficult or time-consuming for me to draw!

_{My box of uppercase rubber type. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

_{The type in rubber-stamped, printed form prior to editing, cutting and pasting.}

The other interesting development has been the photographic aspect of the project. Initially employed as a reference device for locations, objects and figures, photography has now become more prominent. Some pages are starting to look a little like sequences from a Mexican foto-novela or picto grafia comic. This was not my original intention. There remains, however, the anticipated drawn and printed elements along with the traditional rubber-stamped text (see the photos above). I hope to confirm the completion of the first issue and announce its publication date, shortly…but I won’t hold my breath, Michael.

Doctor Comics

Month: November 2011

FLYING THE ANIME FLAG ON TREASURE ISLAND

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.4