CATS IN COMICS #8: Ranma’s Monster Neko

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Who Will Bell The Cat? is the title and thematic question of Chapter 14 of Rumiko Takahashi‘s excellent comic manga Ranma 1/2. The title refers to one of a pair of magic spirit bells that may bring about a match in a couple that results in marriage. The cat in this comic is awesome! It arrives in the story in the form of this magic, matchmaking bell that is given to Ranma, who happens to be betrothed to Akane, albeit reluctantly betrothed. The gift giver is another girl, named Shampoo, who brings the bell back from a trip to China and presents it to Ranma on her return. Shampoo keeps the other bell of course. No spoilers about how it ends, sorry.

“Be my bride”- the monster spirit neko in Ranma 1/2.

Not only is this bell capable of invoking a charm that can bring a couple together, this bell can talk and shapeshift itself into a cat, a monster cat at that. It is a matchmaking charm with spiritual powers. I love this aspect of manga that deals with the spirit world, whether on the dark side like Bleach and The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service and Kazuo Umezu‘s Cat-Eyed Boy or on a more fun level like Shigeru Mizuki‘s yokai work or Takahashi’s comic here. Her visual representation of this magical cat is both scary and cute but always comedic. Good fun!

This cat…a monster? So cute!

Other cats in this Cats In Comics series: Doraemon, Krazy Kat, The Rabbi’s Cat, Danko’s Cat and Mouse Collage, Fred, What’s Michael? and Weird Stress Kitten. You can also read my post on The Comics Grid: Ranma 1/2: Gender and Genre Shifting in Manga.

INCREDIBLE HULK TURNS 50

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Doctor Comics

It is now fifty years since the first issue of the Marvel comic The Incredible Hulk was published. The cover of Issue #1 is dated May 1962 although it was probably in the shops a month or two earlier as part of the general magazine distribution policy of putting product up for sale in retail outlets two or three months prior to the cover date. The comic carried a cover copy line of “Is He Man Or Monster Or…Is He Both” referring to the split personality of the character who was designed following the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde literary model as part human (gamma radiation research scientist Dr. Bruce Banner) and part monster and superhero (the Hulk) with the ability to alternate between human and monster. Having a monster as a superhero was a strange call for Marvel which had successfully launched the superhero team of The Fantastic Four the previous year. Hulk was a superhero of a different kind. The creation of the character and the comic was attributed to the same team responsible for The Fantastic Four, namely Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Oddly, on the cover and in the first issue of the comic, the Hulk is grey and not the green colour he became identifiable as. The change in hue was made in issue #2.

The Incredible Hulk Issue 1, cover detail.

Also similar in strategy to the previous year’s premiere issue of The Fantastic Four Stan Lee set about engaging the readers and creating a fan base, his “true believers”, by soliciting letters to the editor with feedback and suggestions for storylines. In a crossover marketing move in Issue #5 of The Fantastic Four Johnny Storm is seen reading a copy of The Incredible Hulk comic and commenting on his resemblance to the Thing. There were certain similarities although the Thing was a team player whereas the Hulk was more of a loner despite subsequently becoming a member of The Avengers for a period of time.

Johnny Storm caught reading the first issue of The Incredible Hulk.

In addition to the comics, there have been television series, both animated and live-action, and three recent films: Ang Lee‘s Hulk with Australian actor Eric Bana playing the character(s), The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton in the role(s) and currently The Avengers with Mark Ruffalo performing the one, two part. Digital animation has been utilised in the monster part in all three movies. Hulk, the combination angry green giant and remorseful scientist was nicknamed Ol’ Greenskin and the Jolly Green Giant by Stan Lee. An appealing aspect of the character is that it represents a case study in anger management. As a man Bruce Banner is a pleasant enough guy but when ‘the other guy’ takes over and goes on the rampage anger abounds. On returning to human form Banner is regretful about the behaviour of his other half and tension is established to block further transitions and tame the rage. In the latest film that rage is magnificent. Hulk’s ‘dance’ scene with Loki is both humorous and magical and exemplifies his contempt for both humans and gods.

Read my other superhero related posts:

Captain America: The First Avenger: RED SKULL VERSUS CAP

The Fantastic Four: 50 YEARS OF FANTASTIC FOUR

The Green Hornet: GONDRY GOES FOR IT

Green Lantern: MAN IN A GREEN MASK WITH MATCHING RING AND LANTERN

Thor: A GOD COMES DOWN TO EARTH

Thor: THOR’S COMIC OPERA: Götterdämmerung Revisited

X-Men: DO OR DIE, BABY THE NEAL ADAMS X-MEN RUN

X-Men: First Class: A FIRST CLASS X-MEN FILM

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.13

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Composed from elements of drawing, inking, handwriting, collage, photography, typography and printmaking, including the use of rubber stamps for making the captions and dialogue, the creation and production of my comic/artist book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics involved a range of tools and working methods. These were displayed in a glass case at the book’s launch accompanied by a description of my work methodology.

Starting out searching for inspiration with some sketching and sake. (Photo by Michael Hill)

The first stage of the process is finding and refining the inspiration for the work. This may involve reading and research, travel, visits to galleries, museums and libraries, looking at art and objects and making sketches of them. One of my many sketch books is open in the photo below showing a collaged image of a fictitious Japanese monster Shitake Man. Some sake also proved useful at this preliminary stage of this project.

Collage in sketch book with sake cup. (Photo by Michael Hill)

Once concepts and images come to mind the second stage, the design, begins. There is some more drawing and sketching to determine the shapes that will be carved in wood or obtained through other image-making techniques such as collage or photography.

Assorted printmaking tools: chisel, carved blocks, rubber type and sharpening stone. (Photo by Michael Hill)

Bamboo baren, seals, string, sumi ink, brushes and example of finished printed postcard. (Photo by Michael Hill)

Where printmaking is involved the third stage brings out the brushes, ink and paper. This is the printing period of the project. A piece of dried bamboo that has been stretched over a board is used to ensure that the paper makes good contact with the inked block. The pressure applied can be varied to produce the degree of intensity of the ink and colours of the various layers of the print. The autumn postcard print in the photo above has had 5 layers of print to construct the final image.

Bench hook and brushes in bamboo jar. (Photo by Michael Hill)

On completion of the work the final stage is reached. The work is presented or published and/or exhibited. This is a time for celebration and so the sake may appear again. It is also a time for reflection on the creative outcome, of what has been achieved or lost, and what can be carried forward to future projects and subjected to further creative development and refinement.

Copies of Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics are available instore or online from the launch venue, Hondarake, Level 1, 465 Kent St, Sydney phone: 02 9261 5225 email: Hondarake@gmail.com The online shop (worldwide delivery) is at: http://fullofbooks.com.au

For an interesting visual diary record, study of project management and time-line overview, see previous BLOTTING PAPER: The Comic production reports: No.12, No.11, No.10, No.9, No.8, No.7, No.6, No.5, No.4, No.3, No.2, No.1.

Archive of Australian Comics History: 2002 SEQUENTIAL ART STUDIES CONFERENCE

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Conference poster designed by BOWB.

Ten years ago almost to the day this event, the first Sequential Art Studies Conference took place on Friday, April 19, 2002 in Sydney at the University of Technology. The conference was convened by Jeremy Allen and myself, with panels chaired by Jeremy Allen, Spiros Tsaousis and I. Held in association with Supanova Pop Culture Expo with support from Daniel Zachariou, named after the term proposed by Will Eisner and inspired by ICAF, this was possibly, probably, the first scholarly conference on comics studies to be held in Australia. The conference poster was designed by BOWB.

PROGRAM

Michael Hill-Bite of the Mongrel Breed: A Study of Satire in Contemporary Australian Alternative Comics

Abstract: This paper involves an examination of the contemporary Australian alternative comics scene as a lively form of lampooning and derision in the late 20th Century. In contrast to the mainstream print media, many of the artists, creators and cartoonists involved antagonise, irritate and ridicule with their graphic humour and horror, provoking irreverent laughter as well as an element of fear and amazement within their limited audience. In so doing, they take advantage of what is a relatively unregulated outlet of creativity and visual communication. As a wide-ranging group of artists, their repertoire houses a mix of graphic styles and comic art genres and their attitude has strains of ‘larrikin’ and ‘ratbag’ humour. However, their often biting satire adds vitality to the visual culture of the nation and contributes to the ongoing critique of Australian life. No subject is sacred and Prime Ministers, Premiers, politicians, pop stars, princesses, parents, Olympic mascots, sporting champions and even subcultures have been the target of the artist’s pen as it sets out to satirise both the state of Australian affairs and personal lives through the sequential artform of the small press, alternative and independent comic.

Bio: Michael Hill is Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication and Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Unit at UTS. Last year he curated an exhibition of contemporary Australian comics cover design at the Silicon Pulp Animation Gallery in Sydney: SAVAGE PENCILS: Art With Attitude From Alternative Comics. He is also partner in Graber Hill, publisher of the independent comic B.L.A.CK. He loves art, music, animation, comics, food, fashion, football (the round variety) and a good laugh, and hopes to one day see Australia qualify for the World Cup.

Craig Norris-Manga in Australia: erasing and re-animating Japan

Abstract: The export of manga (Japanese comics) from Japan to Australia is a journey from erasing race and culture to redrawing ideal bodies and communities. Using my two years of field research in Tokyo I argue that the export agenda of Japanese animation distributors is based on the erasure of Japanese racial characteristics and life-style to allow for easier localisation of animation and comics such as Astro Boy, Poke-Mon and Dragonball Z (Iwabuchi, 1998). I compare these producer-dominated ‘erased’ manga with the ‘redrawn’ manga of fan artists throughout Australia. I focus on the work of a number of manga fan-artists based in Sydney whose work appears in fan-zines, online, and on more unusual surfaces such as car-body art work. These manga fan-artists in Australia quote, poach, translate, and transpose from various sources to create a patchwork of improvisation (Nightingale, 1994) whilst acting out a globally recognised manga style. This growing visibility of a manga style in Australia allows fans to claim some speaking position to articulate an ideal or identification they perceive in manga. In exploring what ideals fans perceive in manga I first outline what may trigger the need for manga in these fans. I connect the emotions of shame and anger that recur during my interviews with the ideals of Japan, love, and destruction fans graft onto manga. In doing this I wish to problematise the way the Australian manga style is being framed around Japan and the West and the wider emotional and cultural significance of this Australian manga style.

Bio: Craig Norris is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Sydney. His research interests include cultural globalisation, audience-studies, and Asian/Australian popular culture flows.

Jeremy Allen-OZ.COM: Australian Comic Creators and the Web

Abstract: Over the last seven years the web has emerged as a focal point for comics culture. It is a place for fans to connect, for the purchase of latesttitles and back issues, for comic news to be broadcast, for upcoming comics to be ‘spoiled’, and for established comic companies to advertise. Significantly, it has also given a mass media voice to aspiring comic creators. In this respect, the web has become a gallery of online comics to be appreciated by potentially millions of people across the world. It is through this new method of distribution and new form of comics that the Internet has perhaps had its most revolutionary impact on comics, by producing a true alternative to the ‘offline’ comics industry. This alternative has been particularly embraced by comic creators outside of the United States, who have traditionally found it difficult to establish an international comics audience and profile regardless of their talent. This presentation will examine the global nature of the online comics movement and how a number of Australian comic creators, in particular, are utilising the Internet to promote and publish their work to a new, international audience.

Bio: Jeremy Allen is currently researching his Ph.D. on Online Comics on an Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the University of Technology, Sydney. He also tutors Design Theory and Design Research subjects and has lectured on the Internet, comics, and the music industry.

Zeldz Magnoonis-The sequential art of the skateboard sequence

Abstract: Skateboarding is an activity full of dynamic action and motion. Inevitably, attempts to capture this phenomenon require communication of this movement. Representing movement in print has obvious limitations and the most obvious solution is that of the photographic sequence. In this paper, it will be argued that these sequences can be read much like a comic strip. It will be demonstrated that they not only share characteristics of comic strips, but have developed alternative processes that could be of use to the comic creator. The innovations of skateboarding sequential narratives are understandable when one considers that it is a field that has developed independent of the comic industry and driven by documentary concerns. Since it’s earliest days, skateboarding photography has played a major role in the development of the sport. It provided a means of communicating advances in a sport for which there was no ëhow toí manual. Journalist Craig Stecyks articles about innovative new skate tricks from a highly localised group of skateboarders in the early 70ís helped to transform the perception of the sport, contributing to a national revival and transformation. By demonstrating clearly the advances being made with in the sport, photography allows for a cross pollination of ideas and expectations.

Bio: After falling into the cauldron of magic comics as a baby, monsieur Magnoonis has been addicted to the medium ever since. Currently studying visual communication, creating the mini comic Pepe’s Quest and planning an ambitious sequential narrative of timeless proportions. Inspiration from Asterix to Zen and everything between.

Kurt Brereton-From Paper to Pixels: Animating Drawings and Paintings

Abstract: Many artists and new animators work with desktop Mac and PCs at home or in schools and colleges. Great ideas can be well expressed using alternative approaches without resorting to high tech wiz bang special effects. New media and interactive multimedia technical restrictions have forced alternative animators to think big and work small. This talk will focus on practical and conceptual issues at play in working in multimedia. Translating drawings and paintings to multimedia(CD-Rom and web) animations. DIY alternative animation techniques – creating animations with SFX, found sounds and still images for a dynamic medium, and using low tech software (eg Sound Edit 16, PhotoShop, ImageReady and QuickTime VR) on your desktop.

Bio: Kurt Brereton is Adjunct Professor in Computer Based Art & Design at the University of the Sunshine Coast and the at University of Technology, Sydney. Kurt is Managing Director of Spark Interactive and is an internationally represented visual artist, photographer and film maker. email: kurt@spark.com.au

Spiros Tsaousis- The Spatial Logic of Krazy Kat

Abstract: Modernist spatiality evidenced two strains – one orderly, mechanistic, logical and gridbased; the other fluid, dynamic, a transvaluation. However the rational and orderly exhibits the symptoms of anxiety, containing within its formulation the seeds of its unconscious propensity toward disorder and fluidity. Broadly tracing the spatial development of the comic strip from, say, Hogan’s Alley to Little Nemo to Krazy Kat evidences the movement of the medium between the two poles. In this paper I assert that the ‘logic’ of Krazy Kat is made coherent, legible and thematically consistent with appeal to its representation of space and place; and that its spatial presentation – its design and rearrangement of the comics page – is a significant departure from the relatively uniform and stable arrangements of comic strips such as Hogan’s Alley and Little Nemo.

Bio: Spiros Tsaousis has recently completed his thesis, “Disturbance of Distance: Postmodern Spatiality and the Comic Strip, Comic Book and Graphic Novel”. He has presented and published a number of papers on comics.

Adam Possamai-The Social Construction of Comic Books as a (Non) Recognised Form of Art in Australia

Abstract: Even if since the 1990s there is an emergent community of comic book artists, Comic Books in Australia appear to be negatively stigmatised as immature literature in everyday life and in academic spheres. Even if comics started in newspapers as a way to attract working class adults to buy newspapers, and later became a literature form aimed at young readers, this medium has reached its Lettres de Noblesses and has been recognised as an art form since the 1970s in Europe, Japan, and the USA, but NOT – as it appears – in Australia. The aim of this paper is to describe the social construction of comic books as an immature literature in Australia since WW II – that is the way this perception has been structured and/or built by social interaction – while attempting an understanding of the socio-politico-economic conditions in which the comics arise in Australia.

Bio: Adam Possamai lectures in sociology at the University of Western Sydney. His doctoral thesis won the Jean Martin Award for the best PhD in Sociology submitted in Australia during 1998-9. He is currently researching the interrelationship of religion with consumer and popular culture; including comic books.

Note: Jeremy Allen is now known as Jeremy Kerr and Spiros Tsaousis is now Spiros Xenos.

This is the sixth in a series of posts called Archives of Australian Comics History documenting moments in the recent history of Australian comics, particularly alternative comics and the Australian Small Press. I started researching this subject in the late 1990s. That research eventually led to my PhD thesis: Ph.D. Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy, by virtue of the thesis, A Study Of Contemporary Australian Alternative Comics 1992-2000 With Particular Reference To The Work Of Naylor, Smith, Danko And Ord, 2003.

The other posts in Archives of Australian Comics History previously published are: OZCON4, Mind Rot, Sick Puppy Comix, International Exhibition of Drawings, 2011 MCA Zine Fair. Expect others to be added.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.12

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Copies of my comic/art book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics that was launched at Hondarake Full of Books in Sydney on 11 February 2012 are available instore or online from the launch venue, Hondarake. The store is located in the Sydney CBD at Level 1, 465 Kent St, Sydney phone: 02 9261 5225 email: Hondarake@gmail.com The online shop (worldwide delivery) is at: http://fullofbooks.com.au

The limited edition numbered and signed book comes with an original print on the front cover (see photo above), a numbered bookmark and a printed bag (see photo of package below).

The Blotting Paper package-limited edition, signed and numbered book + original print + matching numbered bookmark + gift bag.

The book was launched by my friend and colleague Gene Kannenberg, Jr. a noted comics historian, director of ComicsResearch.org. and author of “500 Essential Graphic Novels”.

Gene Kannenberg, Jr’s copy with his suggested matching drink, Ommegang Abbey Ale. (Photo by Gene Kannenberg, Jr.)

The Blotting Paper package.

The store also stocks a selection of printed postcards that I produced in the sosaku hanga method, each one an original hand-made print, signed and stamped by the artist.

For an interesting visual diary record, study of project management and time-line overview, see previous BLOTTING PAPER: The Comic production reports: No.11, No.10, No.9, No.8, No.7, No.6, No.5, No.4, No.3, No.2, No.1.

CATS IN COMICS #7: Weird Stress Kitten

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Cover of Electric Ferret #32 by Gerard Ashworth.

Here we have another quality product from Radical Sheikh Graphics in the form of a copy of Electric Ferret #32 comic from the late 1980s, the work of Gerard J. Ashworth, purveyor of graphic satire with an autobiographical nature. The two girls on the cover are sisters. The one on the right is Sabrina, a Weird Stress Kitten and a welcome, if curious, addition to the Cats In Comics series. Sabrina is a woman, and a cat, or a hybrid woman-cat or cat-woman. At this stage she is a singular kitten but following a few appearances in Electric Ferret she moved to her own title, the plural implied Weird Stress Kittens, and was joined by others, her brother Alphonse, Gorky and Kafka. So then there were four. In this early appearance and those later issues she withstands the hyperactive content and technique of Ashworth’s comic treatment. His work is extremely dense so relax and read slowly and anticipate several repeat readings.

Ashworth waltzes to Alfred Jarry with Sabrina in “Cats Don’t Dance!”

Ashworth’s work is intense and demanding to read due to the large number of panels he employs and the amount of accompanying text but the effort required of the reader is repaid with humour and insight into his thinking about himself and his weird stress kitten and occasionally aspects of popular culture. His use of line in constructing both his character and hers can be described as wild and fluent, applied at times in a free form manner and seemingly executed at great speed. Perhaps, as there is a chance he did it carefully and slowly. By contrast, the detailed background textures have been drafted with more subtlety and intricacy. The combined effect is not unlike the surface appearance of an etching but it’s drawing not printmaking that’s happening here. In any case Ashworth’s drawing and inking dexterity is a visual treat!

Other cats in this Cats In Comics series: Doraemon, Krazy Kat, The Rabbi’s Cat, Danko’s Cat and Mouse Collage, Fred and What’s Michael?

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.11

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Finally my comic/art book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics was launched at Hondarake Full of Books in Sydney on the wet Summer afternoon of 11 February 2012 along with an exhibition of original postcard prints and a display of my printmaking tools used in the making of the comic and the cards.

With my fish prints hanging overhead. (Photo by Sal Jones)

The launch had a party atmosphere and the guests and shop staff created a happy and fun environment!

Zeera the Space Pirate creator Naomi Hatchman. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Enthusiastic early attendee Naomi Hatchman disclosed her cunning plan to publish the complete collection of her comic Zeera the Space Pirate at the forthcoming MCA Zine Fair.

Australian alternative comics legends Glenn Smith and Gerard Ashworth. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Director of Animation at JMC Academy Sean Callinan and Peregrine Besset creator Lewis P. Morley. (Photo by Louise Graber)

It Lives! CEO’s Nick and Liz. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Store owners Hisae and Tomoko got right behind the launch. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Gene Kannenberg, Jr. was very entertaining with his wit and gameplay in matching comics with appropriate beverages. Here he is onscreen in the background. (Photo by Andrew Hawkins)

The book was launched by my friend and colleague Gene Kannenberg, Jr. via a Skype link from the U.S. Kannenberg, a noted comics historian, is the director of ComicsResearch.org. Formerly the Chair of both the International Comic Arts Festival and the Comic Art & Comics Area of the Popular Culture Association, he has written widely on comic art and his book “500 Essential Graphic Novels” was published in 2008. He made a humorous and lively speech and generously participated in a game that he engages in on Facebook and that I included in my comic, of pairing comics with beer. What would you drink if reading a comic by Will Eisner, or Lynda Barry, or Hergé, or Jack Kirby or Joost Swarte ? Gene told us his suggestions and got a big response when he suggested black coffee with Steve Ditko and Duff beer with Matt Groening, and then an even bigger response when he brought his cat, Mr. Pickles, onscreen.

The limited edition book with original print on the cover.

BLOTTING PAPER

ART BOOK/COMIC+CREATIVE PRINT EXHIBITION

Artist Statement by Dr. Michael Hill (a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

1-29 February 2012 HONDARAKE full of books, Sydney

BLOTTING PAPER is a comics and cards project. Both the art book/comic, which is the first part of a planned longer work The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics, and the cards involve printmaking as an image-making technique. Printmaking is suitable for generating stand-alone single images and sequential images suitable for storytelling. The comic also includes the use of drawing, collage, photography, handwriting, hand colouring and typography. I employed the Japanese technique of woodblock printmaking in my first animation film around 20 years ago and I have continued to engage in it since but have largely been involved in the scholarly and research aspects of visual communication, writing and teaching more than making. This book and exhibition marks a more focused return to ‘making’ images.

The exhibition of 33 hand-made postcards produced in sosaku hanga style acknowledges the ‘creative print’ movement that emerged just over a century ago in Tokyo when painting rather than printmaking was the more popular course of study. Creative prints became the voice of a group of artists who went under the name Pan and met for sake parties by the Sumida River (Sumida Gawa), the centre of the Floating World of old Edo and site of the classic Ukiyo-e print movement. The American writer James Michener described the difference in method of this new approach: …in contrast to the classical system in which the artist merely designed the print, leaving the carving of the blocks to one technician and the printing to another, the newer print artists preached that the artist himself must do the designing, carving and printing. A new term was devised to describe such a print-sosaku hanga, meaning “creative print.” (Michener, 1968: The Modern Japanese Print p.11)

Despite the implied reference to wood and blocks, creative prints may not always involve woodblock printmaking. Wood may be replaced by other materials such as vegetables, fruit, leaves, string, rubber, cloth or any number of other found objects that may be inked and pressed onto paper. These creative prints (sosaku hanga) place the emphasis on the act of making the print (with a small drink of sake afterwards to celebrate the artistic and experimental expression).

Amidst the books was the pop-up exhibition of 33 postcard prints. (Photo by Harrison Hill)

The postcard prints, all made by hand in the Japanese sosaku hanga method, came in 33 basic styles but, being monotype prints rather than identical prints, all of the cards are unique. A total of 500 original cards were produced and all were on sale.

Hair and prints in abundance at the launch. (Photo by Harrison Hill)

Included in the exhibition was a display case containing some of the tools and techniques, blocks and letters used in the production of the book and the cards.

Inside the display case of tools and techniques and a very frightened animal character jug.

For an interesting visual diary record, study of project management and time-line development overview of the project, see previous BLOTTING PAPER: The Comic production reports: No.10, No.9, No.8, No.7, No.6, No.5, No.4, No.3, No.2, No.1.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.10

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Just one week to go till the launch of my comic/artist book/ehon Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Issue #1 The Ingurgitator. It is being released in a signed and numbered limited edition of 50. The launch date is 11 February 2012 at Hondarake Full of Books in Sydney (time and address details can be found in the poster below).

The good news to announce is that the book will be launched by my friend and colleague Gene Kannenberg, Jr. via a Skype link from the U.S. Kannenberg, a noted comics historian, is the director of ComicsResearch.org. Formerly the Chair of both the International Comic Arts Festival and the Comic Art & Comics Area of the Popular Culture Association, he has written widely on comic art. His book “500 Essential Graphic Novels” was published in 2008.

Above is the poster for the event that will include a small exhibition of 33 printed postcards that I have made following the Japanese sosaku hanga creative print method. Each card is an original print and there is a range of them for sale. Below is one example of the postcard prints. Accompanying the prints is a display of some of my printmaking tools and a description of my methodology. The exhibition opened on February 1 and will run for the entire month of February. The bookstore is open 11am-7pm MON-SAT and 12-6pm SUN.

For an interesting visual diary record, study of project management and time-line overview, see previous BLOTTING PAPER: The Comic production reports: No.9, No.8, No.7, No.6, No.5, No.4, No.3, No.2, No.1.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.9

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Climbing onto the launching pad with 3 weeks and counting to lift-off, I’m finally happy to be able to say that we have a launch date for my comic/artist book/ehon Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Issue #1 The Ingurgitator. The date is 11 February 2012 at Hondarake bookstore in Sydney (details below). Now the countdown has begun.

Art Book Launch: BLOTTING PAPER by Doctor Comics + exhibition of creative prints (using sosaku hanga method) by Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics, 3-5pm Saturday 11 February at HONDARAKE Level 1, 465 Kent Street SYDNEY w-http://fullofbooks.com.au RSVP: p-02 9261 5225 e-hondarake@gmail.com

Here is the poster for the event that will be accompanied by a small exhibition of prints that I have made following the Japanese sosaku hanga method. The exhibition will run for the entire month of February.

For an interesting visual diary and time-line overview, see previous BLOTTING PAPER: The Comic production reports: No.8, No.7, No.6, No.5, No.4, No.3, No.2, No.1.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.8

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Doctor Comics

Getting closer. Getting the job done. Completion of the first issue of Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics containing Chapter 1: The Ingurgitator is imminent. Drum roll! What I had hoped to have out by the end of 2011 is now looking certain for early 2012. Another drum roll and celebratory banging on my own drum.

Testing out some type. (Photo by Louise Graber)

There have been some changes to the original script. This has resulted in compressions, extensions and deletions. I found that I needed more space to convey some simple sequences. The consequence of this meant shortening some other parts in order to keep to the 40 page issue amount that had progressively crept up from the planned 20 page limit. Enough! Some sequences weren’t working so they had to be cut although they may appear in a subsequent chapter if I can get them sorted, and some parts, whilst working in script form, were just too difficult for me to draw. Later, perhaps.

My very limited typographic box of tricks. (Photo by Louise Graber)

The type in print.

The other interesting development has been the welcome and necessary intrusion of photography in the project. Initially employed as a reference device for locations, objects and some figure positions and gestures that would in turn be converted into drawings, the lens art has now become a bit of a feature. Some pages are starting to look a little like sequences from a Mexican foto-comic or foto-novela or a form that I would describe as a picto grafia comic. There is still the anticipated drawing, collage and printmaking elements along with the traditional rubber stamped text (see the photos). Anyhow, I fully expect that the next report will confirm my suspicions of completion of the first issue of the comic and contain the announcement of details of publication and availability.

For an interesting visual diary overview, see previous BLOTTING PAPER: The Comic production reports: No.7, No.6, No.5, No.4, No.3, No.2, No.1.

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