Category Archives: Reviews

CATS IN COMICS #8: Ranma’s Monster Neko

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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

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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

Archive of Australian Comics History: 2002 SEQUENTIAL ART STUDIES CONFERENCE

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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.

50 YEARS OF FANTASTIC FOUR

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It is now fifty years since the first issue of the Marvel Comic Fantastic Four was published. The cover of Issue #1 is dated November, 1961 although it was probably in the shops a month or two earlier as part of the magazine distribution policy of putting product up for sale in retail outlets two or three months prior to the cover date. The comic carries credits for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby although the exact nature of their contribution is not indicated until Issue #9 (Stan Lee-script and Jack Kirby-art) and has been the subject of some debate over the years since as has who of the two had the initial idea for the series. With a scenario that starts with the space race battle between the USA and the Soviet Union the new team encounter cosmic rays on an experimental space flight that affects their human capabilities. It was a landmark comic for Marvel, for the superhero genre, and for these two creators.

Preceding the X-Men, the team of Mr. Fantastic (Dr. Reed Richards), the Thing (Ben Grimm), and brother and sister team Invisible Girl (Susan Storm) and the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) became the Fab 4 even before The Beatles. Eschewing secret identities and hideouts these super heroes seemed somewhat human, fighting amonst themselves as well as against foes. The comic featured a fantasy parade of villains including Mole Man, the Skrulls, Miracle Man, the Sub-Mariner, who developed a crush on Invisible Girl, Doctor Doom, Kurrgo the Master of Planet X, the Puppet Master, Impossible Man from Planet Pop-up, and the Incredible Hulk, and that is in only the first dozen issues. The Silver Surfer and Galactus followed later, along with origin stories and films.

First panel of the first page of the first issue. (Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol.1, 2007)

And they became popular. Marvel started receiving a deluge of fan mail for the Fantastic Four and began a letters page in each issue that eventually spread to two pages. Lee actively engaged with the fans by selectively commenting on some of the issues raised in the letters whilst Kirby cut loose in an increasingly inventive period. Some say he based the character of the Thing on himself. Others have pointed to the fact that the Dr. Reed Richards’ character developed a striking facial likeness to Kirby himself. Whatever the case, the new team struck a chord with the comics buying public and became a seminal part of the Marvel line-up. It’s been a fabulous fifty years.

Read my other superhero related posts:

Captain America: The First Avenger: RED SKULL VERSUS CAP

The Green Hornet: GONDRY GOES FOR IT

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

The Incredible Hulk: INCREDIBLE HULK TURNS 50

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

Archive of Australian Comics History: OZCON4

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In terms of the larger comics conventions in Australia before Supanova and Animania and SMASH! and Armageddon and Comic-Fest there was OZCON and even before that there was ComicCon back in 1979. However, OZCON was the big annual comics convention when I began researching Australian alternative comics. The promotion of and garnering of publicity for the more mainstream(read imported) comics seemed to be the raison d’être for the event although there was some presence by independent creators and their publications and some discussion of comics apart from the emphasis on sales. It also provided a sense of community for local creators to meet and discuss their self-published comics and to compare their work to the mainstream product.

Spidey swinging from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. (Poster design by Ant Larcombe)

Probably influenced by comic conventions such as the one in San Diego the poster shows that OZCON and Australian comics creators and fans at the time (1995) had the spectre of the US super-hero genre hanging over them. In any case it was a wonderful poster for the event by local creator and designer Ant Larcombe as was the inset avatar and character Flash Domingo by another Australian creator, Gary Chaloner.

Comic Con T-shirt design. (artist unknown)

Reflecting on OZCON made me think of those big US comics conventions. Here is a scan of the T-shirt I bought at the largest convention in the USA San Diego Comic Con in 2000. It was from an earlier staging of that event, had been discounted as a remainder, and it caught my eye. The in-your-face aggression, the confidence, the swagger and the speech balloon seemed to say what that convention was largely about. The blue paint stains are a subsequent addition from my wearing it whilst printmaking. I think there were fewer than 50,000 attendees back in 2000 but over the past decade this convention has grown to around three times that number but remains considerably less than the 500,000 that go to Comiket in Tokyo, twice a year-that’s a million of them!

To see my other comics based T-shirts visit: Feed On Comics (T-shirt by Max) and Sick Puppy Comix (T-shirt by Neale Blanden). I did have a yellow Platinum Grit one at one stage but that one seems to have disappeared.

This is the fifth 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 the Archives of Australian Comics History series are: 2011 MCA Zine Fair, International Exhibition of Drawings, Mind Rot, Sick Puppy Comix and 2002 Sequential Art Studies Conference. Others will be added in due course.

DRAWING TAMARA DREWE and other writers

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I first read the Tamara Drewe graphic novel nearly three years ago. Then in February of this year I saw the film. Both the reading and the viewing occurred before I began blogging. Now that the DVD of the film is available I am revisiting these texts and writing a short blog about them. The story is set in the English countryside, seemingly not too far from London, at a writers’ retreat on a small farm near other farms. The main characters are mostly writers of various types, academic, crime, literary, journalism etc. They are supported by a collection of cows, goats, geese, a stray dog and rock star, plus immediate family and workers and assorted local characters such as bored schoolgirls and egg-throwing boys and liberal amounts of tasty cakes, biscuits and wine. The goings on are charted in chapters arranged by the seasons from Summery August to the following Spring.

Originally a comic strip in The Guardian before being published as a graphic novel the story has some roots in Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. The principal character Tamara Drewe writes a kind of social media column in a newspaper in which she documents things of perceived interest including her own cosmetic surgery. What she really wants to write, however, is a proper book so it is somewhat expedient for her to mix with the writers down on the farm. Her mother’s home is located just across the paddock. There is ongoing discussion of writer’s problems including, acceptance, blocks, contracts, deadlines, relationships and fame.

A page from Tamara Drewe: writers discussing writing and other writers around the table.

Artist and writer Posy Simmonds uses lots of text as well as the drawings. Some of her pages have entire paragraphs of text next to the panels. She also ‘draws’ the speech in her characters’ voice balloons. You could say that she employs the literary techniques of the pen portrait and word picture. Her art has a most muted and restrained palette as if constructed from pen and ink drawings that have been gently brushed with water-colours. Posy can write and draw, and she draws well what she writes. There is satire but like her pencil and brush technique it is applied with a soft hand.

There is the film, too. Liberties have been taken with the characters and the story. Drawing with light and lenses this time, the ensemble playing efforts of a good group of English actors and tight direction creates a strong result with a standout performance from Tamsin Greig of Black Books fame. The liberal use of sunlight pumps up the palette resulting in brighter colours than the Simmonds style drawings in the book. Whichever way you look at it though, book, strip or film, it’s a well-drawn portrait of some of those who aspire to the writing life.

Read my other reviews of comics based films:

Captain America: The First Avenger: RED SKULL VERSUS CAP

The Green Hornet: GONDRY GOES FOR IT

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

The Rabbi’s Cat: TRAVELS WITH A TALKING CAT

Thor: A GOD COMES DOWN TO EARTH

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

CATS IN COMICS #3 The Rabbi’s Cat

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This cat can talk! The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar.

This is a wonderful talking cat from Algeria that lives with a rabbi and occasionally visits Paris. One day it ate the rabbi’s parrot and in so doing, gained the gift of speech. Being a smart cat it denied eating the bird and instead demanded conversion to Judaism. The design of the cat appears loose and improvised. Whilst it is rather thin and scrawny in physique it is big in terms of personality, intelligence and cheek. This richness of character and determination affords the cat the capability of comprehending foreign languages(he speaks Arabic, French, Latino and a bit of Spanish) and of learning the Torah. The rabbi’s cat is a marvellous, witty and charming cat that pleases itself, as cats do. It has appeared in several comics and most recently in an animated feature film of the same name and is the creation of the very talented Joann Sfar, a jury prize winner at Angoulême for The Rabbi’s Cat graphic novel and the director of the highly stylised live-action film of the life of the famous 1960′s French pop singer Gainsbourg (that’s Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte’s dad). The film won the French Oscar, the Cesar, for Best First Film. The cat likes to hang out with the rabbi’s daughter and snuggle up close to her. It even tells her that it loves her. She tells it to shut up as she prefers it when it’s quiet or not around. It’s also inconvenient for both of them when her boyfriend visits. The cat loves a bit of a scratch, preferably on the ear by a female foot with painted toenails. Resilient, resourceful, stubborn, smart, curious and decidedly nocturnal, this cat is difficult to ignore.

This cat is considering taking up painting to impress his love.

A more formalist analysis of The Rabbi’s Cat comic can be found in my post on The Comics Grid and there is also my review of The Rabbi’s Cat film.

Read the other Cats In Comics posts in this Blog: Doraemon and guest blogger Gene Kannenberg Jr.‘s take on Krazy Kat.

Archive of Australian Comics History: INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF DRAWINGS-COMICS

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The 14th International Exhibition of Drawings held at The Museum of Modern Art in Rijeka, Croatia, 17th December 1998-20th March 1999, was devoted to comics (from the promotional material: On its thirtieth anniversary, the exhibition tackles the drawing elements of comics, a specific visual/verbal language of the popular medium of mass communication.) Invited to contribute to the selection of the show based on the research I was doing into the Australian Small Press at the time and after a referral from Professor Joan Kerr, I sent 13 works by 14 creators. I also wrote an essay The Australian Underground that was published in the exhibition catalogue in Croatian and English.

Cover of the exhibition catalogue. (Design by Mirko Ilić, drawing by Davor Vrankić)

My list of selected creators(in alphabetical order) whose work was hung in the exhibition, plus the titles, dates and mediums of their comics were as follows:

Neale Blanden-Ah-choo, 1997-combined technique on paper.

Bernard Caleo and Tolley-The False Impressionists, 1997-combined technique on paper.

Timothy John Danko-Jean and Rolly, 1995-collage on paper.

Louise Graber-Black Light Angels, 1998-ink on paper.

Ben Hutchings-The Killer Foetus, 1997-combined technique on paper.

Gregory Mackay-Francis Bear, 1998-ink on paper.

Mandy Ord-Lightning Strike, 1998-ink on paper.

Q-Ray (Clint Cure)-The Comic Mesiah, 1998-ink on paper.

Tony Single-Blackie’s last day, 1994-pencil, felt pen, ink on paper.

Stratu-Kurt Hurt’s Reasons to Draw Comix, 1998-ink and whiteout on paper.

Ross Tesoriero-Radiation Sickness, 1997-ink on paper.

Ryan Vella-Stranger Danger, 1997-ink on paper.

Damien Woods-Upward + Onward, 1996-technical pen and felt pen on photocopy paper.

The Comic Messiah by Q-Ray (Clint Cure).

Other artists in this international exhibition included Max Andersson, Enki Bilal, Guido Crepax, Will Eisner, Jason(John Arne Sæterøy), Henry “Hank” Ketcham, Brant Parker, Hugo Pratt, Quino, Bryan Talbot, Mort Walker and Song Qing Zhu (Gao Diao). It was wonderful that the work of the Australian creators, drawn from the emerging Small Press gang of the time, was displayed alongside these creators.

Black Light Angels by Louise Graber.

Blackie’s last day by Tony Single.

Upward + Onward by Damien Woods.

Lightning Strike by Mandy Ord.

Radiation Sickness by Ross Tesoriero.

Ah-choo by Neale Blanden.

Jean and Rolly by Timothy John Danko.

Kurt Hurt’s Reasons to Draw Comix by Stratu.

Francis Bear by Gregory Mackay.

Stranger Danger by Ryan Vella.

This is the fourth 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 the Archives of Australian Comics History series are: OZCON4, Mind Rot, Sick Puppy Comix, 2011 MCA Zine Fair and 2002 Sequential Art Studies Conference. Others will be added in due course.

DOMO ARIGATO MR. ROBOTO: Toy Porn 2 Review

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Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto! Tonight I went to the opening of a fascinating exhibition in Chippendale an area that is becoming something of an art scene (in the last few weeks I have been to exhibitions at galleries within a stone’s throw of each other-MOP, NG and White Rabbit). This exhibition Toy Porn 2 showcased the work of artist Nick Stathopoulos who recently made a portrait of the comics creator Shaun Tan for the Archibald Prize. There are no portraits of Tan here but appearances by character creations from animation, comics and films such as Astro Boy, Tintin, Batman, Thunderbirds, Robby the Robot, The Beatles in their Yellow Submarine, and assorted others. (Note: the Tan portrait was on display in the restaurant downstairs-see comment below by Ian McLean).

He always comes between us – Acrylic and oil glaze on canvas-2011-60 x 60 cm

Stathopoulos paints in an extremely hyper-realistic style on a flat canvas but manages to deliver a convincing three dimensional effect. He does intensely detailed, very fine painting with no trace of brushstrokes. His rendering of plastic surfaces is extraordinary. It is a labour of love. There is tension evident in the work. He always comes between us portrays a moment of drama with Snowy separated by a surprised Tintin and an annoyed Captain Haddock. A painting of the package containing the Yellow Submarine toy is a tense sight to a collector for its detailed representations of scuffs, scratches and bends in the box that indicate the toy is in a less than mint condition yet still to be cherished.

Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics with the artist at the opening. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Porn? I am familiar with shelf porn, the display of treasured collections. There are comics collectors who proudly reveal photographs of their bookshelves with the spines of all the graphic novels they own and that others might envy. The notion of ‘display’ of one’s collection, or as Claudia Chan Shaw described in her address, one’s ‘habit’, seems to be an essential element of this behaviour. So perhaps you looks at these images of someone else’s collection and long for or ‘lust’ over the titles that they have that you don’t? There is the love for the object in question and the desire for possession of it.

The artist does his impression of Tintin astonishment sans stand-up curl but with Capt. Haddock beard. (Photo by Louise Graber)

The show was opened by Claudia Chan Shaw, ABC-TV’s Collectors, who admitted to being a bit of a collector with a weakness for plastic and vinyl. She even brought one of her toys along to the event. Her speech was both erudite and amusing and she demonstrated a fine understanding of the business and motivation for collecting including, in this instance, the need for a reconnection with the playthings of one’s childhood. She was charming. Discussing her own collecting habits Claudia mentioned the therapeutic value of going public and sharing stories with other collectors, gaining empathy in a kind of collaborative complicity. She was wonderful, the perfect choice to launch this show.

“Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!” Claudia Chan Shaw, Doctor Comics and the artist Nick Stathopoulos. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Standing next to Nick’s portrait of Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet and opposite the Thunderbirds and with Claudia and Nick duelling with their Astro Boys, images of Tezuka’s Tetsuwan Atomu and the music of Queen’s Domo arigato Mr. Roboto by Japanese band Polysics played in my mind. Robots, rockets, plastic and vinyl were GO! This exhibition is an affectionate tribute to toys, their collection and preservation. Toy love. Well done Nick!  Good show. Comics lovers should definitely see it.

Toy Porn 2 is on at NG Art Gallery Little Queen Street, Chippendale, 26th July-13 August.

GETTING SMASH(ed)!

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Saturday July 16, 2011 was a day of anime amusement at SMASH! (the Sydney Manga and Anime Show).

The SMASH! 2011 program.

Located for the first time in its short history at the Sydney Convention Centre in Darling Harbour because it kept outgrowing its previous venues from the Rounhouse at the University of New South Wales to the Sydney Town Hall, it moved to this level with ease.

The view from inside the Convention Centre. (Photo by Michael Hill a.k.a Doctor Comics)

On a sunny Winter Saturday in Sydney SMASH!  simply shone attracting the sweetest fans of all ages.

Welcome from the other Box Man. (Photo by Louise Graber)

On arrival there was a welcome gesture from Box Man, not Imiri Sakabashira’s Box Man but another one, a D.I.Y. white one. An occasion to dress up, there were costumes that required weeks of sewing, beading, feathering and functioning, paraded throughout the venue and on the cosplay stage.

A tutu moment… (Photo by Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

A Degas moment… (Photo by Louise Graber)

And some who didn’t dress up were happy to pose with those who did, and some of those who did dress up were happy to let them.

One happy fan. (Photo by Louise Graber)

It was good to see so many children there in addition to university, high school and primary school students, some with parents.

Three young cosplay fans. (Photo by Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

There were Hobby Rooms for the construction and display of dolls and robots…

Some Dolfie dolls. (Photo by Michael Hill (a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

and tired doll collectors patiently waiting for a seat in the Maid Cafe.

Lolitas with Dolfie. (Photo by Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

There were Art and Doodle Rooms for art and doodling…

Marker art. (Photo by Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

and Panels with noisey Guests…

Anime director Shinichi Watanabe. (Photo by Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

…and an epic two hours plus Cosplay Competition…

A really big and really, really long Cosplay Competition. (Photo by Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)

…not to mention a Gundam workshop, Karaoke, videogames, a screening of the excellent anime Summer Wars, sewing, pattern and armour making workshops, and a huge trading floor full of vendors, artists and clubs. And it all glowed in the presence of the patronage of the Japan Foundation, one of the stakeholders in the event. Smart too, as Japanese popular culture positively thrived at this convention. It was a magical, wonderful, fantasy day!

My report on last year’s event can be found on Forbidden Planet International.