After a period in which I have been guest blogging and micro blogging I am now blogging. I started out with two blogs: Doctor Comics (more serious) and Doctor Comictopus (more fun) but these got merged. This is the first post on the Doctor Comics blog. I love comics and I have read them since childhood. My mother would buy me one when I was home from school in bed…Donald Duck or Dennis The Menace. I knew them by their titles then and only later learned they were the work of Carl Barks or Hank Ketcham. My father read war and western comics and left them lying around so both parents contributed to my love of comics. I still read comics in bed but no longer wait till I’m sick.

The T-shirt design by Max

Louise Graber and Doctor Comics at a Halloween Party. (Photo by Kat Smolynec, Painting by Anton Emdin, Feed On Comics T-shirt by Max)

I have been involved in comics studies for several years and have a Ph.D. for my research. That is where the alias comes in. I’m known as Michael Hill, Ph.D. (a.k.a Doctor Comics). I completed the doctorate in 2003 and acquired the alias in 2006 on a talkback show. Aided by the growing resources online it’s a rich time to study comics. Pluralism reigns. There are numerous creators from diverse cultures making good comics in a multitude of styles and formats along with the usual rubbishy material. I am increasingly drawn to the notion of making comics and I’m finally working on my first solo project Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics.

The 99 Expo card with Brian Ralph illo

This blog will reflect my interest in reading, researching, critiquing and creating comics art as expressed by Feed On Comics! by Max (photo above) official T-shirt of  ICAF (the International Comic Arts Festival) at Bethesda, Maryland, 1999. The event comprised an academic conference chaired by Gene Kannenberg, Jr., at which I made a presentation on Australian alternative comics, and a convention, the Small Press Expo that honoured alternative comics. There was an award ceremony at which James Kochalka performed and each category winner received a brick just like the one Ignatz threw at Krazy. The event celebrated both the study and creation of comics and so has particular resonance for me and my blog.

The Small Press Expo Comic

Doctor Comictopus alias for Michael Hill Ph.D.(a.k.a. Doctor Comics) designed by Michelle Park.

UPDATE: The Doctor Comictopus blog, with an alias designed by Michelle Park has been merged with this Doctor Comics blog. Transferred posts include:   GIGANTOR AND GOJIRA IN THE HOUSE     ROCK ART: Magical Cave Drawings Found and Filmed in France     CATS IN COMICS: The Rabbi’s Cat     COFFEE TABLE first fix     COFFEE TABLE fourth fix