graphic novels – Doctor Comics

Welcome to another visit to my modest library collection of comics and books about comics. These are related to my research, study and enjoyment of the comics medium. In this series I focus on a small selection of books from my shelves and take a closer look. This time I shall be pushing that total to ten as every book in the photo will get a mention! The books are not shelved following normal library rules i.e. detailed categorisation…they are stacked by size…what a surprise!…however, they all have something to do with the rubrics of comics…being comics, collections of comics or histories, studies and critiques of comics.

_{Somewhat similar in size, at least in the vertical dimension, this grouping is a mixed bag in terms of content…from Aline Kominsky Crumb to Jim Woodring with side visits to Frans Masereel, Shigeru Mizuki and L’ Association…not to mention the history and design of the humble pencil.}
_{(Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{I am starting with NEED MORE LOVE: a graphic memoir by Aline Kominsky Crumb published by MQ Publications in 2007. It’s a big volume with close to 400 pages in length. These are spread over five chapters including Love-Marriage-Motherhood, Mid-Life Crisis, and The Kominsky Code. There are illustrations…a combination of photos(including several family photos)…text, cartoons and sequences from her comics as well as her contributions to other comics such as WIMMEN’S COMIX.}
_{(Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS was an impressive series that ran from 2006 to 2019…this one is from the penultimate year with Phoebe Gloeckner as editor and Bill Kartalopoulos as series editor…and with cover art on this edition by comics artist Lale Westvind. There are over 30 contributors in this volume… including Gabrielle Bell, Guy Delisle, Casanova Frankenstein, Sarah Glidden, Simon Hanselmann, Jaimie Hernandez, Gary Panter, Ariel Schrag, Matthew Thurber and Lale Westvind…with each contributing an extract or short piece of their work. Good to see it added to the “Best Of” series and a shame that series didn’t last.}
_{(Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Also from the USA is this 2011 graphic novel from Fantagraphics Books, titled Congress of the Animals…written, illustrated and designed by Jim Woodring “in control of everything,” as he does. It features the adventures of his feline character Frank. The book is beautifully drawn and written by Woodring and appropriately published.}
_{(Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics).}

_{Next is a hard covered book of a hard-boiled private detective in a hard hitting storied graphic novel…Darwin Cooke’s adaption of Richard Starke’s novel Parker the Hunter classily presented by IDW Publishing in 2009. Set in 1960s New York the borderless panels give the artwork a rough, energetic style… and a fluid passage through the pages. The seemingly continuous movement from panel to panel provides a quasi-cinematic effect in the telling of this crime fiction tale. Lots of energy and violence are conveyed in the visuals.}
_{(Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Next we have Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel SHORTCOMINGS published in a hardcover format by Drawn and Quarterly in 2007. This is a disciplined study. It has been carefully drawn in monochromatic form…predominantly and appropriately in close-up…with an emphasis on facial expression and dialogue to convey the conversation, conflict and emotional reaction arising from problematic relationships. The worried emotional state is conveyed in the illustration on the cover of the book by the author. (Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Crossing over to Europe and the land of the bandes dessinees we have LAPIN No. 22: bandes dessinees pour la jeunesse…a stunning collection of short comics from L’ Association in Paris…it includes work, short pieces or extracts, from comics artists including…Lewis Trondheim, Jean-Christophe Menu, Guy Delisle, Joann Sfar, Edmond Baudoin, Jim Woodring, Paquito Bolino, Caroline Sury, Jochen Gerner, Fabio, Matthieu Blanchin and Placid. This selection of contributors brings to the volume a wonderful range of graphic styles and storytelling. The crammed, chaotic cover illustration is by Killoffer. (Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{PASSIONATE JOURNEY: A Vision In Woodcuts created by the Flemish artist Frans Masereel and published by Dover Publications in 2007. It contains more than 160 intensely monochromatic reproductions of his wordlessly accompanied woodcut prints that make up this graphic novel. It was originally published in 1919 well before the concept of the “graphic novel” came into popular usage. Wordless and woodcut are the two key words. The actual prints are quite small, measuring around 3 by 2 inches…these have been slightly enlarged for this publication. I quite like this use of printmaking for the generation of images for comics. It’s a very graphical read. (Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Crossing to Japan for THE BOX MAN by the mangaka, animator and musician Imiri Sakabashira…translated into English by Taro Nettleton and published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2009. I found this to be a really fast page turner and a bizarre ‘trip’ of a read. It’s a journey type manga…it really flows along through time and space…with its series of striking images it flows along like a graphic trip. (Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Also from Japan, a 400 page manga titled KITARO by Shigeru Mizuki…translated into English by Jocelyne Allen and published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2013. Kitaro is a one-eyed boy accompanied by an eyeball headed embodiment of his dead father…the father, called Medama Oyaji, lives in his other, empty, eye socket. There is a chant, “GE GE GE NO KITARO” that occasionally occurs in the yokai/spirit world throughout this manga. Mizuki’s style is both engaging and entertaining and impressive in terms of his range of character design and storytelling skills.}
_{(Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{…and finishing with the tool with which many comics begin…that archetypal drawing device, the pencil. Written and researched by Henry Petroski: THE PENCIL: A History Of Design And Circumstance. This is not a how-to book about drawing. It is a history of the role engineering played in the development of the pencil…its design and manufacture, in a range of countries. It is a most rewarding read! (Photo-©2023 Dr. Michael Hill}

Although not initially included in my published posts I wish to add further details of my background story…how I arrived at my present moment celebrating and researching comics art…acquiring my DOCTOR COMICS moniker…detailing aspects of my teaching, research and passage from technical work into academia…and subsequent research, publishing and the writing and presenting of conference papers based on that research…as well as a series of supplementary creative projects.

_{Doctor Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics (Photo by Alison Van Hees).}

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

PROFILE: Subsequent to my artistic work in theatre and film, I have nearly 30 years tertiary experience in academia. This involved teaching, research, publication, course design, management and direction…plus consultation, working within the art and design and humanities disciplines…at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and on both a local and international basis.

_{My Ph.D 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…Division Of Society, Culture, Media And Philosophy, Macquarie University, 2003.}

On completion of my Ph.D. at Macquarie University in Sydney I donated my collection of comics art research materials…including my collection of more than 500 comics…to the National Library of Australia, as the Michael Hill Collection of Australian Comics.

_{Master of Arts by virtue of the thesis…Slave To The Rhythm: Animation At The Service Of The Popular Music Industry…Faculty of Humanities And Social Sciences, University Of Technology, Sydney, 1995.}

_{Graduate Diploma in Media, Australian Film and Television School, 1986.}

_{Certificate in Group Work, South Australian Institute of Technology.}

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Course Design and Management

Co-creator and first Director of the Master of Animation Course, spread across three Faculties of the university.

Director of Postgraduate Design

Director of Visual Communication Design Department

SYDNEY COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

Lecturer in Film and Video

Technical Officer in Art and Design

RESEARCH

In the comics art area and previously in the fields of film, video and theatre. Australian representative on the International Editorial Board of the International Journal Of Comic Art, 2000 to present, 2025.

_{An issue of the International Journal Of Comic Art…I always carry the current issue in my brief case.}

PUBLICATIONS

List of published articles on comics art. (NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

PRESENTATIONS

Lectures, Tutorials and Panel Participation-multiple, local and international. (NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

EXHIBITIONS

_{Participating in Group show on comics theme at KNOT GALLERY, Sydney.}

(NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

AWARDS

(NOTE: Work in progress: details to be added.)

CREATIVE WORKS