Tag: cartoons

THE KAPPABASHI CAT: Production Report No.2

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Japanning January 27, 2018

This is the second in a series of reports documenting the production progress of The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi, the sequel, or possibly even continuation of my graphic memoir/artist book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics that was completed in 2016. Essentially similar in vein to its predecessor in graphic approach it will be different through being less autobiographical, less of a graphic memoir and more fictive. It will contain fewer anecdotes, fewer human characters and is much more of a funny animal comic. The principal character is the cat Cohl from the Blotting Paper graphic novel and his adventures in Tokyo to which he has travelled in search of his friend Busch.

bpdigi-p28696

At the end of the Blotting Paper graphic novel (page 286 above and page 287 below) Cohl is content to remain in Berlin but is attempting to contact his friend Busch who had left Germany for Japan with his new mate Barks.

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A second and a third draft of the new comic have been written but the design and artwork are still at the preliminary stage. As in the Blotting Paper graphic novel printmaking is being employed along with other forms of image-making including drawing, typography, handwriting, calligraphy, collage and photography. As with the earlier publication the intention is to make a comic in an artist’s book/graphic novel type of format.

Read the first post on this new production The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi No.1 and details of the production of all five issues of the Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics artist book/comic, now combined in graphic novel form, and a continuing visual history record and time-line overview of the project read all of the production reports on the following posts: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

UNIVERSITY CARTOONS

Art, Comics April 16, 2017

This post concludes the collection of cartoons I contributed to U: magazine whilst working at the University of Technology, Sydney. This, plus the three previous cartoon posts, constitute an online gallery of my single panel satirical work.

Student Administration-© 2006 Dr. Michael Hill Another actual incident when staff who worked in a room with a view of a parking station were allocated photographs of city traffic to brighten up their room.

Posts of my graphic based material include: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Third Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on production of my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

SCRAPBOOK: A Few Pages More

Art, Comics, Film, Japanning August 22, 2016

In this post I’m adding even more sample pages from my scrapbook, the previous postings of which can be found here and there. There is only one copy of the scrapbook so I like to think of it as another constructed artist book of mine. It contains images of other people’s work that I admire along with some assorted memorabilia of my own. These are images that I have collected and arranged, and in some cases, altered.

Japanese anime magazine with emphasis on profiling new work.

A Japanese anime magazine with an emphasis on the profiling of new work. One of the first Japanese words I learned from hearing it so often on TV was atarashi, meaning new.

Lex Luthor discovers his artistic side and has fun with paint.

Mixed Bag, from Nara and Mizuki to Van Gogh. I like the idea of using notebooks as well as some of the forgotten images you can find in them.

Baseball cover for Peanuts collection with Schulz’s wonderful criss-cross ink-line representation of grass.

Sports page-Formula One and Football.

Some Kamishibai cards.

San Francisco, sand and sea-the postcard is Californian but the beach is Australian.

Manga Bat Wing and monster on painted sea page. The comics panel is from a Japanese version of Batman.

Eisenstein with cats and dog and mouse-Krazy, Mickey and Norakuro.

Closure.

MORE CARTOONS

Art, Comics May 25, 2016

This post features the second instalment of cartoons I created during my academic tenure at the University of Technology, Sydney. These examples focus on the University’s Tower Building on Broadway near Railway Square. Labelled an example of “brutal modernism” despite its designer’s denial of it being that style, it is a monolithic stack of 27 storeys in concrete and glass now somewhat softened by the arrival of the newly constructed vertical garden clad Central Park building opposite. It was fun playing around with it as a satirical subject in these cartoons that were published in the University’s magazine U:.

This fake story was reported as fact by one Sydney news agency!

A good example of rocket science-launching the Tower Building into orbit over Ultimo!

It proved a bit of a problem getting it down though.

Fictitious merchandise in a non-existent shop in the foyer yet the Information Desk reported some enquiries as to the shop’s location after publication of this cartoon.

Originally I proposed using Nokia and Nokia University of Technology naming rights but the sign on the tower would read NUTS! So, no go, but Virgin was O.K.

I did an alternate version of the building relaxing on a banana lounge on Bondi Beach reading a novel but the Vice Chancellor preferred this one.

Posts of my graphic based material include: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Third Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.28

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics October 8, 2013

This post covers the setting up of the exhibition Blotting Paper: Works On Paper 18-29 September at GAUGE Gallery, Sydney that included the publication of the second issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Chapter 2: A Blot On His Escutcheon.

View of the gallery from across the road. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

The set up begins-art waiting to be hung. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

More frames awaiting hanging. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

Roughly positioned on the gallery floor adjacent to the intended wall position. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

The smaller work-freshly framed cartoons in blister wrapped stacks. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

Cartoon frame corners. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

Cartoons unpacked, decornered and hung. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

The show takes shape. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

Looking through the GAUGE Gallery window at the Blotting Paper exhibition. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill)

The next post will cover the finished look of the layout and hang of the exhibition and include photos of some of the visitors to the show. For a visual diary record and time-line overview of this project, see all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports. Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.26

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics August 25, 2013

With publication of the second issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Chapter 2: A Blot On His Escutcheon just a matter of weeks away (September is looking increasingly likely subject to completion of the binding and delivery of the comics. What has been fixed though is that the book will form part of an exhibition of works on paper at a new gallery in Glebe called GAUGE. Here is an image of the title page. The image has been constructed from elements of photography, printmaking, typography and collage and shows Doctor Comics returning from a shopping expedition. UPDATE: Exhibition dates have now been firmed to 18-29 September 2013 but still no firm launch date for the comic.

Title page of Issue #2 of Blotting Paper (Design-© 2013 Michael Hill).

Press Release for Blotting paper exhibition.

Press Release for the Blotting Paper exhibition.

For a visual diary record and time-line overview of this project, see all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports. Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29

CATS IN COMICS: Krazy Kat by Gene Kannenberg, Jr.

Art, Cats in Comics, Comics September 23, 2011

Panel from Krazy Kat comic strip October 17th, 1937

Krazy Kat, created by cartoonist George “Garge” Herriman (1880-1944) initially as a family pet in his comic strip “The Dingbat Family” in 1910 before graduating to an eponymous strip in 1913, is without a doubt The Greatest of All Cartoon Cats – if only because “Krazy Kat” is the greatest comic strip of all time. (I don’t write those words lightly, but to me they’re true enough.)

As ever, the strip’s conceit: Ignatz Mouse, the antagonist, has it in for Kazy Kat, the sometimes-he, sometimes-she protagonist; Ignatz expresses his disdain usually in the form of a brick hurled at Krazy’s head. Krazy, in love with Ignatz, sees the brick as a sign of affection. Offissa Pupp, the local constabulary, is in love with Krazy and despises Ignatz. Many strips end with Pupp putting Ignatz in jail for his crime. It’s all that simple, and that complex – variations on a theme for four glorious decades.

It’s almost a cliche to say that the strip is “poetic,” but really, honestly, I don’t know of a better word. Herriman’s use of language, pulsing with puns and patois, is lyrical in and of itself. But look at the strip as a whole: each installment, especially each Sunday page, is a perfect little gem of an object, with visuals that are as malleable, marvelous, and magnificent as any sonnet. Form and meaning walk hand in hand in Krazy’s hometown of Coconino County.

Panel from Krazy Kat comic strip October 8th, 1920

I’ve seen it said at times that Krazy is delusional, or that she doesn’t understand Ignatz’s intentions. But I think that such ideas miss the point. Like a “real” cat*, Krazy creates hir own reality. Anyone who’s lived with an actual feline knows that, try as you might, you cannot control, cannot master a cat. Cats are subject to their own internal wants, needs, and whims; sometimes, rarely, these impulses correspond to what we want, and we then find this behavior charming and “cute.” But really, it’s the cat who’s calling the shots. So, too, does Krazy call the shots – literally: she calls the shooting bricks love tokens. So what if Ignatz doesn’t mean them that way? Ultimately, and to our benefit, it’s what Krazy desires that kounts.

* I use the “scare quotes” hesitantly; to me, Krazy is as real a creation as is possible. Nothing fake; all genuine. All Art.

Many thanks to our guest blogger Gene Kannenberg, Jr. for this wonderful post.

BIO: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 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.

Read all the CATS IN COMICS posts: Busch Cohl Doraemon Krazy Kat The Rabbi’s Cat