Just a short post to keep in touch but to also mention that I shall be taking a bit of a break from my blog, for a bit…not sure how long…but just to keep in touch I am putting up this old collage portrait I did from several years ago of the cartoon character Ginger Meggs, created by James (Jimmy) Charles Bancks. Good old Bancksie and Meggsy!
Dr. Michael Hill aka Doctor Comics.
My cartoon collage of the Australian comic strip character Ginger Meggs with my added homage.
Above: cover shot of an impressive new volume COMICS 1964-2024…on comics art and comics history…cover illustration Starwatcher, 1986, by Moebius(1938-2012)…book published by Centre Pompidou and Thames & Hudson…Edited by Thierry Groensteen, Lucas Hureau, Anne Lemonnier and Emmanuele Payen…the volume is based on the exhibition held in Paris: Bande designee, 1964-2024 at the Centre Pompidou in 2024.
The recent comics art exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris…BANDE DESIGNEE1964-2024…included works from comics magazines Arcade, BigAss Comics, Bijou Funnies, Garo,Motor City Comics, Yellow Dog, Zap Comix…and from creators including Shinichi Abe, Neal Adams, Fujio Akatsuka, David B., Edmond Baudoin, Alison Bechdel, Enki Bilal, Blutch, Alberto Breccia, Claire Bretecher, Charles Burns, John Buscema,…Daniel Clowes, Gene Colan, Guido Crepax, Robert Crumb, Julie Doucet,…Will Eisner, Emil Ferris, Andre Franquin, Fred, Herge, Hideshi Hino, Gil Kane, Killoffer, Jack Kirby, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman,…Ulli Lust, Jay Lynch, Lorenzo Mattotti, Frank Miller, Shigeru Mizuki, Moebius,…Gary Panter, Hugo Pratt, Joe Sacco, Marjane Satrapi, Charles M. Schulz, Seth, Marie Severin, Gilbert Shelton, Posy Simmonds, Art Spiegelman,…Jiro Taniguchi, Jacques Tardi, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Osamu Tezuka, Lewis Trondheim, Yoshiharu Tsuge, Albert Uderzo, Chris Ware, Bill Watterson and S. Clay Wilson…a most impressive lineup!
The book based on the exhibition, COMICS 1964-2024…(pictured at the top of this post),…was published by Centre Pompidou and Thames & Hudson. Edited by Thierry Groensteen, Lucas Hureau, Anne Lemonnier and Emmanuele Payen. Chapters include An Evolving Artform by Benoit Peeters…The Decade That Reinvented Comics; Counterculture; and Humour; all three by Thierry Groensteen…Fear; and Science Fiction; both by Lucas Hureau…Dreams: At The Edge Of Reality by Johanna Schipper…Colour And Black And White by Anne Lemonnier…History And Memory by Joe Sacco with Paul Gravett…Personal Stories: Autobiographical Comics, their forms and themes by Laurent Gerbier…Everyday Life; and Cities by Emmanuele Payen…Literature-Literature and comics: sister arts by Tristan Garcia…and Geometry: Bringing infinity within reach by Marguerite Demoete. It begins with the Foreword: A New “Golden Age” Realized by Paul Gravett.
Above, cover shot of an earlier book on comics art…CO-MIX: A Retrospective Of Comics, Graphics, And Scraps by Art Spiegelman, published by Drawn & Quarterly, 2013, New York…the cover image by Art Spiegelman is titled Comics as a Medium for Self-Expression…Spiegelman’s work is cited in COMICS 1964-2024.
In his Foreword Gravett refers to several key figures and developments that led to the acceptance of comics, its creators and their works as an art form. He notes that it was in 1964 that the term graphic novel was first used in English. Hokusai is cited as a developmental reference for his 19th Century pre-manga sketchbooks. Gravett acknowledges that France was…“the first and to date the only country in the world to decide that…comics, in the singular, is also an art.” The French film critic Claude Beylie followed this up with the suggestion that comics be named the “9th Art”. Other notable events Gravett cites include…the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition of Art Spiegelman’s artwork for his graphic novel Maus…staged in New York in 1990-91, titled High and Low. Prior to this he lists what he terms a “landmark” exhibition…titled Bande dessinee et figuration narrative at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris…which opened on 7th April 1967…and to quote Gravett “…marked the first time any major art museum had presented comics.”
The graphically lively Japanese manga magazine GARO…with cover art by Terry Johnson, described on the cover as “Gorgeous Art”.
The BANDE DESIGNEE,1964-2024 comics art exhibition in Paris included a Japanese manga element…so I wanted to include some related content in this post. The Japanese magazine GARO (see cover image above), a manga collection, can be described in graphic terms as highly creative! Basically a bi-monthly magazine about manga…that is affectionately, if cheekily, labelled “King Of Comics!”…it features, to quote the magazine, “gorgeous art by Terry Johnson for Flamingo Studio Inc.” plus “popular design by Mr. Stereo and Mr. Monoral for the Stereo Studio Inc.” There is also a French element in this exhibition a.k.a. BANDE DESIGNEE,1964-2024 apart from the hosting and staging of the event. In fact, it appears to be promoted as a combined, three-way nation effort…involving France, Japan and the USA. To that effect in this post, following the cover image of the Japanese magazine GARO (above)…I have one of the French comics journal lapin produced by L-Association (below)…followed by two books of comics with covers by the American cartoonist Robert Crumb (below). There are comics and creators from other countries also involved but those three nations would appear to be dominant.
Cover of an edition of the French comics journal lapin: bandes dessinees pour la jeunesse…produced by La Association.The journal has been opened and pressed, open side down, flat on the desktop, for the photograph…due to the difficulty I had getting it to lay flat for the photo.
In the opening chapter of COMICS 1964-2024, titled An Evolving Artform…Benoit Peeters describes the trend in comics which occurred in the 1980s that led to the development of graphic novels…citing notable examples such as: MAUS by Art Spiegelman (see Spiegelman book CO-MIX above)…Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons…Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo…Blankets by Craig Thompson…Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi…and The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Reference is also made to established and ongoing series such as Asterix and Obelix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke. Also referred to in COMICS 1964-2024 is the Robert Crumb series: The Complete Crumb Comics (cover image below). I have also added a photo (below) of Mark James Estren’s A History of Underground Comics…that has Crumb’s art on the cover.
Above, cover shot of The Complete Crumb Comics Volume 5…Edited by Gary Groth with Robert Fiore and Robert Boyd…published by Fantagraphics Books, 1990, Seattle.
A useful tome from which to study the Underground comics movement…usually spelt ‘comix’…is this book by Mark James Estren, A History of Underground Comics, 1993(Third Edition)..(above, with Crumb cartoon on the cover), Ronin Publishing, Berkeley, California…(originally published in 1974).Crumb’s work is heavily featured in this book. Others mentioned include Mike Barrier, Joel Beck, Vaughn Bode, Paul Buhle,… Kim Deitch, Will Eisner, Clay Geerdes, Justin Green, Rick Griffin, Bill Griffith, George Herriman, Rand Holmes,…Jaxon, Jay Kinney, Denis Kitchen, Aline Kominsky, Harvey Kurtzman, Jay Lynch, Lee Marrs, Victor Moscoso,…Pete Poplaski, Gilbert Shelton, Art Spiegelman, Foolbert Sturgeon, John Thompson,…Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Larry Welz, Robert Williams, Skip Williamson, S. Clay Wilson, Basil Wolverton and Wally Wood.
Another artist referred to in COMICS 1964-2024 is David B…(cover shot, above, of his book)…the Armed Garden and other stories…published by Fantagraphics Books, 2011, Seattle. Pierre-François “David” Beauchard also known by the pen name David B., is a French comic book artist and writer, and one of the founders of L’Association. Another of his books…Epileptic…is referred to in COMICS 1964-2024 in the chapter DREAMS: At The Edge Of Reality by Johanna Schipper.
Above, cover shot of…KRAZY KAT: The Comic Art Of George Herriman, by Patrick McDonnell, Karen O”Connell and Georgia Riley de Havenon…published by Harry N. Abrams, New York.
George Herriman, creator of Krazy Kat (see image above)…is another legendary American comics creator referred to in this book…in the chapter Geometry: Bringing infinity within reach by Marguerite Demoete. My visual reference is to the front cover of the book The Comic Art Of George Herriman above…with Krazy strumming a banjo and getting a little help from Ignatz Mouse…whilst Officer Pup sits alongside them in a state of mesmerised attention. The expression in the eyes of all three characters is telling, I think.
In summary, COMICS 1964-2024 is an impressive book about various aspects of comics art. As a physical entity it comes in the large format…approximately 24 x 31 cm. in size and near 300 pages in length…it is both heavy to hold…and a little awkward to handle with its weight and soft cover…heavily illustrated in both colour and black and white with only 20% of the pages without illustrations…and priced accordingly. It contains 14 informative articles on comics art (see chapter titles and authors above). I regret having missed visiting the exhibition in Paris…but at least I have this book! If you have read it, and would like to comment, please consider adding your response here! M
(Original text-c.2025 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics).
I am beginning to feel that I am nearing the final post documenting the production of my graphic novel/artist book/comic…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics…as I tie the ends of the storyline together and head towards the conclusion. Initially I thought that this would be a sequel with a different title…but after having second thoughts I decided to make it the final chapter of the graphic novel…with the same title…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Owing to the absence of the Doctor Comics character in this new chapter, it contains less of his anecdotes…and fewer human characters as it drifts more in the direction of the funny animal comics genre. This seems to be a good move.
The chapter begins in Berlin…where Cohl, having heard no word from his friend Busch for almost two years…decides to follow him to Tokyo and try to find him. Cohl has been very comfortable in the German city…and somewhat reluctant to leave but his curiosity and friendship ultimately awakened him from his cultural slumber.
In addition to the restaurant supplies district some scenes take place in Kanda, the bookshop area of Tokyo. Cohl initially explores the manga shops…then extends his search to sources of traditional woodblock printed books as well as books about yokai spirits.
Near the end of the Blotting Paper graphic novel (page 286 above and page 287 below of 300 pages), Cohl is ultimately content to remain in Berlin despite his attempts to find his friend Busch who had left Germany for Japan with his new friend Barks.
Owing to the absence of the Doctor Comics character in this new chapter…it contains hardly any of his anecdotes…and even fewer human characters as it drifts more in the direction of the funny animal comics genre. The principal character, Cohl the cat from the Blotting Paper graphic novel,…has some adventures in the Asakusa area of Tokyo…to which he has travelled in search of his missing friend and flatmate, the other cat and feline friend, Busch.
Doctor Comics researching the bookshop area of Tokyo during an earlier visit. (Photo by Louise Graber.)
In addition to the restaurant supplies district some scenes take place in Kanda, the bookshop area of Tokyo. Cohl initially explored the manga shops…then extended his search to sources of traditional woodblock printing books…as well as books about yokai and the spirit world…as Doctor Comics had done. All good! I shall now start heading toward the conclusion of my graphic novel.
I have completed production and commenced publication of the fifth issue of my artist book/comic…BLOTTING PAPER: The Recollected Graphic Impressions Of Doctor Comics. The pages are being printed, collated, trimmed, bound and covered. Copies will soon be mailed to readers. Each copy will have an original postcard size print on the cover.
It has now been four years since publication of the first issue. That was launched at Hondarake-Full of Books in Sydney in February 2012 (see earlier post about the launch). A further four issues have been produced and published. I am now considering collecting these issues into graphic novel form. This will allow me the opportunity to make revisions to the story and artwork. The five issues have generated 200 pages of material. This may be altered following editing and development of the existing material. There also remains the possibility of a further new chapter! We’ll see about that!
This is the next report documenting production of my artist book/comic…and ultimately graphic novel…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Creation and production of the forthcoming issue 2 Tickets to Tokyo Bay has begun. It deals with the continued adventures of the cats Busch and Cohl and their canine acquaintance Barks. Set mostly in Japan it also has some scenes in Germany. It follows these characters in funny animal cartoon style. It also includes further recollections from the archives of my alias, Doctor Comics. These refer to his visits to Japan and research of manga, his favorite form of comics.
The characters Barks and Busch travel from Germany to Japan by sea, arriving in Tokyo Bay. Their passage by sea is cheaper than flight buts not without some difficulty and discomfort in cramped quarters below deck.
Disembarkation in Tokyo leads to some fun and frolicking and access to a wider range of food. They visit a manga fair and then go to Kitchen Town where they eat cake.
Printmaking has been employed in the design with techniques including woodblock, linocut, rubber, bakelite and wooden stamps. There is also drawing, collage, calligraphy and handwriting plus more cartooning. The intention is to produce a comic in an artist book type format…and to have it ready for self-publication around the end of this year.
This is the third report documenting production of the fifth and concluding chapter of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Production of the new issue 2 Tickets to Tokyo Bayis continuing with images currently being created along with some previously made works recorded during my travels in Japan and Germany. The script has first been developed in word form and accompanied by some conceptual colour coding. This was followed by a second draft consisting of roughly sketched visuals of the script with coloured pencils and associated descriptive comments or dialogue. There are examples of both of these development stages, below.
One scene in the script is a graphical recollection of my Doctor Comics alias. It reveals the design of one of his logo stamps/seals or chops that was roughed out on a paper napkin in a Sydney restaurant with guidance from a member of the Japanese Consulate. Here is a scan of that design development along with attachments including a photo and a Japanese photo booth print sticker.
Here is the next report, first one of the year, documenting production progress of my artist book/comic/graphic novel…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics…Chapter 4-Beer, Chocolate and Comics. The story continues with both cats arriving in Hamburg in a shipping container on a freighter…and ends with them, seemingly accompanied by a newly acquired canine friend on another freighter bound for Tokyo Bay! However did that come about? Well, Japan is the setting for the subsequent chapter…as long as this scenario is not altered in the coming weeks.
I am continuing my graphic experiments with ink and paint on paper that is printed then torn and drawn upon…and sometimes collaged, to create documents, scenes and settings as well as thought and voice balloons for the characters.
The following quick sketches were made on my previous travels in Germany. They were kept in notebooks till it seemed they had some relevance and resonance for this project…and now I am finding ways of working them into this chapter.
More visual developments and an update on progress will be posted on this blog in three or four weeks time…as I continue to close in on completion of the comic.
UPDATE 20 JANUARY 2015: In response to a query in the comments…(see below)…I have added examples of how I intend using the abstract landscapes as backgrounds…or graphic expressions.
More visual developments and an update on progress should be posted on this blog around the end of the month…as I near completion of the comic…and, as always, your feedback on my blog is most welcome.
Job done! Production of the third issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics has been completed. The comic was launched in June at Comic-Salon Erlangen in Germany. I had been invited to attend the event by German design colleagues…Professors Markus Fischmann and Michael Mahlstedt…of Visuelle Kommunikation, Design und Medien Department…Hochschule Hannover University of Applied Arts and Sciences where I had a visiting academic engagement back in 2007. Comic-Salon is the largest comics convention in Germany with 25,000+ attendees. Oh wow!
GOING DEEPER INTO PRODUCTION MODE! Progress report on my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Chapter 3, The Chthonian Turn. It is subtitled The Cats’ Revenge as it starts heading in the direction of a funny animal comic.I am approaching the mid-way point in completion of the artwork, averaging one page per day. It’s been a struggle maintaining this rate.
Serial production offers the opportunity of revisiting the work at some future date with the opportunity to make changes. With hindsight, the possibility of reworking things and adding new material seems appealing. One hopes it would improve the material…as this wouldn’t happen till after I have published a first edition.
About half of this issue is being hand-printed and/or painted. Those are the areas I have spent most of the time working on. The remaining half will be digitally printed. Most of the page numbers are being stamped, some directly onto the page, others scanned then printed.
Over the past month I have completed the artwork, printing and the finishing stages of the labelling, stapling and bookbinding. I started out stitching the sections together but found that I lacked the skills to do the job properly. I abandoned this approach and switched back to the simpler form of stapling…however, I shall endeavour to master stitching techniques in future.
It looks interesting as a volume being half hand-printed and half digitally printed. The varying pages are sometimes shuffled together. In addition to adding pages of colour and print-made texture this method has resulted in a shorter period of production.
The feline characters continue to assert themselves. This altered the generic pattern from auto-bio to funny animal comics with the odd not so humorous scene.
Notice of publication should be posted on this Blog around the end of the month. It is intended take place at a comics event in Germany…but we will have to wait and see about that, Michael.
This is the first in a series of regular reports documenting the production of the third issue of my artist book/comic…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. It continues on from my previous posts on the first chapter/issue The Ingurgitator…and the second chapter/issue A Blot On His Escutcheon. The new chapter, The Chthonian Turn: The Cats’ Revenge…deals with the feline characters’ reaction to the demise of Doctor Comics…and that gentleman’s adventures in another dimension to which he has travelled. I hope to self-publish it before the end of the year.
As with the two previous issues printmaking is involved in the generation of images…via woodblock, linocut, Japanese sosaku hanga technique, rubber stamps and wooden seals. In addition other visual communication techniques…such as drawing, painting, collage, cartooning and photography…with the intention of producing a limited edition artist’s book comic.
I also intend having more colour pages in this issue…following the use of sporadic spot colour in Issue #1 and the 8 full colour pages in Issue #2. The colour will assist in the graphic representation of both the real and imaginary worlds featured in the comic.
I am continuing to edit the script, refine ideas, and develop others. There has been some unscripted image-making and printmaking activity…with the intention of using this as a loose but parallel means of creating vaguely conceived and experimental visual content. Examples produced through this printmaking strategy are featured below.
In the present chapter the two feline characters deliberate over the decision of what to do following the sudden departure of Doctor Comics. Meanwhile the latter character continues his travels in the chthonian world…confronting various vaporous forms and ghostly figures…including a trio of roaming red shades (see the three red shade illustrations). The raw state of these printmaking images will most likely be subject to further graphic manipulation.
The target date for completion of the five 8-page signatures have been approximated…and with a good run the comic could possibly be ready for binding as early as June.
Ink, more so than paint, appears to be the dominant graphic ingredient in the production…with dip pens, drawing pens and brush calligraphy involved…although some of the inking will be made onto previously painted paper.
There are some pencils in there too…as well as the pens,…with drawing and handwriting components plus my regular use of printmaking for image generation.
Having gotten deeper into production modeI am now approaching completion of the artwork …having advanced from scripting to page layout…however, I am keeping things open in terms of the resolution of the story.
I find the creation of the images…and the entire image-making process…including the resultant generation of the artwork…to be the most pleasurable part of the production process. Culling, selecting and editing the artwork is a tougher task.
Printmaking has again been employed in the image-making…a little more than photography…but about the same proportion as drawing. In terms of style, abstraction is making an impression. The notion of developing this project into graphic novel form continues to firm.
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 is forthcoming. September is looking increasingly likely subject to completion of the printing, binding and delivery of the comics. The comic will form part of an exhibition of my works on paper at a new gallery in Glebe called GAUGE. Below is an image of the title page. The image has been constructed from elements of photography, printmaking, typography and collage. It shows Doctor Comics returning from a shopping expedition. UPDATE: Exhibition dates have been firmed to 18-29 September 2013 but still no firm launch date for the comic…which is beginning to raise thoughts in the long term of its potential development into a graphic novel. We will have to wait and see about that!
Doctor Comics 