Tokyo – Doctor Comics

This is another report documenting production of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Creation and production of the forthcoming issue 2 Tickets to Tokyo Bay has begun and deals with the continued adventures of the cats Busch and Cohl and their canine acquaintance Barks. Set mostly in Japan but with some scenes in Germany it follows these characters in funny animal style and includes further recollections from the archives of my alias, Doctor Comics, including his visits to Japan and research into manga.

Dirty laundry hung out to dry, ink painting-© 2015 Michael Hill

A seasick cat at sea, ink sketch-© 2015 Michael Hill

The characters Barks and Busch travel from Germany to Japan by sea, arriving in Tokyo Bay. Whilst their passage on a container ship is cheaper than flight it is not without some difficulty and discomfort.

Choreographing a cosplay routine, pencil sketch-© 2014 Michael Hill

Cosplay costume design, ink and pencil sketch-© 2013 Michael Hill

Being back on land in Tokyo is more conducive to fun and frolicking and access to a bigger range of food. They visit a manga fair and then Kitchen Town where they eat cake.

A Munchianesque Halloween cake design in Kappabashi, Tokyo, photo-© 2009 Michael Hill

Barks and Busch are on their way to Tokyo Bay-© 2015 Michael Hill

The view at sea, print-© 2015 Michael Hill

Printmaking is again involved in the design of this issue with woodblock, linocut, rubber, bakelite and wooden stamps along with drawing, collage, calligraphy and handwriting plus a continued move into cartooning. The intention is to produce the comic in an artist book type format and to have it more or less ready for self-publication around the end of the year.

Japan, fish island, collage-© 2015 Michael Hill

And home of Otafuku, ink painting-© 2015 Michael Hill

UPDATE: 2 November 2015

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 Bay is 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.

Developing a first draft script design-© 2015 Michael Hill

Visual roughing out of the script-© 2015 Michael Hill

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.

Developing a seal design, collage-© 2008 Michael Hill

Another sequence involves Japanese sea monsters.

Seeing strange things at sea, ink and pencil sketch-© 2008 Michael Hill

Possible print for the cover-© 2009 Michael Hill.

The launch of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Issue #1 The Ingurgitator in a signed and numbered limited edition of 50 is scheduled for 11 February 2012 at HONDARAKE Full of Books in Sydney (details in the poster below). The book will be launched by my friend and colleague Gene Kannenberg, Jr. via a Skype link from the U.S.A. Kannenberg, a noted comics historian, 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 including “500 Essential Graphic Novels”.

Poster designed by Louise Graber from original print by Michael Hill.

The launch will be accompanied by an exhibition of 33 of my handmade art postcards produced in sosaku hanga style, the ‘creative print’ movement that emerged just over a century ago in Tokyo. Creative prints became the voice of a group of artists who went under the name Pan and met for sake parties by the Sumida River, the centre of the Floating World of old Edo and site of the classic Ukiyo-e print movement. James Michener described this new approach: …in contrast to the classical system in which the artist merely designed the print, leaving the carving of the blocks to one technician and the printing to another, the newer print artists preached that the artist himself must do the designing, carving and printing. A new term was devised to describe such a print-sosaku hanga, meaning “creative print.” (Michener, 1968: The Modern Japanese Print p.11)

A different card but similar treatment in that no two cards are identical as in a typical print run.

A different card.

Another different art postcard…this one not included in the exhibition accompanying the comic launch.

A postcard from my Abstract No.11 series-© 2007. An early effort in my series of making art postcards. I think I had started creating the art postcard series the previous year and in a future post I plan on addressing the historical parade of these cards since their inception.

Above is a collage of 4 separate pen and ink/felt-tipped pen drawings: Sydney Harbour Bridge, rear view of walking figure, hand holding a bag, and hand putting key in a lock-that will be included in the first issue of the book. These occur on different pages in the comic but have been brought together in this collage and overlaid in the same graphic space in my attempt to form a visual sign or motif for promotion of the comic.

Doctor Comics

Tag: Tokyo

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