From: [jwee 2] at [student.monash.edu.au]
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 17:01:37 AEST-10
Subject: Australian Comics Expo (long)

-Poster: [jwee 2] at [student.monash.edu.au]


        Aw, that ICE expo sounds like a heap of fun.  Given that few listers
 make it down here, no Con stories to share...but I _can_ fill you in
 on the Australian Comics Exhibition (ACE), that I went to last
 Friday.
       Went over to Clint Cure's digs in the late morning, bringing a bag
  of bachelor food.  (Cheap pasta, canned food, etc.)  Clint's on the
  dole (Australia's great that way...they support their artists!  It's
  a lot easier to get the benefits here than in, say, the States.) 
  and is sticking it out to find the time to draw and film his public
  access TV show, _Comic Book Virus_.  (Got a look at the title
  animation the other day and it's charming.  Clint's done some stints
  for various animation producers in Melbourne and Sydney.)  Had a
  squint at the artwork he's doing for his backup story in _Platinum
  Grit_, one of the more popular OZ titles.  PG is distributed in
  newstands and should be available through Diamond.  The plot is
  incomprehensible, but it's a fun ride nonetheless, good art by Trudy
  Cooper.  They're doing like Dave Sim and highlighting small press
  stalwarts in their book.  Clint's well known for his titles _Scam_,
  _Wang_ and _Comic Book Messiah_, done in a clean animation/bigfoot
  style, which I've profiled before in [c--m--x] at [.]
           Eventually headed over to pick up Aaron (oops, forgot last name), who
 does _Vexed_, an anthology of local comics artists, done in regular
 comic format.  He's working on issue #2 at the moment.  I like
 _Vexed_, but like most Australian comics there's not a lot of linear
 narratives.  That's kind of a running joke around here..."Who needs
 stories?  We're Australian!"  Okay, you know how, in your fantasies
 of having a life, you imagine having a cool warehouse/artspace
 apartment?  Well, Aaron's got it.  Damn, but I'm turning green. 
 Heaps of paintings, band practice space, sculpture... three floors. 
 Big windows.  Cobblestone walk outside, cool old Victorian
 architecture.  And it's on the cheap side, in the city.  After
 drooling on Aaron's paintings we head out. 
         Out to Moorabbin, that is.  After a half hour of getting lost,  we 
realize that we're going to _Morwell_ , about an hour and a half away 
from Melbourne.  Out in the sticks.  A quick call to the Latrobe Valley 
Arts Centre reveals that they're open until 6pm.  After hurried consultation,
 and a quick stop at the drive through beer shop (don't see too many of those in
 the States) we proceed to lay down some rubber speeding up Princes
 Highway.  Aaron thinks it's a  conspiracy.  "They try to make it as
 hard as possible to find out about our own comics history.  It's
 almost as hard to find out about, as, say, labor history."  
         Country  hills fly past as we discuss sheep-shagging jokes and whether
 Tasmanians or New Zealanders are subject to more of them.  Does seem
 to be a recurring subject.  We make it to the gallery with fifteen
 minutes to spare.  Clint bullshits the gallery folks into staying
 open an extra half hour. 
           I was really taken aback.  Heaps of comics
 here that never made it off the continent.  ACE is ace.  
       Comic books in  Australia had a similar beginning to comics in the States: 
 collections of newspaper strips were published, which began to
 include new material.  _Fatty Finn's Weekly_ (modeled after English
 comic books) was the first, in 1934, shortly followed by the
 Melbourne Herald's _Wags_.   _Wags_ was a full color reprint of
 Stateside comics strips.  Australia was soon flooded with American
 reprints, and it took World War II's Import Licensing Act
 restrictions to open the field to Australian creators. 
 (Hmm...reminiscent of the "Free Trade" issues we have today...)
           Australian creators have always had hurdles to jump.  The war years
 saw some great work, mostly in adventure comics:  _Jimmy
 Rodney on Secret Service_, _Silver Starr_, _Clancy of the Overflow_,
 _Captain Justice_, etc. (_Captain Atom_ was a superhero who gained
 his powers from the Bikini Atoll explosion--a far cry from the recent
 anger against the French for nuclear testing!)  Due to paper
 shortages, though, many comics were produced as one-shots, and often
 the publishers would change titles to hype up a "new" comic.  If you
 wanted to follow your favorite character, you'dve had to search
 around.
            By the late 1950's a new wave of American reprints virtually
 destroyed the economic base for local creators.  Arguably, it still
 hasn't recovered, with local comics only making up a fraction of the
 market seen in the war years.  The exhibit claims that the American
 presence "revitalized" and eventually caused a "resurgence" in
 Australian comics...I think they're trying to have it both ways.   
         There's some original art, and that's the real tantalizing bit.  This
 exhibit is essentially a survey, so we just get a little taste, and move on. 
 I was fascinated by Emile Mercier's work, who struck me as a bit like
 Basil Wolverton, but a little more focused on narrative, less of the
 "chicken fat".  Stanley Pitt's _Silver Starr_ brings to mind Alex
 Raymond, and his futuristic subject matter is similar.  Turns out he
 ghosted _Secret Agent Corrigan_ for a spell. 
           Aboriginal characters make an appearance, but are not explicitly
 discussed; neither are Aboriginal comics creators.  Many Aboriginal characters 
are caricatured similar to Africans and African-Americans in American
 strips: thick lips and huge eyes, comical expressions.  Apparently
 there is more realistic treatment in some strips, like _Trent of the
 Territory_ , and _Aboriginal Legends_  (curious about this last one).
          I was intrigued also by _Ginger Meggs_, a long running cartoon strip
 with a style similar to Percy Crosby.  That and _The Potts_, both
 domestically-based strips, have been around for ages...I don't see
 `em in _The Age_ or _The Australian_, though.  Hmm...
       I would also  like to see more of Moira Bertram's stuff.  She did a
 number of  comics with smart female protagonists, such as _The Sultan's
 Treasure_.  The exhibition is skimpy on both female artists and
 female costumes.  Comics.  The Male Medium! 
The section on Censorship is fascinating.  It appears that while there
 was similar censorship of comics in the 1950s, it originated out of reaction
 to American Comics.  While there were review boards in places like Queensland, in
 publishers also practiced self-censorship.  Horwitz Publications, for
 example, adopted a "Code of Publishing Ethics" that looks to be
 cribbed from the Comics Code.  I should check the dates both were
 created. 
        We get a host of more recent comics creators too...Fil
 Barlow (_Zooniverse_), major -label folks Gary Chalconer , Glenn
 Lumsden, and David DeVries.  Dillon Naylor's there (_Da and Dill_,
 _Tales of the Ovoid_) and Eddie Campbell isn't (I guess he's
 transplanted). 
            The exhibition is fun, but it tries to do too much. A
 little strip "how to become a superhero"  runs along the bottom of
 the display. It's very much superhero-based, (a special "Phantom" and
 "Costumed Creators" section) although it tries to be comprehensive. 
 And while it makes a claim for family appeal, there are some less
 than light-hearted bits on censorship. 
         My chief gripe is that the  postwar era skips over many historical bits. 
The  1960s had a number of   undergrounds, I'm told, but none are 
present here.  The  80s black and white boom isn't mentioned; there's no 
sense of the ups and downs of the comic market in the last several 
decades. Nothing on the current minicomics scene. Different creators are often 
thrown next to each other for no apparent reason, and issue credits and dates 
are sparse.  
          From the show credits, looks like some of these artists are still floating
 around.  I'm gonna give the OZCon folks a hard time if they don't line some of
 them up for February.  
        Overall:  B  for effort, A+  for material, C+ for
 presentation.  Lots to digest, I'm still chewing things over. 
        We  stumble out of the gallery, night is falling. On our long trip back
 we talk about local comics artist Fred Negro, who went to art school
 with Nick Cave.  He's  a hilariously funny scatologically-styled
 artist who ranges all over the place.  In one memorable strip he and
 his wife are pushing their baby carriage around the beach, tripping
 on acid.  
       Clint reveals that much of his work is inspired by street
 culture around Melbourne.  The _Herald Sun_ recently published
a list of street gangs (including groups like "Puffing Billy
Posse"), something I just wouldn't think of, given how peaceful
Australia seems.  
         Back to my digs for drinks and comics (dammit, most of these cool
 Victorian-styled houses have verandas, but mine doesn't!).  I show
 `em the latest stuff I've been working on, also the new mini from
 Scott Pollard. Scott's done a mini called _Blood Sucking Freaks_,
 which is really about our Premier (similar to Governor, essentially) ,
 Jeff Kennett.  Kennett is an economic rationalist type with a
 teflon coating, and has made massive changes in Victoria.  One of his
 first acts in office was to fire all the locally elected Mayors and
 put in his own people.  Very authoritarian, very aggressive.  There
 is a real chill in the political climate here.  So Scott's comic is
 without address, for fear of retaliation. Crisp inking, good
 caricatures, storytelling needs a little work.  We also watch the
 video of _Deep Shit_, a local film short that's basically one long
 fight scene as the good guys fight to protect a video of
 incriminating information against Kennett.  It's just a
 Premier-bashing night.  We also talk a little bit about New South
 Wales perennial Gerard Ashworth, who does long ranting screeds in
 _Modern Murder_ and _Weird Stress Kittens_.  Sketchy, shorthand
 style, laborious, complicated ruminations. (I'll post some of the
 addresses in another day or so.) 
       Went over our plots to take over the world, Aaron borrowed my
 tuxedo for a wedding, and we called it a night.    

                                                            - J
                                                     sweatin' finals
                                                     for the next two
                                                     weeks...
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