and that was the year that was

I've been relaxing and trying to keep away for the internet but i like 'year in review' posts.

Favourites

Moment - the wedding
Trip - Doujicon with Team Radeliade
International Comic - Scott Pilgrim #3
Australian Comic - I'm still going through the piles of stuff i bought through the year for my Ledger review but if i had to pick one, Steve Martinez's Mojo and Fuzz got read multiple times.
TV - 24
Place - Cradle Mountain
Wine variety - Rose (i dunno, i'm getting soft)
Wine - Wirra Wirra Church Block
Album - Album that probably got the most play this year was Ben Kweller's 'On my way', but in terms of new albums Be Your Own Pet's Be Your Own Pet was probably the strongest (Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped was a return to form, same with Prince's 3121) but on a whole nothing really stood out.
Hip Hop Song - Golddigger by Kanye West
Non Hip Hop Song - Elbows by Darren Hanlon
Present - Wii
Movie - The Prestige
Concert - Go Team at BDO
Dish - Em's Spaghetti Marinara
Beer - Mythos
Purchase -8gb MP3 player/Hammer Drill
Book - Possibility of an Island by Michel Houellebecq (though i didn't get to read much)
New Skill - Welding

I worked way too hard and this year I'm pulling back with the home renovation work but that was my year.

Happy new year everyone

Merry Xmas

My favourite xmas carol is "Little Drummer Boy" because it shows us even the little presents are important and it also means i get to sing 'bum' alot.

Merry xmas to everyone, we didn't do cards this year because we've been busy with stuff so 'pa rum bum bum bum, pa rum bum bum bum, pa rum bum bum bum' to everyone out there.

Buy Sureshot Presents this Xmas

You can get purchase Sureshot Presents Doug Holgates' All Adventure Annual at

Minotuars in Melbourne
Impact Comics in Canberra
Pulp Fiction Comics in Adelaide
Phasetwo Comics on the Internet

Make it a merry xmas for you and yours with one easy purchase.

Groan, James Groan - sorry Henry

Actually it wasn't that bad - Casino Royale, that is. Usually i leave the cinema after a Bond film muttering under my breath - pissed off at the shabby plot, poor charaters and tacky one-liners. But funnily enough, when ever a bond movie is on tv i'll switch over and watch, just for the action scenes; whenever the actors start talking i can do something else.

Casino Royale is probably one of the most mature Bond films, harking back to the early days (the first 3 connery films) its less about explosions and more of a mystery. There's actual plot, outside of "Get him bond""lets get out of here""It was YOU all along!". The quipping, roguish cad has been replaced with something more out of the Jason Bourne/Jack Bauer cold intelligent killer, which i like, since that's how i imagine an assassin to be.

The action scenes, the few that there were, were really good, especially that first parkour type chase scene. What did rankle me was the Bond shooting gas cylinders, and air bags and everything else except people. Assassins shoot people, dammit.

Some of the editing was a bit clumsy, both in terms of within in scene edits and story; particularly one jump from Bond sitting down to play poker to him taking off his tie in his room. And the Bond-Vesper love thing towards then end ran too long.

For a Bond film its pretty good; smart and reasonably well written but i don't think i'd watch it often as it doesn't have the explosions and kicking to distract my tiny brain.

..and back

We had a fantastic time in Tasmania, I've got a couple of weeks off now which i need.

Thanks for everyone's emails, messages, comments and smses - it was much appreciated.

The Big Day

41 degrees celsius

Not Cool!

breaking news - kirk never said 'beam me up scotty'

No, not hamfisted over reactions too slightly negative reviews of comic exhibitions!

Melbourne MAY have a supanova in 2008

Shit I came home with

I started with a lot more, I'm trying to figure out what i did with it all.

The gig was good and I chatted with Anthony, Louie (from midstate orange)(while I was urinating and he was waiting to take a bory) and Marty from the Luckies (i was more excited talking to him than strippers). I also now realise there's a banana in that picture - I didn't bring that home.



Dan + texta

Josh discovered this chain by the Grace, which i wore like a belt - i was ready to rumble.

This bike has been outside the railway station for 2 weeks. I didn't have enough money to get all the way home by taxi so... i improvised. This is Josh's xmas present.

Oh and a hangover.

Thanks to all those who came and enjoyed the night with me - you're all awesome.

(Does anyone remember me yelling 'anus cherries'?)

like a stag but goofier

Footscray Library gets graphic and novel

WEST Footscray Library has opened its Graphic novel section with 550 books. That's pretty massive, hugely massive even. i'd be interested what the Australian Graphic novels included are (if its compilations of Snake I'll be pretty unimpressed) and what the manga/superhero/alternative split is.

Looking forward to the first "there's sex in them books!' cry from a stupid parent.

Aussie Columnist

Jason Berek-Lewis is an Australian writer working on a bunch of projects for Dabel Studios (who now have some sort of contract with Marvel). He also has a column at Broken Frontier.

Kwok Rocks Witchblade

Issue 102 of Top Cow's Witchblade features the glorious colours of Annette Kwok, best known for working on part of Witch King and the covers of the last Watch series as well as being Jason Badower's go-to colourist.

Congrats Annette

Adelaide for cosacks; part one

I have family from Slovenia visiting and spent the weekend showing them around, which involved alot of broken Slovenian, driving, eating and drinking.

Friday was a simple roast at my mums - highlight was introducing them to Coopers Pale Ale, which was given the tick.
Saturday we spent by the ocean, in the pub and walking in around with a spot of shopping. European beaches for the most part are very rocky, so sandy beaches are quite the treat. What shocked them most is the dryness of the flora. Slovenia is the third most forest covered country in Europe, their green is deep and rich. Our green, barely is, its more of a brown, our native trees are more khaki camoflaged than evergreen.
Saturday night i cooked a feast for 12; oysters kilpatrick, sweet chilli prawn skewers, satay chicken strips, kangaroo with a berry sauce served with basil/garlic mushrooms, bqq capsicum and zucchini. A fancy multicuisined bbq, which i thought would blow their minds.

It did freak them out - they were not at all used to sweet meat, which kind of makes sense, they come from a balkan/slavic tradition where meat is not really that bountiful or cheap. So they tend to either store their meats (in the form of salamis) or try and give cheap meat flavour by adding spices (ie salt). The kangaroo was served rare, something a)you are supposed to do because it becomes too tough to eat b) are able to do because we have clean meat. Having cooked for some of my parents' friends i've noticed that they have to eat wellcooked meat, otheriwse they think its too dangerous. Its a cultural throwback to when things were tougher.
So there were leftovers, which usually would freak me out but i can dig it, i should have done some tamer.

Sunday - we went up to the Hills, to Handorf, usually noted for its old architecture (some buildings are 150 years old) well that's not so amazing when their holiday house was built in 1827. But it was an excuse to find a country pub and feed them steak. But before lunch the men bought kangaroo leather akurbra style hats which they decided they would wear for rest of the day. It was a good ice breaker with various people "They're tourist and they've bought hats".
The steaks were a hit, used to smaller portions (i think 200g) giving them 500gram tbones lit up faces and filled out bellies. I stupidly stuck to my pub burger fest (where i try burgers from every pub i go to) and had a shit burger but even a good burger would have failed against the steak.
then we went wine tasting.

Mark's Moose Party

Mark's satorial tips

I've been wearing my new suit and i feel so swanky and awesome.
Why?
because i like wearing suits, i look the best (ie least goofy) decked out in jacket and pants.
Some general tips

• Don't buy off the rack. Suits off the rack are only designed for male models, you most likely are not a male model. Buy from a place that alters the suits (or makes them from scratch), they'll alter the suit to make you look good, no matter if you have monkeys arms, or a belly, ot fat neck (ie me, all of the above). Spend a couple of hundred dollars on making it fit so it doesn;t look like you are wearing a sack.
• Get two pairs of pants. Pants wear out much faster than suitcoats, so you extend the life of the suit with extra pants.
• You have to have a navy blue suit. You can rock the navy blue anytime, from weddings, to interviews to funerals. Buying a black suit will not make you a reservior dog, it will make you look like you work as a waiter or at woolies. If you only buy one suit make it dark navy blue, made out of wool because you can't go wrong.
• Don't worry about fashion. Get classic stylish suits, a good tailor will know how long the sleeves are supposed to be, how wide the shoulders, etc. Sure jackets are cut shorter now, but in 3 years time you'll look dated.
• Get 3 button suits before you branch out into 2 button suits. 1,4 and 5 button suits look boy-band ridiculous. And doesn't matter how many buttons you have, never button the bottom one, its like wearing a hat in a restuarant.
• Don't use the jacket side pockets. Ther are usually sown shut, keep them that way, it keeps better shape.
• Dryclean only once a year. Drycleaning more makes the material look shiny and decreases the life of the suit. Just let the thing hang and air, maybe get it steamed and pressed.
• biggest tip, get to know your suit guy. he won't love you the first or second time, but after awhile he'll warm up and see you as an investement. my guy is awesome, he's turkish but spent a number of years in london. For the wedding he's doing half a dozen suits for less than half price because according to him 1) He'll earn the money back from me in the future 2) he likes it when young guys buy and wear his suits because its good publicity. I don't have to chose anymore, he makes all the decisions and he's always right. "When i find a double-breatsed suit with a good cut, that's your next suit".
  

the livingz hellz

1) Emma is in Sydney learning about the new contraceptive. Its a nunga band females shove up the clackerz and it sitz there for 3 months killingz the spermz.
2) I have Fergie's Fergalicious running in my mind constantly
3)I keep wanting to start conversations with "Konichiwa bitches"

Australian WebComics online

Tonia W. has done a fantastic job of making my life easier compiling a website full of Australian Webcomics . Now i don't have to trawl various sites remembering urls and whatnot.

Well done

I wish U2 played Camp Xray (LFW you can read this but don't ask for an autograph)

Last thursday U2 played Adelaide. 60,000 people went, 6% of the population. The paper still has articles about where they stayed, what they did and its getting quite embarrassing. More so by the fact that a manager whose last album purchase was probably Van Morrisons Astral Weeks or possible Carol Kings Tapestry was very excited to get tickets.
At roughly $120 a ticket, that was a gross of $7.2 million dollars. That should keep the Edge in beanie caps for awhile.
I was watching Darren Hanlon play at the Jade Monkey, after a mad dash when i realised at 11pm he was playing that night (and i had already bought tickets). There was probably 80 people there; with a grosse of about $1600. He did get a medely of U2 songs in the refrain of (Not enough songs about) Squash (i think that was the song).

So the overexposure of dad-rock is a bit boring but whats really crazy is when Bono gets a meeting with Peter Costello to talk about rubber wristbands and tinted glasses or whatever at the drop of a hat (a cowboy hat given to him by his stylist) but Terry Hicks (a tax paying citizen) had to wait 3 years to meet Phillip Ruddock.

God, Elton John is coming next year, the pain!

Candle records

It was sad to see that Candle Records is closing down. Home of the Lucksmiths and Darren Hanlon, as well as Rob Clarkson (and Simpletons, etc), I’ve gotten noting but joy from this indy record label. I never missed a concert, an album or dvd. I admired the way Chris Crouch built the label, how the professionalism was coupled by a sense of whimsy (and even love of what he was doing). I spoke to him a couple of times at gigs and by email, there was a realism that I understood (usually displayed as exhaustion after a show or when I talked about how Adelaide got bypassed a couple of times) but he still seemed to enjoy what he was doing. It was kind of inspirational, especially when I started thinking about Sureshot.

So they are having a sale; I’ll probably be replenishing the cds lent and lost but would like to hightlight

Hello Stranger – Darren Hanlon. Songs that are extremely hummable but with some sweet (as in nice not as in ‘sweet mate!’) lyrics.

Shirts and Skins – Rob Clarkson. I great double cd with some fun songs tinged with the melodrama of growing up and relationships and other melodramatic songs tinged with a sense of fun.

Private transport - The Guild League. A love note to travel, I'll call this up while I’m on the train and going to work doesn’t seem so bad.

Where were we - Lucksmiths. I’d recommend all their albums but if I had to pick one, this would be it.

Loyalty Songs – Anthony Aitkinson. Anthony is probably the most mature (or maybe better put the least quirky) singer/songwriter in the Candle Records stable. His latest album is a treat.

The only time i haven't been completely satisfied with a Candle record was probably Mid-State Orange, its an ok album but you need to play it at the right time, I still haven't figured out what time that is. Otherwise the Richard Easton stuff was not really to my taste.

Good to know

Scanning through press releases at the various comic news sites, this caught my eye

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2006/11/15/diamond-annoucnes-new-kids-group/

“ For markets Down Under, DBD has chosen to work with Dennis Jones Associates. With offices in Sydney and Melbourne, Dennis Jones Associates has been selling DBD’s titles to bookstores, libraries and mass merchants across Australia and New Zealand including Dymocks, A&R and Borders.“

Diamond Book Distributors will start a Kids Books group, that will distribute Kids titles to various bookstores. Usually these sort of deals don’t affect Australia except in this case they’ve made a deal with Dean Jones Associates, a Melbourne-based Book Distributor.

So if you have a graphic novel that you want distributed, then I’d send it their way, especially in a years time when they’ve done all the hard work of setting up distro channels and managed all the initial marketing.

So long

Its hard when you stop blogging for awhile to then try and start again. Nothing seems to be important enough. Writing daily makes me feel like I've got some rope to play with; a bit of room to move when i get inane. But if i start of rather pointless (like this) i can only go upwards.

take that blogosphere!

Sureshot in shops

Sureshot Presents Doug Holgate's Tales of Wonder (got to think of a better title) is now available in Adelaide's Pulp Fiction Comics (King William st, 3 doors down from BeeHive Corner).

Also restocked with Sureshot Presents Gothic Boogaloo and Ordinary Eyeball.

Tonia Walden also has a bunch of copies which she is dsitributing up Brisbane way. Minotaurs should have some next week or so, with Kings and Phase Two to follow.

If you want your shop to carry Sureshot let me know and I'll bother them.

Supanova - Part 3

VS written on the fly for people (that I can remember)
Jesus vs Satan
Doug vs Mark
Werewolves vs Vampires
Gary Lau vs Pants (for David Tang - draw your own conclusions)
Strawberry vs Milk (for Gary Lau - draw your own conclusions)
Muslim vs Christians
UPDATE - Corey Haim vs Corey Feldman

(if you got one can you scan it in and send it to me)

Number of clothing articles ruined or lost
2 (one pair of jeans ripped in drunken bicyling)(one jumper lost)

Number of times Mark lost his shit and giggled like a girl
3

Number of Hugs recieved
8

Number of slaps recieved
5

Number of people who asked me "what are we doing tonight?"
Way too fucking many

Books i bought (australian)
All draw the same
Moshi Moshi 12
MA B (preview)
Pulp Crucifiction
Plump Oyster 4
Azerath 11
Word ballons 3
Knight Edge: Shintaro and the Magic Sword of Magic
Girly Pains 10
Welcome to Woodsville
Surfing the deadline 1,2
Generations 2006
Edina
OCD 1,2,3
Gypsy and the Astronaut
Young Mountain Agony
Alien Stew
Romantic Halluciations
Cyst (with holgraphic cover!)
New Ragey
After Life
Vigil
Millie Piddley Pup
Shameless
The Big Time

People Jing argued with
Danny Z - regarding the mocking of Jesus on the covers of Fist Full of Comics. Essentially it ended with Danny noting that because Jesus is able to be mocked that makes him real, Jing was impassive and glassy eyed. (People can start mocking my giant penis at their leisure).
Liz A. - i think it was over role playing but I just heard 'mwha mwha mwha' like when the adults talk in the Peanuts cartoon.

Minutes Doug spent at the table selling his books over the entire weekend
52

Minutes I expected Doug to be at the table selling his books over the entire weekend
5.2

Books I bought (american)
15 Iron Man's from the Layton/Romita Jr era ($2 bucks each!)

Dvds I bought
Boiling Point
Red Beard (i mistook Red Beard for Throne of Blood but still a good movie all the same)

Minutes of Silence in the taxi to the airport
0

Number of drinks Lucas drank
2 (one pint one schooner)

Number of drinks Lucas has drunk ever
(see previous answer)

Minutes Mark felt guilty and hoped Lucas' kidneys didn't fail
at least 15, 30 max

Minutes Mark hoped Dan's kidneys failed
Essentially the rest of the time after the cocksmoker incident

Madman have gone....crazy dude!

http://www.madman.com.au/actions/news.do?method=view&newsId=801

If i log on at midnight discover there are no more copies of Master of the Flying Guillotine I'm shutting this blog down. Down i say!

Supanova - Part 2

Embarassing moments

• Discovering after going to a panel and asking a question, walking up and down Artist Alley and buying stuff, that Dan had put a "Cocksmoker" label on my back.
• Being discovered on the floor of an elevator giggling hysterically by Clare (Dan farted and i found it hilarious - that's the embarrassing part)
• Walking up to who i thought was Chewie's girlfriend and Liz A., who were standing at the bar putting my arms around them and saying "Sprechen ze deustch baby?" only to discover it was Avi and Liz.

Best dressed
The old guy at the Spanish club with canary yellow pants and shirt with matching pocket square. Platform shoes, shaved head, clear glasses and a beautiful blazer.

People who had a congoer who kind of looked like them
Eddie Campbell
Ian Gould
Komala
Doug Holgate
Liz A.
Matt Hyunh
David Tang
Christian Read (There were like 4 guys that looked like Christian)

Number of people who had seizures in our vicinity
2

Reasons for seizures

• The radness of Team Adelaide was too much for them
• They had their kidneys replaced with Tickle-Me-Elmo dolls
• Some sort of medical condition

Number of Team Adelaide members who had kidney issues
2

Number of Gary Lau's milk lollies eaten by Mark
5

Number of Gary Lau's milk lollies eaten by Doug
24

Conversation with Tad P and Jason Paulos at their panel
"You talk that POD and webcomics makes it easier for you to publish your work, but isn't it making it harder for people to actually buy your stuff?"
"Yes that might be the case, i don't think i have all the answers" Jase then tried to get me to talk about Sureshot which i didn't think was appropriate in that forum and i was sick of myself by then.
Tad came in with "If you build it they will come"
My response was "Sorry, that's crap, build and they will come hasn't worked since WW2, you say newstand distribution didn't work for you but do you think it was a matter of format?"
"Probably"
It all ended with some sort of homosexual banter.
I have a big rant about POD in me.

Number of times we had chinese
3

Number of times I've had chinese in the last 6 months
3

Supanova Sydney - Part 1

I'm actually still trying to get over Supanova, having brought back a cold which has made me a snivelling, flemming, spluttering fool.
I never intended to do a full on report and with the amount of stuff that happened I'd probably be writing till Supanova Brisbane. So I'm just doing lists, facts and highlights

People who I travelled with and their Xmen identity
Clare - Marvel Girl because she can do things with her mind like get beers brought to her
Dan - Cyclops mainly because it doesn't take much for him to pull out the one-eye. Madman.
Lucas - Beast because he's a doctor (as in Dr House) and hairy (and quite the beast ladies)
Sarah - Angel because she's very flighty
I'm Iceman because i work better with moisture.

Phrases that were often repeated
'Lucas with the Lid off'
'Remember when I...' - Dan would continually repeat this and then tell a story. At times i expected him to start refering to himself in the 3rd person. Every story would end with me saying "Yes Dan, I was there"
'shoot your face off' - a hangover from Doujicon
'Fucking Bitch' - Usually muttered by Holgate when a con goer worked away empty handed after being pitched at. The worse case was one would-be attenedee who chatted with Doug for at least 15 minutess getting a tonne of tips and advices who then walked off.

People who did sketches for me
clare
ryan wilton
lucas
chris wahl
doug holgate
komala singh
matt g
sarah
(I'm not sure why i got so many adelaide people to do sketches when i could be getting people who i don't see regularly to draw for me, oh that's right I'm stupid)

People who was too afraid to talk to
Queenie Chan
Craig Phillips

People I didn't recognise
Drew from Adelaide - Even though i've drunk with him a couple of times I had no idea who he was when he said "Hi Mark". It took a "He's from Adelaide Mark" from Sarah to recognise him.
Jeremy MacPherson - Even though I met him once ages ago, he's dropped weight and looks good.
Sally Woeller

Sales
Sureshot Presents Galvanting Tales by D Holgate - 71
Sureshot PResents Ordinary Eyeball - 29
Sureshot Presents Gothic Boogaloo - 25
Vs - 25 (but i gave a shitload away)
Basic Wage Kids #1 - 7
Basic Wage Kids #2 - 10
How to Save the World - 3
Tales from under the Bed - 15
Dreams of Tomorrow - 5

People I told who came looking for Doug he was doing a poo
Everyone

I wanna be sedated

Just got home and just wanna say from what i remember i had the most funnest awesome time eva.

You guys rock (you know who you are)

some sort of con report will eventuate - once i fill in the gaps

Rack'em up Artist Alley

Run down on who's there, based on what i know and what the internet tells me. I haven't actually asked people directly so take this with a grain of salt.

Rowan Cassidy - does design work on movies (like Flying Daggers and Hero) and has released 2 issues of his Minute of Angle (he might have a 3rd issue out for Supanova) which looks extrememly pretty (in a templesmith/wood kinda way) but is pretty light (with messy storytelling).

Pulp Crucifiction - I'm guessing this is Dean Rankine/Christian Comics, but I'm totally guessing

Jason Rand/Nicola Scott/Stewart McKenny - 3 of the up and coming stars working overseas. Jason did Small Gods (I recommend the 1st and 3rd storylines), Helios (i dunno) and the first couple of issues of Emmisary. Nicola has done a tonne of stuff most notably Star Wars, she's doing an issue of Birds of Prey and i heard Queen and Country but I'm easily confused. Stewart McKenny has also worked on Star Wars as well as Captain America. The art he did for Watch: Casius Belli was pretty good. You'll be able to find these guys because they'll be surrounded by the massive crowd.

Smiley Things - no idea

Sydney Stage Combat - people who like to play fight in front of people

Caanan Grall - at Supanova courtsey of his Ozcomic 24 Hour Challenge prize, he's got a stack of books to sell. It will all be good stuff, so pick'em it up. A must see.

Geeen Comix - Supanova regular Ben Hutchings will be there. My recommendations is You stink and I don't (especially the trade of the 1st five issues). He's latest book Pumpkin Kids is ok, good for kids.

Plump Oyster/Girlie Pains/Phatsville Comix - these guys produce good stuff, if you like your alt-humour comics you can't go wrong here. (Golden Plops is a highlight)

Novus Ordo - I'm really glad the catholic church is reaching out to the kids to inform them about Second Vatican Council. Sure 30 years late but rock'on Pope Benedict. Actually I have no idea who they are.

R2 Builders Club - A bunch of model builders stealing - STEALING - from George Lucas, may God have mercy on the souls.

Australian Costumers Guild - I belive this is a group of people, from Australia, who provide ornate clothing for people.

Nimbin Studio DevK - Wild guess this is Gerkinman's table. I've never read any of his stuff, so I dunno.

Siberian Productions - Laocorn has really grown in the past number of years and he's an enthusiastic fellow, Dark Moon Rising is ok and the new series of Billy looks alright.

Rubber Chocobo Productions - I thought this might have to do with rubber/chocolate chodas but unfortunately i doubt it

Local Act Comics - possibly the break out books for Supanova, 4 titles that are getting a bit of buzz.

Webcartoonists Australia - the magic eightball say webcartoonists from Australia

Storm Publishing - Another mainstay of local comics, they usually offer what seems like 30 titles, I haven't read any because i have no idea where to start.

Oztaku - Oztaku is improving, the last one i read was 70% good, though the whole POD thing seems like a step backwards. If they are selling Michael Li's stuff pick it up quickly, it always sells out because its fabulous stuff.

Cardigan Comics - These guys consistently produce good smart comics; Tango is always a satisfying read. I haven't read much else so i'll be buying stuff from here. Also i think Phillip Bently will be selling Word Balloons there too.

Queenie Chan and Katie Huang - Queenie's The Dreaming is a good read and i'm hoping to pick up Volume 2. And from her LJ she seems to know what she's talking about which is always appreciated, it'll be good for a chat. Katie Huang released Generations, a very nice manga graphic novel/anthology, which is quite hard to get but worth the effort.

Littlehammer Studios and Umiyama Creative - LittleHammer is Marcelo Baez's company, who does the awesome Diabla, 2 years back he had a preview of issue #5 maybe he might have the complete issue. But Diabla is highly recommended. I have no idea who Uniyama Creative, Mr Tang perhaps?

12121 Entertainment - I belive this is a collective of roadies who test micrphones but in an entertaining fashion. UPDATE - Actually NO, its Gary Lau who has Knight Edge 1,2,3 but not 4! But he'll have another book which is text driven but has pictures of swords and samurais so I'm sold.

Golgotha Graphics - This could be Jules FABER (Sorry Jase) and his very nice Golgotha series (its painted and very lush) or it could be this. Or even both, I dunno.

Goji Juice - 'staining books and sketch pads since 2005'. Or it could be some sort of dragonball jizz

Amber Campbell - no idea who she is or why she needs 3 tables in Artist Alley, i'm hoping its because she's a runway model. UPDATE: This is the hayese group which to my knowledge comprises of Komala Sing (Pirotess), Matt Huynh (Stikman), Nate Soehardi (Nate Sohardi) and they'll be selling heaps of good stuff like Moshi Moshi #12 - we just need Knightedge #4, Finch #4, Diabla #5 and the end will be nigh. Nigh I say!

SuAnime' - http://www.suanime.org/

Juaws - Just Using Acronyms Without Sense? I'm guessing an anime club

Video Games live - is this the symphony orchestra thing where they play Video games tunes?

Not in Artist Alley but worth a look

Phosphorescent Comics - Get Witch King and Azerath. I'm going to guess that the Azerath guys will be there and possibly Christian Read. Hopefully Paul Abstruse will sign boobs but last i heard he was working that weekend.

20 Bucks Short - A short film by Alex Major of Noami and Poggie fames and Quayline (and a very funny bloke)

Operation Funnybone - because it had the distribution of Blue Whale Athele's foot it might be a good opportunity in getting a book that features almost everyone and supports a good cause.

Finally

Fistfull of Comics - Following up their rampage at Doujicon Team radelaide will be presenting a whle bunch of comics; like Pretty Zombie, Angry Comic shop guy, Fistfull of Comics, Timsby the Demon and other stuff. Its all really good, at Brisbane supanova these all sold out on the first day or so. Also available will be Anthology Alvin which, while not the best drawn comic ever is quite a good dramatic read.

Sureshot Presents - Me and Doug Holgate will be holding court, telling you what you need to know. Like "Waterworld is not that crap of a film", "Minicomics is not a dirty word", "Your fullbleed wolverine tshirt is too small". Also to break up the monotony we will be selling comics like Surehot Presents Gothic Boogaoloo, Sureshot Presents Ordinary Eyeball and the new Sureshot Presents Flippin' Good, Pardner! (Working title) featuring Doug Holgates' Spaghetti Western and Checkmate Wordsworth. The first 2 sureshots are almost sold out so be quick.
Also available Basic Wage Kids #1 and #2 by Owen Heitmann, Tales from under the bed by Holgate and VS by me.

(if you have any more info, post a comment)

SureShot and I (and doug) rock

Two thinks, I went for my third fitting on my new suits (one for marriage, the other for work) and i look totally hot.

Secondly, I picked up SureShot Presents Doug Holgate and VS#1 and they, believe it or not, are even hotter!
(moreso the former)

Shane McCarthy plays 52 pick up

According to All the Rage and this hint Perth comic writer Shane McCarthy will be writing a post 52 series. Getting a tie-in gig like this is pretty cool, because its usually the final step before getting a mainstream regular series (batman, superman, flash, etc); see Mark Waid doing Underworld Unleashed and Gail Simone doing Villians United.

And he can dance ladies!

New Phosphorescent Website

Phosphorescent Comics has done a redesign of their website and its a vast improvement and more interestingly there's an interesting thread about the future of the company

Personally, I never could get into the Watch, PC's attempt to build a universe has pretty much led to the same results as all the other companies in building a universe (Dark Horse, Valiant, Defiant, CrossGen, etc) ie pretty unsuccesful. Whilst its comendable that they went work for hire, the product and audience never hooked up.

I'm way more excited by creator owned stuff like Azerath (seriously buy the trade or issues its a really enjoyable read); series that are regularly released, have a wide market/audience appeal (but not superheroes because there's enough competition there already) but are finite enough to build a trade program (i think people are more prepared to buy when they know their will be five trades in a series, as opposed to open eneded).
And talking about trades, one shots like Witch King; though with high upfront production costs are easier to market and have wider retailer scope (comic shops and bookstores). I would totally forget about 4 part mini-series; they exist for too short a period to build an audience and even if you do then you have to backtrack and find the older issues which most likely have been sold out. Its a headache for buyers and publishers alike.

But a bimontly 200 page book would be awesome, but hard to make it work with getting newstand distribution and the content to put in it (see oztaku).

I'd probably suggest do a magazine; with articles and reviews not just on comics but with comics. Even a new mania/krash type book for kids.

Heroes and Villians Exhibition in the Age

Kevin Patrick's Hereos and Villians exhibition from all reports I've heard is really cool - so read about it in this very cool article in the Age

Local Comics goes Unlocal

I did have a massive rant on what its like going suit shopping with my dad (imagine a six foot 1 two year old at a check out screaming because he can't have the lollies he wants) but this is better; new publishers, Local Act get some ink in Warrnmaball.

Vs (It's been awhile)

Based on the strip i did for the last 24 hour challenge; 2 guys, 1 goatee, 1 fubu hat, 1 bar, 2 beers, 2 choices, at least 1 laugh.



Are you ready for?
Ginger vs Mary Anne
Eddie Campbell vs Alan Moore
Midget vs Giant
Penis vs Anus


It'll just be a con special and i'm tempted to have a blank page to do scripts on the fly (instead of sketching).

And off course, if anyone has requests post'em because I'm already running out of ideas.

Sureshot Presents Checkmate Wordswoth

At Supanova and then after all the regular haunts

Sureshot Presents Spaghetti Western

At the end of Dougtober at Supanova

Communicating thru Comics

On Luke W's Function Form:Interaction Design he talks about using comics as a communication device in website design; kind of like paper prototyping but more for management to help wrap their heads around a concept - which is a problem i come up against quite often; if i could draw it might be useful. Might have to resort to sock puppets.

there's cheesecake on my desktop

The latest issue of Desktop has an article about the new Cheesecake and has bunch of images by Melbourne artist Martin Abel and a brief interview concentrating on tools and materials.

GQ or GeekQ?

Perusing through the latest Australian GQ, theres a 2 page article on the Conflux convention that happened 4 months back. Essentially its a 'hey check out the geeky nerds/nerdy geeks' article, concentrating on the cosplayers. Two funny quotes is a female con-goer noting that it would be really good for girls attending cons if the guys could actually tell they were being chatted up and how chicks dig the hard plastic of storm trooper costumes. on a comic front Owen and Tanya Nichools got a couple of paragraphs and quotes in talking about Storm Publishing and Nicola Scott gets a photo.

And the whole thing ends with a Simpson's Comic Shop Guy Quote.

sigh

Nevermeind released 15 years ago

Being slightly bored while Em's away in Sydney for the fortnight, i've gotten nostalgic

I think a bunch of us was at mikey's (MyMan's) place watching Rage when I first heard 'Smells like teen spirit' and was instantly captivated. It was a revelation - at the time I was pretty much about the East Coast Hip Hop; Public Enemy, BDP, Beastie Boys, De LA Soul, Tribe Called Quest etc and the growing dance scene (but lets not mention acid house). Ouside of that i think the only non-rap stuff i liked was Violent Femmes, the Smiths (though i would never had admitted it at the time), Sonic Youth (i discovered 'Goo' because of Chuck D on 'Kool Thing') and looking through my cd collection i have Lenny Kravitz's first album which i remember liking. At the time, iwas in year 11 and it was all about Guns and Roses and Metallica which i just did not get. But when those chords vibrated out of the tv it just swung my head. It was raw and made a connection that most of the other stuff out there just failed to do.
Most other music was about ' the you', about someone else; 'i love/hate you', 'you are so great' or songs about other stuff like being taken down to paradise city. Here was a song about 'the me'; 'here we are now, entertain us' - sure hip hop was mainly talking about how good 'the me' is; i'm a great rapper, i can kick your ass. But i wasn't a great rapper, and whilst i probably could kick your ass i didn't really want to - so there was never that connection (except with hip hop except for being vilified and untrusted for being young - though i'm embarrassed to think now that i somehow equated the black experience as my own.)

And being a self-involved angsty gen-xer (though there wasn't a name for it back then) i made it all about me; i hate school, i hate my job, i hate etc and i have no idea what i'm going to do. It was easy to grab Kurt's lyrics and make them about me.

So back in 1991 we watched the clip again on Rage after 6, then on Video Hits and then again on Smash Hits. Yes, this was mine.

I remember i year 12 social that i went to which was not going well; the girl i was with didn't find me charming especially when an ex-girlfriend bound up and started yelling at me because i failed to tell her that i had broken up with her and that i was talking about her to the other guys. I tried to talk my way out of it but i was getting my balls nailed to the wall - but i really deserved it because i was a bit of a arsehole - but still after 30 minutes i had hoped she would have run out of breathe. Then "smells like teen spirit" started up - all the boys surged for the dance floor and with a "I'm sorry, I gotta go" i ran off and moshed - hiding out on the dancefloor till the end of the night. Because i'm classy.

After Year 13 me and B. went to San Francisco for a month to just hang out. It was coming up to New Years Eve and Nirvana and Butthole Surfers were playing in Oaklands. Tickets were $150 which was out of budget plus Oaklands was way out of town and my Uncle, who we were staying with would be no help in transport "I'll be too drunk to pick you up". So we agreed we would miss the opportunity and see them when they toured Australia.
Well two months later that blew up in my face (and caused much jealousy with my cousins who saw his 2nd to last concert ever in Slovenia).

So today i'm digging out an oversized flannelette shirt, torn jeans and remember when my fringe came down to my chin while i mumble something about an albino AND a mosquito.

Zinefair in Sydney

Matt 'Stikman' Huynh is kindly selling Sureshout Presents Gothic Boogaloo and Sureshots Presents Ordinary Eyeball with other top shelf local comics at The Verge Arts Festival

Where - Manning Forecourt, University of Sydney
When - 10.30am - 4pm, Wednesday 20 September

Colin Wilson's Blog

While he's drawing judge dreed, blueberry, star wars, losers and his recent Battler britian comic Colin Wilson's blogging at wilco4400.blogspot.com.

And my tribute to Colin from the 2005 24 hour challenge



and the punch line is a long story

Thanks to Andy again for stalking the oz comics scene and giving me something to blog about.

And for an awesome interview with Colin hunt down Word Balloons #2

Cruz on Muse

The omniscient Andy reveals that Melbourne's Jeff Cruz will be working on 10th Muse #17.

Congrats Jeff

Mark's Cultural Landscape

Stuff i'm digging at the moment

Movies
Thank you for smoking -I haven't been to the Movies since seeing Da Vinci Code and i can't remember what was the last movie i actually paid to go see. Well I paid to see this and it was good. Nice to watch a satire that isn't hollywood based and not a mockumentary.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - I remember renting this when it came out on video and watching it 3 times. Watching it again recently saw it go up at least 10 spots in my top 100 movies list. Almost the perfect comedy.

Television
TV is crap at the moment. The only things that i almost make an effort to watch is Criminal Minds and My Name is Earl. I keep forgeting Extras and Battlestar Galactica is on which says more about them than me. Its sad when the only thing i'm looking forward is to watch is the new Jamie Oliver show. TV is Lame now.

Blog
The Satorialist and Face Hunter are great. I'd love to do something like this but hate taking people's picture. Also i'm in Adelaide, and who wants a blog full of people in black and tracksuits?
Signal vs Noise; nice mix of marketing, usability and fun

Music
Be Your Own Pet - 34 minutes long/15 songs. Hard and fast and sexy.
JT - new Timberlake album is mesmerising in how good it sounds. Usually with mass produced pop i'll like it for 4 listens and thenn I'll detest it (usually anything involving Pharrel/NERD/Neptunes - see the Gwen Stephani album). I'm not usually keen on stuff produced by Timbaland stuff (overproduced) and couldn't imagine how Rick Rubin would work outside of oldschool hip hop and metal but this is sure mature sounding but still funky (with an edge of lounge). It is very futuresexy indeed, kind of like Scott 4 meets Prince, just shows you put the right people in the mix and you get gold.

Comics
Golgo 13 - the text peices at the end are dumb especially the 2 pages on Golgo's penis but otherwise very cool smart stuff.
Monster - I always think this is going to devolve into 'the fugitive' but its very gripping and moves fast enough with enough sub plots to keep it exciting.

Books
Possibility of an Island - i don't understand it - i can't stand Hoelleques' (i think all the letters are there you might have to rearrange them as necessary) politics but he does awesome fiction. This is probably the most depressing but best thing i've read for awhile.
Otherwise the last 2 books i've read have kind of sucked; Into Tibet: the first Atmic Spy was written like a Who Weekly article and History of the OSS is so clinically written it makes the idea of spies fighting behind enemy lines during WW2 boring.

Passionate Nomads - Launch

This is how you have a launch

Wesley Anne,
250 High Street, Northcote,
from 2pm on Saturday 9 September 2006.


The book will be launched by the distinguished explorer
Sir Richard Burton,
formerly Her Majesty’s consul at Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and Trieste.

I remember being told that there was one comic creator who in the 90s would have launches for each of his new comics and would make his printing money back over the night from beer sales. I have no idea who told me, or who was the creator but sounds like a cool idea.

But how awesome is having a knighted explorer at the launch. I expect Pith helmets.

Supanova accomadation

Since I'm the only one who is able to use the internet for non-porn uses, I've been given the task of organising accomadation for the Adelaide gang while we attend Supanova.

The convention is at Olympic park which is near Homebush.

One problem is that the hotels near homebush are booked out because the arias or some such award is being held that same weekend and whilst it would be a great opportunity to stalk Kate Derango the hotels in the area are all expensive anyway.

So we have two options; staying in the city or Parramatta.

Aarons Hotel
37 Ultimo
Haymarket

Aarons to Airport=12kms (about $30 taxi)
Aarons to city=1.5km
aarons to central station = .5kms
aarons to convention= 17kms (about $40)
Trains to the convention take about 30-40 minutes; cost $7.50 for a return trip and should be pretty regular (there's 3 lines we can choose from)

We can get a quad room (single beds for everyone) for $495 for 3 nights; thats $122 per person.
A single/double room is $411

The other option is Pacific International Suites - Parramatta
Corner Parkes Street and Valentine Avenue

Pacific to Airport=12kms (about $30 taxi - using trains to and from the airport is incredibly expensive so I'd rather catch a taxi or hopefully the hotel can organise a shuttle.)
Pacific to city=24km
Pacific to train station = .2kms
Pacific to convention= 10kms (about $20)
The train trip is faster at 25minutes but the trains run less regularly
The room rates for 3 nights are $498 for a triple, which means $166 and $384 for the single.

I'm guessing the city hotel would be best because we can hang out in town on the monday but I'm hoping some sydney siders can give me better suggestions.

The idea is that all the interstaters stay in the one place so we can share cabs and hang out with each other.
It would be nice if some one suggested a place to drink for saturday/sunday night so we don't spend the weekend asking "what's happening tonight?"

Sureshot Presents Collectormania interview

This is the full text of an interview that was conducted with Kevin Patrick which appeared in the August edition of CollectorsMania. It was edited down to 600 words, this is the original text which i've slightly edited to improve spelling and grammar in an attempt to make myself look smarter.

1) What inspired you to launch the Sure Shot format? Did you see a gap in the local comics market that needed to be filled, or were there other reasons?

I considered the format of SureShot Presents for almost a year before it took its final shape. It was borne from gaps in the market and the books I first got into when I started reading Australian comics in the early 2000s. A lot of creators started self publishing with grand plans of doing 4 issue miniseries or ongoing series and as a reader it was really exciting but as time went on issue 2 took three months to come out, issue 3 took six months and issue 4 never came out. It was frustrating to see these great creators get burnt out and never finish their stories. It was bad for me as a fan and i can understand why retailers and normal comic readers don't get into local product when they never get a satisfying narrative. So I knew whatever I did would have to be self contained. Anthologies involve working with too many people and readers are wary of them; especially the multiple creator anthologies. DeeVee and Phatsville are the only anthologies that have had any legs to sustain a reasonable run. Most of the others have died after 2 issues. So i wanted to only work with one or two creators per book to keep things simple and flexible.The physical format is based on cost per unit and the marketing considerations; its designed to sit next to the cash register in whatever shop its being sold at while not looking to "comicky". Because i can't write or draw but wanted something to sell i thought of providing creators an outlet to tell their stories. That's what i really love about Australian comics, they provide stories relevant to us as a society and created by people who live with us. To overcome the lack of funds to pay for work i devised the 50/50 split as a means of recompense for their creation.

2) Why did you decide to use external judges to select material for inclusion in Sure Shot?

The idea of external judges came from wanting 2nd and 3rd opinions on a project because its about providing an audience a story which they like and want to buy. Having those extra opinions means that I'm not just publishing work that I want to read but a wider variety of genre, art styles and story. Also i wanted "names" to give the book some credibility so people would submit stories and buy books.

3) How did you come to select Doug Holgate and Daren White as the selection judges?

When I was trying to formulate what Sureshot Presents was going to be i'd periodically discuss it with Holgate. I respect Doug a lot, sure he's an exceptional artist but more importantly, and what I believe leads to his success, is he works hard. He takes the maximum advantage of any opportunity and he works for those opportunities. He's not a shrinking violet waiting for someone with a big bag of money to draw comics - he creates opportunities. So he's a great role model for the artists i'm hoping to connect with and he has his views on the local scene which sometimes agree with my views but sometimes contrast. He was a good sounding board and gives well considered feedback where necessary. An asset, for sure, in the selection process. Daren White, just offered after my initial blog post about SureShot Presents, which was like getting struck by lightning, really good Chocolate-covered lightning. Daren is a writer who has worked with the larger American company but he's also published one of the more interesting and artistic anthologies, DeeVee. He understands the commercial realities of writing for the larger audience but also understands publishing and art.

4) How many submissions did you receive for the first issue of Sure Shot Presents?

None. Which is understandable, I think a lot of creators have been stung by anthologies that failed to materialise so they're a bit wary. Secondly, the marketing of the concept hasn't really been that widespread but I don't mind that, it’s meant to be organic. I don't want to be pushy and harangue people into submitting because if people aren't motivated or excited enough to approach me then they most likely will split when they discover they actually have to do some work.

5) What criteria, if any, do you & your judges’ use when evaluating material for inclusion in Sure Shot Presents?

Marketing and quality. Who would want to read this and where would they want to buy it from? Can we get the book into those shops? Is the creator ready to sell their portion? What markets will they be approaching? Is the comic itself any good? Will it be beneficial to the Sureshot Presents brand?

6) What strength(s) do you think the Sure Shot format has, especially when compared with other self-published Australian comics currently on the market?

Strengths are that the model I’ve formulated means that it is not a drain financially. Whilst it’s not designed to make me money, its not going to send me broke. I'm in for the long haul. Each issue is stand alone; it doesn't require people to hunt down multiple issues (that may never eventuate). There is a beginning, middle and end. This is reflected in the numbering, there is no issue #1,2,3 etc - there's Autumn 2006, Winter 2006, etc. Each issue will be good - the submission process means the wheat gets separated from the chaff. Retailers are getting 50% of the cover price which is a better rate than what they receive selling American comics and SureShot takes up less space on the shelf.

7) What is the current publishing schedule for the magazine?

At this stage no more frequently than Quarterly but it depends on submissions.

8) Can you tell us whose work will appear in the next issue? (Judging by the preview, I'm betting it's Doug Holgate, right?)

The next issue, Winter 2006, will actually feature the work of Mandy Ord (already out). Doug's workload means he'll be appearing in the Spring 2006 issue.

9) Have you had any feedback from readers/comic shops about the magazine? If so, what's their overall reaction been like?

In terms of retailing, I sold a healthy chunk of the print run at Supanova but only recently got the comic in shops around the nation. I'll be contacting retailers next month to see how sales are going. I've received some positive feedback from creators who i really respect which is nice. I have a schedule to send out copies to reviewers, now that it’s available to be bought in major centres. Overall, it’s positive.

10) As publisher/editor of the magazine, what ultimate goals (if any) do you have for the project (e.g. newsstand distribution, enlarged format, colour printing - that sort of thing?)

Whilst I would love newsstand distribution with colour covers, I’m content to be a boutique publisher with print runs designed to sell out while being profitable. My main goal is to produce good comics and get people to submit comics. Secondary goals though are to show comic retailers that there is an audience for locally produced comics, to expand the distribution (retailers) and market (readers) and make it easier for creators to get their work out there. A tertiary goal is to access new markets (retailers other than comic shops) but I need a backlog of books before that is feasible. Lastly, to lure advertisers to the book, mentally i have that in year 4. Once I've got advertisers/investors involved then sky's the limit.

Slovenia - 2005

This time last year i was in Europe having the time of my life. I'd go back in a minute.
Between me and Em we took 800 photos; I've tried to distill down the holiday down to about 20 photos.


It seems that every family has a vineyard consisting of about 100m of vine producing enough wine for the extended family. This is the view from my cousins' place. How about that serenity?


Emma at the top of ljubljana castle. The city itself is fantastic; because of numerous earthquakes every couple of centuries there is a wide selection of architecture styles from baroque, classicist, renaissance to socialist modernism. Since previous trips they've made an effort to clean it up making it a very pretty city.


Em and lamb on the spit, done for a big family get together - em wasn't done for the family get together, she just showed up.

Me eating crumbed frogs legs. You can see that the trip was catching up with me, especially with the ability to buy pints for $2.50. After three frogs legs you proclaim you will never eat another set of frogs leg ever again because they are disgusting.

Mum's side of the family.

dad's side of the family

At an inn i started chatting with the owner about wine and he dragged me and some other family members down to the cellar where we tasted wine for almost an hour; it went from dignified (left) to undignified (right) pretty quickly.



I always get a bit emotional about Slovenia. In Australia, i don't have much in the way of family so its always so good to get back there and feel part of a family unit. The kindness and hospitality em and i got was overwhelming at times; people would drop everything to drive for hours to take you somewhere. We didn't pay for a thing, homes and beds were all on offer. A whole bunch will be coming here at the end of the year and i fear i won't be able recipricate the generousity shown to us.
But even without the family, its an awesome place, very young and hip. The bars and pubs are fun, everyone speaks at least 2 languages (tho my slovenian got better with alcohol), the women are hawt (until they hit 30 then they crash and burn) and its just spectacularly beautiful. Its wierd living next to an australian national park but still not being able to comprehend what green is compared to the green over there. Sigh.

Highlights

• Family get togethers, which always ended with the singing of country songs
  
• Wandering around the old part of Ljbljana
• the ladies
  

Purchase I had to carry around for the rest of the trip - a cow hide, at first we wanted horse hide but that was to expensive so we got cow instead because that's really hard to get here.

Italy - 2005

This time last year i was in Europe having the time of my life. I'd go back in a minute.
Between me and Em we took 800 photos; I've tried to distill down the holiday down to about 20 photos.


From Paris we caught a plane to Naples and trained it to Sorrento. After some hunting we found our accomadation - a little monastery by the coast (its behind this building)


This is Positano. I got engaged here (specifically somewhere between the town and the little island you can see on the left)


For those who know me will be shocked I'm wearing shorts and thongs. They will not be shocked that I'm eating ice cream.


Probably one of the best, most perfect times, ever.


We weren't planning to see Pompei but some locals insisted so we caught the train up and were actually impressed. Our tour guide was an older gentlemen who was fixated with the brothel ruins, especially the 'menu'
"Everything you could get now, you could get then, naturally"
It was damn hot though.


My 30th birthday - we are making gnocchi. It was awesome, best present ever.


From the Amalfi coast we travelled up to Cinque Terre and it was the most laid back place ever.

We didn't spend much time in the big cities; mainly in Sorrento (too touristy), Positano (pretty cool), Amalfi (boring and expensive), then an unplanned night in Florence (really nice, except for the foot fetish guy who molested Em) , to Cinque terre (a collecton of 5 towns perched in cliffs in the north of italy - we stayed in the smallest village right on the town square so we spent nights drinking and yakking with locals and the 3-5 other tourists) and then to Venice.

I also assumed that Em's half italianess and language skills would be useful. No, she again reverted to "English? English!" but sometmes would preface it with 'Scusi'. Everyone was so tanned that I felt like an albino. Mcleods Daughters (sorelli di mcleod) was kind of well known there so we used it as a refernce point explaining where we were from - it was cool that people thought i was a cowboy. Italy is a great place to visit, except for the Italians. Shops have an average of 3-5 assistants who's function is to fold clothes and ignore customers. Trains run on time, but the time, track number or destination isn't posted anywhere on the platform or ticket; which lead to one madcap adventure trying to catch up to train we should have been on by sneaking on to Express trains and running through stations. Waiters are never wrong and expect you to pay for your mistakes. Signs that say a particular smoke shop sells bus tickets can not be taken at face value. You have to go with the flow.

But even with those misgivings - i had a blast.

Highlights

• Engagement/Birthday
• just the general relaxing
  
• Venice film festival

Purchase I had to carry around for the rest of the trip - bottle of grappa for the father-in-law (i'm surprised it made it home without being drunk or broken)

Paris - 2005

This time last year i was in Europe having the time of my life. I'd go back in a minute.
Between me and Em we took 800 photos; I've tried to distill down the holiday down to about 20 photos.


Our hotel was just around the corner from the effiel tower, so we spent breakfasts walking around eating crepes and evenings just strolling. It is a very pretty structure. We did walk the two levels up and then waited in line for about 3 hours to get to the top. It was alright - i'd advise people just go to the Sacre Coutre. Its higher, cheaper and involves not being squashed by other tourists for 4 hours, especially loud shouty ones who seem to have no concept of personal body space.


Em and the stupid video camera she lugged around and shot hours and hours of film which we have not watched yet. Which i knew was going to happen so - ahem - 'I told you so'


Taking hints for the satorially saavy french, i made sure my shoes matched the attractions. Pigalle was kind of cool, one for all the prostitutes and more so for the discount adidas shops (though i lacked funds or space for purchasing)


This was the only artist at Montremartre who was not selling cheesy Paris landscapes or doing carcitures. Em, barginned him to 30% of the initially asking price (we got the nude on the angle)


I really loved Paris. Em said she did french at school but after 2 attempts of using her classroom french she reverted to starting all conversations with locals with "English? English!?". I fumbled with my the phrasebook. We only had one run in with a rude Parisian, all the rest were very cool. London was cleaner and easier to get around but Paris had more personality.

Highlights

• Louvre; by the end we were a bit burned out with galleires and museums but it was still awesome. I'm disappointed at not going to the D'orsay gallery but there's always next time.
• The food; we ate like kings (but walked like paupers) Two course lunches, 3 course dinners. I ate snails and liked'em. Only 2 bad meals in 5 days is not to bad. I learnt that good ingredients make a difference. I also had the best raspberry ice cream ever which I'm this close to duplicating.
• Just the city itself; it has a cool vibe

Purchase I had to carry around for the rest of the trip - Painting and apparently the wrong hardcover Spirou annual for Weber.

London - 2005

This time last year i was in Europe having the time of my life. I'd go back in a minute.
Between me and Em we took 800 photos; I've tried to distill down the holiday down to about 20 photos.


A bridge, possibly London Bridge, possibly not.

Possibly Westminster Abbey.

It was easy culling out photos, especially when i was in them because invaribly I look like a dork. Case in point.

Of course, we drank tea.

I didn't really like London, it was rainy and grey, especially our hotel room when the cieling started to leak in the middle of the night. The town mainly consists of franchises (starbucks, mcdonalds, allbarone) being run by europeons (i swear you could exist living in london and not hear an english accent). All the food lacked flavour, the beer had flavour it that flavour was foul. An excursion to Stonehenge, Bath and Sailsbury was nice. I like the subway.

Highlights

• British Museum - I could spend days walking around there.
• Modern Tate Gallery - ditto
• Drinking with Scotty and Londongirl - ditto, except replace walking with drinking.

Purchase I had to carry around for the rest of the trip - Harrods bag and apron.

x is the new y

Last week, I was asked if I’d be interested in joining a Young Professional Network in my Department, I noted I was actually 30 and therefore too old. “No, no, no, the limit is 35”
35 is seen as young? Sure with life expectancy at 80-90 years old and since the average age of people in the Department being just shy of Mesozoic, 35 can be seen as young.
But Alexander the Great conquered the world by 24, Albert Einstien get a nobel prize for work he did when he was 25 and Orson Welles made Citizen Kane before hitting 27. Clinging to youth as a calling card or characteristic at 35 might be a little too late.

Well, its all relative. I suppose. I would I join a network of people in my field, sure - that would be advantageous (like I posted about awhile back) – but to join because I’m ‘young’ seems silly since it seems their priorities are wrong from the outset.

Anyway, I always get contemplative around my birthday, whilst I usually get horribly melodramatic at birthdays (when I turned 20 I had a deep depressive state ”A quarter of my life is gone and what have I done!”)(when I turned 30 “can I trust my self? I need to get outta here”). This year has been pretty calm with a lack of freak out. I’ve been immensely busy, barely a weekend has gone by when I’m not working on the house; my three major projects digging a cellar, painting the exterior and building a 12x1m retaining wall to level the backyard are 6-8 weeks away from completion (but that was the case 6-8 weeks ago). I’m immensely proud of Sureshot and plan to keep it going. Work is going ok; me and my online colleagues are still not getting the recognition we deserve, and I’m still coding and designing too much for my comfort (because I’m sort of sucky at both) but compared to where I started I’m pretty happy. Though sometimes I think I could have stuck with construction, installing air conditions and plumbing and been on a pretty good ticket with the trade shortage but …meh. So its all going pretty good. Its all very adulty with mortgages (unfortunately multiple …eeek!), weddings (unfortunately not multiple), renovations, careers and whatnot. But its not as boring and petrifying as i thought it would be.

The whole adult/young thing has been bubbling in my brain for awhile; I’ve been reading www.rejuvenile.com about the whole kidult phenomenon. How fun is somehow the domain of the young, to me its seems people my age seem to be clinging to their past. Monkey Magic dvds, Air Flight/Air Jordan reissues, DS Lites. I’m susceptible as well; some of the comics I read, the urge I have to buy a ps2 (yes 5 years too late but I just got bored by my Nintendo 64) and joy of just partying away 3 days.
Kids stuff or fun stuff?
Is playing World of Warcraft for a whole night that much different from my dad playing cards for 12 hours straight? Is the idea of people living at home till their 30 any different from the same phenomenon that happens in Europe for generations?

Is it people not wanting responsibility and not leaving home till they are 30, not wanting a mortgage, not staying at the same job for more then 2 years? Is it a gen-x/gen-y thing? Is it just this society’s compulsive need to label everything? Is it just marketing and business since its easier to sell at 25 year old a $1000 PS3 than to a 12 year old? Is it because I think too much?

better then too twisted

Last friday Emma had a meeting with Eddie Macguire, who was in town begging for ad revenue (when i say meeting it was em's company-wide meet and greet)(when i say em's company i mean the company she will be working for before she kisses the media industry good-fucking-bye in a week's time)(so what i'm saying isn't that cool)

Well i asked if she could request i get my own tonight show. The response was Eddie would have to ring my mum first and ask for a reference. Well he hasn't rung yet!
i know he's busy and all, but if he wants to save his network - then hook me up dude!

I have a end of show catch phrase and everything "Stop fisting ya mum, you hump!"

The ranting

Nothing fills me with more dread, with more desire to kill myself and those around me than
"Oh i had the wierdest dream last night!"

No! it was weird? Seriously ! A weird dream? Get outta 'ere! No. Seriously get the fuck out of here!
I don't care.
I'd rather read poetry from 14 year olds then have to listen to a story punctuated with "and then", "and then", "and then".
I'd rather listen to new mums talk about their offspring's bowel movements while eating nougat then have to put up with some bullshit boring dream that is neither interesting nor relevant except to you and your "psyche".

Literary Anthology will pay for comics

Shocking!

For more info - http://forums.pulpfaction.net/viewtopic.php?t=2155&highlight=

This soxs - the ranting

Why do all my socks have fuckin' holes in them? The pair i have on now, have been on my feet for a little over 12 hours, they were brand new.
And there is a fucking hole in them.
Before you ask - no my toe nails are not claw-like, they are neatly cut (i have regular access to concrete). It doesn't matter which business socks i buy; cheap ones, expensive ones, wool, cotton, cashmere, synthetic all have fuckin' holes in them.

So what's the problem?
Well, what happens if i go to a traditional japanese resteraunt with friends spur of the moment style? What happens if i want to try some phat kicks or nice oxbloods on during lunch? What happens?
I'm stuffed because i look like a 30 cent pauper with my holey socks.

The pain and shame.

Sureshot presents...me and em

Organising this wedding and being ethically inclined we are considering bonbonerie (those little gifts for guests that usually get thrown away). Initially we thought of little bottles of my olive oil (like i sent to various people around the country for xmas) - well Em's mum freaked out claiming some sort of italian bad luck voodoo on giving oil for presents at weddings (we are sceptical tho, we think she doesn't like the idea). So i blurted out i could put together a little comic and she loved the idea - so

(totally self serving post mode engaged)

Would anyone be interested in providing either pin ups or 2-3 page stories staring myself and Emma (i'll supply photos and stories)? I need to know who's interested and with what so i can come up with a format and stories (if need be).
What will you get? My undying love and respect. Maybe some sort of compensation - no promises.
I'll need it by mid November which should be plenty of time.

if you are cool enough send me an email (mark_selan@hotmail.com) by the end of the month.

Team Radelaide raids Supanova

Before i retire the term Team Radeliade, a bunch of Adelaide comikers will be at Supanova.

Be prepared.

(payment for early bird prices for Artist Alley Tables must be sent by friday 18th - i believe)

I'll be needing sydney-siders advice on accomdadtion - and on that note it might be cool if all interstaters crash at the same hotel/motel/hovel. (and a 'official' after party would be cool too) I'll do some research and point out some ideas.

Sureshot Presents Ordinary Eyeball

You can buy Ordinary Eyeball from Pulp Fiction Comics in Adelaide, Impact Comics in Canberra, Minotaur Comics (wehere you can get Sureshot Presents Gothic Boogaloo and Ozcomics 1, 4, 5, 6)and Comics Etc in Melbourne.

I'm hoping to be in Kings Comics, Ace Comics and Phasetwo Comics soon.

Creating Opportunities

Congrats to Nicola landing a gig on Birds and Prey and to Chris Burns on his new book.

What I've noticed about the guys getting work is not their talent (which is great and quality) but the ability to make opportunities. They've taken what they've got (skills, passion, networks) and created work for themselves, chased opportunities which they've used to create more opportunities. They haven't sat next to their humming PCs waiting for someone to give them work. I think Chris' project was a ballsy move and one i suspect that needed a lot of selling and negotiating - but its paid off. Suggesting that Nicola's success is borne from her going over to New York for a year is selling her short; every pin up thread or anthology project at Millarworld has had Ms Scott offering up work, getting her work and name out there.

Holgate hasn't left his apartment in 5 years, but through his internet connection and his dedication he's gotten gigs. It seems to me, Talent (besides 'that's nice' compliments) get you fuck all; presence, risk taking, innovation and dedication seperates the artists from the wannabes.

so well done guys

Marcelo Baez blogs

Around 2001 was an exciting time in Australian comics; Killeroo, Tales from Under the bed, Knee Pockets were all being released. One of the books that really stood out and makes me nash my teeth every time Supanova comes around hoping a new issue will appear is Maez' Diabla books. It started being a flip book Lionel Lionheart (it was something like that - don't ask) but then as a flip book with Finch (what a great package that was!) and became its own title later on. If you spot it pick it up - you can get a pack from Phasetwo.

Well to tide me over Diabla creator Marcelo Baez has started blogging

Ledger Judging - part 2

I'm not a reviewer, and these notes weren't written for public consumption but I thought people might find it interesting.

SMALL PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR

• Happy Birthday Anyway, Matt Huynh
• Pirates, Tonia Walden ed.
• Dreams of Tomorrow, Liz Argall ed.

I’m in 2 of those so i can’t say 'cause I’ll either be biased or accused of bias.


INDEPENDENT PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR

• Eldritch Kid by Christian Read (story) & Christopher Burns (Art), Phosphorescent Comics/Creatorline
• Platinum Grit by Trudy Cooper, Doug Bayne and Danny Murphy
• The Crumpleton Experiments by Daniel Reed, Nautilus Illustrations

1. Platinum Grit – Having just reread the whole series, I think books 12-14 are some of the strongest issues of the series so far. Book 2, while not completely indecipherable did take me some time to comprehend because of some of the narrative techniques used caught me offguard. The later issues though are strong and have a good narrative flow featuring well rounded characters. The art is incredibly good. The issues released last year are very tight, entertaining and well done.
   
   
2. Crumpleton Experiments – the art really shines in this; its imaginative and well detailed. The story is intelligent but still approachable for a wider audience.
   
   
3. Eldritch Kid – The art in some spots is very good, even excellent, especially in the earlier issues, but then later it looks a bit rushed and lacks a range of line weight, making it seem a tad flat. The story has some good ideas behind it and at times there are some cool little bits but at other times it tries very hard and ends up kind of garbled.
   

WRITER OF THE YEAR

Another toughie; especially for the top 2 positions

1. Trudy Cooper – she’s an extremely consistent and mature writer. In Platinum Grit she’s created a world where the bizarre CAN happen but the people are still real emotional beings. She creates characters that you hate, like, loath, love, sympathise, pity – all at different times; in a panel you can loathe Nils and the next pity her. Whilst sometimes Trudy’s stuff, especially in Book 2, is a bit hard to follow, by the end it all makes sense. She has a good and broad sense of humour and uses interesting storytelling techniques. The supporting cast are highly imaginative and add to the atmosphere. If there is any weakness it would be that its all surface, there is no subtext, nothing to think about, its just a weird soap opera. There is nothing wrong with being a weird soap opera especially when it’s a good weird soap opera like Platinum Grit. (oh and I don’t like the use of accents - as a non-native English speaker its hard for me to figure out what they are saying half the time)
   
   
2. Matt Huynh – The imagination of young Matt is his greatest gift, coupled with a sense of empathy and sensitivity makes him an expressive and exceptional writer of social dramas. The dialogue of his characters ring true, his capturing of daily life is well considered and effectual and the bigger questions he poses of his characters is very contemplative and allows the reader to reflect. I would have easily put Matt in the top spot if it wasn’t for Sarcasm Lass, a project which left me cold – as an MTV inspired web comic it moved too slowly (I think me being on dial up at the time probably affected the narrative flow of the piece but then again when a fair chunk of web users are on dial up –its an issue) and it didn’t have the laughs I would expect from the concept. All in all, I’d love to see Matt develop other voices and stories and expand from the teen angsty stuff because he has that down solid.
   
   
3. Christian Read – The three pieces applicable for 2005; the Record, the Deevee story and Eldritch kid show a wide range of genres and themes though very little of it is truly deeply satisfying. Outside the Witch king (a 2006 release) Eldritch Kid is probably Christian’s interwesting work, sad thing is that its really a bit of mess. At times there are glimmers of good, even excellent comic writing but when contrasted with tonnes of fantasy speak and weird inconsistent storytelling and pacing it losses all impact and becomes a frustrating read. Eldritch Kid is set in an interesting environment and has an interesting message but its made a bit too explicit (having a character spell it all out) that makes it all feel unnatural. I’m pretty sure I’m not the intended audience, but even so I should be able to appreciate the technical aspects of good writing. I liked the concept of the Record and the story telling but it feels like it was a longer story that got shoehorned into a lesser number of pages; diluting the twist at the end. And the deevee story was well constructed and told though a bit long; 5 or 6 pages for 2.5 jokes, it was a lot of set up for not much payoff. I agree with others, Christian has really really good ideas but has trouble translating those ideas into a comic. A good editor would be able to shape Read’s work into good stuff – especially work for hire stuff.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Bloody hell, its like picking your favourite organ, they’re all different but I NEED them all. Its always hard for my to critique art because I don’t have the language or the learned skills behind me – all I can do is figure out what I like and don’t like about a particular artist and try to string some comprehensible words together and hope it makes sense.

1. Matt Huynh – That scene in the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Willie opens up the tiny door into the huge chocolate room; that scene epitomizes Matt’s artistic ability. Almost excessively imaginative (that means its weird without being unsettling), structurally sound but delicate and detailed, colourful but slightly dangerous and all in all exceptionally yummy, and a delight to behold. His style probably isn’t commercial in a Marvel/DC sense but Matt’s talents would be wasted there. He has a good sense of anatomy (which he excitedly stylizes), extremely strong sense of design (though he falters sometimes) and a wonderful sense of colour. His panel to panel storytelling is good, especially in Happy Birthday Anyway and The Seed. Matt’s inking stands out and has un-mistakable style (which can be a fault too) that adds atmosphere and depth. And his colouring is phenomenal. Lastly, his expert use of a large range of techniques and tools also puts him in front of the pack.
   
   
2. Doug Holgate – In terms of output Doug was a bit quiet in the comic scene this year but what he did produce was remarkably good. Starting with his weakness, the cutesy wootsey style he has developed I think creates a boundary to his range. Whilst Matt and Trudy’s art styles could do a crime, fantasy or slice of life story, Doug’s would probably not fit as well. The style overtakes the content, it always looks cute (though the recent Tall Stories stuff he did this year is a fair departure from this style so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about). It, again, is a small weakness – that I doubt very much will affect his career, Doug won’t be crying that he’ll never have a go at “Batman” or do “From Hell 2; Ripper Returns - pip pip”. But what Doug lacks in range he more than amply makes up in skill. His use of traditional artistic techniques and tools is as strong and as amazing as his use of the digital artistic resources. His painting, colouring, inking are all gold. His story telling and page designs are dynamic, eye catching and a joy to read. His character designs are interesting and their anatomical structures fit in coherently with his general style.
   
   
3. Trudy Cooper – If she wanted to do, Trudy has the skills to work for any comic company she wanted; whilst she world smirk at the idea of working for Marvel or DC, her style would be well suited to a pop culture slice of life books like Strangers in Paradise or a Vertigo book like Deadenders, Y the last Man or a Preacher spin-off or even, and get ready to scoff, a licensed books like Star Wars (I don’t know why I just see her style being a good fit). She’s Australia’s answer to Kyle Baker – which is a very high compliment. Out of the three nominees, hers is the most commercial, in a classic sense, comic book style. Her characters are nuanced and expressive, drawn well and correct but still with enough personal style to make them stand out. If anything, sometimes I wished her panel design was a bit less restricted; her style, whilst formed technically perfect, lacks the in your face dynamism of many current crop artists – by breaking out of the rigid grid paneled page (ie more splash pages, more breaking the border) she can add some zip to her page. But all be told this is a small quibble because I’m trying hard to separate the three artists. Its really hard to compare Trudy with Matt and Doug, since all I’ve seen from her is what’s in Platinum Grit, where with the other two nominees I’ve seen paintings and sketches and illustrations showing a wide range of techniques and styles. Consequently, I can’t comment on her colouring or her overall art technique which is quite limiting in the judging.

In a perfect world I’d rank them 1.000001, 1.000002, 1.000003. Sigh.

Ledger judging - part 1

I'm not a reviewer, and these weren't written for public consumption but thought people might find it interesting.

PRODUCTION DESIGN OF THE YEAR

1. Tonia Walden – I’ve already song her glory in my initial blog nomination posting. The quality she gets for the money she spends is unparalleled. Its eye catching and well constructed. Every detailed is considered and there’s a natural flow.
   
   
2. Glen Shearer/Darren Close – this book is 90% perfect but that last 10% imperfection is infuriating. Its hard to tear shreds off a charity book but I don’t want to give it a free pass. The landscape format shits me; its fine for a picture book that pages can be glanced at while its ites on the coffee table, but with the interviews the book flips and flops and it’s a bugger to read. The cover though gives the book a nice feel and it shows a wide range of styles and genres covered within the book and Australian Comic Scene. I’m not sure if the content of interviews really falls in the realm of Production Design but it got boring really fast reading the same questions and essentially same answers. The weird inconsistencies are frustrating – stuff likes why were the names organized by first name, why couldn’t the name of the artist on a particular page be in the footer, why did some artists get front section placement but no question/answers? And why does some of the art look like it was from 72 dpi? The cover, concept and quality are all great just those few niggling aspects really brought the whole thing down.
   
   
3. Troy Kealley – Simon Sherry’s work for this book, is hands down the best cover for an Australian comic this year. I bet no horror fan could walk past that in a comic shop and not want to pick it up and flick through it. It’s just perfect. I think the back cover is sort flawed, its too cute and subsequently it would confuse readers, there’s still the conception that comics are for kids but Troy is trying to offer a horror comic to adults and horror fans but there’s this cartoonish hand clawing from the back – it’s a mixed message. Is it Freddy Kruger or Casper the friendly ghost? The end result is it alienates both crowds – even though both pieces are strong and well done. I think the black pages worked well for a number of stories; it makes the art feel hemmed in and claustrophobic adding to the creepy atmosphere but that backfired when the art wasn’t that great making the ugliness standout like dogs balls. I think the spread of stories was pretty good, the good ones where well distributed so you could forget about the ones that don’t work well, but I’m not sure if this an editorial issues or production design issue. I was disturbed at some dodgy scanning resolutions in one or two stories too.

WEBCOMIC OR COMIC STRIP OF THE YEAR

Very hard category

1. Raymondo Person – makes me laugh every. Single. time. It’s hardly commercial but its so well constructed. The art is deceptive; it looks like stick figures but the backgrounds and surroundings are detailed and well proportioned (the last two entries the ‘bridge’ and ‘banjo’ ones are positively gorgeous). The humour is quite wide from the easy fart, shit, fuck jokes to the bizarre observation skit.
   
   
2. Maggellan – I’m not one for superhero parody books, its too simple and easy and that’s what I thought Magellan was; thankfully its not. It’s a surprisingly good read. The writing probably couldn’t be described as economical but it does function as a good way of allowing the reader to catch up with what’s going on – which seems to be important in sporadically published/read web comic. The characters are interesting and all have their own voice which is important when there are so many characters flying around in a story. The superhero formula is very bright and colourful but this contrasts with the sex and violence of the work (this contrast can be unsettling to a degree). The art is very workman like and simple – it gets the point across but isn’t structurally or anatomically great or exciting. The writing did have me wanting to know what happened next.
   
   
3. Big Fun Mega Happy Pet Land- its cute and for a kids comic you couldn’t expect more, as an adult its hard to really compare it to the more mature fare of Raymondo or Magellan. In terms of construction, the art is exceptionally good, the colouring quite good both using a cute and approachable style. The writing is lightweight, I’d expect a laugh on every page and this doesn’t always deliver but the mileage of kids would differ to an old man like me. I think that the shoehorning of a concept sometimes hurts the strip because the jokes seem forced but that’s really a tiny criticism of a great kids comic.

INTERNATIONAL TITLE OF THE YEAR

1. Deevee Flange – probably the best issue of DeeVee, every single story hits its mark and its quite entertaining and meaningful. I wonder if the ‘Different Voices’ genesis of the book is being forgotten though; besides Mandy’s piece (and possible James K’s and the playright) – its hardly alternative. If there was one thing that sours it, for me, is that it has no point – it’s a collection of very good stories but there is nothing underlying the book, no reason for it – leaving me slightly dissatisfied. But in terms of what Australian talent has to offer; there isn’t a better example.
   
   
2. Fell – Both Ellis and Templesmith extend themselves; Ellis forgoes his normal tropes (bitter overcoated smoker with sexy powerful female aid) and Templesmith does some regular panel to panel sequential work, squeezing in 9 panels a page without forgoing detail and mood. It’s a very good book – it’s not really literature, its just very good escapist fiction.
   
   
3. Small Gods – this series started well but became really clichéd in the middle – the last story arc though picked up immensely. Issue 11, the last issue released in 2005, was quite the exciting read and it left me hanging for the next chapter. The writing is economic but sometimes a bit lame; the dialogue doesn’t feel right, it can be a bit melodramatic or sometimes just unrealistic. But some of the ideas and concepts presented are quite interesting. I’m not really a fan of the art, the grey toning, I find, takes away from the vibrancy I’d expect from an action comic. Its a mindless entertaining comic that has the odd good and exciting idea but sometimes smothers it with cliché.

SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY OF THE YEAR

1. The Seed – I’m a massive fan of Liz’s work, she hasn’t made a wrong step yet, she’s faltered (the odd story in Something Wicked) but never fallen in a heap. I’m a massive fan of Matt’s work too. I think this is the second or third time they’ve worked together and its one of their best. It’s so open and expressive and it plays to their obvious strengths; Liz’s simple approach to concept and delivery and Matt’s imagination and design. Its just perfect.
   
   
2. Laika – Wonderfully illustrated, it has the best story telling out of any of the other nominees. It’s wonderfully cute and expressive. The first half is perfect but I feel that it falls down with the appearance of the water kitty and the water sprite television thingy. Ok, falls down is a bit harsh but it does trip a bit over the carpet. However it resolves it self really well. The colouring is outstanding but I would have preferred if it was called Laika: first doggie in space, but that’s just me.
   
   
3. The Record – I think if Christian has a major flaw is that he tries to jam in so many ideas into his stories that the good and interesting ones get drowned out by the crappy distracting ones. Less is more. Tonia’s art is as solid as ever and could have carried the story along without the narration. It was probably the first time I appreciated Tonia’s ink work, its quite lavish and conscientiously detailed without being gaudy. The twist at the end is good but because so much time is spent on creating and explaining the zombies we don’t get a clear enough view of the main character to really fundamentally understand why he would want to be a zombie, therefore the twist is flat.
   
   
4. Star Wars – Not written by an Australian and not self published – well that’s 2 demerit points. I’m not really sure if I should be judging the whole book or just Nicola’s portion of it but I’m assuming since its in the Single Issue category I’ll judge it as a whole (I would have been more comfortable if this was listed in the International Title category). This is the second part of a two part storyline, continuing from issue 26. Its not necessary to read 26 since not much happens in it, and Nicola only did about half the art in 26. In 27 she pencils all 22 pages and it really shines, shot directly from her pencils (bypassing the inking stage) the lush and beautiful colours really round off Nicola’s work. I felt if anything let down Nicola’s work as a whole it was her inking; her anatomy and storytelling are well honed and first-rate but her inking doesn’t have that superhero edge that makes it look dynamic and fast. Nicola’s style is most suited to superheroes and action so its an area, that I, think needs to be looked at. The story is good without being exceptional, the characters do their bit, there’s a nice pace and its all very entertaining but nothing that stands out as a whole.