Ledger Awards 2006 - Talent Deserving Wider Recognition

Ok, after a couple of days off wandering and wondering what this even means - because its pretty much everyone. Everyone in Australian comics needs more recognition, writers, artists, retailers and the readers all need to be recognised.
i used to just use the 24 hour challenge as a quick guide, who did a comic in thatt - that was really cool but who hadn't had anything printed or didn't have a web comic. but this year it got hard - i wasn't really paying much attention, trawling deviart and LJs, looking for someone out of the regular circle of creators.

So, the only thing i've got is a couple of zines and mini comics that i picked up at supanovi and douijicons, and zine fairs.

Again, I'm being lazy and not putting up links and images, but just so i can milk a bit more from the whole Ledger thing, I'll try and find stuff later on whenever the nomination form actually goes up.

Sean Tay - has done some stuff in Oztaku (the last issue had some great comics in it, i just wish the design of the whole thing didn't look so amatuer). I grabbed his 'New Ragey' book and its quite cool and flash - lots of zipatone which works well in the even lined inking. He has a great sense of storytelling and a very funky sense of panel layout. Very impressive.

Sebastian Grigull - his work has appeared in NeoBragi, but it was his mini Angel Feathers that caught my eye. It has a very eyecatching colour (even though its just b/w) and
very neat story - completely wordless, it still creates an interesting world, that even after 10 pages i want to know more. As an artist he actually quite well, using detail when necessary to enhance storytelling and mood like a good artist should.

I did nominate Mel Stringer's 'girlie pains' for small press but I'm nominating her for 'new talent' as well because she's saying something different, sure its still autobiographical like a lot of aussie stuff but this isn't as depressing or dark; its cute and sweet without being sentimental and saccharine, there's still enough of an edge to make it cool (mainly by way the art which forgoes anatomy and consistency to emphasis character and mood).

Whilst there may be murmurs of parochialism I have to mention some of the Adelaide crew. One of the cool things with catching up for drinks with adelaide creators is seeing sketch books and works in progress. Sarah Milne's Mary comic was around for a couple of years back in 2002 but its progressed since then - she does one panel comics which makes me laugh without resorting to explosions and poo jokes (though there's always room for improvement). She's also a very good writer and underrated artist. Clare Oakes is an awesome artist, with comics full of feelings and emotion that are a joy to read. And lastly Lucas House is a great writer who just fell on the wrongside of the cut to be nominated for Best Writer (though when nominations do come through that may change). He did a miniseries called Anthologyof Alvin which once you got past the art was very good. It started off a bit melodramatic (though i've loved melodrama since Degrassi High) the very exciting thing is the variety of techniques he employs; regular comics, narrated pin ups and he writes smart, makes the reader fill in gaps without expositioning everything, his dialogue is very close to spot on (a bit angsty at times but that's the genre I suppose). Fuck it, - he's made the cut.

but the one person who needs to be recognised wider is this dude