Sureshot Presents – The Spark

The idea for publishing comics hit me pretty early in my time with OzComics Magazine. Me and Darren Close played with the idea of doing some sort of studio thing, which from my end was too big to realise. But i enjoy Australian Comics too much, not to want to be involved.

To me life is all effort and reward; if you don’t put in the effort, then don’t expect anything. Sometimes effort is its own reward and when you love what you do, you got it made. When you talk effort, you got to understand limits - how much effort am I willing to put in before I start questioning “what the fuck am I doing THIS for?” and end up whimpering.

Me, I’m quite neurotic; I know what I can do, I know how much time and money I can put into a project before I get overwhelmed. And I wanted to do something with local comics. I pretty much discovered when I left uni in 1997 that unless I had a project or a set of goals I was fucked. I’d wonder ‘what’s the point?’, lose a sense of purpose and being and the black dog would start snapping.

I felt it would be worth the effort to publish them.

Australian Comics I’ve read recently

In the last 3 months I’ve read a bunch of Australian Comics which I’ll try and provide reviews for in the next couple of weeks

• The Sacrifice – (A Masterpiece)
• Kate Lawson – (Clumsy but not bad)
• A tricky thing – (sweet and personal)
• Modern Gentleman – (Disturbing)
• Bloodbound – (Solid, fun but dumb)
• The List – (disappointing)
• Hollow Meadows – (Electric but formulaic)
• Azerath – (Solid but lost)

A brief history of Australian Comics

Last year i was asked by someone to do some articles for a web-zine thing; i wroe half-a-dozen. They never saw the light of day.

A brief history of Australian Comics

When Captain Cook floated past the East Coast, the original Australians had already been creating comics for 40,000 years. Upon a beach, the early inhabitants smirked at Cook’s copy of Beano remarking “Kids stuff”, in turn they held up a copy of “Oz” which so incensed the captain he tried to take legal action. However court proceedings were suspended when Cook was speared in Hawaii for his suggestion that the natives weren’t mature enough to read Viz.

Some years later though, the First Fleet landed at Sydney Bay and an argument ensued over which was better - English comic writer, Neil Gaiman’s Dreamtime or the actual Dreamtime. The argument ended with a stalemate but the British, as they do, decided genocide was a good solution. The traditional owners of the country had to hide in caves which started Australia’s underground comic scene.

Relations improved when Ginger Meggs was created, here was a character everyone thought wasn’t that funny.

For some unknown reason, Winston Churchill hated Australian Comics and as part of the military machine in World War 1, he orchestrated the disaster at Gallipoli in an effort to kill Australia’s best comic creators. It was here that Australia’s favourite war time comic was created “Simpson and his Donkey” with its memorable catch phrase ‘Stop shooting at the wounded men Johnny Turk”, the comic was a hit between the wars (the Spanish Civil War and World War 2). During the Second World War, Churchill had Singapore abandoned, leaving Australia open to the Japanese. Without paper supplies from Asia, Australian Comics had to be rationed . Only one copy of “The Shadow” was printed in 1943 and handed around - household to housegold. It had no relation to the American pulp fiction hero “the Shadow”, the local version just walked around pointing out shadows - it never caught on, mainly because Warwick Chesterman of 12 Dulwich St, Surry Hills never past it on. Subsequently it was many years before people realised what a comic actually was – and the reason why Graham Kennedy was named “King of all comics” even though he didn’t have any staples or ads for sea monkeys.

Up until this time American Comics were not able to be imported into Australia, they could only be reprinted using crappy paper and without colour. This changed when Harold Holt became Prime Minister; he allowed DC and Marvel to directly import their comics onto the newsstand. People to this day question if he was drowned by the owners of Newton and Kg Murray.

American Comics were now available on newsstands, news agents in solidarity with the local publishers (who were slowly going out of business) would vandalise American Comics using black or blue textas, squiggling out the top left hand corners and writing 20P, 50P and than later 10c and 25c. Historians believe this was some sort of code but to who or for what was never realised – some say to Mother Russia, some say signals to CIA spies some say that the acid available at the Sunsbury Music Festival was really really good. In any event American Comics dominated newsstands for the next 30 years.

Until the mid 80s, when Australian Comics finally resurfaced onto newsstands and were so successful that they disappeared from those very same stands some 10 years later.

Next: The secret behind why Snake Tales is still published today.

Blogust, i knew ye well

Because of an unreliable home connection, Blogust may be temporarily disbanded - till my broadband starts behaving.

Wine and comics

Originally printed in a Food Zine by Pirotess. It was kind of fun.



I like wine and I like comics, especially Australian comics. Both have this organic feel – they are products of their environments and their creators. Comic stories, like wine needs to be nurtured and nourished, the end product is a result of the skill of the creator and their environment.

Matching wine and food is quite a skill, where one tries to match flavours and accentuate the tastes. But comics and wine? I decided to grab some books and peer into my wine cellar and try and figure out what goes with what.

Lets look at a book by Jase Harper, Guh! is an anthlogy from the Brisbane area consisting of a collection of mainly one page gags centred around the life of a 30 year old artist working in animation. A witty comic, punctuated with longer more surreal comics done in a great art style. A witty little comic should be served with a wild white wine like Heartland Viognier Pinot Gris. Viognier is like comedy, it must be timed perfectly otherwise it fails, leave this grape too long on the vine or too short and its turns bad. Mr Harper’s humour is timed to perfection. The taste of viognier is citrusy and light, tangy more than sweet. But Jase’s art is different from that typical cutesy wootsy style that dominates humor comics in Australia; the open endearing twee style of Grug, Soehardi or Holgate. The art has a sharper curve, its edgier and slightly more mature; this wine from Heartland is the same – the pinot gris gives a slight spice that works with the citric sweetness of the viognier, giving a mature taste, a kick which goes well with punchlines like “Fucking shit up since ‘03”.

“Happy Birthday Anyway” by Matt Huynh is a mini-comic that as some weight to it, a single tale, it tells the story of two girls who’s lives intersect for a short time, but who’s feelings and yearnings couldn’t be more similar. Matt’s art is tender and textured, full of graceful brush strokes and compelling design. The tone is youthful and sad but even more so, it’s beautiful and real. When I think of youthful and vibrant I think of Cabernet Sauvignon from a nice warm region, like the Barossa Valley. The Barossa with its hot summer means grapes ripen early, bursting with sweetness and vigor. Conversely, merlot is probably the most melancholic of wines, it has this earthy taste which dampens the vigor of the cabernet; it is the reality that suppresses youth. So I’d pick Warburn Cabernet Merlot, where the fruity sweetness is suppressed by more herbal flavours. And at only $8 its value for money which is important for artists and teens alike. It drinks smoothly for a cheap wine, so there will be some sadness when it’s all gone and the comic is finished.

The final book is Phosphorescent Comics’ Witch King. A dark gothic tale needs to be drunk with a dark gothic wine. D’Arenberg is a winery with an appropriately regal name whose flagship wine is the Dead Arm Shiraz, a perfectly named wine to drink while reading a story dealing with a Dark Prince’s quest for revenge. This graphic novel is written by Christian Read, while Paul Abstruse provides the detailed, yet kinetic art backed by inkers Darren Close and PJ Magalhaes and the great colouring is by Annette Kwok and Laing Rahner. The grapes for this premium wine is sourced from vines planted by Methuselah at least 110 years ago and produces a wine blood red, that slowly swishes around the glass leaving a powerful trail of alcohol in its wake. Witch King is about a young prince, Gavriel, who uses magic to first escape his bullying family and then later becomes a wizard and exacts his revenge. A solid quality read, its seeps with pain and magic, revenge and power. Wines like the Dead Arm are designed to be cellared so the tannins and alcohol can oxidize producing beautiful smoothly balanced flavours. Against all that, I would open a recent vintage and pour a glass and drink it down, let my taste buds be battered and bruised by the oaky tannins and burning alcohol just as Gavriel is pummeled by his kin. While I’m drinking that first and second glass I’m decanting the rest of the bottle, letting it breath, so as Gaveriel becomes more powerful so does the wine become more balanced and smooth. The flavour will change from a brute to a silky wine with a dark fruit taste highlighted by a peppery twinge. Like Witch King this is a magnificently put together creation, hitting all the right notes.

Maybe even a bigger one than i was before

It started with the announcement of Wally's fatherhood. Then with the birth of my half-brother. Now i find nothing nicer than sitting by the brazier after a day working and smoking a cigar.

Like a wanker

Though in my defence, it is by the fire so i'll end up stinky anyway. And i never intend to bang on about types, brands and source conutries - i only wax lyrical on acceptable vices like wine (and with close friends - comics). But what i do in the privacy in my home is up to me.

Because, apparently now -I'm a wanker.

Great Shiraz Challenge

Last month at a local pub, The Edinburgh, they put on a Shiraz tasting with about 300 shirazes.

I went with J. with the intention of tasting 10-12, max.

3 Hours later, having eaten a gi-normous gourmet hotdog I had scribbles for about 30 wines. It got to the point where everything tasted the same AND really good.

Some highlights;
Crabtree Watervale Shiraz was cheap at $15 but full of berry-goodness.
Battle of Bosworth Shiraz is another value for money drop. A lot fuller and complex but with some friuty vigour(and organic).
Everything from Shottesbrooke was great, which is rare. I usually find that a wine label will produce some nice cheap stuff and boring premium stuff or the otherway around. Torbrecks was another good label.

Probably the main disappointment was not able to taste the premium Penfold and D'arenberg shirazes (since there were only available for 5 minutes every hour - and we'd rock up 5 minutes too late).

Wine of the day was the Serafino Sharktooth Shiraz.

But then again my taste apparently is not the norm, with me only agreeing with 4 wines in the Top 40 for the day.

How many comic readers in Australia?

They used to say that if you added up how many Uncanny Xmen were sold and how many Love and Rockets were sold you had a pretty decent idea about how many people read comics. With Uncanny Xmen you captured the superhero/mainstream fans and with Love and Rockets you got the indy crowd.

Could something similar be done now? What titles would be used?

New Avengers is the highest selling superhero comic (outside of miniseries)
Fruit Baskets is the highest selling manga.

But what about indy comics; there's no more Hate, Eightball or Love and Rockets that appeal to the alternative scene. Plus there aren't that many indy comics that are released in a monthly/bimonthly format.
Meat Haus? American Splendour?

My idea is to try and get a better idea of how many comic readers there are using local comic shops. Why? It seems like it could be a useful piece of information. I like information.

My plan is - make a list of 3 comics; of a mainstream, manga and indy comic. Then ask people around the country to go to their local store and count how many copies are on the shelf of those comics and report in.

We'll have a breakdown of state-by-state/shop-by-shop.

Then pretty much double the number (to account for people have pull-lists).

Sound reasonable?

Rockin' the pocket square

Last night we were invited to an Engagement Party, which was cocktail dress. Since i never know the difference between semi-formal, semi-asual, dinner dress, and cocktail dress (except i did reason that not everyone had to where a cocktail dress). So in attempt to give myself some flair I pocket squared it. It took awhile to actually find one - i was met with many "a wha?" from young sales assistants.

In the end-


I was witty as Oscar

and as charming as Cary



Seriously, like i totally was!

New Selan in the mix

A hearty congratulations to my dad, the Big D, on the birth of Samo Dino Selan born in Thailand.

Samo is a traditional Slovenian name, Dino is a "traditional" thai nickname and i was hoping they'd throw in Frankie to complete it but alas not.

As an only child its slightly weird becoming a brother now but its still incredibly exciting.

My Instantaneous III piece

There was a slight difference with this year's Instantaneous (a charity auction of individual panels by Adelaide sequential artists) as opposed to the first two shows (where you just had to do a single panel) -this time you had to put the panel in context with a minimum of three panels but preferably in a page. The three panels/complete page would then be printed in the booklet/guide.

Having pretty much made coloured dots with emo caption my shtick it took awhile to figure how I'd not have to draw for at least 3 panels.

One afternoon-flicking-red-paint-around-until-it-looked-just-right later

I had this,
titled Strike.
(Lettering by Em)

The actual panel which was auctioned is the second one and went for enough to provide 20 soup kitchen meals.

Wait for it....wait for it......

Apparently Doujicon was a bit dodgy.

(Pun!)

Nothing underhanded went of course, more so no one really went. Attendance was low, even though it was meant to be a good location. 131 people turned up - i'm not sure if that includes creators with tables.

Originally I was going to let loose with the snark.

How I would improve Doujicon?
Get rid of the pointless english letters in the title. Spell it out in Kanji. The title should be even MORE meaningless - that'll get the hardcore fans in!
The octopus as mascot isn't working. So replace him with something else - then have a vote to get the kids really involved on how to make it less lamer! I nominate a camel dressed as Snake Plissken!
Flyers and posters aren't antiquated enough in this Facebook world! Use town criers and morse code! Get someone to write and preform an opera!
Etc
Etc
(End Snark)

But while the title and mascot and promotion aren't working, to me there's a fundamental issue.

The same weekend there was AVCon in Adelaide, a anime/manga convention. About 1500 people turned up. I didn't go because i didn't know about it until after the fact.

Now on an Adelaide vs Melbourne scale; AvCon was 1000% better.

Its apples and oranges. They are two different events.

Avi thinks he's selling oranges but he's got apples. He really wants to sell oranges but its all apples.

The audience for Avcon is anime and manga fans.
The audience for Doujicon is people who like homemade comics (including manga).

Every uni has a Anime appreciation club, there's been magazines on J-Pop Culture, whole companies exist to sell manga and anime. The audience is big.

The audience for homemade/self published manga is a niche in a niche. All Avi had to do was figure out how many Oztaku's he had sold in Melbourne. That's the audience for Doujicon. Even though it had some really good work in it, its harsh to say, but Oztaku didn't have the readership nationwide to sustain itself. How can the same type of work sustain a convention?

Now here's a generalisation; Australian manga buyers are very picky. They want original manga - some of them go to the extent that they buy the japanese version without being able to read it or they'll go to the effort to learn japanese because the translated stuff is a slap against humanity. When fans complain about dubbed anime there is little chance they will stoop to buying a self-published manga comic by a non-japanese.

It's a shame when you consider the world's largest comic convention is Comiket, and its primarly self-published comics. Half a million people. Twice a year.

So there is a choice - either a long campaign to convince local manga fans that true manga fans like self-published work not that corporate owned kids stuff - just like Japan.
Or
Open the audience up to people who like originality and creativity; not just manga but all comics and zines and give it a new name and new direction (and trash the stupid childish mascot).

Why I hate Quentin Tarantino

Terribly embarrassing admission - I used to like Tarantino. I thought he was a maverick film maker - pushing boundaries. In my defence I was a film student, so it went with the territory.

I saw Reservior Dogs on the big screen (well it was at the Mercury Cinema so it was bigger than a TV). It was pretty awesome. The blood, the raw cruelty, the unhappy ending - it seemed so fresh. Seemed being the operative word. I had gotten into Hong Kong Cinema around the same time; the cover to the video (as in VHS) for John Woo's Killer advised it was the world's highest body count - so how could i not rent it? I got hooked.

While watching Ringo Lam's City on Fire it dawned on me; this is Reservoir Dogs but ....not. It was weird, essentially the same story but shot differently. It caused a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.

Pulp Fiction was good though, I saw that twice at the cinema. It still holds up.

But Jackie Brown - in what world is watching someone choose and buy a cassette for 20 minutes entertaining? Ugh. Kill Bill #1; shallow and empty. I didn't bother with #2.
And Death Proof is just indulgent rubbish.

The thing that really bothers me is that his films are just mash-ups of Quentin's favourite things. Homages are ok- they can bring some depth to a text, but plain old "stealing" concepts is a bit much. It just shows a lack of creativity or originality. Its all pastiche; glorifing empty cinema from the 70s but shooting it with 30 million dollar budgets.

Sure you can claim Warhol did the same thing; low art to high art but at least Warhol's work said something; on consumerism, on modernism. What does Kill Bill say - Quentin likes feet? That his audience would like recooked work as opposed to the originals? That there is nothing new under the sun? If you don't have pop cultural references in your movies that doesn't require a Google search you aren't an interesting writer?

Nostalgia was once seen as a sickness - something that kept us going forward, moving on. Move on Quentin, Move on.

Lots of photos of me

Even 6 months after the fact I'm still trying to figure why i find this so funny.

Care of Practice Catcus (NSFW)

Graphic Novel: the Pondering (Part 2)

Many years back I was at a Dymocks in a surburban shopping centre. It was late but I and Em were biding time until a movie started. I saw Moore and Campbell's From Hell on the shelves. Oh my God, acceptance! Comics are going mainstream baby!
I scanned the shelves for other Graphic Novels and found nothing else so i cornered a sales assistant and kind of pointed in the direction of From Hell.
"Have you got any other Graphic Novels?"
I may have looked a bit excited but she looked at me rather strangely, like she was trying to suss me out. I didnt' think to much of it, its that same look when people find out you read comics 'You? Really? Wow?'
"Um.... hang....on" and she darted away.
I continued scanning shelves for something new to read when the store manager walked up to me "um, have you read American Psycho?"
"huh?"
"That's pretty graphic"
Oh my God she thinks i'm some sort of sicko.
"Wha? No, no, no - graphic novels! Like From Hell" - which i grabbed of the shelf. She flicked through it
"Oooooooh comic books - we've got TinTin"
Oh my God she thinks i'm some sort of nerd.
I thanked her deflatedly for her help and slunk to the gardening corner to Em.
"I'm so embrrassed-"
"Aroused! You're aroused" she blurted.

And so ended the most embarrassing moment in my life.

So what are graphic novels and why are they so troublesome?

Looking within other mediums didn't really bring up answers to what a graphic novel could be - within other mediums, formats don't define anything; Harold and Kumar go to White Castle is still a movie at 88 minutes, like Lawrence of Arabia at 200minutes plus (too lazy to check actual runtimes). Sure there are novellas but the name makes sense 'Tiny novels' and I've never seen novellas marketted as a "novella" "just released a new novella!" like any comic book with a spine is bandied about with "Graphic novel".

But thinking about something like Harold and Kumar and Lawerence of Arabia started me thinking. I love both but there is something different.
Dude Where's my Car is a movie
Bicycle Thief is a film
Bad Boys 2 is a movie
Citizen Kane is a film

Its not a matter of quality, i like all the above titles; they are all good. Its not about source country, just because its foriegn doesn't mean its a film, Jackie Chan makes movies not films. Being old doesn't make it a film, Key Largo is a movie.

To me, movies are pieces of entertainment while films are peices of art that say something; there's more going on than just a plot. Films are subtextual or metatextual.

There's a similar concept with books; you go to a good bookstore and they'll be a Literature section and a Fiction section. There's art and then there's decoration.

Following this line of thought; comics are "superficial" and designed to entertain. Graphic Novels have something deeper going on - they carry a meaning outside of just have a plot. A graphc novel can be an 8 page story in an anthology or it can be a 32 book series released by Toykopop. If you can discuss the book without just rehashing the plot or talking about the art- then its a graphic novel. And I'd like something a bit more than "Spiderman is about the responsibility of power" especially when most Spiderman comics involve him hitting people.

Who decides what is a graphic novel and what's a comic book? Well for me its a 'wisdom of the crowd' scenario - i enough people say Blankets is a Graphic Novel and back this up with reasoning then it can be a graphic novel. If a creator just says their new comic is a graphic novel
or its publisher - I don't believe them.

I usually like my terms defined a bit better but i'm reasonably happy with this fuzzy and subjective definition because we can start talking about the books themselves instead of the silliness of the format.

Graphic Novel; the Pondering (Part i)

I consult on websites; information architecture, usability, accessibiliy, captology, etc, etc. Sometimes my work involves sitting in a group defining and discussing abstract concepts. During one meeting we were talking about improving our Document Management System; defining what a circular is, what a memo is, what a briefing is....when is a Policy a Policy and when is it a Guideline. It is more intreresting than it sounds (well to me anyway).

Well I ask "What's the difference between a factsheet and a manual?" and i got a incredulous stare in return "its the same difference between a comic book and graphic novel" (they had read Preacher and knew about Alan Moore).

"That's stupid!" I stammered.
"Graphic Novels are thicker with a spine"
"What! You have no..."
"oh there's other stuff like better paper"

I had already started to think about what is a graphic novel based on Anthony Woodward's post
Using format is a pointless exercise; that's more a defining medium thing.

There needs to be something else. The very smart chaps at Comicspot use the cute "Bookcomic" and "Comicbook", i think that's still very formatty but its not coming up with new terms to be wanky about. Something is either one or the other. Using Graphic Novel opens up to many terms of conjecture; what's graphic, what's novel. What about trade paperbacks (another format which is at least industry standard sizewise).

For me anyway - I like defining stuff. I like discussing stuff and you need to be able to define Film Noir if you are going to talk Film Noir. If you want an opinion on bebop jazz then you better know what bebop jazz is, otherwise you'll look foolish. And since i look foolish most of the time - i like to think stuff through and get my ideas straight.

The best point to start is compare it to other mediums. Do other mediums create these groupings based on its materials. Pretty much every medium uses genre; a comedy is a comedy no matter if you see it on the big screen, on dvd at home or have downloaded it to your iphone. A story told using sequential images can be essentially the same story if delivered in a serial comic, a compliation tradepaper back or if its on Wowio.

I say "can be essesntially"; serials need that regular catchup exposition, digital content can't be as detailed as printed material because the technology isn't as precise (72dpi vs 300dpi). But i would contend that the story is the same; just told differently. War and Peace the book tells the same story as the movie with Henry Fonda. Doctor Zhivargo has been told as a book, movie and made for TV miniseries and they all tell the story of a bloke in Russia.

The quality and success at telling that story though is totally up to debate.

What's been happening?

You know stuff.

• In april was the Third instantaneous gallery/Auction thing. Attendance was about half Instananeous II and it showed at the prices art was achieving. The most expensive piece sold for $300 which was about half what the most expensive piece sold in December.
• My own peice sold for $95, which as non-artist, makes me happy.



• Comikaze happened Queen's birthday weekend. i purposefully kept my fat head out of the way. Last year someone thanked me as an organiser and i didn't correct them. I felt like a massive asshole for claiming glory so this year i played it cool. Though the turn out was not as big as previous years, I think the quality was really strong.
• I read some incredibly good Austrlian comics. Some good Australian Comics, some decent Australian Comics and some truly horrible shitty Austrlian Comics. I feel rantings will ensue.


• During the same time, i accidently scratched my cornea which didn't heal. i kept putting off going to the doctor because surely my mutant healing abilities would kick in and fix the problem. Well two weeks of having a weeping eye that starting causing short stabbing pains when i blinked eventually made me go to the doctors.It seems it wouldn't heal because ever time i blinked the cut reopened. I then developed a secondary infection which meant stronger antibiotic drops and about 5 doctor visits. I had to wear a patch - and not a cool one either. It was 4 weeks of not being able to look at anything and focus properly. Not fun, Clarence.


• It seems like my anxieties and inability to relax properly have caught up with me and I've developed hypertension; which I think is a cool way of saying High Blood Pressure. I'm hyper tense!.




• I never really played video games obsessively but i got strangely addicted to Mario Kart.
• I have never liked Science fiction, it always seemed lame. But have started watching Battlestar Galactica and its pretty good (there was a couple of second season episodes that were lame and a really crap boxing episode is season three). Its like the West Wing but with explosions!




• I'm building outdoor furniture out of metal, stone and wood. Six weekends in and i regret starting.

Ahem.... tap tap tap

Its been about four months since I've blogged. Its been a mixed bag of being to busy to blog and not having anything to blog about. Though I'm going to try really hard to post something regularly.

I'll start slow....

Like i went to see the breeders play last night and beside the douche who decided to relive 1995 and start slam dance it was really solid gig. I also couldn't stop thinking the the Deal Sisters would be the perfect (ie hottest and coolest) tuckshop ladies at Rock 'n Roll Highschool.

A High School where Iggy Pop is the gym teacher, Thurston Moore teaches Calculus and David Bowie is Vice Principal.

Chicken Soup 2: Chicken walks on Water

by LFW and me, monday lunchtime







The "scripts" take about 2 minutes and are less than 25 words. LFW does the art in about 5 minutes.

The Chicken Soup is Magic; Jesus Style!

by LFW and me, friday arvo