Last night, I went to the official launch of Heroes and Villains: Australian Comics and their Creators at the State Library of Victoria. It was a great launch, with a fine speech from State Librarian, Ann Marie Schwirtlich, and entertainment from comedy band Tripod, and a nice chance to catch up with various comickers and librarians alike.

The above link is to the online version of the Exhibition Catalogue, including a detailed essay by exhibition curator and Australian comics expert, Kevin Patrick, charting the history of Australian comic books, from the 1920s to the 21st century.

It was pleasing to find my 1982 comic Maelstrom in the Swords & Sorcery section, right alongside Talnon's Deerflame. The detailed sections covering each genre of Australian comics were really thought-out, well-researched and arranged. There's a mention of Maelstrom in the Exhibition catalogue Swords & Sorcery section, though I think too much is made of the Elfquest link in some respects, given that I did a Maelstrom minicomic back in 1978 (before EQ) - but more on that in another post...

For more information on seminars, workshops and multimedia events being staged for the duration of the exhibition (20 Oct 2006 - 25 Feb 2007) - please see: Program of Events.

Labels: Australian comics, Maelstrom