Lately, I've been thinking about the possibilities of putting together some work in compilations. I'm not keen to get back into any sort of self-publishing (having not missed it for the past several decades), but it'd be good to finish off some of this work for its own sake.

If I was to start putting books together, the most obvious first cab off the rank would be a Moth & Tanuki colour volume, collecting all the Mania episodes together, along with a few that didn't make it to the magazine, and one that subsequently appeared in Fist Full of Comics.

Although these ran as short funny 2-4 pagers, I always intended to do more episodes as "sequels" to some that appeared in the magazine, continuing stories or reprising popular characters. Here's a pencilled panel from one of those lost episodes.

Labels: Comic anthologies, Fist Full of Comics, Mania, Moth and Tanuki

The final issue of Fist Full of Comics volume 2 is out now, and I'm happy to have had work in all six issues of this revived Australian comics anthology. We need more books like this, for new comics artists to see their work in print and for established artists to feel free to play around freely with the form.

Feeling short of inspiration I went to my old lyrics book and found a short piece, "Coelacanth," from years ago, that adapted easily. As Owen (the editor) pointed out, the words and pictures complement each other and form a complete whole, unlike many poem comics, which merely illustrate the words. It's definitely my best effort in this form, although it was nice to have begun the tradition of poem comics appearing in the centre pages of FFoC. I had fun with this one, which is what comic making really should be about.

Labels: Australian comics, Comic anthologies, Fist Full of Comics

This one has been out for a little while - the latest Fist Full of Comics consists mainly of short one and two page stories - a strong issue with great variety.

My piece is a one pager that sprang into my head as I was finishing off a long, and somewhat depressing, piece for the next Tango (coming soon). Doing pieces that occur so spontaneously is about as fun as drawing comics can get.




The art was inspired by a '50s sensibility and '70s swapcard art, and also another major theme that's popular at the moment.

I worked with black and white and a single greytone, which is an approach I haven't used before. One of the best things about submitting to small press anthologies is that it gives you a chance to experiment and see the results in print - definitely something I'd encourage anyone to do, if you're thinking about starting off in comics!

Labels: Australian comics, Comic anthologies, Fist Full of Comics

The latest Fist Full of Comics was released a few weeks ago, and it continues to get bigger and better, with even more pages at 36 this time and a wide range of material from local comics artists.

My piece is a one pager about domestic life. I'd been wanting to look in on these characters at the beginning of the Seventh Age and see how they were doing after so much time, tucked away in some obscure corner of Hertfordshire or wherever. I figured Tom would be feeling pretty midlifey by now.

I enjoyed drawing this a lot, though I don't know how successful it is as a piece. The style, which is a fairly traditional comic look, is one I tend to avoid, as reviews have described it as "boring." Lately I'm drawn to it - I don't find it hard and it seems to be an evolution of my earlier work in stories such as "Riffin' to Oblivion." I think I'll just have to follow this way of working for a while to see where it goes.

Labels: Fist Full of Comics, Tolkien, Tom and Goldy

Sticking to its regular bi-monthly schedule Fist Full of Comics #3 has been released. It's great to have an ongoing small press Australian anthology going at the moment, as the scene is pretty quiet of late.

I've been varying my contributions to this comic zine. Moth and Tanuki were begging for an outing, so here they are, back in glorious black and white in a 4 page story, "Comfortably Numbat," that I think is one of my better efforts. There are lots of Moth & Tanuki scripts waiting in the wings, so maybe I'll do this again, I'm not sure.

This time I've gone for total computer greytones, rather than using dotty screentones as I did in their OzTAKU appearances.This particular story has been completed in colour as well, just in case I ever do an anthology of all the short colour pieces that appeared in Mania

Although it's a satirical piece I reckon these characters could almost spin off into their own series :).

Labels: Comic anthologies, Fist Full of Comics, Moth and Tanuki

The second issue of Fist Full of Comics has just been released and it's evolving strongly, carrying the flag for Australia's independent comics anthology tradition.

As readers here will know, I've been watching the diminishing fortunes of Leadbeater's possum (mostly due to logging) for some time, and the devastating Marysville fire motivated me to produce a comics piece about the last Leadbeater's possum.

My aim was to create a flowing piece that reflected the feelings and disorientation of a fire survivor, without too much anthropomorphism. The comic page that resulted doesn't have any frames, but hopefully just draws the eye across it. The artwork was all completed in one day on 18th March. It was produced in an organic way using a lot of brushwork with some pen inking for the stark blacks, along with some pencil rubbing for the contrasting muted grey areas.

The status of Leadbeater's possum remains uncertain, though thankfully a few individuals have been found since I drew this piece. The IUCN is unlikely to upgrade its status for a while, though there can be little doubt that it should now be "Critically Endangered."

On Fist Full of Comics itself - I really enjoyed this eclectic issue, which is packed full of fine short pieces from a surprising range of Australian comic creators - nice to see so many of my favourites in there! I particularly like that the middle pages appear to have become a continuing spot for a poem/comic - in this case a beautiful moody piece by Catherine Brittle and Loren Morris. Only $3 - buy it now!

Labels: Australian comics, Australian wildlife, Comic anthologies, Fist Full of Comics, Leadbeater's possum

There may be life in the Australian anthology comic scene yet. I've always been a fan of past regional anthologies, such as Sporadic from Brisbane, Quasi from Canberra and Vacant Lot from Tasmania.

The irony is, I like these comics so much I tend to want to contribute to them (as with Sporadic), thus diluting the geographical aspect that is one of the attractions. When Owen Heitmann announced his intention of resurrecting the Adelaide comics anthology Fist Full of Comics (as appropriately suggested in his eye-catching front cover design, coloured by Loren Morris - see at left) - I had to submit something!

The first volume of Fist Full of Comics was from some years ago, helmed by David Milne, then Sarah Milne and Dan McGuiness (who are still present in this new issue). This new 24 pager features comics by about 10 local artists, along with a couple of text pieces to lend it some zineiness. It is currently available in Adelaide from Pulp Fiction Comics (34A King William St) or by mail order for $3 plus $1.50 postage from fistfullofcomics(at)gmail(dot)com.

The piece I submitted is a two pager, that happily ended up in the middle. This is a poem that I think has been misunderstood (and rejected) elsewhere in the past so I took the opportunity to revise some lines, particularly the end, to clarify its metaphorical aspects. While I've written a lot of songs, this particular piece was only ever really intended to be (not very good) poetry, and I think illustrating it has added something it needed :).

The art is a contrast of styles, between pure black-and-white linework and gritty textures for the tree itself, though all scanning was initially done in 2bit b&w. I think the result captures the look I was after.



I also knocked out a quick cover design, just in case :). This picture ended up on the back cover. The challenge was to design allowing for the required white border space - something I tried to integrate into the picture. I took the opportunity to experiment. I wanted to represent the concept, and work with flat colours and a limited palette towards a silkscreen print look. The basic design is a bit like a children's book illustration, but I tried to keep it mostly non-linear.

My one reservation about the anthology itself is that, due to the nature of the pieces, it necessarily has a MA (Mature Audience) rating, which means that the readership will be limited. This is often a problem for Australian comics - The Ink #2 copped this rating due to only one story, and a one pager at that. It was a fine piece, but meant that the issue (and the set) couldn't be sold so easily. Artists need a great deal of freedom, but this audience limiting factor is a dilemma for small-press works.

There is plenty to like in FFoC though, with Delta's A Brief Summary of Twilight being a particular favourite, and one piece I had to show to J, who really appreciated it!

If you're producing comics in Australia at the moment, I strongly recommend that you support this comic/zine and submit something - next issue submissions are required by the last week of March, for publication in early April - see guidelines. Go to it!

Labels: Australian comics, Comic anthologies, Fist Full of Comics