Gary Chaloner
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?
Twenty-twelve
started off being a very bad year (continuing on from an even worse
2011, filled with death and mayhem), but over the last six months,
things have really turned around with a lot of work being done and
cleared off the drawing board that should be seeing the light of day in
the new year. I had a blast taking over from Emily Smith on Gestalt's Unmasked, written by Christian Read. By year's end I should be finished that. I've also got the first issue of The Undertaker Morton Stone
in the bag for Gestalt as well. Issues two and three of the series are
almost finished. On a good productive roll there. I've also been doing a
lot of illustration work for a new series of adventure paperbacks
featuring Doc Wilde by Tim Byrd. It was a very successful
Kickstarter campaign that's now getting into high gear. The first book
in the series should be available within the month.
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?
Kranburn by
Ben Michael Byrne was a nice discovery. Enjoying that a lot. The story
and characters have a lot of presence and Byrne's writing in general
sucks you in and takes you along for the crazy ride.
Blue by
Pat Grant was brilliant and totally deserves all the praise its
getting. A well executed project from beginning to end. Utilising both
web and print to maximum effect. Nicely designed, nicely drawn, nicely
told.
What is something
non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?
Movies?
John Carter, Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises (Bane's voice not so much),
Avengers (Captain America's modern outfit, not so much). Yes, they're
the usual suspects, but I didn't have much time to see too many flicks,
so the big ones stood out.
Books? Went through a James Ellroy phase. Read the Underworld USA trilogy: American Tabloid (again), The Cold Six Thousand (again) and Blood's a Rover. I'm so over him now.
TV? The Walking Dead. Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Bored to Death.
Music? Springsteen (The Promise and Wrecking Ball), My Morning Jacket, David Ruffin
Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
God
knows I try. But old habits die hard. Always searching for ways to
speed up productivity while maintaining quality, but the older I get,
the more comfortable I am with the old ways and the more unsatisfied I
am with digital art, disposable pens, non-sable brushes. The big change
is working standing up. The body knows no pain now.
What are you looking forward to in 2013?
Seeing all the stuff I've been working on recently getting out and about. An Unmasked print collection! More Undertaker!! Doc Wilde!!! I might even get around to finishing my Breckenridge Elkins adaption.
I'm
also looking forward to seeing the revamped Ledger Awards (or whatever
they'll be called) getting back up and running under the auspices of
Supanova.
Now that the Australian Comics Journal website has been bubbling along with baby steps over the last six months, I'd like to see what the next phase for that is.
I've also got a secret graphic novel project for Gestalt to return to (working like a Trojan tin the meantime...) and a The Jackaroo collection to get out this year. So I hope another big, productive year is on the way.
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