What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
Biggest highlight for me is my nearing the completion of my first draft of Uncle Silas 2: Earth, sequel to Uncle Silas: Genetis. Thankfully this adventure is mostly out of the forest from book 1 so when it comes to inking and colouring stages, things should move along quickly. The tripled page count might negate that advantage somewhat, but the illusion of productivity will sustain me. I've ditched the sunday newspaper comic format entirely so the pages flow along like runny butter in comparison to the staggered doubled-up page design Dark Horse edition of book 1.
Which was a decision not of my making, by the way- when I eventually re-release it I'll publish it how I originally intended- large and landscape. Yet again this has been a massive undertaking for me as it's pretty well happened in my own spare time and this year's been packed with plenty of distracting incidents. Ah, the romantic life of a cartoonist/comic creator… sitting at a desk for hours on end neglecting food, sunlight, personal hygiene and going slightly insane… It's blindingly obvious why we get the girls.
Getting my Sunday comic strip Harry the Dog, NewsHound nominated for a Stanley this year, and a Highly Commended from the Illustrators Australia Awards was also pretty nifty.
Also being involved with the [imi] creativity research project put on by the QUT, ARC and Australia Council has been a big highlight. This led to artist's placements with Halfbrick Studios for a week working on generating app concepts, and then with Mod Productions for my own app idea. Stay tuned on that one...
What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?
Pat Grant's Blue, Anzac Tale by Holfeld and Starke, collected books of Paulos' Hairbutt the Hippo, Franquin's Spirou, Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse run, E.C. Segar's Popeye, Eddie Campbell's Alec the Years Have Pants, the Blake and Mortimer reprints… Oglaf is a joy that never ceases to entertain.
I'm sure there's more that I can't remember off the top of my head right now.
And a bunch of stuff earmarked for reading but not gotten around to yet.
Enjoying the revamped Comic Spot Podcast as well. Two clinks from me.
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?
Read Shogun for the first time- brilliant and epic. A terrific matching of narrative/plot and emotional depth. A page turner! Colin Cotterill's Jim Juree stories- a great companion series to his Dr Siri books. Douglas Adams/Gareth Evans Dr Who story SHADA was a fun ride. Tim Flannery's Here on Earth was compelling. Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom is mighty fine escapism for the young at heart. Writing Irresistible KidLit by Mary Kole is awesome and highly recommended. Snowboarding in the Spanish Pyrenees was utterly brilliant, too. That last one's not a book, by the way.
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
Keeping up what I've done in 2013, pretty much. And winning the lottery so I can focus all my time on my comics and I don't have to freelance. I hope no one else steals that idea.
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