Stan Cross (3 December 1888 – 16 June 1977)

Stan Cross was born today in 1888. American by birth, Cross immigrated with his family from Los Angeles to Perth in 1892. Cross achieved fame as an  Australian strip and political cartoonist with work in Smith’s Weekly, The Herald and Weekly Times. Cross is famous for his iconic 1933 “For gorsake, stop laughing: this is serious!” cartoon as well as creating the forerunner newspaper cartoons that spawned long running strips the Wally and the Major and The Potts. The Australian Cartoonist association of which Cross was a founding member and served as president for 1931 - 1954 named their annual awards the Stanleys after Cross.

Paper Trail

The Many Faces of George Grosz #2 by Keith McDougall Kickstarter: $10 delivered anywhere in the world!

 

 Sarah Laing: Let Me Be Frank #5

 
Daniel Best reveals correspondence between Stan Cross and the Herald and Weekly Times regarding the fate of his original Wally and the Major cartoons.

Thomas David Henshaw obituary by Tom Spurgeon.

 

Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko's Kickstarter for their latest single issue of the Ditko series #9 Teen in it's last 40 hours.

Nicki Greenberg: Children's Book Festival 2014 artist in residence.

Kimble Bent song set to images from Kimble Bent Malcontent by Chris Grosz.

Dustin Cabeal reviews Matt Huynh's Ma.

Anthony Woodward reviews Andrew Fulton's We'm.

  
Andrew Wheeler interviews Sam Orchard about Family Portraits Kickstarter.

  
Bobby N photos from Big Arse #4 comic launch.
 

Paper Trail masthead courtesy of Toby Morris.

The Sun-Herald Comic Section February 17 1974

Thirty eight years ago comics were plentiful in Australian newspapers with the Sun-Herald containing an eight page supplement of Australian and international cartoons. The following pages are from The Sun-Herald Comic Section February 17 1974.

 

John Dixon's Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors ghosted by Hart Amos as featured in Australian papers from 1959 to 1986, commencing in the Sun herald on 14 June 1959. Over the years Dixon was assisted by Paul Power, Phil Belbin, Mike Tabrett, Hart Amos, and Keith Chatto. Nat Karmichael has recently published a significant collection of Air Hawk strips available from Comicsoz.

The Potts is said to be the longest running strip produced by one artist. Originally created by Stan Cross as You & Me in Smith's Weekly who worked on it for nineteen years eventually passing it on to his colleague Jim Russell in 1940 who worked on the strip for the next sixty-two years.