Ian Dickson

Another selection of New Zealand cartoonist Ian Dickson's gag cartoons from Men Only circa 1940-1950's. View more Men Only cartoons here. Biographical notes and further samples of Dickson's work here.

Ian Dickson

 

 
Previous biographical notes on Dunedin born cartoonist Ian Dickson here. Selection of Dickson cartoons below from Men Only magazine published in England circa 1940s-early 1950s.

2012 in Review: Sorab Del Rio

Sorab Del Rio

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?

The highlight of 2012 for me was the release of my first graphic novel - Zombie Cities! This was a personal and artistic victory. For it was work that challenged and I hope re-defines the zombie genre with its wit, humour and style. But above and beyond that, it’s one question to simply release a new work, as anyone can do that, but it’s another challenge to create a work that draws in the fans. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to see Zombie Cities received so well across the 4 conventions where Silver Fox Comics had a presence in 2012.

What makes this sweeter is that this is the 3rd comic based venture I’ve created. So perhaps the old adage 3rd time lucky is actually real! The first was Skunge NYPD, and then of course our works for Zorro. Both of which are comics I loved, but failed to capture the fans. In 2011, I went to Sydney Supanova and sold 35 copies of Zorro at $5 each – I didn’t even cover the cost of the table. Now I know this is a common tale for creators but to me, if I can’t find an audience there is no point whatsoever, and I will leave a project if this can’t be achieved. My work has to find an audience or why bother. I’m not working a year in semi solitude to make a project no one is interested in. I left 2011 Supanova dis-heartened and beaten sorely, and thinking why do creators put themselves through this and that I need to make a project that connects with the fans.

So moving to 2012, we premiered Zombie Cities at Sydney Supanova not knowing what to expect. Was I going to sit through another 2 days and not sell a thing? No, not at all, we actually got it right selling 130 copies of the Zombie Cities graphic novel at $25 each over 2 days and 40 or so prints. We backed this up again at the Penrith Heroes and Villains convention, Melbourne Armageddon and Brisbane Supanova, and the support of comic stores, we’ve closed the year with 530 copies sold of Zombie Cities and over 250 prints. It was a project as some know came from a personal mission with the Sydney Zombies print and one where I also listened to fans in the making of this book. After the failure of previous years and projects, this was an even sweeter victory in creating a work the fans wanted and enjoy. I loved the conventions getting to talk about my work and making people laugh with what we produced. That’s what it’s all about for me – make a comic people enjoy and get immediately. At a con, you got 5 to 10 seconds to sell. When I was writing I wondered, this is really different to the regular zombie stuff – are they going to get it? Sure they did, so I’m personally pleased I went against the standard formulas to make Zombie Cities. Let me also take this time to say a thank you to everyone who bought anything from our Zombie Cities project, the artists from pencilers, inkers and colourists. Special thanks to Don Ticchio who has helped me across each of my comic book ventures. I do feel this is only the start with this project. 
 
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

Wow, so many to name, in fact too many to name. I have met many of the Australian comic creators through the conventions and now also discovering through your blog many more I am yet to discover.

We have a very talented independent scene in Australia that doesn’t get the limelight it deserves so thank you Matt for profiling us all here with your blog.

I think my biggest influence is Jason Brubaker with his online comic Remind and his associated blog and podcast Making Comics. I’m very passionate about marketing comics and he is achieving the independent self-publishing success I aspire to. He is one guy who has put as much time into marketing his comic as he has creating and it’s paid off with a $100,000 project on Kickstarter. 
 
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

Non comics – what on earth do you mean?? Kidding!
Music: As some of you know, I love my old school rnb and salsa. I’d have to mention the Prince concerts which were amazing – I saw Prince in concert twice in Sydney, and also Janele Monae live – love her!
Movies: I went through a phase where I decided not to watch any English films as I’ve just gotten tired of the same regurgitated crap. During this time I watched 20 foreign films in a row. My favourite was The Skin I Live in by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar – this is macabre thriller of which I had no idea where this was leading to. The City of Men Movies which are set in the favellas of Rio, and Amores Perros – are more foreign films I discovered this year.
Books: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Saffon. In regards to English releases – Breaking Bad is phenomenal!
Home: Seeing my dogs – my gals - Rio and Ria talk for the first time was incredible. I’d never believed this was possible. I also enjoyed meeting an Italian girl at salsa last week, lets see where this leads ;)

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
 
Right now I’m working on Zombie Cities Violence Vs Compassion. This time I’m writing with the strait jacket off and my muzzle is unleashed. There’s a real wild abandon happening with this project – a real crazy spirit happening with this project. I don’t know how it’s happening but I almost feel that these new stories are happening unconsciously and just flowing. It’s not something I implemented, it is just happening naturally.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?
 
The release of Zombie Cities Violence Vs Compassion! This will be a tour de force! I hope get to more conventions across Australia in 2013. I may need to do a crowd sourcing campaign to assist with financing. And figuring out how to release this internationally – whether its digitally, a free online comic to build a worldwide audience, a Kickstarter or similar campaign, but I am now starting to think internationally is where projects need to be. There are 3 other projects in my head knocking on my forehead every day asking to be let out so this will also happen – projects totally unrelated to anything I’ve done before.

www.silverfoxcomics.com.au

2012 in Review: David Blumenstein

 

  David Blumenstein and Andrew Fulton

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?
 
Going on the Caravan of Comics and getting to know the other caravaners better.

Coming across an amazing comics scene in Ann Arbor, MI, thanks to (among others) Kids Read Comics' Jerzy Drozd and Dan Mishkin.

Seeing Sarah (aka my hot cartooning wife) meet some of her favourite comics artists (John Porcellino, Bill Messner-Loebs) and watching her slowly create a graphic novel right before my eyes.

Finishing 100 pages of my "Bret Braddock" comics and getting the kind of mixed response I hoped for (amused/angry/litigious).

Being newly in the Australian Cartoonists Association and, while it's an organisation in flux thanks to an aging membership and a crumbling print media, feeling quite at home with the people themselves, a great bunch of guys with amazing links back to Australia's cartooning history.

Being part of Squishface Studio, putting on many great, informal, events and some big-arse exhibitions. Hoping we can keep it going another year.
 

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

Bought minis at MoCCA Fest, favourites being ones by Greg Kletsel, Tasha Harris and Paul Hoppe. I like them because I like them, that's why. Met some brilliant artists in Chicago, the ones who collaborate on "Trubble Club", a jam comic that's that's really good. Enjoyed stuff by Jeremy Tinder and Sam Sharpe (and probably more because all the panels are by different people and oh god I'm confused and sleepy.)
 

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

I only enjoyed comics this year. Some of the TV shows I watched and pissed on include "Mad Men", "Boardwalk Empire", "Sons of Anarchy" and "The Newsroom", all shows with an incredibly high opinion of their characters, all portrayed much more nobly than the writing deserves.

"Breaking Bad" is still great, though. "Looper" was a good movie.

Loads of my friends are becoming big time published authors! Anna Krien is a lovely person and wrote a great Quarterly Essay about animals and ethics you could go pick up at a snobby-type bookshop.

 Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

Many. Thanks to people at Squishface I've loaded up on brushes, brush pens, colour, bristol board, art paper and all sorts of things I'd barely tried before.

I'm writing a graphic novel. That's not something I would've thought to do before this year.

I finally caved and bought a slate computer with Wacom capability and it's going to blow the arse out of my old storyboarding methodology. Good for on-the-spot digital illustration, too.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Getting better with all the new pens and brushes I've been trying.

Continuing to grow Squishface, do new things there and maybe even figure out a way to make it pay for itself.

More little steps forward for the attitude and quality of the Melbourne comics scene.

Maybe taking a Caravan-style trip to SPX if I can afford it.

Last two years have been packed with tons of comics stuff. More next year, thank you.

Oh, and I'm finally making a series of my animated cop show, "The Precinct". It's a little mini-series of shorts called "Be A Man" and it's coming out probably Mar/Apr.

http://www.nakedfella.com/

2012 in Review: Dylan Horrocks

Dylan Horrocks

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?

I'm currently drawing the last two chapters of 'Sam Zabel & the Magic Pen' volume 1, which is pure pleasure. Also: drawing a whole lot of watercolour commissions earlier in the year; hanging out with fellow NZ cartoonists Colin Wilson, Roger Langridge, Chris Slane, Ben Stenbeck, Greg Broadmore and Rufus Dayglo in Italy and Germany.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012? 

Simon Hanselmann. Requires no elaboration. His brilliance is self-evident: http://girlmountain.tumblr.com/

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012? 

Mad Men. Been watching it obsessively (all 5 seasons) and it's become a serious addiction.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

I now adore using watercolour, after years of being scared of it. So far, I've only been using it for sketches & commissions, but we shall see...

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Finishing 'Sam Zabel & the Magic Pen' volume 1. Starting volume 2. 

 http://hicksvillecomics.com/

English Comics Diversion: More Men Only

Another gallery of Men Only Covers from the late forties - early fifties. All featuring distinctive caricature covers produced by Irish cartoonist Edward Sylvester Hynes (1872 - 1982).

Previous Men Only cover gallery here.

Selection of Ian Dickson's Men Only cartoons here.

English Comics Diversion: Men Only

Comics and cartoonists from England were my entry point to comics and are still an interest, particularly material from the 1950's to early 1980's. I've been wanting to write about some of the work of this period and share samples of art so rather than start another blog I'll be posting the occasional English Comics Diversion here. The impression I get from my Internet trawlings is that the history of English comics and cartooning are severely underwritten about in comparison to the wealth of material available on American comics.

My particular favorite sites that cover English comics are Steve Holland's Bear Alley, Lew Stringer's Blimey!, the Comics UK  Forum, Paul Gravett, The Forbidden Planet Blog and Down the Tubes.

Whilst researching Ian Dickson I picked up a box of Men Only magazine digests from the late forties and early fifties. Men Only in this era comprised stories, articles and dozens of cartoons and illustrations in each issue. Peynet, Ronald Searle, Norman Mansbridge, Wyndham Robinson were amongst contributors to the pages of Men Only with distinctive caricature covers provided by Irish cartoonist Edward Sylvester Hynes (1872 - 1982).

Ian Dickson

Ian Dickson

Ian Oscar Dickson was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 15 January 1905 and emigrated with his family to Melbourne, Australia, in 1913. Dickson, a self-taught artist, had work published in the Adelaide Register News Pictorial, the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, the Brisbane Telegraph and illustrated tourist brochures for the Queensland government.

 The Rockhampton Morning Bulletin 24 June 1932

Dickson eventually emigrated to England and found work with film companies and Razzle magazine. In the early thirties Dickson spent several months in Ceylon and after a period back in Australia he relocated there to work for the Times of Ceylon and Ceylon Observer. In 1935 Dickson returned to England where he produced work for Punch, London Opinion, Men Only and Blighty. Dickson was a prolific contributor to these men's digests with some issues featuring three or four pages of his work. During the War Dickson served with the Royal Air Force.

 

Original art possibly from Razzle circa 1950's via Illustration Art Gallery

Dickson was a member of the British Cartoonists Club founded in 1960 and appeared in the 1962 Cartoonists album alongside compatriots David Low and Keith Waite. Over this period the ever prolific Dickson was contributing cartoons to the Daily Mirror and Daily Sketch as well as producing  'Mum' weekly at the Sunday Graphic for fifteen years.

In the fifties and sixties Dickson contributed three or four panel gag strips for Eagle, Girl and Swift Annuals from Hulton Press. Dickson died 21st July 1987.

Girl Annual Nine 1961

Girl Annual Nine 1961

 Girl Annual Nine 1961

 Girl Annual Nine 1961

 

Samples of Ian Dickson's work for Men Only

Men Only July 1950

Men Only July 1950

Men Only May 1950

Men Only May 1950

Men Only May 1950

Men Only September 1949

Men Only March 1954

Men Only March 1954

 Men Only March 1954

 Men Only November 1951

Men Only September 1949 

Sources: http://illustrationartgallery.blogspot.com, Men Only 1946-1954, British Cartoonist's Album, Dictionary of British Cartoonists and Caricaturists 1730-1980 compiled by Mark Bryant and Simon Heneage, http://bearalley.blogspot.com.