2012 in Review: Scarlette Baccini

Scarlette Baccini

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

Being a part of the Big Arse 2 launch was really special. I launched Zombolette, which is a collection of my comics about a zombie and her mutant guinea-pig best friend. Over the years I've come to care deeply for these characters, and I was really proud to see it all finished and in the hands of real-life nerds.

Watching Graphic Novels! Melbourne! at Readings with the good vibes of the local comic book community was also a mega highlight. I've always been a bit of a hermit in comic book land, but there's a real buzz in Melbourne comics at the moment, and finally being a part of it this year has been wonderful. The film kind of summed it up for me.

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

This year I discovered Warren Ellis, who created such a massive and wonderfully realised world that I felt totally lost in the landscape. I also very happily discovered about a zillion local creators. Tim Molloy's It Shines and Shakes and Laughs was so moody and delicious, I
can't wait to see more of his work. Ben Hutchings' Lesson Master killed me, and I think Walking to Japan is one of the loveliest creations I've seen. Discovering the prolificacy of Frank Candiloro was also really inspiring.

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

Seven Psychopaths! Possibly my favourite film of 2012. I'd been having conniptions over drawing a lot of violence in a new comic I'm working on, and that film helped me to sort out my feelings on the matter.

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

I used to be very haphazard about drawing, and so years of strangling pencils whilst sitting awkwardly on the floor has given me pretty awful RSI. A few months ago I got my hands on a proper drawing board, started sitting at a desk, and learnt how to use brushes. It's been a bit rough learning to use all these new tools, but I'm sure I'll thank myself later.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Finishing a Zombolette graphic novel, and a few other shorter projects that are a bit out of my comfort zone.

http://scarlettebaccini.com/

2012 in Review: Rebecca Clements

 Rebecca Clements

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

It must be just coming back to comics. I hadn't worked on any for so long and then with all my fresh motivation, I came back to Melbourne, got an exciting, rad studio in the middle of the city and suddenly had the freedom to work on comics and illustration again. Just that has been the best.

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

I don't think I've discovered any cartoonists. Sounds terrible but I just had no time for it this year, and enjoyed and needed mentally the distance from comics for awhile. Since I've been back, I've been just working on my own stuff constantly so no time for reading comics! Perhaps next year.

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

Game of Thrones season 2. Over and over.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
 
Working at all. But yes, compared to how I used to work last year, I have cut out a lot of crap. I got rid of a lot of excuses I used to find to not work, got rid of the crappy bits of my ego, and I work on projects I really like, that are manageable, and I keep working, and work some more, etc. Part of it is being FAR less social. But it's marvelous for productivity.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?
 
Hopefully working a lot more! Producing a couple of books would be nice. And improving and pushing myself more and more. And maybe going in some new career directions.

http://kinokofry.com/

2012 in Review: T-Rex Jones

T-Rex Jones ( Photo by Bruce Moyle - Joffre Street Productions)

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

Two highlights -- I finally started writing AND drawing my own stuff. It's been a long time coming and a lot of confidence issues booted in the arse thanks to the tremendous support of other professionals (and great friends) out there in the industry, but I'm finally doing it! The second highlight is meeting those folks and finally finding myself connected to like-minded individuals, many of whom (as I said) are some of the best friends a guy could ask for.
 
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?
 
There are a few. Rob Paolucci's a dude from Western Australia living over in New York now who has a really great sense of style and design. His layouts are particularly impressive and sense of movement from one frame to the next is something I find myself trying to emulate a fair bit now. He helped layout a fairly prominent book this past year and I got to see a bit of it. He's also got a real eye for dynamic movement in characters.

Guiseppe Camuncoli is an artist I'd been reading in Hellblazer for ages now, but really only just switched onto earlier in the year. I really love the way he details features -- hands, faces -- it's extremely emotive stuff. REALLY emotive stuff.

I've really only just started stepping outside of my safety zone recently, so a lot of the newer stuff -- the different stufff -- I've been getting has been from creators most people already know, but in doing that I've started finding new people and new things. I really like want Brent Schoonover and Jason Copland are doing. I really only got a solid look in on Emily Smith's work this year, too. All three of them are on to big, big things in the future, you watch!
 
 What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

Adventure Time has basically validated my somewhat ridiculous thought processes. I'm loving X-COM: Enemy Unknown. I've been buying up a lot of film scores on vinyl. I always like having things to listen to when I work, and it's usually film scores, but over the years I found that there were soundtracks and scores that were only ever released on vinyl or were better on vinyl so I've been slowly accumulating a nice little library of obscure film scores.
 
Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
 
Yeah, I switched mainly to digital, then switched again and went from digital pencils to inking traditionally. The range of experimentation I get working digitally is amazing and it's really made me much more aware of what I'm doing and how I can achieve certain things visually in other ways, particularly traditionally.
 
 What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Getting my first creator owned material out into the wild! I'm also planning a fairly dramatic shift in geographic placement sometime next year, so it should be interesting... See how it all goes.

http://t-rexjones.deviantart.com/?rnrd=43299

2012 in Review: Andrew Fulton

Andrew Fulton

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

My 2012 highlight would have to have been travelling to Mocca and TCAF with the Caravan, meeting up with cartooning weirdos on another continent. That was a good time in so many different ways. Getting the Minicomics of the Month club back up and rolling again has been fun too - I'm really enjoying what's been coming out of that.

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

I have been getting right into Steven Weissman - his Barack Hussein Obama was something pretty special in a way I find difficult to articulate. It's just the right blend of magic and nonsense, and the surface quality of his ink and zipatone combination is a wonder. I am shamelessly copying his whole deal.

I don't think he has put out any actual comics, I've been following Andrew Schick on instagram. He has this interesting, loose way of putting a drawing together that I like a lot. Instagram is a pretty fun place to follow cartoonists

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

My experience of things that aren't comics is sadly slim. I have enjoyed a *heap* of tweets. I have been really getting into Homeland, the Clare Danes terrorist tv show. I also got an rdio subscription, so have been listening to a lot more music than I have previously. I really don't know much about music at all.

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

I don't think my working method has changed all that much at all. I think maybe my drawing has become looser? I've been trying to plan and edit things a bit better too - I usually just start drawing on the top left of a piece of paper and hope that I can get at least a hint of somewhere by the time I get to the bottom right. There's been a higher percentage of strips I've made this year where I have made actual, considered decisions, and reworked things rather than just abandoned them.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

 
I have literally no clue what is going to happen next year.

http://mumblier.com/

2012 in Review: Darren Close

Darren Close (photo by Bobby N)

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

Getting a new Killeroo book out after about 7 years hiatus was pretty good, but returning to the collaboration side of things for a BIG book next year would probably be the highlight - so much talent in this country that hasn't been given its due thus far. And continuing to develop my own artwork has been particularly rewarding as well.

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

There's probably too many to name that fall into this category, mainly due to their entries to the OzComics Drawing Challenge on Facebook. Sacha Bryning, Steve Boyd, Rob O'Connor, Louie Joyce, Adam Rose, Arthur Strickland, Louisa Ginivan, Gee Hale, Mark Lauthier, David Follett, Aly Close, Greg Holfield... and that's just a few of them! Such a variety of great artistic styles too.

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

What is this "non-comics" you speak of?

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

Brush pens. My style has changed dramatically since I discovered Kuretake brush pens (thanks Sacha!), they're fantastic. I'm happy to have introduced many other artists to these great pens too, most of which have also enjoyed the difference they have brought to their own work.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

More Killeroo! I have an enormous amount of Killeroo material building up at present, and I'm very driven to re-establish the character with a series of one-shots, appearances in other comics, and the mammoth GANGWARS ANTHOLOGY book/s due for release in mid-2013. I'm also looking forward to seeing Australian creators continue to produce their own comics, the level of quality has really been stepped up over the last couple of years - it's very inspiring!

www.killeroo.com

Darren is also the founder of the weekly drawing group Ozcomics

2012 in Review: Ben Hutchings

Ben Hutchings

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

 
It would have to be opening the doors of Squishface Comics Studio.  I have barely left the place since it opened!  It has grown and become a household name nearly of it's own accord. (the houses of cartoonists)  I enjoy being there and sharing in the dramas surrounding the other cartoonists. 

There were also two cartooning trips - the Caravan of Comics, and a recent commercial job in Singapore with David Blumenstein, Pat Grant and Rebecca Clements.

Not to mention a trip to Japan where I visited the Osamu Tezuka museum for a second time, and got a personal tour of the Kyoto Manga Museum!
 

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

Nah not really!  I wasn't paying a huge deal of attention to anybody else's work, let alone their names, sorry.  That's not to say there was nothing good at all! 
I'm just slipping into senility or something.  Probably should be worried.  It could be that so much is happened that I haven't digested it all. 

But I did rediscover and get fresh inspiration from an old artist I have always loved. 
His name is Yamahami Tatsuhiko.  He is best known for a character called Gaki Deka.  What is funny about my work has been funny in his work for decades. 
He is fantastic, with a dirty, but detailed style. I have no idea what any of his comics are about, however.

I also discovered another manga artist by mistake because they have similar names and styles.  I was searching for Yoshiharu Tsuge, and mistakenly picked up some English
translations of the work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, which looks similar.  This fellow does work of such poignancy, and gravity.  His themes include sexual frustration, loneliness and death. I very rarely do anything this heavy, but would love to.  So I would recommend seeking out both these manga artists.
 

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

Dredd 3D, Tintin, Avengers and many other excellent comic movie adaptations.  Seeing Avengers with the other Caravan of Comics dudes was a gas.  Americans know how to watch a movie.  They're so noisy.  And every one-liner they guffaw at so excitedly.  The floor at the end was covered in trampled popcorn and everybody was so darn excited about what they just watched.  When I watch a movie, we usually just walk out pretty much in silence and go for a wee.

I also discovered another band I love called Sparks.  I don't like any music ever, so they're like band #5.  It's good to have music to enjoy.  They repeat themselves a lot, with strange orchestral backing and hard rock riffs.  But mainly I just love the repetition.
 

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

Not significant changes, but I have noticed my skill slowly growing!  My lines are cleaner, my knowledge of anatomy is better, overall I think I've settled into a particular style that I really like. 
 

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Keeping commercial work to a minimum and finally leaping head - first into finishing the last ten pages of my graphic novel draft.  I will also have at least two trade paperbacks out through Milk Shadow Publishing, including two You Stink & I Don't collections, possibly a Glenjamin collection reprint too.

We talked about a book of serious, art-heavy fantasy and drama stories too, which might have to wait til 2014.  I have a selection of scripts which are very different than anything I've ever written before.  They are all melancholy and tragic, but the tone remains friendly and positive.  I'd love to see if I can pull that off.

http://hutcho.wordpress.com/

2012 in Review: Roger Langridge

 Roger Langridge

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

I guess the biggest highlight for me was winning an Eisner award for Snarked! I was first nominated for an Eisner waaay back in 2003 when I was doing Fred the Clown - so I've been banging my head against that particular door for a decade. It was especially gratifying to finally win it for something I originated myself rather than for a corporate property, too.

It was also a blast to finally get to do something with Tom Neely. Tom and I had talked about doing something together for ages, and this year we finally got to do an issue of Popeye together - the perfect vehicle for us both, as it turns out. I'd love to work with Tom again.

2012 is also the year I decided not to do any more work for Marvel. There are issues over the way Jack Kirby's heirs have been treated which tipped me over the edge, but really, I was heading that way anyway. I don't think I have anything Marvel wants, and Marvel don't really have anything I want, so I think we're both quite happy with the arrangement.

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

 Pat Grant's Blue was pretty wonderful, I thought. Really solid command of craft in the service of a compelling and personal story. Luke Pearson was another new discovery for me this year - I liked his book Everything We Miss for similar reasons. They're occupying similar aesthetic territory, I guess - it seems to be the territory that I find I want to explore lately. Measured, immersive storytelling and a kind of controlled restraint, with a fully-realised, polished style that still allows a degree of humanity. (If that makes any sense.)

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

I saw Daniel Kitson's stand-up for the first time earlier this year, that was great. There was some excellent comedy on TV - Sharon Horgan and Holly Walsh's Dead Boss, the second series of Simon Amstell's Grandma's House, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, The Thick of It, Dirk Gently, all pretty terrific. On the literary side, Dave Shelton's children's book, A Boy and a Bear in a Boat, has the makings of an all-time classic.
 

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

Yes - with writing, I've recently been doing little thumbnails in a notebook before typing up my scripts. I started doing it when I found myself getting blocked with writing The Rocketeer and it freed things up somehow, so I've carried on doing it.

On the artwork side, I'm trying to move away from digital trickery - I've had this bee in my bonnet lately about having the artwork look as much like the printed work as possible, so I'm moving back to hand-lettering and cross-hatching, and away from digital lettering and mechanical tones. I'm much happier with the pages I've done this way. Next is to get back to brushes and nibs; I switched to markers halfway through Snarked! to keep it on schedule, and the printed work looks fine, but I can tell the difference, even if nobody else can. So - back to traditional media. What can I say?... I like having inky fingers.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

 
Seeing my Mum and Dad. I'm visiting New Zealand in February for their 50th wedding anniversary - my Mum's currently recovering from cancer, so we're lucky they got this far. Counting a lot of blessings this year.

On the creative side, I'm looking forward to doing some personal work! Right now I'm doing Popeye and The Rocketeer, both of which I'm enjoying immensely, but nothing compares to putting your own creations down on paper and setting them loose into the world. More of that, please.

http://hotelfred.blogspot.com.au/

2012 in Review: Mandy Ord

Mandy Ord

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

 

Travelling with the Caravan oc Comics to NY MoCCA and Toronto TCAF to attend both festivals. Meeting a few canadian comic heroes of mine.

 

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

 

I discovered a wonderful graphic novel by Joyce Farmer...called Special Exits. The story of her aging parents reminded me of the scope for storytelling that comics possess. I found more Julia Wertz books....in particular The Infinite Wait...great stuff...very funny and insightful...honest..and well told....can't put it down once I've started.

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

 

I recently read Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E Frakl...a memoir of a Psychiatrist and holocaust survivor. Inspiring and eye opening. Also Stephen Crane....a writer published in the 1890's...wrote a short story called ' Maggie A Girl of the streets'. A candid piece of writing about the harsh lives of the poor living in the slums in New York. I recently saw the new Ken Loach film...The Angel Share...gritty drama with awesome humour and a happy ending- phew!. Boardwalk Empire has been an addictive TV series as well as watching detective Lund in Forbrydelsen..a Danish thriller/TV series.

 

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

 

I've been inspired to read more and write more to improve my storytelling.

 

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

 

Starting and finishing a new project with Finlay Lloyd. Educating myself more about visual literacy and comprehension.

 

http://mandyord.blogspot.com.au/