Tuesday, December 17, 2013

2013 in Review: Owen Heitmann


What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
Every published story is a thrill, but I was particularly pleased to have my story 'Doing The Harry Holt' included in the anthology Unknown Origins & Untimely Ends: A Collection of Unsolved Mysteries (Hic & Hoc Publications).
 
It's also been great fun to organise Comics With Friends And Strangers (a monthly meeting for like-minded folk in Adelaide who enjoy drawing comics), together with my girlfriend, Gina Chadderton (a talented cartoonist herself). Cartooning can be a solitary business, but I find it a refreshing change to create in a group atmosphere, and it's also been wonderful to meet up with other local artists, many of whom I wasn't aware of before.
 
And, of course, it was an honour to be asked to write the introduction to Dillon Naylor's Da 'n' Dill: The Showbag Years.

What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?
There have been a lot! I'm sure I'll forget some, but... cartoonists I've just discovered this year have included Vera Brosgol (Anya's Ghost), MK Reed and Jonathan Hill (Americus) and Garen Ewing (The Adventures of Julius Chancer). I knew of Walt Kelly already, but only just read his Our Gang stories, and enjoyed them a lot. Old favourites I've continued to devour include Floyd Gottfredson (thanks to Fantagraphics' Mickey Mouse reprints), Caanan Grall (Max Overacts) and Trudy Cooper (Oglaf)... but really, there's too many to mention! Being in a relationship with a cartoonist also means I get lots of amazing comics drawn for or about me, and those are really top of the list.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013? 
I was stoked to finally see Weezer play live, after having been a fan for more than half my life. I also remain addicted to golden age radio plays. 

What are you looking forward to in 2014?
Fantagraphics beginning their Don Rosa Library reprint series of his Donald Duck and Uncle $crooge comics. And maybe buying a house, if I don't spent all my money on comics.

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