12 Comics You Can Buy Right Now From Polyester Books!

Part one of a series of irregular posts spotlighting comics with blurry photos that you can buy from various places. The following comics are a sample of the shelves in Polyester Books 'World's Freakiest Bookstore', 330 Brunswick St, Fitzroy Melbourne.

 

 

Paper Trail

Boy's Own adventure by Tony Thorne in Demons.

WIP: Jase Harper's Awk Wood.

Preview of Roger Langridge's L'il Ernie.

Preview for new comic from Katie Parrish.

A lengthy post on T.C. Denne’s soft drink and ice cream business by Darian Zam.

Recreation of a mid-1960s hand screen-printed poster for the Peter Pan Dazzle, by Bob Godfrey.

Philip Bentley has released a his comics memoirs A Life in Comics available from Second Shore.  Phil has been involved for much of the past 50 years with the Australian comics scene through fandom, retailing, writing and publishing. More info on A Life in Comics – a personal history of comics in Australia 1960-1990 here.

  
Phil also recently announced the end of his Australian comics publication Word Balloons.

"With the release of A Life in Comics it seems an appropriate time to draw a line under the publication of Word Balloons. It was not my intention from the outset to conclude its run here, but anyone who has been following the magazine’s trajectory will have seen that its frequency has slowed over the years. This is just the natural consequence of producing an work as labour of love. Eventually enthusiasm will run out. I had thought that perhaps at the end of producing the book I would feel energised and be enthusiastic about getting back into WB, but the opposite has been true, so I very much feel it is time to move on"

Back issues of Word Balloons can be purchased from Second Shore.

Emmet O'Cuana reviews Home Brew Vampire Bullets #0.

Eleri Mai Harris made a beautiful comic for the 2013 Caravan of Comics TCAF excursion.

Gallery of New Zealand reprint comics at The Library of American Comics Blog.

The Dominion Post profiles Murray Webb.

Simon Hanselmann's 2013 CAB report.

Daniel Best announces a Keith Chatto ebook biography.

Neale Blanden diagrams the Melbourne Comics Community.

Jem Yoshioka writes about the recent Women's Cartoon colloquium in Wellington.

Sarah Laing's commentary on the Women's Cartoon colloquium.

  
David Mahler writes about Marc Pearson.

Have you ordered your SAVAGE BITCH?

 Stephen A. Russell profiles Art Spiegelman for The Age prior to his recent Australian visit.

Paper Trail masthead courtesy of Toby Morris.

Paper Trail

DIE POPULAR!

Former New Zealand Comic Gazette reviewer Stephen Jewell profiles Rufus Dayglo.

Neale Blanden's blog.

Pipedream Comics interview Jason Paulos.

I missed it, but here's some Chaykin heavy coverage of last years Brisbane Supanova from Tim McEwen.

Howard Chaykin and David Yardin (Photo by Tim McEwen)

Maude Farrugia and Jen Breach are amongst the twelve winners of the Australian Society of Authors 2012-2013 Annual Mentorship Program.

Simon Hanselmann's bookshelf at Its Nice That.

Roger Langridge cartoon blogged his recent trip to New Zealand.

  
Forthcoming Scar Studios Exhibition.

 

 
Michael Hill writes about small press Australian comics in the 1990's.

 

Tom Taylor and James Brouwer launch the second volume of The Deep in Melbourne at All Star Comics.

Dellaram Vreeland profiles Dillon Naylor.

Scarlette Baccini's Bathwater Books.

Australian comics community on Reddit.

 
Greg Broadmore mural on the ceiling of the Roxy. (from Meredith Yayanos.)

Steve Carter and Antoinette Rydyr Interview Part Two of Two

Read part one of James Andre's interview with Steve Carter and Antoinette Rydyr here.

Find Steve Carter and Antoinette Rydyr online here.
Find Milk Shadow Books here.

A lot of your horror work seems to either be set in the prehistoric times or in the future. Your visions of the future and past seem unlike those of the Flintstones or Jetsons. What interests you in these time periods?

  The very fact that these time periods are not in the here and now allows the imagination far greater freedom to explore the kind of concepts and images that we do. Stories set in the present, with a basis in firm reality, make this more difficult to achieve. The more unreal, surreal or bizarre the setting or scenario, the more creative your imagination becomes, resulting in uniqueness and originality. Also, issues such as social politics, et al, can then be addressed in a far more lateral way and remain in the subtext without crowding the story and action. When working within genres such as SF, horror and fantasy, as a general rule, the further from reality the story, the more diverse the interpretation of the readers. We feel that this is ultimately a positive thing. We have found that settings in other realities, in the far past or distant future, or on other worlds, work best for us when dealing with pure “fantasy”

You have released several works with titles such as Gorgasm etc, what do you think of the new trend in mainstream filmmaking, and possibly mass media in general of the pornography or torture porn style of entertainment? Recent works such as Hostel etc?

For a start, it’s not exactly a “new trend”. Do not forget the Video Nasties and the Pre-Code horror comics of the 1950s, or the “Penny Dreadfuls”, the pulps of the 1930s and just as infamous, the Grand Guignol, which featured staged rapes, torture and mutilations such as eye gouging – as do films like Hostel and Saw.

There is far less censorship now than there was in the hideously politically correct 1990s. Back then; it was just too fashionable to be offended by just about anything at all. There is more freedom now, and that can only be a good thing for artists who enjoy pushing the “boundaries”.

We feel that films such as Hostel 1 & 2, Dawn of the Dead remake, Devil’s Rejects, Hills have Eyes remake, and such, are bonafide modern horror films that do not pull their punches. There are many interesting themes and good performances in these films, along with genuinely threatening and confronting images of terrifying violence. These elements make these films much more powerful than your average lightweight thriller.

One thing these films are not, and that’s pornography. While the violence and elements of sadism may well be intense, they contain no porn. Nudity, naked breasts and simulated sex does not constitute pornography. Nor do bucket-loads of SFX blood and guts. Pornographic films have real people indulging in real sex for the camera. These “new trend” horror films are not real. They are created through the use of special effects. No one is ever “really” tortured, raped, mutilated or murdered.
 
On the other hand, there are women who are involved in the porn industry that clearly would rather be doing something else. In effect, they are trapped. That kind of scenario is pretty depressing. This is simply not the case with films like Hostel, no matter how “offensive” the themes and imagery.

 

Horror is visual and visceral as well as psychological. In a thriller or suspense story it is the notion of implication and an atmosphere of fear that drives the story and characters. It is not until “that which is truly unacceptable” actually transpires and is shown rather than implied that a story can really become a “horror story”. This is what puts horror apart from other forms, such as suspense and fantasy, etc.

All good stories, horror or otherwise, have a combination of elements– a good premise, strong concepts, suspense, drama, action, interesting characters, a cohesive plot, and in some cases, even moments of impactful violence. But if you intend to do horror, then it’s a good idea to make it horrific – conceptually and visually. Matters of “taste” or theories of what does or does not constitute “porn” and “torture porn” don’t enter into it.

Splash page from Phantastique #4

Can you talk about the relaunch of Phantastique?

Yes, Phantastique has re-emerged as Fantastique. The first two issues are in circulation throughout the underground and a third one is due to be released soon. It includes The Well of Souls - scripted and pencilled by us and inked by Glenn Smith, and Ocean Born, a script of ours that has been illustrated by Tanya Nicholls (of Storm Publishing).

Fantastique is more overtly oriented towards fantasy and science fantasy, but it also contains obvious elements of horror and gore. On the other hand, Charnel House is a hard-core horror comic that is extreme and very explicit.

Ever thought of doing something with some fluffy bears and a nice little romance?

Not likely. Not our thing.

So, what’s up next?
More art, stories, experimental music and comics.

Thank you both for your time.
Thanks very much for your interest in us, and our work.
 

All images copyright 2012 Steve Carter and Antoinette Rydyr. Interview copyright 2012 James Andre.