ALSTON, YAGAN AND THE FED ER AL COURT

Cartoonists courting the legal world

During the previous nine months the Board has deliberately taken steps

to raise the profile of the ACA in the broad community, amongst like-minded individuals and especially within the media. While understanding the limitations of an organization such as the ACA, which began life 80 years ago as a social club (and primarily still is), those limitations and its innocuous beginnings should not hinder the pursuit of a professional reputation and the fostering of a professional attitude within the industry in which we have chosen to work. Full-time or part time! It is the Board’s belief that it has taken the right path to ensure the longevity of the Association and to encourage the professional respect amongst our newspaper colleagues and the general public, that our job warrants. While not wanting the ACA become a union or guild, it is nonetheless important for our Association to have a presence and a voice, when necessary, in the business on which we depend for our livelihoods and of which we are an intricate and important part. To be known as a group which has the occasional “funny hat party” or an annual “piss-up” to “pat each other on the back”, and that’s all, is never going to give us the industry-standing necessary to be taken seriously by those who should. Of course foremost in the Board’s endeavors is for cartoonists, illustrators, media artists et al to take the ACA seriously. While maintaining the matchless fun of belonging to a troupe of cartoonists, the comradery and friendships that brings, along with the relief from the solitary job many of us experience, it is essential the ACA offers artists more than “back-slapping” times if it is to see another 80 years. This professional attitude exercised by the Board, has already lead to a vastly improved Year Book, the high standard of the recent Stanleys, fi nancial security and newfound relationships within our industry both here and overseas. Since June 2003 membership is up over 100%. Registrations on the ACA website are also up over 100% in the same time. It’s on the

Club website that vigorous debate and social chat on many issues and subjects, albeit by a relatively small percentage of members at this point in time, bear testament to the ongoing necessity for an organization such as ours. It is also a good yardstick to the feelings and views of the membership, so I encourage everyone to participate. I’m privileged to be able to announce two new Board initiatives that I hope will long be part of the ACA (pages 9 and 15 ). First is the agreement with the copyright agency VISCOPY to collect statutory royalties on behalf of all fi nancial ACA members without the necessity of individually having to join the agency. Of course if anyone would prefer NOT to have their statutory royalties collected by VISCOPY they need only to let the ACA know by April 30 and their name will be removed from the database the ACA will supply. Secondly, following on from our recent alliance with the USA’s National Cartoonists Society, a similar “fraternal” agreement has been reached with the Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain. Personally I have enjoyed the company and friendship of many of the members of the CCGB for sometime and enthusiastically recommend the experience to all. So now if you are traveling abroad and crave the company of a cartooning colleague in the UK, the USA or Europe we can give you the necessary contact details. The Stanleys 2004 steering committee, (Roger Fletcher, Lindsay Foyle, Jenny Hughes, Steve Panozzo, Mark Lynch and yours truly), has for some months been considering dates and venues and has held discussions with the Bradman Foundation & Museum and the Accor Hotel Group. The Board has accepted the committee’s recommendation that Stanleys 2004 take place in Bowral from November 5 - 7. It’s a fair while off just yet, but please pencil in the dates and start saving the shrapnel. Full details will be in the next Inkspot and there will be a colour Stanleys’ brochure sent out to all members well in advance of dates, along with another listing available accommodation. Even at this early stage, with a number of “high profi lers” and sponsors expressing a desire to be part of the weekend, I think we can lift the bar on Ettalong or at least match it. The 20th Stanleys will be a memorable occasion. I promise! Fraternally,

James Kemsley, President, Australian Cartoonists' Association

President's Parlay

InkspotNumber 40, Autumn 2004

www.abwac.org.au02 9601 7688

ACA Board

PresidentJames Kemsley

02 4871 2551 president@abwac.org.au

SecretarySteve Panozzo

02 8920 9996 secretary@abwac.org.au

TreasurerMick Horne

08 9527 3000 treasurer@abwac.org.au

Vice PresidentsRoger Fletcher (NSW)

02 9604 9216 nsw@abwac.org.au

Vane Lindsay (Vic/Tas)03 9523 8635 vic@abwac.org.au

Gary Clark (Qld)07 3353 0422 qld@abwac.org.au

John Martin (SA/NT)08 8297 8516 sa@abwac.org.au

Greg Smith (WA)08 9409 5026 wa@abwac.org.au

ABN 19 140 290 841

Inkspot is produced four times a year by the Australian Cartoonists’ Association.

PO Box 318Strawberry Hills NSW 2012

ACA AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS

National Cartoonists SocietyPresident Steve McGarrySecretary Rick Kirkman

www.reuben.org

Cartoonists’ Club of Great BritainPresident Graham FowellSecretary Richard Tomes

www.ccgb.org.uk

FECOPresident General Roger Penwill

Secretary General Peter Nieuwendijk www.fecoweb.org

Australia Post RegistrationPP 533798/0015

Inkspot Dogsbody: Peter BroelmanInskpot profreader: Peter Broelman

Inkspot contributors: Alan Moir, Brett Bower, Steve Panozzo, Nik Scott, James Kemsley,

John Martin, Jack Ardill, Phil Faigen, Nancy Beimann, Greg Smith,

Rod Emmerson, Sean Leahy, Gary Clark, Vince O’Farrell, Mick Horne, Greg Evans,

Christophe Granet, David Pope, Rolf Heimann, Ian C. Thomas, Leigh Summers, Ross Sharp ,Graham Fowell, Paul Baker

Cover caricature by Greg Smith.

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A recent fi nding of the Federal Court on a cartoon by Dean Alston (below) reminds us of the lack of clarity in dealing

with the law in day to day cartooning. In recent years the situation has been further confused by the introduction around the country of anti-discrimination laws. These laws are very well-meaning, but in terms of cartooning rely heavily on opinion and interpretation. So far the fi ndings have been benefi cial to cartooning, especially the Dean Alston case, where the complaint of ‘malicious intent’ was dismissed, and again on appeal, but there’s always the possibility a very restrictive finding that affects the way in which we work. In 1986 architect Harry Seidler sued the National Times over a Patrick Cook cartoon they published (right), which compared a retirement village he had designed to a chook farm. The case was dismissed, but Seidler caused far more damage to his reputation by dragging the complaint (and appeal) through the courts, amid much publicity and mirth, resulting in the offending cartoon being published all over the country. ‘Taste’ is one of the more diffi cult areas to fi ght Fortunately most of the more extreme complaints about ‘taste’ have been directed through the Press Council which generally has found that, though complainants have been ‘offended’, the rights of free speech outweigh the offence. This fear of ridicule, and being seen not to have a sense of humour, has historically been the main deterrent to legal action by politicians. But it has not deterred others taking complaints, sometimes ridiculous, to the courts, to the Press Council and to MEAA Ethics Committees. Remember the complaints in Victoria a few years ago

The Law and the working cartoonist

over the cartoons drawn of Joan Kirner in polka dot dresses? Several of us still get questioned about this (including those of us who never drew her in our lives) and are expected to somehow justify it or apologise. Not long ago I was called to the MEAA Ethics Committee to face a charge that I was defaming Kim Beazley by drawing him fat, thus breaching the Code of Ethics. It was thrown out, but nevertheless most working editorial cartoonists, and many gag and strip cartoonists, have had similar timewasting experiences. We work largely on ‘the-seat-of-our-pants’, and with public attitudes changing with fashion it is part of the nature of what we do that someone is bound to be offended, whether intentional or not. Every time we sit down to draw we break at least 4 points of the AJA Code of Ethics. It is ridiculous, and one day we should approach the AJA to clarify this area for cartoonists, and other

Alan Moir discusses limitations to freedom of ex pres sion.

Pat

rick

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Racism claim against Alston cartoon rejectedFORMER Swan Valley Nyungah Com-

mu ni ty elder Robert Bropho has failed in an oth er bid to appeal against a decision about a car toon which he claimed was rac-ist. In a 2-1 decision, the Federal Court dis missed Mr Bropho’s appeal against a de ci sion by a Federal Court Jus tice in De- cem ber 2002 to dismiss an earlier appeal which was levelled against a decision by the Hu man Rights and Equal Opportunity Com mis sion and The West Australian. The Dean Alston cartoon was pub lished in September 1997 and dealt with the issue of the return of Yagan’s head from Britain. Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes found in April 2001 the car toon made inappropriate references to Nyoongar an ces -tors and spiritual beliefs but did not breach racial dis crim i na tion laws. Commissioner Innes found the work sat is fied broad ex emp tions un-der the Act which ensured free debate

in matters of pub lic in ter est. “The West Australian had, ed i to ri al ly, recognised the importance of the return of Yagan’s head as a means of unifying the Aboriginal community, and had been crit- i cal that its return had become the sub ject of further di vi sion,” the commission said. Justices Fench and Carr upheld the ear- li er decision to dismiss the appeal.

The majority rejected the appellant’s sub mis sions that the commission had failed to take rel e vant considerations into account when it concluded that the cartoon was pub lished for a genuine pur-pose in the public interest.

David Darragh, The West Australian

Dea

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The Australian Press Council is the self-regulatory body of the print media

with two main aims: to help preserve the traditional freedom of the press within Australia and ensure that the free press acts responsibly and ethically. To carry out its latter function, it serves as a forum to which anyone may take a complaint concerning the press. Occasionally it hears frivolous complaints. In 1993 the APC dismissed a complaint against the Courier Mail about a cartoon which “defaced and derided” the Australian fl ag. The cartoon by Sean Leahy portrayed Prime Minister Keating with a group of Jap a nese businessmen, drinking a toast to “our colonial future” beneath a look-alike Australian fl ag in which the Rising Sun has replaced the Union Jack. In 1989 the APC dismissed another complaint of alleged unfair treatment of duck hunters. We’re not too sure whether Swamp’s Ding Duck was involved in that judgement. In 1994 a reader alleged that a James Kemsley Ginger Meggs cartoon strip, the theme of which revolved around the eating of a “blow fl y sanger”, was disgusting and reprehensible, particularly at breakfast time. The newspaper accepted that the strip was in poor taste but “delightfully” so and said this was what Ginger Meggs is all about. The Press Council agreed. Paul Landa, the NSW Attorney-General, died suddenly in 1984. The Daily Telegraph published a Paul Zanetti cartoon showing a graveyard in which a number of well-dressed men (obviously contenders for the Cabinet vacancy) are fi ghting furiously on top of a grave marked “R.I.P. Paul Landa”. The Premier is standing to one side looking distressed while from the grave a voice is saying “Will you blokes knock off that noise - it’s enough to wake the dead!!”. The Orange Trades and Labor Council’s complaint was shown the door. The Victorian Secretary of the Returned Services League took offence to a cartoon published in The Age news pa per in 1980, consisting of a caricature of the former Governor-General standing before a cross inscribed “Gough PM”. The cartoon was published alongside an article which recalled several events of which 11 November was the anniversary besides the solemn event of Armistice Day. The article dealt particularly with the hanging of Ned Kelly and the dismissal of the former Prime Minister by the then Gov er nor-General, as well as

less well known oc cur renc es. The complainant maintained that it was in very poor taste and should be apologised for. The paper on the other hand contended that the cartoon merely pointed up in a mild way the disparate elements which 11 November has come to represent in the Australian memory and was in no way offensive. The Press Council agreed with the paper’s point of view and dismissed the complaint. When High Court judge Lionel Murphy was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice Ron Tandberg depicted the judge sitting in a prison cell while a voice comes through the barred window saying “And hows my little inmate?” Alan Moir depicted Murphy entering the High Court wearing a judicial wig and robes over a “broad arrow” convict suit. The complainant alleged that the cartoons were in breach of the proper stan dards of jour nal ism in that they do not show “due respect for private rights and sen si bil i ties” and represent “lapses in taste so gross as to bring the freedom of the Press into disrepute”. The Press Council found that they did not refer to any private facts or feelings. “In these cir cum stanc es no question arises as to private rights or sensibilities. No doubt these com ments on public facts may have been dis tress ing to individuals, but this fl ows entirely from the nature of the public facts on which the paper was entitled to comment”. Other matters that are heard regularly by the APC include claims of racism, racial insensitivity and sexism - some of which the complaints were upheld. Legal action concerning cartoonists isn’t always re strict ed to objections from readers. In 1990 U.S. comic book giant DC Comics objected to Swamp creator, Gary Clark, from registering Swamp as a trademark, citing deceptive similarity to DC’s own Swamp Thing. Three years later the Australian Trade Marks Offi ce concluded that the objection could not be sustained. but not before a long and costly hearing. Most editorial cartoonists receive their fair share of hostile mail from readers. A letter-writing campaign was orchestrated against Courier-Mail cartoonist Sean Leahy alleging anti-Semitism over a cartoon critical of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “Election time is particularly sensitive for critical readers”, said Leahy

Peter Broelman draws a blank on legal skirmishesHUNG, DRAWN AND QUAR TERED!

who was once abused by PM Paul Keating’s Press Secretary over the phone and unsuccessfully sued by Premier Sir Joh Bejelke-Petersen for defamation. New Zealand Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson remembers stand-out reactions that come via the phone, in the street or even in the air, “I once had a plane tow a creative sign around Rockhampton city that read -”THE CARTOONIST IS BRAINDEAD”. Emmerson added, “Since being in New Zealand the most hostile response yet was to a cartoon I did on OPEC of all things. I represented OPEC as a reclining Arab fi gure, surrounded in gross opulence with a caption that was like-minded. I was taken to task by an intellectual who accused me of being racist and an economic bimbo. I responded to her caustic and lengthy e-mail and she responded back, then her bloody husband started responding as well. At the same time, I got a very curious e-mail from an anonymous person who suggested in a one line email that I had made a huge mistake and that I would regret it”. While legal sparring, complaints and protests are taken with a grain of salt spare a thought for editors and cartoonists overseas who are often jailed, beaten or even assassinated for what we take for granted. Palestinian cartoonist, Naji Salim al-Ali, 46, exiled to England was shot in the head in 1986. Algerian cartoonist, Guerrovi Brahim, 40, was murdered in 1995 while riots erupted in Kuwait over Hagar The Horrible in 1996. Further information and cases of oppression and censorship can be seen on these websites: Wittyworld www.wittyworld.com/cnsrshp.htmlCartoonist Rights Network www.cartoon-crn.com The ACA forum has two special forums dealing with Australian and international legalities facing cartoonists. They are open forums for members of the public and ACA members and are moderated by the ACA. Already ACA members have contributed signifi cantly and we welcome other cartoonists to contribute. Australian legal precedents can be searched online at www.austlii.edu.au by typing in “cartoons”, “cartoonists” or de riv a tives of in the search engine.

Peter Broelman is the editorial cartoonist for the APN Media Group and membership

4

F ormer ACA President and respected cartooning veteran Doug Albion died in Sydney on the morning of Thursday, 19 February. He was 80. A few of us would have met Doug

for the fi rst time in 2002 at the March Special Meeting, in Coogee, NSW, where we discussed the future of the Stanleys and, indeed, the ACA itself. Getting to ACA events wasn’t always an easy task for Doug, especially since he had knee replacement surgery a few years before. However, he saw the Special Meeting as one of crucial importance, and felt a responsibility to attend. With the passing of Jim Russell, Doug became our next most senior former President and his experience in managing the Club stretched back to its very foundation. His sage voice of experience helped ground the meeting, giving all those in attendance the “bigger picture”. Among other roles, Doug acted as Secretary under Jim Russell’s Presidency and when Jim took off overseas in 1958, Doug assumed the role of President (Acting) until 1964, when Jim returned to the job. Doug was elected President in 1974, holding the job for a year - at the time the post of President was run on a roster-typearrangement (much like Rotary), with a new President appointed every year. Doug was art director for Readers’ Digest for many years. Among his many achievements, Doug was responsible for designing the ACA’s ink bottle logo, which we’ve used for the last 50 years or so. Doug was awarded the prestigious artist’s smock in 1991, and was made a Life Member the same year. On a personal note, it seemed to me that there was never a time when Doug was not smiling or looking at the world in an optimistic way, always joking or seeing the bright side to everything. Living literally three blocks away, we would often have a yarn as I passed his place on my regular morning walk. He was always chirpy and cheery. His wife, Sue, said he was like that right to the very end. Sue (who says offi ce romances don’t last?) said that Doug didn’t want a funeral or memorial service. As per Doug’s wishes, she has taken his ashes to Lord Howe Island to be scattered over the water - as (in Doug’s words), “fish food”.

Steve Panozzo

Doug Albion1923 - 2004

VALE

Over the years, I have been fortunate to travel numerous paths. I have met up with many wonderful people. I could recall those from The Bulletin days, Smith’s Weekly, the

Sun-Herald and Telegraph newspapers but the one person I found time to respect and to love was Doug Albion. Many years ago Doug led a small group of Black and White mem bers to a meeting with the Australian Commercial and In dus tri al Artists’ Association, which in clud ed Les Dixon and my- self, and saved our club from be ing tak en over by the ACIAA. From that day our association has survived with ded i cat ed cartoonists following Doug’s lead and carrying on the busi ness of our existence. Doug had on a number of occasions visited me at my home. I treasured his support of my work in many articles as one must not forget his role as Art Director at Readers’ Digest where he gave work to many of our members. I recall when he and his wife, Sue, holidayed in Lord Howe Island and they both fell in love with the place. I told them to con tact a friend of mine, Elma Sansbury, a descendant of the original set tlers, and they be came life-long friends. Elma told me that she loved Doug simply because he al ways made her laugh. Over the recent 12 months, Doug battled cancer. I called him many times and never once did he complain. He would change the conversation and ask how I was and tell me to take it easy! I hope to accompany Sue to Lord Howe Island where his ashes will be scattered and pay my great respect for a wonderful person who loved our profession.

Tony Rafty

Steve Panozzo is a freelance cartoonist, caricaturist and for-mer President of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association.

Tony Rafty, at 88, is the ACA’s oldest member, a Silver Stanley recipient and a noted car i ca tur ist and can be seen sneaking around major PGA golf courses armed with a pad and brush.

5

It's a bold person who takes that leap of faith, backing his

or her own creativity and their own selling power and it must be tough - even demoralising sometimes - to put a piece of yourself out there only to be judged by editors and the like, with the stroke of a pen or the dismissive wave of a hand. The reality is that the decision by editors to publish or dismiss your offerings in the main is based on instinct. Science

barely comes into it. With that said, editors require good instinct about the needs of their readers. Their livelihood depends on that skill. Much of what they do comes from experience honed over years in the game. Also, much of what they do comes from the fi nancial imperatives of their manager or publisher. Like it or lump it, the good of the paper may suffer under cutbacks. The one thing I have found is that while editors take their job very seriously, looking at the comics pages is destined for the bottom of the pile. Some consider it beneath them. Certainly, comics here are not what they are in places like the United States where massive syndication deals and merchandising arrangements turn cartoonists into multi-millionaires. In Australia, there’s a handful that make a very good living. On the Washington Post , a committee of 15 people deliberate over the comic strip selection for the newspaper. Some newspapers are running as many as 40 strips ... wouldn’t that be heaven? But readership studies in the US appear to validate this commitment. The Newspaper Association of America’s 2003 readership survey ranks the audience of weekday comics extremely highly. 1. Main News is read by 87% of adult readers 2. Local News 82% 3. Entertainment (movies etc) 65% 4. Sport 60% 5. Comics 58% 6. Business/Finance 57% 7. Classified Ads 54% 8. Food/Cooking 54% 9. TV/Radio listings 51% I couldn’t find access to an industry wide survey of Australian newspapers that offered these compelling stats. But what I could fi nd was gut instinct. Let’s see who’s doing what and what they have to say about it...THE CANBERRA TIMES The Canberra Times runs four strips daily and a colour four-page section in its Sunday edition. Australian

content dominates; Beyond the Black Stump, Insanity Streak, Swamp and Garfield. The Sunday carries Hagar, Ginger Meggs, Beyond The Black Stump, Dilbert, Zits, Trevor, Insanity Streak, The Phantom and Wizard of Id. Editor Michael Stevens says he prefers Aussie content if it’s up to scratch. Personally, he’s not an avid reader of comics but recognises their importance. The Canberra Times gets about 15 approaches per year from cartoonists direct or via syndication groups. In recent years he’s put on about three or four. Though the sec tion does not occupy his uppermost thoughts as he prepares the news of the day, the de ci sion to change is never made lightly. Se lec tion criteria is simple, it has to be funny and consistently so. And authors must be re li a ble. Surprisingly, in this ultra-competitive environment Michael Stevens says he is still forced to suffer those who insist on sending their contributions to him late.THE LAUNCESTON EXAMINER There was a dreadful old British working class comic strip called The Gambols that had been a part of the Launceston Ex am in er for years. The author either died or retired but either way the strip was no longer available. Inexplicably, Editor Rod Scott was beseiged with letters and phone calls from irate readers demanding it be reinstated. He couldn’t but the experience stayed with him. When Footrot Flats’ Murray Ball let the dog out for the last time more than a decade ago, there was an outcry around the nation. Examiner readers were at it again and they actually petitioned the offi ce this time. Rod Scott decided to re-run the strip and it’s still going today. And when big sports events are on, the sports subs would dearly love to give The Examiner’s back page an enormous splash. They try their best. But bloody tired old Fred Basset still takes up its place on the premier sports page. Can the sub-editors convince Rod Scott that the strip should be moved inside? No way. The Examiner’s readers rule the roost. They’re vocal about what they want and Rod Scott is determined to give it to them. The newspaper runs seven strips daily – Garfi eld, Fastrack, The Phantom, Snake, Peanuts, Footrot Flats and Fred Basset. On Sunday they run Fred Basset, Ginger Meggs, Pop Culture, Snake, Garfield, Peanuts, and Hagar The Horrible. The Examiner outlays quite an amount of money on comics each year. I asked Rod: “Do you see an opening for a new strip”. It was a terse response. “We’re not changing anything”, he said,”we often make changes to suit ourselves but readers take their time to accept change.”AUSTRALIAN PROVINCIAL NEWSPAPERS At APN Queensland, Greg Swain genuinely sympathises with cartoonists. As part of his role, Greg compiles a comics page that is shared between the company’s 13 daily newspapers. He was at the centre of the debate over what should appear on the page. The aim was to appease the tastes of 13 editors. It was ugly. They wanted the strips to appeal to every segment of the readership but editors being editors, they struggled to reach consensus. The result - a page consisting of seven strips - Trevor, Garfi eld, Ginger Meggs, Insanity Streak, Swamp, Overboard and The Phantom.The latter was taken with the view that three-quarters of the readership probably hate it but a quarter would defend it to the death. Greg Swain had a bit to say about Australian talent. He

WHAT EDITORS WANTFormer Rural Press Publishing Services Manager and now AAP Editor-In-Chief Tony Gillies addressed the ACA’s Car toon ists' Conference at the 19th Stanley Awards in Ettalong in October last year to offer some insight into what editors expect from Australian cartoonists. This is an edited tran script of Tony’s presentation.

6

Tony Gillies

RURAL PRESS Like the APN group I put together a shared comics page for Rural Press’ six NSW dailies. It helped the editors because it wasn’t a page they had to worry about. It helped the cartoonists because invoicing could then go to a central point. I didn’t suffer the same problems as APN’s Greg Swain in determining the fi nal mix. I put it to editors, asked them to rate their preferences. The winners were Garfi eld, Ginger Meggs, Swamp and The Phantom. But what sets this page aside from others is that we offer a fifth cartoon that rotates every 10 weeks. I see it as an opportunity to showcase new or unused talent. I believe the authors appreciate it. It certainly works for us, creating a little more interest in the page. I trust this potted sample has been able to give you at least some insight. Of course, it will never answer all of your questions, but in summary it tells us a few things; There is a preference to support Australian talent but it must still earn its place in the newspaper. Contributions have to be relevant, funny and of consistent high quality; editors are reluctant to change for fear of reader backlash. In many cases a vocal minority will win out; Some editors will drop a cartoon even though it’s been in the paper for many years; Many choices are made on instinct rather than research; For most editors, the priority is the news of the day, not the comics pages; and expect to shunted to the back of the queue. Find your own identity; Don’t run the risk of tardy delivery of material, otherwise your days in the newspaper are numbered; When selling your material to editors, ensure the packaging and presentation is professional. It will give prospective buyers greater confi dence about your work and your ability to deliver. So what does that leave us to ponder? How could you as a collective body improve your lot against a very tough task? If you want to survive, you’ll need to fight. Should the Australian Cartoonists’ Association become a marketing body for Australian talent? With apologies to syndication agencies should the Association form its own syndication group to peddle Aussie talent? How can it work to raise standards? Days like this are a start - but should there be more? I strongly believe the Australian Cartoonists' Association should commission an independent study into the readership of newspaper comics in Australia to validate their worth and convince editors of their place in the paper.

Tony Gillies was recently appointed editor-in-chief of AAP.

acknowledged there was some very good work on offer but some just wasn’t that good. With some Australian cartoons, he doesn’t see a point of difference. They’re not as innovative as the Amer i cans. He has had to pore over a lot of cartoons for publication and he sees a gap. Something for the single girl, he said. Something a bit “Sex and the City”, perhaps.THE ILLAWARRA MERCURY When Mitchell Murphy arrived at the Illawarra Mercury a year ago, five cartoon strips sat beneath the TV guide on the inside back page. It was cramped and showed a total disregard for the reader, he said. It carried The Phantom, Ginger Meggs, Swamp, Spiderman and Croc. He wanted to offer more in a brighter, easier-to-read package. After a survey of one (!) he dumped three of the strips: Swamp (which had been in the Mercury for a generation); Spiderman because it was old and irrelevant; and Croc because he thought it was just that. Using his same research method, Mitchell added new strips. “I looked at the Australian, SMH and Telegraph”, he said, “I was looking for strips that were funny and different,” he said. A two-page spread now carries Phantom, Ginger Meggs, Calvin and Hobbs, Garfield, Insanity Streak, Zits, Hagar the Horrible and Pooch Cafe - a strip which is popular in the States but not widely used here. “I got one complaint - from a Spiderman diehard,” he said. “I got about 30 letters and emails congratulating us on the presentation.”THE BALLARAT COURIER Ballarat Courier editor Stuart Howie sees enormous value in the use of editorial cartoons, and comic strips in newspapers. They bring a much-needed dimension to the paper. He regards editorial cartoonists as more important than many of his columnists. But with that said, he suffers the same fate as most editors - he rarely gets feedback on things like his comics pages until he decides to cut something out. Stuart is conscious of providing different styles of strips to his readers daily. These days they carry: Ginger Meggs, For Better or Worse, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, Zits and Snake. When Stuart reluctantly said goodbye to Peanuts, he ran a competition asking readers what they wanted. He admits to not being too sure about Hagar or Snake but asks - why should he put himself through the pain of change? He’s receives many approaches in the course of a year - like everything else some is good, some not so good. He even described some of the offerings as raw and immature.THE SUNDAY HERALD-SUN Editors might think they know what kids want when it comes to comics but they’re way off the mark, according to Melbourne’s Sunday Herald-Sun deputy editor Phil Gardner. Phil was at the centre of the newspaper’s establishment of its eight-page kids section called Stuff. It’s a mix of kids’ news, gossip, interactive items - competitions and contributions - and of course, comics. It’s pitched to eight to 16 year-olds. In choosing the comics we had to ensure they were relevant to today’s teenagers,” he said,“40-year-old editors have no idea”. So they surveyed as many kids as they could - sons, daughters, neighbours etc. …and came up with a mix they are now comfortable works well for them. They also tested a complete working dummy of the section on the same kids before going to press for . They liked what they saw. “There’s not a lot of Australian content in it,” Phil said. “We’re not about to run Australian stuff, purely on the basis that it’s Australian. “Kids are looking for material they can identify with.

PANPAThe ACA is a member of the Pacifi c Area Newspaper Publishers’ Association. www.panpa.org.au

Panpa Magazine Editor Nick Murphie has put out a request for strips and panels with a newspaper theme (can be positive or having a go) to offer them for possible inclusion in the soon to be monthly Panpa Mag. No fee has been offered for their use but they will be seen by every editor in Australia. Please submit them to nick.murphy@panpa.org.au (black and white, strips approx. 17cm long).

Postal address: Attention Nick Murphie Panpa Magazine P.O.Box 6425 South Sydney Business Hub Alexandria N.S.W 2015

7

For us dusty, tweedy types who have nothing better

to do on wet Sundays than track down long-gone cartoonist pioneers, there is nothing more rewarding than to come across a totally forgotten gemstone. It is valuable to learn about these remarkable men and women working in much more di f f icult condit ions than we do now, and to honour them for the pioneering work they did in creating a free press, in helping shape the new democracies, standing up (in most cases) for the ways we take for granted now; womens’ vote, labour movements , universal education, pensions, the dole etc. But some have been forgotten, such as Frank Nankivel l . I had a few paragraphs, all I knew, on my website, then one day out of the blue an email arr ived from Port land, USA, from his grand-daughter offering me his unpublished auto-biography of several hundred pages. A God-send. Frank Arthur Nankivell was born in the old gold-mining town of Maldon, northwest of Castlemaine, Victoria in 1869. His parents noticed his artistic abilities and moved him to Melbourne where he studied art at Wesley College. He intended to further his studies in Paris, and in 1890 at the age of 21, on a shoestring budget, he sailed for France. But, as with many young peoples’ stories at this time, a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. He had run out of funds by the time he reached Japan, and after hawking his work around was able to earn a living as a cartoonist in Tokyo. From 1891-1894 he was on the staff of the English-language magazine Box of Curios. In Tokyo he made the acquaintance of young Rakuten Kitazawa, taught him editorial cartooning , and was able to get him on staff as the only oriental. Kitazawa later became father of Japanese

comic art and founder of Tokyo Puck, named after Puck magazine of the US. Nankivell left Japan in 1894 to study art in San Francisco. He tried his hand, unsuccessfully, at publ ishing, producing another Puck imitation, Chic, and drawing for several San Francisco newspapers, the Cal l , the Examiner and the Chronicle. He left for New York in 1896 after Chic failed, and joined the staf f of Puck, where he remained until it was sold in 1913. Puck had been founded in 1877 by the Austrian-born American political cartoonist Joseph Keppler. It became a financial success by 1880, and a national power by 1884. It was read religiously by tens of thousands, feared and denigrated by those who felt its barbs, and became one of America’s most popular and influencial magazines. But there was a lso another reason for its fame. It was the first magazine to introduce the new photo-engraving process which freed cartoonists from the constraints and stiffness of steel-engraving and wood-cuts.

There’s an important A u s t r a l i a n connection here. In 1880 the Sydney

Bulletin was founded and the Editor, William Traill, having heard of the satirical and printing reputation of Puck, set out to New York in search of ideas and possible talent. He returned with the new photo-engraving process, and Livingstone Hopkins, a 32 year-old established political cartoonist and Civil War veteran, who also knew how to use the new printing process. These events were to change the face of Australian publishing and cartooning forever. But that’s another story. The founder of Puck, Joseph Keppler, died in 1894, two years before Nankivell arrived. The magazine was taken over by Keppler’s son,Joseph Keppler Jnr, also a very good political cartoonist. When Nankivell

A FORGOTTEN Frank Nenkivell by Alan Moir

8

CARTOONISTS' CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN G’DAY to you all! You will no doubt already have been informed by your esteemed and neatly packaged President that an offi cial link between your ACA and The Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain (CCGB) h a s re c e n t l y b e e n established. The news of this has been very well received by our Committee and membership leaving us puzzling as to why we did not think of this before! Of course full credit has to go to the Kissinger-esque statesmanship of your incumbent Pres for suggesting we become more closely associated, facilitated by an ever shrinking world of international communications. I must say as Chairman of the CCGB and an offi cer of FECO (The Federation of Cartoonists' Organisations) I have seen a gradual increase in international cooperation between cartoonists' organisations to exchange information news details of exhibitions and competitions - and of course provide social points of contact for travelling cartoonists.

We are always very happy to welcome Australian cartoonists, and indeed all international cartoonists passing through London, and invite them to drop in and say ‘hello’ should they be in town on the fi rst Tuesday of the month and have the urge to visit the Cartoonists' Inn at 76 Shoe Lane, off Fleet St, where assorted cartoonists will be on hand to discuss a broad range of topics from kicking an oval ball between two uprights, or ruminate on our greatly improved test side to how we may entice you to keep the ‘D’ list celebrities we keep sending to your jungles.

We are in the process of modifying our CCGB website www.ccgb.org.uk which has a guest book and an Q & A Fo-rum for non-members - should you wish to advise us of any planned excursions. We have a CCGB Constitution which can also be viewed on our site, but essentially the CCGB is fi rst and foremost a social organisation promoting social links for what traditionally has been a fairly solitary profession.

The Club publishes a monthly newsletter Jester and Jester and Jesterwe have a permanent body of framed original cartoons called The Cartoonists' Exhibition which we use for public exhibitions, charity events and occasionally selling exhibitions. We also have a Lottery line based on signifi cant dates in the Clubs evolution - but God helps us if we win! Can you imagine the extra-ordinary meeting? I personally have never ventured to the Antipodes de-spite serving in the Royal Navy - Many of my friends have swopped hemispheres and we are fi nding it increas-ingly diffi cult to resist the invitations - how long does it take by Freighter? Somebody save me a cold one.

Warmest regards and fraternal greetings, Graham FowellChairman. The Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain.

PA

UL

BA

KE

R

Fo r u s d u s t y, tweedy t y pe s who have noth-ing better to do

on wet Sundays than track down long-gone cartoon-ist pioneers, there is noth-ing more rewarding than to come across a totally forgotten gemstone. It is valuable to learn about these remarkable men and women work-ing in much more difficult condit ions than we do now, and to honour them for the pioneering work they did in creating a free press, in helping shape the new democracies, standing up (in most cases) for the ways we take for granted now; womens’ vote, la-bour movements, univer-sal education, pensions, the dole etc. But some have been forgotten, such as Frank Nankivell. I had a few par-agraphs, all I knew, on my website, then one day out of the blue an email arrived from Portland, USA, from his grand-daughter offering me his unpublished auto-bi-ography of several hundred pages. A God-send. Frank Arthur Nankivell was born in the old gold-mining town of Maldon, northwest of Castlemaine, Victoria in 1869. His parents noticed his artistic abilities and moved him to Melbourne where he stud-ied art at Wesley College. He intended to further his studies in Paris, and in 1890 at the age of 21, on a shoestring budget, he sailed for France. But, as with many young peoples’ stories at this time, a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. He had run out of funds by the time he reached Japan, and after hawking his work around was able to earn a liv-ing as a cartoonist in Tokyo. From 1891-1894 he was on the staff of the English-language magazine Box of Curios. In Tokyo he made the acquaintance of young Rakuten Kitazawa, taught him editorial cartooning , and was able to get him on staff as the only oriental. Kitazawa later became father of Japanese comic art and founder of Tokyo Puck, named after Puck magazine

of the US. Nankivell left Japan in 1894 to study art in San Francisco. He tried his hand, unsuccessfully, at publishing, producing another Puck imi-tation, Chic, and drawing for several San Francisco news-papers, the Call, the Exam-iner and the Chronicle. He left for New York in 1896 after Chic failed, and joined the staf f of Puck, where he remained until it was sold in 1913. Puck had been founded in 1877 by the Austrian-born American political cartoonist Joseph Keppler. It became a financial success by 1880, and a national power by 1884. It was read religiously by tens of thousands, feared and denigrated by those who felt its barbs, and became one of America’s most popular and influencial magazines. But there was also an-other reason for its fame. It was the first magazine to introduce the new photo-engraving process which freed cartoonists from the constraints and stiffness of steel-engraving and wood-cuts.

There’s an important Australian connec-tion here. In 1880 the Sydney Bulletin

was founded and the Editor, William Traill, having heard of the satirical and printing reputation of Puck, set out to New York in search of ideas and possible talent. He returned with the new photo-en-graving process, and Livingstone Hopkins, a 32 year-old established political cartoonist and Civil War veteran, who also knew how to use the new printing process. These events were to change the face of Australian publishing and cartooning forever. But that’s another story. The founder of Puck, Joseph Keppler, died in 1894, two years before Nankivell arrived. The magazine was taken over by Keppler’s son,Joseph Keppler Jnr, also a very good political cartoonist. When Nankivell ar-rived in 1896 he soon established himself as one of the magazine’s more popular and influencial cartoonists.

A FORGOTTEN STARFrank Nenkivell by Alan Moir

8

Nankivell devoted his work mainly to social subjects and to State and Federal political issues. He was very direct in the Australasian way, and absorbed the same l ively American style of polit ical cartooning that was to influence Australia through Livingstone Hopkins. After Puck was sold in 1913 Nankivell left and pursued the “serious” art life he had hankered for in his earlier life. He was one of the organisers of the enormously influencial 1913 Armory Art Show which introduced many of the latest of European art trends to the US. He was also a fashionable book il-lustrator in New York circles of the 1910’s and 20’s and ,being an avid traveller, was very involved in the New York Circumnaviga-tors Club, open only to those who had circumnavigated the globe longitudinally, by land and/or sea, not so common in those times. Other members included Hemingway and Harry Houdini. Later during the Depression Nankivell worked in the Graphic Arts Division of the US Federal Arts Project, whose task was to record the effects of the Depression on ordinary people, especially in rural areas. Many examples of their ex-traordinary work, including Frank Nankivells, is held in the collections of The Smithsonian in Washington DC. He died in 1959.

Alan Moir is the chief political cartoonist at the Sydney Morning Herald, a multi Stanley and Walkley Award recipient and Churchill Fellowship recipient.

9

New Year, 1905: "Cleaning House."

Rolf’s latest character Tom

AUSPAC MEDIA has recently added to its lists a new daily strip by South Australian

cartoonist John Martin.Titled Le Cafe the strip revolves around a small cafe located in

the middle of the fi ctitious town of Bohemia Hills. Le Cafe looks out onto a pleasant tree

lined square and is home to Toulouse, a middle aged, stress-proned, third generation

cafe owner and his hard working waitress, Yvette – a young educated woman waiting

for her big break in the theatre. It also attracts an eclectic group of people who complete

the colourful day-to-day atmosphere of Le Cafe. If you would like to know more about

Le Cafe contact John Martin at martinart@tpg.com.au or John Simic at Auspac at

auspac@auspacmedia.com.au.

ILLAWARRA Mercury cartoonist Vince O’Farrell has signed on as part of the Cagle car toons syndicate in the US. “I’ve been sending them stuff for the website for quite a while now and we’ve agreed to sell my toons to the papers in their syndicate as well. I’ve been doing three cartoons a week for them for two months now and the feedback from the editors and readers has been great”, Vince said. “Daryl Cagle is looking to expand outside the US so it should be a great opportunity. “ Check out Vince’s work at www.slate.cagle.com.

CARTOONIST of the Year ROLF HEIMANN has kept his nose to the drafting table with his

new book Life’s like a Crocodile published by

Little Hare. Eighteen short stories for children

and some 50 illustrations has certainly kept

Rolf busy the past couple of months. It

seems Lila and Rolf are due for a South

Pacifi c cruise to wind down, eh?

WORD has just reached Inkspot that

inveterate cartoon competition winner,

Louis “POL” Postruzin, has yet

again set the international cartooning

world alight. In October, he scored

both the International Gold Award

and the title Master of Cartoons at the

2nd. International Biennial Masters of

Caricature Plovdiv 2003 in Bulgaria.

He then went on to score fi fth prize in

the 12th. Daejon International Cartoon

Contest, in a fi eld of 615 cartoonists who

submitted 2,009 cartoons from 51

nations. POL has amassed an incredible

DISNEY animator Nancy Beiman ’s

an i mat ed short film “Your feet’s too big”

will be released as part of the centenary

DVD/CD tribute to Thomas “Fats” Waller

later this year. The work was animated to

Waller’s soundtrack, designed, animated

and directed by Nancy Beiman. It is

the only cartoon featuring Waller to be

included on the DVD, which will also feature

Waller’s “soundies” (early music videos) and

clips of his appearances in feature fi lms.

PHIL FAIGEN in the West is exhibiting

cartoonists work later this year but still

cannot find the whereabouts of these

cartoonists: Ben Strange (1910- ), Len Cutten, Lew Saw (last seen in Canada),

and Dick Salmon. If you know of their

whereabouts, or how to locate their work

etc, give Phil a hoy via email on faigen@

allpointsbuilding.com.au, phone (08) 9316

3025 or his mobile 0413 757 885.

10

News

LI’L ELVIS JONES and the Truckstoppers soon leaves the Bunker Cartoon Gallery after several months in residence. This ABC Children’s Television Foundation exhibition has wowed local audiences and there has been a last minute rush by schools to book education tours before it leaves sunny Coffs Harbour. Li’l Elvis is a slick, hi tech exhibition consisting of cels, conceptual drawings, video footage, well written explanatory labels, further enlivened by pop music and good quality, sturdy installations based on cartoon imagery that encourages children to play. For those who have not seen the exhibition, nor heard of Li’l Elvis, the cartoon series is set in the fi ctional outback township dubbed Li’l Memphis (previously the ill-named settlement of “Wannapoo”). The series features an all Australian cast, and significantly, an Aboriginal character whose Aboriginality is loudly and proudly played out in his fabulous red, black and yellow bandanna, shirt and shorts.

Bunker staff and vollies are absolutely buzzing with the excitement of installing Leunig on the 8-9 March. The

exhibition will be at the Bunker Gallery until early June 2004. Schools have already expressed a strong interest in viewing the exhibition and it is anticipated that along with Visual Art students Leunig Animated will attract tykes and teachers from diverse subject areas including literature, performing arts, communication studies and religion. The exhibition also lends itself to imaginative, whimsical, (and lets be frank here), hysterically fun education and public program possibilities. The show has been widely acclaimed at previous venues in large part because of the artist’s strong public profi le. Leunig is undoubtedly beloved by Australian’s from all walks of life. Despite the artist’s reticence to commercialise his work ‘the duck’ ‘Mr Curly’, and a plethora of anonymous, gentle, baffl ed and bewildered big nosed characters have inveigled their way into the Australian psyche. Don’t believe me? I have seen a fully-grown plumber hop and clap when told Leunig Animated was coming here. The exhibition is an extremely comprehensive one including dioramas, stills, story-board panels, a DVD, cut out characters, installations and 40 original works. It will look absolutely at home in the Bunker Cartoon Gallery’s funky space. The Bunker Gallery is extremely indebted to Sean Leahy in Brisbane for engineering this coup. Exhibitions of this calibre are often limited to capital cities. Now, thanks to Sean’s behind the scene’s endeavours, Coffs Harbour residents and visitors can enjoy Leunig Animated. The Bunker Cartoon Gallery is the exhibtion’s final venue.

I have recently been appointed as the new Curator Administrator of the Bunker Cartoon Gallery. I have a background in arts and

cultural institutions and a strong interest in the visual arts, particularly cartooning! I have had the pleasure of meeting several cartoonists since my arrival in Coffs four weeks ago, and look forward to contacting more talented colleagues over the next few months. Please feel free to call in, telephone or email me regarding any exhibition ideas, or Bunker related issues that you may wish to discuss. Dr Leigh Summers Bunker Cartoon Gallery Curator 02 6651 734 bunkergallery@bigpond.com

CHRISTOPHE GRANET’S It’s a Jungle out there! has been picked up by Australiansyndicate Auspac Me dia. With some 500 pan els ready to go Christophe is set to take the comic world by storm with his whimsical animal-based single panel gags. There’s real science to the scheme and who are we to argue with the CSIRO researcher?!

NEWS FROM THE BUN KERBUNKER CAR TOON GAL LERY, COFFS HARBOUR

Victorian members compare bow-ties at a recent gathering. Soon after this photo was taken an all-in brawl broke out when

judges awarded Peter Foster (centre) a free beer for his efforts.

GOOD NEWS on the comic strip front with South Australia's Whyalla News soon to start a com ics' page. They will go with Gary Clark's Swamp, James Kemsley's Ginger Meggs, Steve McGarry's Pop Culture and Brendan Akhurst’s puzzle feature Spot The Diff. All ACA mem bers!

RICHARD JONES is enjoying an extended run with his Fishy comic strip in Melbourne's Sunday Age, along with three other Aussie comics. What was initially intended to be a seven-week run over the recent Christmas-New Year hoildays period was still going when Inkspot went to press. Good luck to them!

11

FROM THE world of pop-culture comes the juggernaut that is Supanova, being held at Wharf 8 in Sydney on 1 & 2 May, 2004. As with OzCon in the 1990s, Supanova’s focus is the international comic book industry, featuring luminaries from both here and overseas. The success of comic-book character-based movies has rejuvinated interest worldwide in comic books. In addition to Marc Silvestri (The X-Men & Cyberforce) making the trip from the US, Supanova will also be hosting world comic-book writing heavyweight, Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil, Powers etc.) and his cohort in crime on Daredevil, artist Alex Maleev. For local wannabes, the ever-present Artists’ Alley will be a chance to chat with the leading lights of Australian and international comics. And that’s just the where comic-books are concerned. Needless to say, the manga side of the event has exploded and will be very well represented as well. Organiser Daniel Zachariou anticipates that Supanova 2004 will be the “best ever comic-book/manga related event”.

I do the comic strip, Luann which is syndicated to 400 newspapers worldwide by United Media. There have been 19 collection books, a musical play and, recently,

interest from Dick Clark Productions in developing a live action Luann TV show. Yes, I’m rich, famous, admired and extremely happy. Ok, maybe just extremely happy. But it all might have been quite different if I’d never come to Australia. In my former life, I was a high school art teacher. My wife, Betty, taught primary school. In 1972, fi lled with youthful daring, we decided to see the world. There was a severe teacher shortage in Australia at that time and Americans were being lured with nice deals to come on down and teach for two years. So we went. We were assigned to NSW; we lived and taught in Kiama. These were probably the best two years of our lives. We traveled at every opportunity, made great friends (who we still see, either here or there) and developed a lifelong love for that beautiful, friendly, easy-going country. A country, it turned out, that would give me my first cartooning break. Like most cartoonists, I was born with gottadraw disease. I grew up in Burbank, California, near Disney Studios, and thought I wanted to be an animator. But at age 11, I made the miraculous discovery that the comic strips I loved reading in the newspaper were done by people who got PAID to do that. And paid WELL, according to a story I read about Charles Schulz. I immediately set my life goal on becoming a successful syndicated cartoonist. My fi rst attempts were, of course, horrid. I found that creating the next Peanuts was a lot harder than Schulz made it look. Over the years, I fumbled around with dozens of ideas but they were all shallow and derivative and dealt with subjects I knew nothing about: a circus, a couple of cops, a psychiatrist, a zoo. I had the gaul to submit a few and they were wisely rejected. By college, I’d distilled my concepts down to one that I knew something about: nothing. A strip called Just Us was ‘about’ nothing; it was simply a group of characters saying funny (I thought) things to each other (one of the characters was a grumpy school teacher, Mr. Fogarty, who I later salvaged and cast in Luann.

Just Us is the strip I was working on when my wife and I moved to Australia. I don’t recall exactly how, but at some point I discovered that there was a syndicate in Australia called Alan Foley Pty Ltd.

in Narrabeen, NSW. I sent samples of Just Us and, to my great amazement, Alan took me on. Obviously, Australian syndicates had a knack for spotting genius that American syndicates lacked. Contracts were signed, a sales kit was made and, by golly, I was on my way!! My wife and I moved into a larger apartment. By the time our two year stay in Australia ended in 1974, Just Us was ablaze in... hold on, I have to get my calculator here... ONE paper. So ended my brief moment of glory with Alan Foley. But I returned to the U.S. with a feeling that anything is possible. My brush with syndication gave me an adrenaline rush of hope and possibility that kept me fueled for years. Many years.

It took me until 1985, after another dozen rejections of another dozen lame strips, to hit with Luann. And so, Alan Foley, if you’re still out there, thank you for giving this young, green Yank cartoonist a chance. Looking back at Just Us I frankly have to question your judgment. But that doesn’t detract from the importance of what you gave me. There’s a message here for all of us, professional and aspiring: If you’ve made it, be generous in offering a hand up — you never know how much even a small gesture can help. And if you’re an aspiring cartoonist, don’t give up. I’m proud to say that 30 years after “Just Us” appeared in ONE paper in Australia, Luann now appears there in... grab my calculator again... ONE paper.

Luann is can be read online at www.comics.com. This article is the third in a exclusive series for Inkspot from NCS members. Greg Evans is one of three nominees for the 2004 Reuben for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year. We wish him all the best in Kansas City in May.

HOW LUANN BEGAN IN OZZIELAND

by Greg Evans

LONDON’S Daily Telegraph has re port ed that humour as so -ci at ed with car toons stim u late the same parts of the brain sim i lar to hard drugs! Some scientist dude from a posh uni ver si ty in England did some tests to fi g ure out how and why the brain reacts to fun ny stuff. His fi ndings concluded that car toons kick-started a region of the brain, called the nucleus accumbens, previously been linked with happiness and with co caine-and am phet amine-induced

... AND WE THOUGHT WE WERE JUST FUN NY!eu pho ria! The report did not, however, study the drug-theory on cartoonists who cre at ed the humour in the fi rst place. A quick Inkspot survey indicated that beer and red wine was more likely to be a con trib ut ing factor. Most respondents couldn’t even pronounce “nucleus accumbens” coherently, let alone worry what the heck it’s supposed to do to their brains. And nor did the scientifi c study offer any ex pla na tion to the puz zling suc cess of Fred Basset. Ooooooh!

12

Batrisha the Vampire Girl The Strange Ex change Student & The Slippery Shadow by Dillon Naylor Published by The Five Mile Press, Rowville, Vic. 24p (each), A4, Colour, $7.95 Reviewed by Ian C. Thomas

Batrisha is an inspired and endearing character. She has often featured in the pages of K-Zone children’s magazine, but fi nds

room to expand in these two eye-catching, coffi n-shaped titles, which are now widely available. Dillon is the hardworking role model for Australian comic book

artists, consistently producing comics for new markets. Da ‘N’ Dill and The Rock ‘N’ Roll Fairies are among his best known creations, featuring in K-Zone and the Sydney Sun-Herald and Total Girl magazine, respectively. These two Batrisha tales cover different aspects of the Vampire Girl’s world, with The Strange Exchange Student serving as the perfect introduction. Here we fi nd Batrisha arriving as an exchange student from Bloodivostok, establishing herself with the host family in inimitable fashion, contacting her family at home and meeting new friends. The Slippery Shadow focuses on her friendships and school-life, as she pursues her elusive shadow. There is a lovely dark, sardonic tone to both books. The tales are character driven, with the emphasis on the way things happen, rather than what happens. Dillon is a skilled writer: potentially simple characterisations are fully realized and often poignant, and his plotting and pacing are assured and dynamic. Batrisha herself makes an attractive and appealing protagonist, funny and lively, but also complex and conflicted. The books are models of visual clarity, featuring juicy, thick, black linework and vibrant full colour: a perfect match for the content. Dillon’s style is entirely his own, and he demonstrates complete mastery of the form. While the Batrisha appearances in

K- Zone have tended to be more traditional in execution - whether four page strips or longer stories - here Dillon experiments successfully with new forms, removing work balloon outlines, and arranging the panels vertically, rather than horizontally on the pages. The results are visually arresting and compelling. My daughters have enjoyed these books immensely, but don’t just buy them for the kids! Lively and witty in a darkly gothic way, the Batrisha books are irresistible! For more information

see: http://www.batrisha.com

Cartoonists’ and illustrators’ trade secrets by Robin Hall Published by A & C Black (Publishers) Ltd London 144p, $39.95 Reviewed by Jack Ardill

Following his s u c c e s s f u l

C a r t o o n i s t ’s Workbook, Robin Hall’s new book Cartoonists’ And Illustrators’ Trade Secrets shows you how to make a living from cartooning and illustration. Written in a very down-to-earth and practical style, the book provides detailed information on how to bring your work up to a professional standard; the facts about going freelance; dealing with syndicates and self-syndication; essential computer tips; designin g websites; 3D computer animation and cartooning on the web; how to crack the greeting card industry; and how to set up your own business and deal with clients. Coupled with advice and trade secrets from some of the world’s top cartoonists and illustrators, this book is by far the best I’ve read on the business side of cartooning, and would provide an invaluable resource for novice and professional alike. I found particularly useful the advice on areas suffered by most cartoonists but seldom talked about. Areas such as practical advice on how to avoid anxiety and stress and remain sane: creating a functional office, having access to a ton of reference material, proper diet and exercise, the need for emptiness and space in which to cultivate creativity, the need to live in the now and enjoy the process of cartooning. Hall provides a comprehensive and practical guide to pursuing a freelance career in cartooning with detailed advice on creating a busines s plan and dealing with clients in a professional manner. He also suggests looking beyond the print media to access a great deal more work e.g. commercial clients, small businesses, educational establishments, shops, associations, charities, etc. As someone who has recently set up my own business, seeking to pursue a freelance career in cartooning, I can highly recommend this book. It answers nearly all of the many questions I’ve had regarding the business side of cartooning. Which will indeed bring a huge sigh of relief to at least one ACA member.

Jack Ardill is a freelance cartoonist and caricaturist with his own business Lowbrow Productions.

13

Reviews

Peta Hewitt has been quietly creating Terinu on a regular basis since August 2002, now reaching

the seventh issue, and a new volume. Terinu himself is an isolated character and unlikely hero, an adolescent alien boy, unwillingly thrust into the midst of interstellar war. Thankfully, he fi nds himself in good company, gradually discovering friendship, particularly with human ship engineer, Leeza Blake, and Vulpine Captain, Rufus, and less successfully (but amusingly) with Leeza’s militaristic cousin, Lance Freeman. If Terinu’s background and powers are at fi rst mysterious, they are well-explained by the end of the fi rst, six-issue story arc. Gathered on the Treona, the friends fi nd themselves facing evil forces, driven by the powerful Varn, and their p e r s i s t e n t r e p t i l i a n footsoldiers, the Galapados. Terinu is good, old-fashioned space adventures (in the Babylon 5 / Star Trek t r a d i t i o n ) presented in comic book form, and the synthesis is a good one! The blackness of space, looming starships and the occasional planetary setting are visually compelling, and the character interplay and dialogue consistently strong. Hewitt’s artwork is always professional, with assured page layouts, telling an accessible, coherent story that is easy to relate to. Every issue is an enjoyable and captivating read. The comic also has great appeal for a young audience, with my one minor reservation being the occasional use of expletives. The first issue of volume 2 is a bridging episode, further establishing relationships and settings in an interesting manner, before introducing new characters and conflicts. I look forward to them! The print issues (and viewable pages of the fi rst volume) are available at: http://www.terinu.com

Ian C. Thomas currently draws serials for The Ink and MangaComic, Xuan Xuan. His earlier work includes Maelstrom,Reverie and the Busker Jim strip for Melbourne paper City Extra.

Moving from Adobe Photoshop 5.5 to Adobe Photoshop 8 aka CS Reviewed by Nik Scott

I’ve barely scratched the surface of this

upgrade and to be honest although I’ve been using it every day for years, I’ve barely scratched the surface of Photoshop 5.5, it continues to meet all my needs and it’s sad to wave it goodbye on account of my graduation from MAC OS9.2 to OSX.3. My routine is generally to scan in line art, edit, manipulate and render in rgb or cmyk, adding text in various layers before exporting as a tiff/jpg or gif. Nothing too fancy. If I have time to experiment, I head for Painter 8 which fi nally has a non confusing Photoshop like interface. Photoshop 8 is a major upgrade with many new features most of which are arguably more appropriate for high end photographic manipulation than relatively simple cartoon work. For instance, manipulation of 16 bit images is now a possibility. This together with the ability to edit RAW fi les is wet pants material for photographers and uber creatives. Web folk will also appreciate the export to Flash (SWF) features. The overall best new feature cartoonist-wise is the fi le browser/catalogue facility. This allows one to index and view thumbnails of varying sizes in varying manners. Being able to navigate thru really clear thumbnails is a major thrill. No longer does one have to open tiff after tiff in search of a particular cartoon. When I get time I plan to organise all my cartoons using this feature. Other new features include a way to save different versions of the same pic in a single fi le and the ability to type on paths. The text tool is now similar to the text tool in Illustrator. Some keyboard commands have changed which is always a freak-out. Command-n is no longer the pen tool. It brings up a tiny notelet thingie instead. This drove my fi ngers nuts until I discovered Photoshop 8 offers alteration of any keyboard shortcuts. A very useful feature. The interface is similar to previous editions altho there is a slight learning curve in order to master the new conventions. Brushes and pens all behave much as usual and are easier to access and alter. The drop down menus are now transparent which tends to be somewhat visually confusing altho terribly OSX. Why move up to Photoshop 8? I was moving up from Mac OS 9.2 to OSX. Everyone who’s still using OS 9 will eventually have to move on up. It’s purely a matter of how long you can hold out before biting the bullet. If I could remain using OS 9.2 and Photoshop 5.5, I probably would. However I’m working on a new Mac and new Macs are slanted towards OSX. They can work in ‘classic’ mode but why go backwards? If you’ve already moved up to speedy stable glorious OSX.3 and are already using Photoshop 7 and don’t work with a digital camera, there’s little urgent need to upgrade just yet. Although that image browser is very good. If you do upgrade be sure to scan in a banknote and see what happens. If you can’t wait, here’s a link to the dialogue box that pops up. Very bizarre. h t t p : / / b r a i n s t o r m s a n d r a v e s . c o m / i m a g e s 1/04/photoshopcswarning.png Fortunately I scanned my banknotes in 5.5.

Nik Scott is a freelance cartoonist and self-confessed Mac addict.www.nikscott.com.

TerinuVol. 1 no. 1- no. 6 Vol. 2 no.1 by Peta HewittPublished by Native Cat Graphics, Geelong, Victoria 24-32p, A4, B&W, $8.50 Reviewed by Ian C. Thomas

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Who are VISCOPY? VISCOPY is a non-profi t, non-gov ern ment agency that was established in 1996 by the National As so ci a tion for the Visual Arts (NAVA) with assistance from the Australia Council. VISCOPY is affi liated with over 40 non-profi t visual arts agencies throughout the world. Over 3500 Australian artists are currently registered with VISCOPY. In the 12 months to June 2003, VISCOPY paid out close to a quarter of a million dollars in royalties to Australian artists.

What is this “additional income” and what are “statutory licences”? There are provisions in the Copyright Act 1968 that allow educational institutions throughout Australia to use copyright material for educational purposes only. These institutions hold LICENCES that allow them to photocopy or scan or otherwise copy or communicate copyright material to students or staff. Several times a year, a small percentage of these schools, TAFES and universities are asked to keep a record of what and whose material they have copied. The results of these surveys are compiled by AC Nielsen. The fees that the educational institutions pay for these licences constitute the pool of royalties that will then be paid to the copyright owners identifi ed in the survey. The copyright owner must be registered with a relevant copyright collecting society in order to collect the royalty. There is no fee to register. Copyright collecting societies and agencies are non-profi t, non-government agencies owned and directed by their members – ie, the copyright owners and creators. The various societies/agencies will then distribute this royalty, less their administration fee, to the copyright owner. Basically, it’s a pot of money, and if it’s in the pot, you get some

THE ACA, VISCOPY and Statutory RoyaltiesAnother source of income for cartoonists and illustrators

ACA MEMBERS' OPT-OUT CLAUSE

The ACA intends to formalise an agreement and register ALL members with VISCOPY as part of the “statutory licencing” scheme. Included in the agreement is an option for any ACA member NOT to

be part of the agreement. However if you do NOT wish to accessthe benefi ts of the “statutory licencing” scheme via VISCOPYplease instruct the ACA accordingly BEFORE APRIL 30, 2004.

Your name will not be forwarded to Viscopy and they willNOT act on your behalf. CONTACT:

James Kemsley - 02 4871 2551 or president@abwac.org.au orPeter Broelman - 08 8255 9939 or stanleys@abwac.org.au or

your State Vice President.

In December 2003, the ACA board signed an agreement on behalf of its members with Australia’s visual arts copyright collecting agency VISCOPY that will ensure all fi nancial ACA members have the potential to receive additional income from what are known as “statutory licences”. VISCOPY answers some FAQs.

cash. There are similar schemes operating throughout Europe and the UK by virtue of those countries' copyright law (not in the U.S. though, unfortunately).

Am I giving my rights away? How much does this cost me? No and nothing! The agreement between ACA and VISCOPY means all ACA members now have access to this additional potential source of income, where previously each member would have to register individually. VISCOPY can now rummage around in the pot and see if there’s anything there for you. The agreement does not mean VISCOPY represents you or your reproduction rights in ANY other way, nor do they chase up infringements, or try to get you work, or negotiate employment agreements or syndication deals. Many ACA members have already received payments from this scheme. Cartoonists and illustrators currently registered include Lindsay Foyle, James Kemsley, Alan Moir, Bruce Petty, Bill Leak, Fiona Katauskas, Sturt Krygsman, Peter Nicholson and many others. VISCOPY’s Membership and Distribution Manager is Ross Sharp. Ross has been with VISCOPY for a bit over 2 years, and has spent the last 25 years paying royalties to a wide variety of copyright owners – music publishers, composers, record companies and recording artists. Ross last worked for a copyright collecting agency called PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia) and distributed radio and tv broadcast royalties to recording artists for 10 years.

If you would like more information pleasecontact Ross at VISCOPY on 02 9280 2855 or

email distribution@viscopy.com.VISCOPY's website http://www.viscopy.com

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THEO BAT TEN HONOURED BY MANLY ART GALLERYThe memory of Theo Batten has

been honoured with the Manly Art Gal lery & Mu se um dedicating its large gallery space in his honour. The Theo Batten Gallery was opened by Manly Mayor Jean Hay and car toon ists in attendance included Earl Budden, Ken Emerson, Stuart Hale, Norman and Mar- g a ret Hetherington, and Steve Panozzo. Theo Batten was a respected local car- toon ist, artist and journalist who had won a Walkley Award in 1972. He had travelled widely and trained at the Na tion al Art School. Theo was also a member of the Manly Art Gallery & Museum Society, a former

The Theo Batten Bequest of $720,000 has been invested to yield inter-est for the annual Theo Batten Youth Art Award of $5,000, and the development and pre sen ta tion of the Manly Art Gallery & Museum’s significant collection. The winner of the Theo Batten Youth Art Award for 2004 is Eliz a beth Knox of Mackellar Girls Sec ond ary Col lege. Therese Kenyon, Director of the Man ly Art Gallery & Museum, has informed Inkspot that a major ret ro spec tive of Theo’s work will be held at the Gallery in 2005. The Manly Art Gallery’s website ish t tp : / /www.man lyweb . com.au /ManlyArtGallery/

David Pope

member of the Peninsula Art Society and, of course, a member of the Australian Black and White Artists’ Club.

Theo Batten

B&W spot cartoon $ 160.00B&W half page $ 220.00B&W full page $ 350.00Colour half page $ 650.00Colour full page $1200.00Colour Cover $1400.00

UnpublishedB/W Caricatures (A3) $200.00Colour (A3) $300.00Live caricaturing (p/h) $150.00

Comic strips (newspapers @ day)10,000 circulation $15.0050,000 circulation $20.00 100,000 circ $30.00 400,000 circ. $80.00

Do not to under-estimate the value of your work! While the ACA cannot dictate what market forces command it strongly ad vo cates fair remuneration for an artist’s profes-sion. This rates chart is a guide only. There are many variables that a car toon ist should consider when operating in the freelance world. This is very evident in the com pet i tive comic strip fi eld where there can be extenuating cir cum -stanc es such as circulation, pub-lishing rights and market forces. The fi gures do not include Sun-days. And if in doubt, ask another car toon ist. One artist’s experiences might be more in valu able than you would think. The ACA website has a forum just for that purpose. It is free to all members and also mem-bers of the public. Check it out at www.abwac.org.au

Australian Cartoonists’ Association Rates Guide

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