Greener Pastures

GP TV. Ep02.

2012-02-24T08:40:00.009+11:00

This is the second in a series of videos that in some way feature Greener Pastures. Broadcast on February 2nd 1995, I think this is the second time Greener Pastures was seen on TV, once again on Bert Newton's Good Morning Australia. Bert must have loved comics at the time!

The wonderful Annette Shiel is interviewed for her role as curator of ACE: the Australian Comic book Exhibition, which toured the country in two mostly identical travelling exhibitions from 1994 to 1997. It was a very good exhibition from an historical point of view and even spawned a book on the subject called Bonzer: Australian comics 1900s-1990s.

Greener Pastures #1 gets a great look-in at the 5 minute 30 second mark, featuring the cover for quite a while and being used as a prop in one of Bert's jokes.

Big apologies for the wavering sound – this has been digitised from a 17 year old VHS tape.

Cartoonists work shown:
Jimmy Banks
Jim Russell
Norm Rice
Eric Jolliffe
Ant Larcombe
Keith Chatto
Sam Young
Will Donald
Tim McEwen
Glenn Lumsden
Cartoonists and/or their work I can't recognise or can't remember also appear. My apologies for any omissions. I'm not an expert on most of the really historical stuff, so off the top of my head I can't name a lot of the creators there.

Hosted by Bert Newton
Aired February 1995
On Channel 10

What I Watched Last Month…

2012-02-19T08:58:00.004+11:00

Still playing catch-up, so this is what I watched…

September 2011

Minority Report. (on DVD)

I've never seen this sci-fi pic from Spielberg, and popped it on one Friday night. In fact I didn't even realise it was a Spielberg film until his name came up on the screen.

It was a longer movie than I anticipated — I think I was expecting something a little fluffier and not so earnest. I liked the interesting concept of the central McGuffin. The telling-the-future, and then attempting to prove the prophesy false schtick, made for a real time-travel conundrum feel to it too, but with an added, interesting layer of twist.

I didn't love it, but neither did I hate it. I wonder if really it hasn't aged particularly well in the 10 years or so since it was made. It felt a little undercooked in places. There were certainly some plot holes that were more than merely niggly, and that I found quite annoying. I really was hoping to be more impressed with it than I was, both in regards to its look and the story. It's expectedly twisty, as a thriller should be, and happily I didn't see all of the twists coming, although I wasn't trying too hard either. Some though were painfully obvious from the very beginning.

I was surprised that this was directed by Spielberg. It didn't have nearly the emotional impact/resonance/weight that I'd expect it too coming from him. In fact, the main emotional thread was kind of weak and a bit hackneyed, with a resolution that was far too pat.

In the end, it's not a sci-fi flick I'd recommend watching.

Raiders of the Lost Ark. (on DVD)

Purely coincidentally, another Spielberg-directed movie. This one of course is a classic.

There's not much I can say about Raiders that hasn't already been said, other than to state that I love it heaps, and even after watching it many times over the years (the first time being in the cinema!) it still makes me laugh, cringe and thrill.

I revisit it now with even more admiration than ever. Besides the wonderful characters and the fabulous adventurous story, it's the framing, use of silhouettes and shadows, and of depth into the frame, that is part of the incredible storytelling skill that makes this film so great.

Review: Digested.01

2012-02-13T21:36:00.009+11:00

Digested.01.

By Bobby Nenadovic.

Published by Gestalt Publishing.

http://www.bobbyn.com/

http://www.gestaltcomics.com/

http://www.gestaltcomics.com/store/digested/

I've tried to keep an eye on Bobby Nenadovic's work for a number of years now, but from what I can remember his published pieces before this had been pretty sporadic. That's why I was so pleased to hear that he was finally going to begin some serialised publishing — a commitment to getting stuff out there on some sort of a regular basis. Not that commitment is an issue when it comes to Nenadovic, as I believe he is a diligent creator and that he works quite hard on his comics. I think that's really paying off here.

This first issue of Digested is made up of three parts: the lead piece which will be a serialised, long-form story; two short, self-contained stories; and then a text piece which is a conversation between Nenadovic and Tom Bonnin, another Australian comics creator.

Nenadovic's art style is cartoony, and quite idiosyncratic. Although his cartoon style may seem broad, it's also quite calculated and finely presented. He obviously loves the black & white medium and really knows how to use his fine pen line, spotting of blacks and cross-hatching/grey-toning. The cartoon style, black & white art, conforming to a grid, and deft use of silent and/or repeated panels are all ingredients that Nenadovic knows how to employ for well paced, well told, quirky stories. Add to this the ability for his characters to do some wonderful acting, either in broad, cartoony sweeps or with more subtle and fine mannerisms, and the storytelling is very enjoyable and accomplished.

The presentation of Digested is very handsome. It's a square format floppy of 24 pages, with a colour cover, all professionally printed on quality, low-gloss paper. Nenadovic's ability as a graphic designer is evidenced in the design of the whole thing — it's nicely understated and straightforward, much like his cartooning and storytelling. It makes for a very smart package.

It's hard to comment on the story content of the opening pages, which are the beginning of the ongoing serialisation of "Oxygen", as there's almost nothing of it. Looks good, but the story could be absolutely anything at this stage.

The second section has two shorts, which are good, well told stories in themselves, but I'm not overly keen on the the whole genre of short autobio pieces that often leave a story feeling half finished. The first one here, an overheard conversation called "Train Ride", does finish with what I would call an ending, while the second short, "First Date" ends just at the point where the hinted mystery hits an interesting high. Sure it's a "Wha--?!?" kind of moment, but I really really want to see how that then is played out — how did the characters involved handle the revelation in the last panel and what are the consequences? If I were being told this story at the pub or over lunch I'd certainly be asking "So what did you do then?!? What happened next?!?" I simply feel like it's a story begun but not finished.

The final section of the issue is an interesting exchange via email between Nenadovic and comics creator Tom Bonin about their influences, practices and other thoughts about comics. Worth reading, to be sure, and a great addition to the book as a whole, but I'd rather be reading comics. (My last comment there is a little tongue-in-cheek obviously. I'm here for the comics Bobby!)

Probably the only disappointing thing about Digested #1 is that it's very short at 24 pages, and somewhat dissatisfying in that. It's a good thing that I'm dissatisfied with that because it means I was enjoying the work so much that I wanted more than the 15 pages of comics therein, but dissatisfied none-the-less. That's not to say that I feel ripped off, at only $2.95 it's certainly not too expensive for the quality that is on each and every page of art and production.

I was certainly looking forward to issue 2 and beyond at this stage, and I'm so glad several issues have materialised since this first. All of them are well worth buying, and that is most easily done through the Gestalt Publishing website. Get the whole series! http://www.gestaltcomics.com/store/digested/

What I Watched Last Month…

2012-02-10T14:11:00.004+11:00

In fact, what I watched in…

August 2011

Green Lantern. (at the movies)

This was bad. Really bad. What a hodgepodge, incoherent, boring mess. With other comics adaptions raising the bar so high — even some of the not so great ones — there really is no excuse for this sort of writing in such a big budget movie. I can't believe they were able to make something that should have been awesome, epic and with great heart so boring and tedious instead.

My biggest problem (and maybe I'm wrong, since I'm not the biggest GL scholar) is the getting of Hal Jordan's character so essentially wrong. In this movie Hal's a frightened man, letting his daddy issues get the better of him, while he does stupid, dangerous things, seemingly acting irresponsibly. My understanding of the character is not that he must use courage to overcome his petty fears, but that he's genuinely courageous without a second thought. And not in a foolhardy way like he is in this film, but in a thoughtful, smart, self-sacrificing way.

The writers here often fell into the trap of presenting exposition out of nowhere, very clumsily, including telling us a lot about characters instead of showing us. It would have been great for Sinestro's character's journey, for example, if we had seen more of his frustration with his lack of power, despair at losing Abin Sur, and desire to fix it, instead of being left with an empty husk of little-to-no discernible motivation. His changing to the evil protagonist for the sequel will bear little weight as a consequence.

The biggest downfall in this regard though, was the force-feeding of the audience the whole Green Lantern Corps lore before the opening credits, which felt awfully like the opening introduction of an eighties TV action show. Surely the audience and story would have been much better served learning these things more naturally through Hal's own journey of discovery. Instead this was boring, confusing, counter-productive, and emotionless.

I don't know what Geoff Johns' run on the GL comic is like, having never read it, but if I were him, I wouldn't be proud of putting my name on this as an executive producer.

The all new, old, older Colin…

2012-02-04T12:36:00.004+11:00

An A3 character study.

Here's the first look at a slight redesign of one of the characters from the original Greener Pastures series. Why redesign him? Various reasons, but mainly two – in this new story he's matured, as in he's a little older than he was in the original series, and also I'm hoping my drawing skills may have matured a little as well.

What you see here are the pencils for the study. I'll be inking it sooner or later. I'll show you that when it's done.

What I Watched Last Month…

2012-02-01T01:01:00.001+11:00

Since I'm still catching up, this is what I watched in…

July 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. (on DVD)

So I re-watched this one as a warm-up to HPatDHP2. I'd originally seen it at the theatre, and this was the first time I'd watched it on DVD since then. I found it much easier to watch and to just ease into and go with than when I saw it at the cinema, and so found it more enjoyable. Well, a lot less painful anyway. It is still merely a very long, and sometimes tedious prologue though, which probably could have been folded into one final movie instead of split from it.

I can see that they were trying very hard to create desperate and foreboding oppressive tone, which may be most visually obvious in the almost constant use of desaturated colours, as a set-up for how dire the circumstances are in the HP universe, but whether or not it was worth it is debatable.

The whole thing is very episodic in nature, but I guess that's what this sort of journey is all about: a long, long period on the run — gruelling and trying.

The plot and story still has too many holes and silliness for my liking. My biggest gripe though is the reality that if you really want to know what's going on you have to read the books. That means the movie makers haven't actually done their job sufficiently well, with HP fans always having to explain the why's & how's to the uninitiated too often.

The production design and look of the last few HPs, especially the depiction of magical battles, has been on a steady upward curve, creating an exciting, consistent but never stagnant look.

On a side note, I've come to really enjoy the portrayals of the characters by these child (now adult) actors. These guys have really made the characters their own. Radcliffe's portrayal of Harry is now inseparable from the screen character, regardless of how good or bad he actually is as an actor. His mannerisms, personality and physicality are Harry Potter on screen. He's got quite the recognisable silhouette too, in both stance and shape.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. (at the movies)

As I said, watching HPatDH1 on DVD was a warm up for this, which I watched. To be honest, I never got around to writing my thoughts down at the time, and too much time has passed since to give fair commentary. I do remember though audibly cheering when Neville Longbottom cut off the serpent monster's head. I loved that!

Captain America: The First Avenger. (at the cinema)

I enjoyed this movie so much that I saw it twice in the space of a week. Twice! Once in 3D (which only happened because the ticket was free) and then once in 2D. I'll get this out of the way first up and say that, while the 3D isn't bad, there is a lot of brilliance, colour and definition lost compared to the 2D screening.

I thought the origin was extremely well handled, very close to the comic book version (as I know it from the 60s retellings), simply cleaning it up and fattening it out in all the right places. Steve Rogers' personality was great, and this was the aspect that stopped CA:TFA from being the overly patriotic, jingoistic film many people were worried it was going to be. That and the fact the villainous forces were Hydra instead of Nazis, which amazingly also helped with the believability of the storyline, practically removing Captain America, et al from the war as it was actually historically happening.

The visual effects in the pre-super Rogers that created the scrawny version of the character were amazing. I totally forgot for most of the time that there was visual effects trickery going on. Brilliantly done.

The middle part of the film probably had the most leaps in logic, but once the costume was properly wrapped around the super-soldier, it all picked up wonderfully again.

My only real disappointment with this movie is the fact that Cap has only had one adventure in World War II. I would have loved seeing two more period films showing war action, The Howling Commandos, and the Red Skull's comeuppance with Bucky Barnes living through most of it.

Unrealism exhibition photos and sketches.

2012-01-29T10:37:00.010+11:00

Following on from my earlier post with the footage from the Unrealism exhibition, I dug up some photos from the opening night, 30th June 1993.

I remember this night as also being the first time I was interviewed for radio. I have an audio tape of that somewhere. Maybe one day I'll be able to digitise that too.

Thanks to Stuart Hale, one of the exhibition curators, I've been given the name of the fellow I couldn't remember before who was part of the Cyberspace gallery where the show was put on – David Lawford. These photos have reminded me that Brendan Boyd was also one of the organisers of the show.

Sorry about the poor quality of the photographs/scans.

Michael Michalandos and I proudly in front of some work from Greener Pastures #1. Yes, that's four Cerebus badges and five Astro Boy badges that I'm wearing on my denim jacket! And yes, that is a ponytail I'm sporting.

Also in this photo are partly obscured art from the brilliant Clint Curé (left) and brilliant Gerard Ashworth (right).

Stuart Hale prepares to give a welcoming speech. In the crowd you might spot David Lawford, Doug Bayne, Tim Danko, my beautiful then-fiancé now-wife Anne-Maree, Paul Rebec, and David James.

Brendan Boyd also had some words of welcome, with Stuart Hale standing by.

Art on the walls belongs to Jason Paulos, Clint Curé, Tim McEwen, Gerard Ashworth and Sam Young, as well as another I can't place.

A bit of on-the-spot drawing. I'm not sure what the date of this was, but it probably wasn't opening night. I have a feeling it was the 3rd of July.

At the table, besides the few kids, is Gerard Ashworth, David James, Tim McEwen, a fellow I'm not sure of, and Brendan Boyd.

From what I can tell, there's art on the walls in the background by Jozef Szekeres, Clint Curé, Tim McEwen and Gerard Ashworth. The other stuff I can't quite make out. Feel free to fill in the gaps in the comments.

More drawing! At the table, amongst others, are Trudy Cooper, Doug Bayne, Gerard Ashworth and David James.

My famous sketchbook collection had already been started by this time, and here are some pages from it, some from opening night, some from after, all done on A6.

Peter Galmés.

Dave Owen.

Review: DC: The New Frontier

2012-01-22T11:29:00.015+11:00

DC: The New Frontier

By Darwyn Cooke with Dave Stewart.

Published by DC Comics.

http://www.dccomics.com/dccomics/graphic_novels/?gn=2352

http://www.dccomics.com/dccomics/graphic_novels/?gn=2844

Cooke's New Frontier is quite a good comic, but it's not as great as it should have been, nor as great as I think everyone wants it to be. I read the two volume collection of this story, and the first volume was very disjointed. The overall impression, especially from this first half of New Frontier, was that Cooke had a great idea, a wonderful love and knowledge of the oeuvre of 40s/50s America and what that felt and looked like, but either didn't have the writing skills, was too lazy, or simply didn't want to, weave a smoothly flowing story from everything he wanted to include in it. Instead, it feels more like a series of character sketches and story ideas for an alternate DC history. In all honesty, I could almost see the change in writing style when Cooke decided to really get the main driving plot more involved with the story. Generally, I think it would have benefitted from a more focussed narrative, possibly from fewer, or even a single, point of view.

The saving grace? These 'character sketches', as disjointed as they may be, are really cool and a very interesting take on the familiar heroes.

The art is perfectly suited to the story and the period that it's set, with a loose, brushy feel reminiscent of some illustration styles of the time it's set. The colouring by Dave Stewart is the icing on the cake, also leaning towards the same styles of illustration. It all looks really lovely, and is probably the most alluring part of the whole package.

Cooke's page layout choices are interesting. I would estimate that 90% of all pages are approached with the same layout; three wide panels stacked on top of each other. My assumption here is that Cooke was going for a "cinematic" feel with almost every image having a Cinemascope-like presentation. This has it's good and bad points. I think it certainly helps serve the overall feel of the period piece, but surely it gets in the way of pacing. Luckily, Cooke isn't completely slavish to it and decides on several occasions that the pace of the story does indeed require more than three panels on a page or just one panel per tier. Of course, there's also a liberal use of splash pages and double-page spreads.

Despite my misgivings about the choppy nature of the story and page design decisions, finishing the first volume had me really eager to see what happened next, and that's an obvious sign of a narrative that has engaged me. The second volume/second half is a lot more story-driven, bringing the loose threads together into a more cohesive narrative, picking up a significant amount of speed while it's at it. The epic nature of the challenge faced by our heroes is here to dwarf the political and personal issues that have been faced throughout the preceding pages. I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing, considering that it seemed to be what Cooke had been most interested in as the storyteller, and for us the main reason to want to continue following the disjointed narrative. Regardless, I guess that as the mandatory villain/threat of the story, it serves the purpose of not only fulfilling the super-powered punch-up quota, but also gives the plentiful heroes a focus and a hopeless-odds situation to throw themselves at. In this predicament at least, we see the bravery and selflessness of the heroic characters in their desperate attempts to stop a seemingly unstoppable force of nature.

Throughout, the characters, while appealing and interesting, aren't really given the time and space to be greatly fleshed out. Cooke is (I hesitate to say "shoehorning" but it may be appropriate) trying to include so many characters into his overall worldview and story, that most of them tend towards one and two dimensional cartoon personalities. Hal Jordan/Green Lantern is the biggest exception to this, and if there was a single character that the book was "about", it would be him. He's certainly the most interesting character in the book, with a nicely realised backstory, origin and first adventure. The Martian Manhunter gets a generous number of pages as well, and as such is also more three dimensional and interesting. To Cooke's credit though, the glimpses he gave me of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and especially The Flash, make me wish I could see much more of his take on all of them.

Similarly, the same holds true for the whole milieu. If this had been an ongoing series, running to 50 issues, and taking it's time with all of it's ideas, I probably would have been happy to be along for the whole, satisfying ride.

One last point regarding this being a "re-imagining" of DC history. The fact that this is not "canon" continuity frees the writer to not only present a different take on the standard material, but also means he is no longer beholden to the editorially mandated status quo. This charges the story with more tension and suspense than might otherwise be present as it becomes clear that maybe not all the characters are going to survive till the end. An added bonus in my eyes.

This is definitely a love letter from Cooke to the Silver Age of DC Comics, and as such is lovingly crafted. His fondness for the subject matter is evident throughout the art, writing and research for this 400 page story. I believe it does fall a little disappointingly short of being fully realised, though. That being said, it's still worth picking up for the very interesting take on DC's Silver Age heroes, and the beautiful artwork that presents it.

More on Theseus…

2012-01-17T20:46:00.021+11:00

The last character study I posted here was of Theseus, who I said was a new character being introduced in Greener Pastures: The End. That's really only half true, as a fellow by the name of Theseus was the main character in Greener Pastures #7.5, and this is may be him again, or may be another aspect of him. Or maybe it's not him at all. It's hard to tell really. Our 'new' Theseus is certainly derived from the one that appeared in #7.5, at least visually, and perhaps thematically as well.

Anyway, here are a couple more Theseus sketches that I've done relating to GP:TE. They were done on a whiteboard and photographed as I was toying with some clothing design.

What I Watched Last Month…

2012-01-15T13:30:00.010+11:00

Or rather, what I watched…

June 2011

X-Men: First Class. (at the movies)

What an enormous let down! Best X-Men movie ever?!? Hardly!

I guess my biggest problem with the story is summed up by the word "motivation". Or lack thereof. Aside from Magneto, and Shaw, the main villain, I don't know of any mutant in the film who has the motivation to do what they do in this story. This is probably the reason why Eric (Magneto) is the most compelling and interesting character to be had here. I have great problems with the way his motivations have been retrofitted compared to X-Men and X-2 as well, where now it looks like he's really just taken on the teachings of the villain that's come before him, rather than being interesting enough to originate them himself. Disappointing.

Why does Charles, as he's taken directly from his graduation, never give a second thought to what ever he was planning to do with his life before that CIA agent appeared? I'm sure there could be thousands of reasons, but none are articulated in any way. The same goes for the crew of young mutants they round up — they're demonstratively in mortal danger, why haven't they run back home to safe anonymity? Never explained.

For that matter, why have Charles and Eric only managed to round up teenagers? They were obviously also looking at other mutants as well, as evidenced with the Logan cameo. Poorly written, plotted and executed. The audience, time after time, are simply asked to not question what is not shown or explained, and please accept it instead and move on. Lazy.

The movie looked fine, with high production values and good special effects, but nothing that broke any ground. The acting was all fine too.

In the end, I felt no connection to just about any of the characters except for Eric and maybe Mystique, as the rest were never presented as anything more than 2-dimensional scenery. Even Charles, whose personality we got to see more of than just about anyone else other than Eric, is underdeveloped and flat.

I'd love to know what everyone else was so impressed by, because for me it was very lacking.

Bridesmaids. (at the movies)

What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be! I was expecting low-grade, boring, chick-flick, rom-com, but it was so much better than that. I went with my wife, and she was expecting something like "Sandra Bullock starring in Hollywood-slick The Hangover Part 3 for chicks". Instead, what we got was something much more a near-indie, well acted, well cast, witty comedy with a good heart.

There are charming performances, with what seems to be some nicely under-rehearsed, more natural and/or ad-libbed scenes. Once again, not Hollywood-slick and so, for me anyway, more interesting, real and much more human.

It's not earth-shatteringly insightful, it's a little obvious and predictable in places, but definitely good fun. There's some good physical comedy, just enough cringe comedy, some good banter and even a touch of screwball comedy here and there. Amazingly all mixing well and all living happily side-by-side, scene-by-scene. Well worth watching.

Super 8. (at the movies)

It's hard to talk about Super 8 without giving too much away. It's a fabulous movie — great fun to watch, with brilliant performances from the cast of kids/teens, enormous heart and emotional content, great tension and suspense, wonderful frights and starts and a rollicking adventure. That being said, it's so unashamedly from the Spielberg mould of summer holiday, semi-coming of age, bunch of misfit kids, small American town, adventure films, as to be almost embarrassing. That is, if it weren't so incredibly well done, so slickly produced, and then turned up to 11. JJ Abrams certainly is mastering the same ability as Spielberg had in his 70s and 80s films to manipulate suspense and to deftly push emotional buttons, but as long as you leave all cynicism at the door to the cinema, this is one brilliant popcorn movie!

Kung Fu Panda. (on DVD)

This is the second time I've seen KFP, the first since the cinema release, and I did so in prepping for KFP2.

I loved it. Again. It's an extraordinarily well made animated movie, with nice, fun character design, likeable characters with interesting personalities, and absolutely fabulous production design and colour design.

The interesting thing about KFP is that it's really thin when it comes to the actual story. Sweet as it is, there's not a lot of depth or breadth to it, being quite straight forward in plot and execution. No matter though, it's presented so wonderfully and with such wit and fun that it's too good a ride to look for complexity or unnecessary cleverness.

One of the standout aspects of KFP for me are the exciting fight scenes and training scenes. They're very clearly presented, regardless of their amazing complexity and imagination. There's constant camera movement, numerous participants, and often many props and changing landscapes, and yet we're never lost as to where to look or what's going on. Very difficult to do but done brilliantly.

The other good thing about these action scenes is that there's plenty of them, and always done in such a way that they progress the story, never thrown in gratuitously.

Similarly, although it's a very funny movie, it's never at expense of the story, only ever in service of it. I laughed truthfully and often.

There's absolutely no boring sections, even in the quieter scenes. There's wit and charm and interest throughout.

I thought the acting was fabulous, especially from Hoffman and Black. This is Possibly Black's best, as he was actually a likable, sympathetic character!

A brilliant, fun movie! Loved it! I could only hope that KFP2 can be as good.

Kung Fu Panda 2. (at the movies)

This had a lot to live up to in my eyes, being the sequel to Kung Fu Panda, and unfortunately it doesn't make the cut.

It's weighed down with muddled story telling and theme (are we saving Kung-Fu? China? Finding out who Po is/where he comes from?). It had a rushed, awkward beginning to the story and was definitely less skilful in depicting the fight scenes, which this time are not so easy to follow. Nor were they as useful in progressing the story, this time feeling much more gratuitously placed because it was time for an action scene, rather than being a good and fun way to progress the story.

It was good to see some effort, in the right direction, to round out one of the Furious Five characters (Tigress). It would have been nice to have see even more.

Unfortunately KFP2 also had nowhere near as many laughs as KFP either, nor was it as memorable.

In the end, a disappointing sequel.

GP TV. Ep01.

2012-01-12T06:28:00.008+11:00

I have a collection of (I think) every time Greener Pastures has ever appeared on TV. The following story from a July 1993 episode of Good Morning Australia is the first time images from Greener Pastures were ever broadcast. They really only flash up for a moment and don't actually appear until about three minutes 21 seconds into the piece, but the whole five and a half minute clip is definitely worth watching from an historical point of view anyway.

The story covers the Unrealism Exhibition which showed in the Sydney suburb of Glebe in early July 1993. It was organised primarily by cartoonist Stuart Hale and another fellow whose name I can't remember (though he does appear briefly at about the 1:15 mark). A couple of pages of Greener Pastures #1 featured in the exhibition before that issue had even been printed.

Unfortunately it looks like some footage is missing from the beginning of the story and a little cut off from the end.

Cartoonists interviewed:

Reg Mombasa

Jason Paulos

Sam Young

Stuart Hale

Cartoonists also filmed:

Paul Rebec

Gerard Ashwood

Cartoonists work also shown:

Jozef Szekeres

Bodine Amerikah

Ant Larcombe

Kelly Baigent

Bill Flowers

Tim McEwen

Glen Lumsden

Cartoonists and/or their work I can't recognise or can't remember also appear. My apologies for any omissions.

Reported by Susie Elelman

Hosted by Bert Newton

Aired July 1993

On Channel 10

Review: Kookabarry: The Collected Strips.

2012-01-08T08:53:00.008+11:00

Kookabarry: The Collected Strips.

David Follett.

www.davidfollett.com

I don't usually buy books that are collections of comic strips. In fact I almost never do. I don't have anything against strips as such, but I'm definitely a comic book (or graphic novel) kind of guy, not a comic strip kind of guy. I bent that rule at a Supanova Sydney by picking up a copy of David Follett's collection of Kookabarry strips from the cartoonist himself. I was buying just about everything else he had for sale, so I thought I may as well get it too. I'm glad I did.

The reason why I was buying up everything Follett had on offer was the brilliant quality of the artwork. As a cartoonist he is world-class, with slick, inky brushwork that invokes the feeling of classic 'toon illustration but still has as a very modern style to it. His art is, in a word, tops!

However, the reason I don't often buy collections like this is that I'm not a fan of the gag-a-day, stop-and-start feeling of reading such things. That being said, Follett had me amused through most of this book, especially with attempting to produce continuing 'story lines' at various times, while effectively gaining multiple laughs from the one situation. That's not a new technique in comic strips, but certainly one used well here.

The strip follows the antics and interactions of a group of outback animals. Louise the koala, Sebastian the platypus, Grub the witchetty grub, and of course Kookabarry the kookaburra, to name only a few of the largish cast. It's one of those strips where, despite the naturalistic setting, playing cards, picture frames and other human props are on hand if needed. Some of the punchlines may be a little obvious, but most of the time Follett delivers the funny, and often he does so with a slight pinch of satire or commentary.

The other notable point is the lovely Aussie feel to the art and writing. I know the animal characters are all obviously Australian, but there's something beyond that in the line-work and dialogue which also marks this as plainly, but not obtrusively, Australian in a great, positive way.

This 52 page book (printed on recycled paper) collects everything that was printed in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph as well as a run of strips not seen before (a satirical dig at modern art), and has a cover price of $8. I'm not sure that you can buy Kookabarry: The Collected Strips by itself, but there is an option to buy it along with some of Follett's other fabulous work on his blog here: davefolletto.blogspot.com (look for the 'COMPLETE COMICS PACKAGE!' in the sidebar). Or drop him a line through his website. It's well worth the read.

Above: An illustration I did for the heck of it featuring Barry, a goanna, and of course Greener Pastures' Trevor.

Character study…

2012-01-04T06:41:00.006+11:00

An A3 character study.

I really enjoyed pencilling this character study of another of the new characters for Greener Pastures: The End. I was lucky enough to have a sleeping, leather jacket wearing life model on the bus the evening prior during my regular commute sketching session (see here), and that really helped in rendering this fellow's jacket.

What I Watched Last Month…

2012-01-03T08:00:00.002+11:00

Actually, I'm SOOO far behind on these that it's not what I watched 'last' month as such. They're all written and I'm going to catch up with them over the next little while. Enjoy…

April 2011

Thor. (at the movies)

I had such high hopes for this that it's not surprising I wasn't blown away. That's not to say it's a bad film — far from it. It's just that I knew it had so much going for it, and when it was a really good action superhero flick, it wasn't quite enough for me. Really though, that's just me being difficult to please. I'm sure that on a second big-screen viewing I'll simply relax and enjoy it so much more.

I did find the movie a little clumsy. I felt the overall tone was a little rushed and undercooked. It had a real sense of 'this is only the beginning', which is fine, but lost some of the epic I was hoping for because of it I think. The pre-fab town that was the Earthly setting for most of the film, was far too obviously built just to be destroyed — I could tell that even in the trailers. I found the romantic subplot between Thor and Jane far too simplistic and presented as "everyone knows these two will get together, so let's just skip any real relationship development and go straight to the big juicy kiss at the end". Very very lazy, and a little insulting to the audience. Loki was another character that I thought kind of missed the mark. I wished for a truly malevolent and conniving half brother, but instead got someone who turned out to be mostly misguided, seeking his father's approval. It seems that maybe this was supposed to be a precursor to his truly evil downfall in The Avengers movie.

The acting was all good. Hemsworth is Mjolnir-worthy. Portman is convincing as smitten/lusting/crushing Jane. Loki, Odin, etc., all well cast. I would have rathered a much fatter (yes: fatter, not just larger) Volstagg.

My favourite part? The battle with The Destroyer. I could have had twice as much of that. The Destroyer looked absolutely awesome, but was polished off far too quickly, probably for budgetary reasons is my guess. Instead of having a protracted exciting knock-down-drag-out fight, the whole thing was wrapped up kind of boringly in a tornado.

Overall, a very good addition to Marvel's movie universe.

Summer Heights High. (on DVD)

I'm not a big fan of 'cringe comedy', of which this is a perfect example, but my wife was keen to watch the whole thing through, so I thought I'd have a look as well.

I'm not really sure that Chris Lilley is the genius everyone thinks he is. I think he's a really great observer, and that he's able to distill his observations down to their most powerful stereotypes. I think he's very good at presenting what a lot of us have encountered and which we recognise and then laugh uncomfortably at, but I don't think he's giving us any great revelations or insights in what he's presenting to us.

That being said, I was really surprised by the distinct shift in tone that happened in the second last and last episodes for the Jonah character. Once again, it wasn't any amazing skill in doing so, and really it was probably the natural and obvious path for his story arc, but it was surprising at the time, and perhaps even a little brave, rather than going for what could be more cheap laughs considering the tone of the rest of the series. What this really did for me though was throw light on the fact that the other two main characters really had no development whatsoever over the course of the eight episodes.

I think Lilley did a good job portraying these caricatures, but to a great extent they fell into being stereotypes, which he only gets away with by saying it was satire and social commentary. As far as I could see, such commentary was extremely thin on the ground if it was present at all.

I don't think he's a terribly good actor either. He's not even a very good impersonator really, with the same tics and mannerisms appearing across all the acting for all the characters. These characters are painted in very broad strokes too with little in the way of nuance.

Big Fish. (on DVD)

I feel like describing this film as "little", but really, it's not terribly little at all. In fact it's actually quite sweeping, taking place over something like 60 years and quite a wide ranging set of locations. I guess what's making me think this way is that it's really a very human film, and quite quaint and touching in its storytelling and depiction of characters and relationships. You wouldn't necessarily pick this as a Tim Burton film, regardless of mainstays like Helena Bonham Carter and composer Danny Elfman. It's much lighter and more colourful than what I've come to expect from Burton, and although it's obviously fanciful, it's not a fantasy in the way most of his films are. There is a humanity and groundedness to this much more than usual for him, and a wonderful romantic feel.

This is possibly my favourite Tim Burton film, and it might be overlooked by a lot of people because it doesn't seem like typical Burton but it's really well worth the time. Lovely movie.

Progress Report 001

2012-01-02T16:31:00.005+11:00

Although it's been a while between updates here, rest assured that we are working on the new Greener Pastures story. I guess at this point I'll let you know that the working title for the project is Greener Pastures: The End, and until we settle on something more concrete and suitable, that's how I'll refer to it here.

So what have we been doing on GP:TE? The photo above answers that: writing, scripting, working out what we're going to do to and with Trevor and his cohorts. That photo shows The five part story as it currently stands in its first draft. I reckon we'll do at least one more draft before I start drawing actual pages and then continue to refine the script as we go from that point on too. This year, 2012, will see a lot of progress I'm sure. Stick around and check in here often to see it happening.

More Noah…

2011-08-08T20:43:00.005+10:00

Here's a few more sketches of Noah that I did much earlier than the character study I've already posted.

I drew the the very first one (below) before Michael had even given me a physical description of the character, and as has happened a couple of times with Michael and I, when he did finally describe him to me, I told him I'd already drawn him like that. Exactly.

What I Watched Last Month…

2011-06-26T20:27:00.002+10:00

March 2011

Rango. (at the movies)

I had extremely high hopes for this movie, and I wasn't let down. I found it completely enchanting from beginning to end.

I'm not sure what Rango's greatest strength was, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't the story – the main narrative arc is pretty obvious very early on. What makes Rango so compelling is how that story is told.

It looks fantastic, with great environment and set design, wonderfully striking character design, and beautiful, proper, cinematography.

The writing's witty, the characters interesting, the story-telling full but not frenetic.

I loved the character designs, which to me felt very much influenced by bande dessinée (European comic book albums). They looked great, even if I wouldn't like to get up close and give them a cuddle. Not every animated character in the world has to be soft like a plush toy. These guys were covered in coarse hair, often had ugly heads and faces, and looked like they smelled bad, but they were fully realised, totally believable, and brilliantly acted/voiced/animated. It's a wonderful ensemble cast, and quite large, but every one of them had a part to play, getting the right amount of screen time to show off each distinct personality.

I think the best thing about this movie though was that it was unapologetic. It didn't try to apologise for or explain this world. It was absolutely confident in what it was presenting and simply asked the audience to come along for the ride. Why is there a wild west frontier town in the middle of nowhere populated by talking animals? I don't know, but isn't it great? What's with the regular dips into surreality? Who cares? It's awesome and propels the story in an interesting way. I love the courage of its conviction, to not feel like it had to have a logical explanation for its world. Go with it, or get out of the cinema.

I guess the only real disappointment I had was that, in the end, there really wasn't a lot to the story of the character's journey. While looking for something to keep my mind dwelling on this movie in the days that followed my viewing (because I loved it so much) beyond the fabulous visuals and wonderful whimsy, I come up rather empty handed.

Battle: Los Angeles. (at the movies)

I'm glad I didn't have to pay to see this, I won tickets. It started with a very strong, compelling and tense five minutes, right in the thick of the action. It then promptly sent us back 24 hours and proceeded to give us about 20 minutes of very boring, clumsy, cliché filled scenes, situations and characters, introducing the soldiers we were to follow for the rest of this alien invasion story.

The film then plays out like watching a video game, which is maybe what video game players would like to sit through, but for me it means an episodic feel to the storytelling with obvious and clumsy set-ups for each new portion of "the game", introducing the next "level" and its own "boss" to beat.

I was equally disappointed with the unimaginative design of the aliens and their hardware. To me, they were really just like the marines, with slightly more flamboyant guns. There was no real feeling of an absolute superiority to the invaders. They were just abnormally tall, bobble-headed people, with slightly louder guns and slightly faster gunships.

The ending is so inconclusive as to be horribly unsatisfying. That is if I cared enough about the characters and situation to have a desire for closure, rather than simply an end to the tedium. I didn't. But to leave a movie the way they did, they must either be setting up for a continuation (film sequel, video game or TV show), or thought they were being clever ("and so, the fight begins…"). Either way, I feel like I hadn't been given a complete run for my money.

That being said, Battle: Los Angeles surprised me with a few scenes where I actually did feel the tension, and there was even one time where I said to myself "I didn't expect that to happen".

Unfortunately my 16 year old son really liked it. He felt the tension much more than I did and was so much more forgiving of the clichés.

This is a big budget B-grade blockbuster, and I hear some people really like that sort of stuff.

Noah…

2011-06-14T21:19:00.006+10:00

Finally! Some actual art on my blog!

I've been doing some character studies of both new and old characters for the upcoming story. Noah is one of the new characters. Here's the pencils for his A3 study, which I'll be inking when the mood takes me. Till then I'll continue to pencil more studies.

What I Read Last Month…

2011-06-13T21:06:00.006+10:00

March 2011

Australian Mad Magazine. Various issues. (1980s)

I struggled through this lot in small bursts. My attitude to Mad Magazine hasn't changed much since the time I first encountered it at around age 10: it's cynical, pessimistic and mean, and I rarely feel like I've had a laugh after reading it, only like I'm an ashamed accomplice to schoolyard bullying.

The Australian pages, at this time anyway, are mostly simply token and embarrassing, though I was surprised and heartened by the courage to do complete original "satires" of Phar Lap and Prisoner.

There are a few highlights. The amazing cartooning skills of Don Martin and Sergio Aragones, the wonderful imagination of Al Jaffee, and the caricatures of Mort Drucker, Jack Davis and Angelo Torres obviously can't be denied. For me though, the laughs are few and far between.

Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Pérez. Vol. 2.

More of the same? Well, yes and no. I'm enjoying seeing George's rapid growth from someone with some raw talent to a more skilled practitioner, issue by issue, but it's also interesting gaining a deeper understanding of the stranglehold Joe Sinnott had on the style and final look of the heroes in this series, especially in the faces. Several issues in this volume were inked by much less accomplished inkers, and it not only shows up their lack of skill, but it also shows how rough and unfinished pencils by most artists were at this time. That being said, a reprinted annual was inked very well, as would be expected, by Pablo Marcus' brush, and is very different to Sinnott's slick brush work. Marcus gets a much more textured, detailed, finicky and organic feel to the work. The last piece in this volume is from a much much later period and is inked by Pérez himself. Needless to say it's the most detailed, delicate and finely finished of all the stories in the book, although it's also cold and lacking in a bit of life.

Gynecomasticatastrophe and The Cautionary Tale of Mister Latchkey, by Arran McKenna.

What fun getting these two minis in the post. Gynecomasticatastrophe is a delightfully silly tale, told in rhyme to make it even more delightfully silly, of a middle-aged man who one day wakes up with breasts. Hilarity indeed ensues.

The Cautionary Tale of Mister Latchkey is a little more on the dark side of comedy. Though also told in verse, the subject and action are on the cartoony gross side, but also striving for some social commentary. It's the commentary, along with the simple-minded nature of the lead character, that gives the humour a decidedly darker, uncomfortable edge.

These two comics are printings of material that was done a little while ago, and I can't wait to see what Azza has coming up.

Full Metal Chicken by Dean Rankin.

Full review coming soon, but what a great fun read from a unique and brilliant Aussie cartoonist.

What I Watched Last Month…

2011-03-31T16:09:00.002+11:00

February 2011

Cloverfield. (On DVD)
As a post-Lost season 06 chaser, we popped this one in the DVD player, due to the talk that this supposedly takes place in the same universe as Lost. I might be wrong about that, but I know for sure that I saw a Dharma Initiative logo pop up on screen very briefly, so that's enough for me.
What an amazing piece of storytelling this is. And very exciting and gripping too. On the small screen, the nausea inducing effects of the hand-held camera are thankfully mitigated. My wife had to leave the cinema 20 minutes in when it was first released, but she happily sat through the whole thing this time.
The conceit of having the entire movie supposedly being the play through of a personal video camera tape is a pretty hard internally imposed rule to stick to and make work, but work it does. There are times when the convenient turn of the camera at the precise moment to capture some necessary action becomes a little too much, and there's certainly a point where I feel like I've been plunged into a video game due to the combination of the first-person perspective and some blatant exposition and set-up that's just that smidge too clumsy, but if you accept the immediate conceit and get on board for the ride, it's a great and satisfying ride for sure.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. (On DVD)
What great fun this movie is! I have nothing to say regarding it's adaption from the comics since I've only read a few pages of Vol. 1, but as a movie in it's own right it's great fun.
This is the second time I've watched it (originally in the cinema) and I seem to be more forgiving with the pacing of the last few Ex-battles. It's obvious to me that the episodic, long-form nature of the graphic novels suits the whole protracted "7 Evil Exes" shtick, and shoehorning them into a single movie is a pretty big ask, but I'm more comfortable with it this time. I really felt it was incredibly rushed the first time around.
I don't know if I'm just being dense, but the ending still makes no sense to me, specifically regarding the Knives/Ramona/Scott triangle. I still feel like Scott is a heel and probably undeserving of winning the heart of either girl. I totally don't see any redemption in what he did with his 'extra life' whatsoever.
I also really dislike the introduction of the mind control chip. I don't know exactly why, but even in a movie like this, full of fanciful turns of story and logic, it felt far too out of nowhere, both as far as the story is concerned as well as what the universe the movie had set up would bear. Too easy, too convenient, too lazy.
On the visual side, I really, really love the integration of both comics and video gaming imagery and language. The use of split screen, visible sound effects (both as written words and as drawn graphics) extreme foreshortening and stretched, malleable perspective, all add an extra dimension to the kinetic feel of the movie. Even better, it does so entirely in service of the story and to support the personality and lifestyle of the characters. The video game imagery and metaphors do the same — this is how the characters (Scott at least) see their lives playing out, with 1-ups, points scored and pee-bars. Brilliant. It's all about giving external expression to the internal life and personalities of the characters.
I also watched/listened to the director/co-writer/comic creator commentary, which was both entertaining and enlightening. Well worth putting on in the background while doing other stuff (like inking comics, as I was).
I'm pretty sure I'm well outside the target audience for SPvtW, so I'm putting down my misgivings about the film to my lack of yoof. That being said, thinking about it and writing about it here, I already want to watch it again, if only for the eye candy.

What I Read Last Month…

2011-03-28T13:10:00.003+11:00

February 2011

Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Pérez. Vol. 1.
This book re-presents some of George's work from the 70s, so it's very early in his professional career. Even so, there's a lot of the hallmarks of his style: dynamic posing, dynamic angles, chunky anatomy, Pérez rubble, his own version of Kirby Krackle, etc. One really interesting aspect of this collection though is looking at the inkers' interpretations of George's pencils. Joe Sinnott absolutely owned the FF book for a very long time, giving it a reliable, consistent look, and his inking was surely helping George to look good here. However, two of the stories reprinted were inked by others, one by Dave Hunt and another by Vince Colletta. Dave tries his hardest to emulate Joe's amazing slick, sure, feathered brushstrokes, but comes up obviously short, and in doing so also highlights some of George's early shortcomings. Vince's inking is excruciatingly bad, making that particular story almost unreadable. And I say that even though I'm a fan of Vince’s good work. In the end Joe's obvious talent as a draftsman and penciller in his own right shone through, perhaps even to the point of altering George's original markings for the sake of keeping what was probably perceived as something of a FF "house style" at the time. The “house style” had an iron grip on The Fantastic Four, and I don't think it was until John Byrne's second run on the book that this "house style" was finally broken.
I believe George was Rich Buckler's assistant on FF up until this point, and I think that influence is quite visible for at least the first half of this volume, and the influence of Rick's emulation of Jack Kirby's style lasts even longer.
Finally, it's interesting, and for me very enjoyable, to watch the ground work of the plotting for issue 200 being laid out so early, something like two years ahead of that anniversary issue. At least it looks that way to me.
All in all good old-fashioned super-hero fun.

What I Watched Last Month…

2011-03-25T16:17:00.004+11:00

Or rather, What I Watched in January…

January 2011

Whip It! (on DVD)
Although the rest of the family loved it, I found Whip It! to be far too predictable and by the numbers. It was trite in places and sickly sweet in others. I'm a regular at the Horden Pavilion roller derby bouts here in Sydney, so I think I had kind of high hopes for the action scenes as well, which were also not as exciting as I'd hoped.
That being said, I'm glad I watched it. It was funny in parts and had some likeable characters.

Tron: Legacy (on the big screen)
I find it really surprising how much people are loving this! There's very little chance that I will ever watch this movie again, and yet I hear that people have seen it twice or thrice! I'll admit that one of my bigger problems with it is that I can't get past my inability to suspend disbelief regarding the society of The Grid. Stuff like the necessity for the likes of The End of the Line Club for "programs". And don't tell me it's because they're a form of life now, because the morality of "the sanctity of life" is flip-flopped all over during this story: are we supposed to care for the incidental characters because they're alive, or not worry about them because they're simply code that can be destroyed without a care? I certainly found it hard to care.
Regardless of that though, I found too much of the movie boring and slow. I was astounded that, despite the fact that it's mostly pretty nice to look at, it was understated design-wise to the point of being lacklustre.
Give me disc battles and light cycles in spectacular, clear, satisfying battle! The stuff we've been imagining it could look like since the original! These were unfortunately disappointing too.
Lastly, although I'll give the movie-makers credit for the balls it took to do it, I was not convinced by the digital young Flynn/Clu from the moment he hit the screen. Even from behind! My wife was totally convinced throughout, but my two kids (13 and 15) were a little suspicious all the way through and were pretty sure it was a digital construct by the end.
I didn’t see Tron when it first came out and I was very disappointed when I watched it on DVD a couple of months ago, and I was disappointed in a very similar way with Tron 2.

Toy Story 3 (on DVD)
This is the second time I've seen Toy Story 3, the first being in the cinema. My feelings on it haven't really changed I think. The animation is amazing. Really amazing. The emotion delivered by some of the characters at times is astounding and truly touching. In the end though, I found it disappointing. It was far too repetitive (some might more kindly say reminiscent) of Toy Story 1 and 2, both in themes and action. In the end, I also found it inconclusive and, for me, lacking in definite closure, in itself but mostly for the trilogy.
One very interesting aspect of it is that I think it's been aimed squarely at a much older kid; the kid that had Toy Story 1 as one of their first movies and has grown up with the characters. My son, 15, is that audience, and reacted in such an emotional way, as did many if his male (interestingly not the female) peers, as to prove that to me in no small manner. Additionally there are some harrowing scenes in this movie that go way beyond the delightfully scary and/or anxious scenes in, for example, TS1's Woody and Buzz encountering Sid and his toys. It's not a bad thing, and in TS3 it was a highly emotional sequence, but I'm sure it may have been too much for some of the real littlies.
No doubt though that I'll be watching it again at some stage.

Tangled (on the big screen)
I thought this was a very good movie and I really enjoyed it. Most of my problems with it would probably be seen as nit-picking (rubbery skin textures, what seemed to be overly rotoscoped animation, too many musical numbers, crappy and unnecessary animal sidekick). All except for the incredibly disappointing deus ex machina that really came out of nowhere at the climax of the movie. If you've seen the movie I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't I don't want to spoil it for you. Even while watching it happen I couldn't believe that the writers pulled something so inexplicable out of left field. It would have been such a better film if Disney had the bravery of their hero and had decided to forego the expected happy ending for something more powerful. I understand that that's a little too much to expect from Disney though. No one else in my family seemed too bothered by it.
It's definitely worth seeing this movie. It's got laughs, beautiful colour, good action, good voice and animated acting, and is very well put together. I'd certainly watch it again.

Despicable Me (at an outdoor cinema)
Brilliant fun! This is the second time I've seen this, and even with the distractions of being in an outdoor cinema, it was completely engaging and very funny. Great acting, good animation, fun (if a tiny bit predictable) story, that doesn't take itself in the least too seriously.

Black Swan (on the big screen)
Great movie! A tense, claustrophobic, gripping, psychological drama/thriller. It was a brilliant move to present the Jeckle/Hyde role of The White and Black Swans of Swan Lake to the main character's fragile mental and emotional state. What a harrowing spectacle watching this descent and dissection of an obsessive creative. Interesting subtle use of CGI too.

Lost Season 6 (on DVD)
About this last season of Lost I've often said, having watched this show since the very first night it screened here in Australia, that whatever it is they could come up with for the finale, there was no way that it could live up to six years' worth of build up. No way.
Well, on this second, quite rapid viewing of the final season, I must say it may have.
I often like to look at Lost this way: it's not about getting answers, but enjoying the questions, and enjoying the posing of the questions. Lost did this brilliantly and I enjoyed it immensely. This last season didn't answer all the questions that were still open, but it answered enough to not have the viewer feel ripped off, while still also posing enough new questions (and leaving a portion of those still mysteries) that it continued to have the Lost feel.
It was by no means perfect. I feel they very much fumbled the ball when it came to Desmond's true significance, role and purpose on the island in the last days. Similarly, the revelation and meaning of the island's light was very muddy and confusing, even as it was seemingly laid out in front of us. And there was a touch more than usual of the flip-flopping of characters' allegiances and motivations. Too much this time.
The final, double-length episode, for someone who has spent the last six years with these characters, was quite emotional to watch. The conceit of the "flash sideways" for this season was spot-on as far as I'm concerned, and the revelation of what that all meant was also wonderful.
This season had enough closure to feel like you'd watched a complete (six season long) story, with enough open ends to make you wish there was a way to know what happened next. My favourite TV show ever.

What I Read Last Month…

2011-03-23T14:30:00.000+11:00

Well, I’m already running late, so really…
What I read the month before last…

January 2011

Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol 5. (DC Comics, reprinting material from 1979-1980.) By Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, George Pérez, and others.
I read this only because of the Pérez contribution (and because someone gave the TPB to me), but I was also quite excited to see that the majority of the seven issues reprinted were by Dick Dillin, whose work I quite like. Unfortunately the stories here were the last that Dillin ever did and it looks like he may have been past his prime. The reproduction left quite a bit to be desired as well.
One of the most interesting things about the volume is the amazing difference to the feel, pacing, and excitement of the last story once Pérez took over one third through. A real changing of the guard I think, from someone who was rooted in the 60s, regardless of how slick and modern he had become, to someone who was really taking flight in the 80s.

Radical SDCC 2010 Preview. (Radical Comics)
This I picked up for free at San Diego Comic Con last July. It's mostly comprised of about two dozen double-page spreads showcasing Radical's upcoming projects, including one by Australian Wayne Nichols.
By about halfway through I was pretty well over the relentless barrage of same-old-same-old high-concepts and accompanying Photoshopped art. Some of this art was good, but my suspicion that the level of finish exhibited couldn't be carried through the story pages was mostly proven by the few panelled pages shown.
I'm not being jingoistic or unnecessarily patriotic when I say one of the few concepts that piqued my interest was the project Wayne is attached to: Ryder on the Storm. I hope it's successful enough to get trade paperback printing, because that's how I'd like to read it.

Mucha Lucha #2 (2003) (DC Comics)
A comic that my kids were throwing out that I saved when I remembered a couple of Aussies created the Cartoon Network show that it was based on. I thought they might have worked on the comic as well, and indeed they did! Lili Chin drew the cover and Eddie Mort wrote the story.
It's pretty standard kids' fare I guess, especially for a comic based on a cartoon show. I've never really watched the show so I don't know how it compares.

Troy's Tales #s 2, 3, and 5.
Troy Mingramm was kind enough to give me this reprinted collection of a lot of his work from the 90s when I ran into him at Graphic in Sydney last August.
They're certainly an interesting peek into a life that is far removed from anything I've ever lived.
Extremely naive and basic drawing style, depicting very straightforward and honest autobio tales.

Romanticide and Anting the Killer Ant + Sunburner.
At the same time Troy also gave me reprinted copies of these, his collaborations with Ryan Vella, both written by Troy, both illustrated by Ryan. I really liked Ryan's style at this stage of his development, individual and quirky enough to be really interesting, but also seeming to strive towards something more slick, polished or finished. He still had a way to go, but his figure and face work were really interesting and were showing their superhero influences, but not being ruled by them.
The writing of both stories tends to lose steam in a big way by the end. They both have evidence of "Ahhh stuff it!" syndrome, as if they've become bored with their own creation. It's a shame particularly in the case of Romanticide because that actually held my interest for the majority of its pages.

Groovy Gravy #7 (1993) and #12 (2010)
An old underground-y type anthology originally from the 90s that looked to start re-publishing last year. Not sure if they got past this initial relaunch issue in #12. The best part about it was definitely Mr. J's wonderful strips, but there are other chuckles here and there.

Lumpen #5, by Pat Grant.
There's a full review of this one coming, but suffice to say that this is a fabulous fabulous cartooned celebration of living in a squalid mess.

Heartland, by Brendan J. Boyd.
I was extremely grateful to Brendan for giving me a copy of this otherwise $30 collection of all the Heartland work he's done over the years. It also includes a CD with Brendan's original compositions that act as a soundtrack for the work.
This is an extremely personal set of stories and poems that are very romantic, spiritual, philosophical and introspective in nature. The lead piece, which is a longer, story-type piece, is much more successful than the shorter, more poem-like pieces that follow. The longer piece really explores the subject and feelings at hand, and actually takes the reader on a bit of a journey. The others seem to tread over the same ground again, but without any meat or conclusion. Fortunately, there's another piece near the end, longer than most but not as long as the opening, that acts as a very nice tie-up for the book as a whole.
The art is adequate for the tone and style of the narratives and poems, being a little naive and clunky, but also open and inviting, having a wholly enjoyable and appropriate rustic feel.

Gemini #4 (of 5) ( mage Comics, July 2009)
It's a long time between issues on this series, and the final issue is yet to see print a year after this one. Never the less, I've really enjoyed everything I've read so far of this superhero series with a twist. It has a very good, and as far as I know unique, premise that really floored me when it was revealed. The whole thing will make for a really good read if it's ever collected as a TPB. That being said, unfortunately this is probably the weakest issue as far as story and character development goes.
Jon Sommariva, an Aussie of no little talent, does the pencilling and inking on Gemini, and he's turned his fun, cartoony, graffiti-inspired art style up to 11 for this series.
It's all great fun, so pick up the single issues if you see them, but be sure to pick up the trade if that ever happens.

Go Boy 7 Vol 2. (Dark Horse’s Rocket imprint. Reprinting issues 5-8 from 2004)
The art in this is also by Jon Sommariva, although a few years earlier. I assume this was meant to be aimed predominately at kids, and Jon's art would surely appeal there, but the series ultimately failed, I would say mostly due to a pretty unlikable, whiny lead character and rushed, haphazard writing. Jon's exuberant, kinetic art shows a lot of potential.

Tiny Peeks. By numerous.
This A6 comic, mostly black & white, but with some well chosen colour pages, is a companion and product of an exhibition of the same name that was held in Melbourne. The range of work, style, skill, and success of the pieces varies widely as does the adhesion to the theme. Being invited to take part (and being an idiot for not doing so) I know that the theme was (to paraphrase) 'one day in the current life of each artist'. Seems to me some contributors produced pages as they would have for any non-theme anthology, while others admirably stuck to the theme and created something that actually was a "tiny peek" into their day-to-day life. That was really appreciated by this reader.

Welcome to the new Greener Pastures blog.

2011-03-21T07:49:00.001+11:00

OK. Here's a blog. Eventually it will be used primarily to keep you all up to date with progress on the new Greener Pastures material, but for now it will be full of reviews and other (hopefully interesting) chitchat.

I've never had a blog before, so I'll be grateful for your patience as I figure out how to run the darn thing.