inkspot 63
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Inkspot - the journal of the Australian Cartoonists' AssociationTRANSCRIPT
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Well, the Stanleys are over for another year. The
huge contingent of attendees in Melbourne this year is testament to just how popular and valuable this event has become to Aussie cartoonists, who are now largely out of the art-room and into the home studio.
You’ll read much about the Stanleys in this
issue, so I won’t harp on- however I do want
to thank the army of volunteers who put
their hand up each year to help co-ordinate
this mammoth event.
You can’t co-ordinate an event like the
Stanleys on your own, and the very reason
the ACA thrives is due to their generosity.
The Stanleys themselves wouldn’t exist
without the contribution of our Sponsors,
The Herald Sun, CAL and the welcome
return of our friends at Wacom Australia.
As always our thanks go to our category
sponsors at The Australian, Viscopy, The
Sydney Morning Herald, The Courier Mail
and the MEAA.
The Stanleys weekend also involved the
Annual General Meeting, which this year
included the election of a new board for the
ACA. As you will see over the page, we have
a few new board members and some long-
standing members in new roles- myself in a
particularly different one to previous years.
I’d very much like to thank our out-going
President, Jules Faber for all his hard
work in the last two years. He had a
particularly busy term, which not only
included navigating the ACA through its
most successful Stanleys in the midst of
a financial crisis and introducing a brand
new Stanleys Category, but getting married
right, smack in the middle of it!
Needless to say, Jules’ efforts have been
genuinely appreciated by all members.
I have some big Converse All-Stars to fill.
I’m told by Lindsay Foyle I’m the
youngest President of the ACA, and by
Peter Broelman that I’m the first
president in the world to have bigger ears
than Barrack Obama, so it’s a rather proud
moment on both counts.
Issue #63 Summer 2010www.cartoonists.org.au( 1300 658 581
ACA BoardPatron
Vane Lindesay(03) 9523 8635
PresidentJason Chatfield
Deputy PresidentPeter Broelman
SecretaryKerry Anne Brown
TreasurerGrant Brown
Membership Secretary Dee Texidor
Vice Presidents:
Lindsay Foyle (NSW/ACT)[email protected]
Luke Watson(Vic/Tas)[email protected]
Gary Clark (Qld)[email protected]
Simon Kneebone (SA/NT)[email protected]
Mick Horne (WA)[email protected]
ABN 19 140 290 841Inkspot is produced four times a year by the
Australian Cartoonists’ Association.PO Box 318 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
ACA AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS
National Cartoonists SocietyPresident: Jeff Keane
Secretary: Rick Kirkmanwww.reuben.org
Cartoonists’ Club of Great BritainPresident: Terry ChristienSecretary: Richard Tomes
www.ccgb.org.uk
FECOPresident-General: Marlene Pohle
Secretary-General: Peter Nieuwendijkwww.fecoweb.org
Australia Post Registration PP 533798/0015
Inkspot Editorial TeamEditor: Steve Panozzo
Designer: Jason ChatfieldMany thanks to all Inkspot contributors,
including Dee Texidor, Anton Emdin, Chris Kelly, Lindsay Foyle, Judy Horacek
and all other contributors to Parz.Cover illustration by David Rowe
President’s Parlay
I’m very passionate about cartooning,
and I’ve always enjoyed simply drawing
cartoons in every possible form. I’m very
honoured to have the opportunity to
represent the ACA in this new capacity.
Navigating the Association through
the trepidatious territory in which we
cartoonists find ourselves is something
I’m very excited about. In truth, I am as
terrified as I am excited. The opportunity
for this massive shift in how our readers
view our work has the potention to
become something of a renaissance for our
craft, rather than some kind of ruinous
unwelcome intrusion.
We’re very privileged in the ACA to have
not only great artists, but equally as deft
and creative thinkers. Personally, I have
always thought of cartoonists as not just
artists, but individuals of great intellect and
influence. We have some wonderful minds
in our ranks, and I believe that is what will
keep our craft afloat in these uncertain
waters (pardon the awful pun).
At time of press, we had just learned of the
passing of two of Australia’s cartooning
family, Norman Hetherington and
Dave Allen. His loss is deeply felt
amongst the ACA. We will be printing
a tribute to Norm in the next issue of
Inkspot. But for now, enjoy this fine issue
edited by our 2010 Jim Russell Award-
Winner, Steve Panozzo.
Jason Chatfield by Anton Emdin • www.antonemdin.com
Jason Chatfield
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Deputy PresidentPeter BroelmanPeter is a freelance cartoonist with a penchant for editorial cartoons, caricatures and the occasional stick man. He has served on the ACA for longer than he can remember and has now been punished for it by being made Deputy President. His term expires at the end of 2012 where, hopefully, if the world hasn’t ended, alzheimers would have kicked in and everything will be reduced to a blur.
PresidentJason ChatfieldJason is a freelance cartoonist and stand-up comedian based in airport departure lounges across Australia. Originally from Perth, he now writes, draws and syndicates Ginger Meggs across 34 countries when he’s not scribbling editorial cartoons for a swag of newspapers and online. Despite the evidence on the previous page, he does not smoke pencils.
SecretaryKerry-Anne Brown
Kerry-Anne lives with her cartoonist husband, Grant in Bendigo and runs her own book-keeping business. With a strong background in Administration, particularly at Board level she has predominately worked within the State and local Government Sectors for the past 17 years. She likes men who play with crayons.
Membership-SecretaryDee TexidorAfter 22 years in art direction/graphic design & illustration including publications, photo shoots, merchandise, corporate imaging, promotional events, websites, toys, calendars, packaging & t-shirts Dee is proud to be taking on the role of ACA Membership Secretary. She’s looking forward welcoming new members as well as getting to know the existing members more.
VIC/TAS Vice-PresidentLuke WatsonWith the unwaivering support (and regular paycheque) of his wife, Luke has been freelance cartooning and illustrating since 2006. After joining the the ACA in 2007 he’s had work published and exhibited around the world and has been nominated for and won some awards and stuff. Luke is looking forward to supporting the industry that will hopefully (along with his wife) support him financially for the next 50 years.
NSW/ACT Vice-PresidentLindsay FoyleLindsay Foyle started work as a copyboy on the Daily Telegraph 1959, since then he has worked in the UK and Australia on various publications. He joined the ACA (ABWAC) in 1970 when working on Woman’s Day and was at The Bulletin in 1973 in 1985 where he helped in establishing the Stanleys. He Joined The Australian in 1996 as a layout sub and has contributed pocket cartoons to this day.
TreasurerGrant BrownGrant is a freelance cartoonist from Bendigo and has been a member of the ACA since the early 1990s. He has his own cartooning business and is a keen cricketer. He regularly holds workshops at schools. As a gadget collector, you will catch him sitting at his computer searching out the latest electronics during his downtime. He never grew out of playing with crayons.
WA Vice-PresidentMick HorneMick is currently the Editorial Cartoonist for a local newspaper, his 3rd such position in WA. In an earlier life he was a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer, but has since swapped stress for humour. A stalwart of the ACA for many years, Mick was a legendary Treasurer before taking on the role of Membership Secretary, and now WA VP. He doesn’t mind the odd can of Carlton Mid-Strength...
QLD Vice-PresidentGary ClarkGary has been a member of the ACA for many years, and has served as Treasurer and QLD VP in previous terms. His internationally syndicated comic strip Swamp has earned him a staggering nine Stanley Awards for Best Comic Strip, including the very first in1985. If he’s not drawing his comic strip, you’ll find Gary flying light aircraft around Queensland.
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Crowing with LaughterPeter Broelman’s work is now literally on people’s lips. Carlton and United Brewer-ies recently approached him to produce a caricature of Adelaide Crows player Mark Ricciuto for a range of beer cans.“The can now looks good on the outside and the inside,” said Broels. “I’ve done stacks of things, but always in print – never on cans. It’s always been 2D, as apposed to 375ml.”
Not Such Good GuysAs many of us know all too well, James Kemsley was a cricket tragic. So it was quite fitting that the third annual Kems-ley Cup was held at Chevalier College in Bowral during November in honour of the former Ginger Meggs cartoonist, who died from Motor Neurone Disease in December, 2007. The Ginger Meggs XI, led by James’ son Hywel, showed no
mercy towards their older opponents in the Greenwich Good Guys, recording a 72-run win.Helen Kemsley said the weekend marked the couple’s wedding anniver-sary, as well as both of their birthdays.“It was fabulous to see old mates having a hit and giggle,” she said.
Zeroes for Point ZeroManly Sea Eagles backer Max Delmege thought Steve Panozzo’s painting of Federal Opposition Leader Tony Ab-bott was so hilarious that he forked out $2,000 to make it his own at a charity night for Point Zero Youth Services, held at Sydney’s Star City in November. Not bad for a Bald Archy Prize reject!
Not Such a Bad Night!South Australian cartoonists, unable to make the trek to Melbourne for this year’s Stanleys bash, got together any-way for a “Not the Stanleys” celebration at John Martin’s Glandore home. They were kept up-to-date with regular text messages from their man-on-the-spot, Peter Broelman.
IP, hooray!Intellectual Property, or “IP”, has been described by the Financial Times as one of the key drivers of business competi-tiveness in the 21st century. Lawyer, cartoonist and Stanleys auctioneer Paul Brennan has written a book which will enable you to say “that’s my IP” and at
least sound as if you know what you’re talking about. It’s called Easy IP and can be ordered online at www.lawanddisor-der.com.au
Maternity StreakTony, Lori & Isaac Lopes are delighted to announce that the reason they couldn’t attend the Stanleys has finally arrived!Thomas Lewis Lopes was born on Wednesday, 1 December, weighing in at 3.5kg. Mum & bub are reportedly both healthy and doing beautifully, and Isaac has already taken to his new playmate, saying, “he’s beautiful.” Aww.
Sakai Sees Sydney
Anthropomorphic art legend, Stan Sakai jetted in Australia in November and took time-out to meet ACA members in both Sydney and Melbourne. Sakai has been drawing Usagi Yojimbo, a comic book series about a rabbit samurai in feudal Japan, for more than 25 years. He was in Australia for the 12th MiDFur convention in early December.‘’I wanted to draw a series based on the life of a real 17th-century samurai named Miyamoto Musashi, but one day while drawing in my sketchbook, I drew a rabbit with his ears tied up into a samurai topknot,” Stan explained. “I loved the design, it was simple and unique. So I made my character a samu-rai rabbit.’’Stan was made welcome to Sydney by a coterie of locals led by newly-installed NSW/ACT Vice-President, Lindsay Foyle.
PARZ!
LEFT: Sydney real-estate identity Max Delmege with Panozzo’s take on Tony Abbott;BELOW: Dave Allen raises a glass to Stanleys at-tendees as he reclines amongst similarly-stranded colleagues at John Martin’s Adelaide home
ABOVE: Stan Sakai hard at it between courses at the James Squire Brewhouse in Sydney
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IF the 2010 Stanley Awards are anything to go by, the
future of Australian cartooning is brightly inked in.
Headlined by international guests,
Stan Goldberg of Archie fame
and Chicago-based caricaturist,
cap-wearer and all around good guy
Jason Seiler, the 26th Stanley
Awards in Melbourne was a hit
and lived up to expectations by the
funniest group in the country.
Cartoonists and friends had the
chance to catch up, share a few - well,
several dozen - laughs, some beers,
and reflect on the year in cartooning
in the heart of Australia’s cultural
capital.
Stories of past Stanley Awards
and cartooning escapades flowed
throughout the Friday and weekend,
and the seminars and workshops
proved popular as ever.
Friday’s conference saw Copyright
Agency Ltd open the weekend’s
proceedings, informing delegates of
the new state of affairs in copyright
after the introduction of the Resale
Royalties Scheme.
They then introduced the
legendary Stan Goldberg, of
Archie fame, who spoke at length
on his carreer, passing around
original artworks in pencil, as well
as showing an array of his work with
Marvel and Archie Comics over the
his enormous career.
No sooner was everyone fed,
and well-versed on the Wacom
tablets set up in the adjacent room,
than they were treated to one of the
most mesmerizing master-classes
the Stanleys has seen.
Illustrator Jason Seiler had a
brand new Wacom Cintiq 21” hooked
up to the big screen behind him as
he explained, and showed in detail,
the process of creating his incredible
caricatures. He invited John Allison,
Dave Gray and Alan Rose to stand
at the front as he picked the features
he would be exaggerating were he
to caricature them, to the great
amusement of all in attendance.
The Friday night saw the launch
of the ACA’s “Drawtism Exhibition”
at the iconic Old Treasury Building
in the Melbourne CBD.
After the television and print
media had swept the dignitaries off
to their various duties, the Awards
A Stanleys regular
since he was a baby,
Jed Kemsley writes
about the Stanleys
weekend.
5th and 6th November, 2010
Continued, Page 6
...And the Nominees are...Cartoonist of the YearPeter BroelmanMark KnightTony LopesDavid PopeDavid Rowe
Editorial CartoonistPeter BroelmanMark Knight Bill LeakAlan MoirDavid Pope
Single Gag CartoonistDean AlstonMatt GoldingWill GoodwinAndrew WeldonCathy Wilcox
Comic Strip ArtistJason ChatfieldGary ClarkAlex HallattGlen Le LievreTony Lopes
Graphic Media ArtistDave AllenAnton EmdinDavid HeinrichChris KellyGeoff Richardson
IllustratorMatt AdamsPat CampbellAnton EmdinJohn TiedemannLuke Watson
CaricaturistMatt AdamsJoanne BrookerJudy NadinDavid RoweLuke Watson
Comic Book ArtistRoger FletcherDave GaskillDavid HeinrichJason PaulosPeter Sheehan
*Recipients in white.
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were prefaced with a rousing talk by
Asbergers sufferer, Michael Rudov
who was introduced by Herald Sun
cartoonist Mark Knight.
The exhibition was officially
opened by the Victorian Minister for
Community Development, The Hon.
Lily D’Ambrosio, before members
went downstairs to see the array of
cartoon work that had been donated
to raise money and awareness for
Alpha Autism- A great success!
Saturday was off to a flying start
with the very popular animators panel,
featuring Lee Sheppard, Peter Viska
and the USA’s Michael Jantze.
After delegates had their fill
of lunch and caught their breath,
they were entranced by the very
charismatic and fascinating stories
of childrens’ book illustrator, Leigh
Hobbs. This was closely followed
by a very special guest who made
the trip from his home in country
Victoria. Multi-Walkley Award-
winning Ron Tandberg had a full
house of delegates enthralled as he
took them on a walk through his
career, and some of the incredible
stories therein.
After a short break for
afternoon tea where delegates were
able to snap up the last of the Book
and Volume collection of French
graphic novels and comics, Stan
Goldberg and Jason Seiler
returned for one last Q&A session to
cap off the day in style.
As always, the highlight of the
weekend was Saturday night, where
the 26th set of Stanley Awards were
handed out to the top artists in each
field of the craft.
Comedian Rod Quantock
provided the backdrop for a
terrific night, which also featured
Nickelodeon funnymen Luke &
Wyatt, injecting their own brand of
musical humour into the night.
Award-winners for each
category were judged by their fellow
cartoonists, and none could be more
deserving of being named top of their
field for 2010.
Anton Emdin took out the
Stanley award for Illustrator,
sponsored by Viscopy while Graphic
Media Artist sponsored by Wacom
went to a very appreciative Geoff
Richardson.
Tony Lopes - proud new
dad of baby Thomas -earned the
Stanley for Comic Strip Cartoonist
sponsored by the Herald Sun-
accepting his award via a video
message on the AV. Yes, even a
Stanley Award takes a back seat
to the birth of a possible future
cartooning great.
The Stanley for Single Gag
Cartoonist sponsored by the Courier
Mail went to Matt Golding,
while David Rowe added to his
collection of Stanley Awards, another
for Caricaturist sponsored by the
Australian for 2010.
In a year with plenty of fodder
for editorial and political cartoonists
Winners in attendance L-R: Steve Panozzo, Anton Emdin, Stan Goldberg, Geoff Richardson above David Pope, Jason Seiler, Matt Golding next to David Rowe and Lindsay Foyle playing Tony Lopes’ Stanley Award like a trumpet.
_____________________
“...even a Stanley award takes a back seat to the
birth of a possible future cartooning great.”
_____________________
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- an election, hung parliament and
the country’s first red-headed female
PM, local cartoonist Mark Knight
did it just that bit better than most,
taking out the Stanley award for
that category, sponsored the Sydney
Morning Herald.
The very exciting result of the
brand new Stanley for Comic Book
Artist sponsored by CAL, was won
by former Aussie resident, Dave
Gaskill. Dave, now based in Lincoln,
UK had to pull out of his trip at the
last minute due to some emergency
dental work!
In what was certainly one of the
most emotional moments in Stanleys
history, caricaturist and ACA stalwart
Steve Panozzo was awarded the
Jim Russell Award for Contribution
to Australian Cartooning.
The Award was announced
as Lindsay Foyle and Roger
Fletcher handed over to a pre-
recorded video of his parents, who
have attended the Stanleys almost as
often as Panozzo himself!
Clearly emotional and
dumbfounded, ‘Noz’ said he couldn’t
remember a word he’d said when
accepting the prestigious honour on
the night - and that the Award was
“a bigger honour than most people
realise.”
Panozzo named his highlight of
the weekend being able to meet Ron
Tandberg.
“It was really cool to meet Ron,”
Panozzo said. “He and [Jason]
Seiler were just incredible. They
were the two stand-outs for me.”
This year there were three
new inductees to the Australian
Cartoonists’ Hall of Fame.
Cartooning greats Phil May,
David Low and the legendary
Norman Lindsay had their names
etched onto the elite list, which now
has a total of nine artists including
Stanley Awards namesake, the
immortal, Stan Cross.
But undoubtedly the most
eagerly-anticipated moment of the
night was for Cartoonist of the Year.
It was a close race in the vote
count, but in the end there could
only be one - and the honour for
2010 went to Canberra-based
cartoonist David Pope.
Pope said it was an honour to
be selected by his peers as the cream
of the Australian cartooning crop
this year.
“The Gold Stanley is a funny
category - it’s very encouraging
to be chosen by your peers, who
know what the job is like. It’s very
gratifying,” Pope said.
“I have to say I’m also amazed
at the response in my home town,
and in the media after receiving the
award.
“Even now, weeks after the
Stanleys, I’ve had people coming up
to me and congratulating me. It’s
very encouraging.”
Pope enjoyed the whole weekend and
said it was a good chance to see some
of the Melbourne-based cartoonists.
“I had a great time and wish
I could have been there earlier to
spend more time catching up with
people,” he said.
“As for a memorable moment,
I think seeing Steve [Panozzo’s]
face when he was named as the
Jim Russell Award-winner was
priceless.
“As always, I thought the [Jason
Seiller] masterclass was great, and
being able to see Ron Tandberg,
someone who doesn’t speak in
public very often, was very special.
“Seeing the brevity and
sharpness in his work - it just makes
you weep inside.”
Following the awards, cartoonists
and friends rocked the night away
to the unmistakable tunes of the
Stanley Steamers, who played
blues and rock & roll to the delight of
a slightly tipsy dance floor.
Caricaturist Judy Nadin thought
being able to get together with all
of the cartoonists was an incredible
experience.
“Getting together with all
cartoonists who are so giving and
have such high energy - it great to be
around everybody,” Nadin said.
“But not everything that was
funny can be published!
“From a professional level it
was great to meet Jason Seiler- a
master of his art, and I also enjoyed
seeing Leigh Hobbs.
“And I thought the awards night
itself was great. Everything about the
weekend just flowed.”
Newly-elected Deputy President
of the Australian Cartoonists’
Association, and former President,
Peter Broelman, was as a reliable
presence as ever at the Stanley
Awards.
He said the weekend was “one of
the better Stanleys” he’d been to in
recent years.
“Certainly the attendance at the
conference was one of the largest I
can think of, and the guest speakers
impressed me.
“But the funniest thing I’d have
to say was seeing Jason [Seiler] and
Stan [Goldberg] struggling with the
Australian accents.”
On reflection, it can be said
that from its early conception of a
few quick sketches and rough ideas
pencilled in, the 2010 Organising
Committee, under the direction
of Stanleys Chairman Jason
Chatfield accomplished a successful
and memorable Stanleys Weekend.
_____________________
“Seeing the brevity and sharpness in his work
- it just makes you weep inside.”
~ David Pope on Ron Tandberg
_____________________
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By Judy Horacek
The Inkspot powers-that-be asked me to write a profile piece on David Pope because they thought, to quote ‘despite winning the crown, he’s a bit of a mystery.’
THE crown is of course the Gold Stanley for
2010, which joins his many silver Stanleys
and Rotary Awards. But being David, he will
endeavour to keep his Stanleys shelf non-
hierarchical I am sure.
David also wears the crown of editorial
cartoonist on the Canberra Times, taking over
when Geoff Pryor retired in 2008. Given the
way newspapers are going, he may also one
day have the dubious honour of being the last
editorial cartoonist ever to be appointed to a
full time in-house job - or is that me being too
pessimistic about our profession?
But the mystery? Perhaps it’s that for
most of David’s cartooning life he’s signed
himself as Heinrich Hinze. The name came
from his days in a punk band many years
ago where everyone had made-up names.
He cartooned as ‘Heinrich Hinze’ for a long
time, working freelance for drawing pictures
for the labour movement, the environment
movement, political causes, running his
Scratch! media website and, for a while
publishing Scratch! Magazine*, his own
magazine about radical cartooning.
That was how we met, when he
asked to interview me about a community
environment cartooning project I’d been
working on. His cartooning comes from
a deeply held set of beliefs about what
matters in the world, and the importance
of fighting for what is right. It just isn’t
a political rally if David Pope isn’t there
(luckily he isn’t hard to spot).
As Heinrich Hinze, David had worked
as a freelancer at the Canberra Times
for years, but it was when he got the
permanent job on the Canberra Times
that he decided to sign his own name. He
went from being ‘the cartoonist David
Pope who signs himself H.Hinze’ to ‘the
cartoonist formerly known as Heinrich
Hinze’ to ‘David Pope is on fire!’. (That last
courtesy of the Talking Pictures segment
on Insiders. They don’t say things like that
about Pope on Insiders every single week,
but pretty close.)
You have to have lived in Canberra
to know the sheer enormity of taking over
from the wonderful Geoff Pryor, who had
been on the paper for 30 years. It was the
ACT equivalent of taking over from Oprah.
At a giant goodbye celebratory dinner
for Geoff, a constant stream of people
came up to David saying ‘You’re the new
cartoonist eh? You’re never going to be able
to live up to Geoff’.’
I wanted to bust in and say ‘He will
too, you just shut your face’ David of
course, being more mature and generous
of spirit than me, simply smiled at everyone
and answered them modestly and with
charm.
But David didn’t in fact live up to being
the ‘new Geoff’, because he stayed absolutely
himself, bringing his own style and wisdom
and wit to the job. And the stream of Letters
to the Editor changed their tune almost
instantly from ‘the-world-will-end-without-
Pryor’ to ‘That new cartoonist is doing pretty
damn well’. And the black bunting was
taken down from the streets, and people
began to walk their dogs again and go to the
shops (but they didn’t go back to washing
their cars with a hose, they had to face the
fact that the water restrictions had nothing
to do with Geoff Pryor’s decision to retire.)
David’s cartoons are small theatres,
drawing their stories from wide and varied
sources. The players are of course a gallery
of public figures, who he caricatures
with a rapier wit, but also a collection
of Everypersons – wide-eyed ordinary
people who are battling and baffled. His
cartoons fight for the small and weak
against the powerful and corrupt, or the
plain misguided, and his work always has a
strong sense of integrity. I don’t think you
can do cartoons better than that.
Judy Horacek is a freelance cartoonist
and illustrator now based in Melbourne.
*Not to be confused with the hip hop magazine called Scratch, or Scratch the UK magazine about all things fingernail. David’s Scratch has the exclamation mark.
_____________________
“You have to have lived in Canberra to know the sheer enormity of taking over from the wonderful
Geoff Pryor...”_____________________
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By Lindsay Foyle
At the 2010 Stanleys Awards held in Melbourne, Steve Panozzo - the ACA resident shrinking violet – was presented with the Jim Russell Award for contributions to Australian cartooning.
IT was an award a long time coming. For
much of the past two decades Steve has
been active on the ACA committee in one
office or another, so bestowing an award
on him always seemed a little difficult.
Especially as he had always been on the
committee that chooses who gets the Jim
Russell Award.
But with the election of office-
holders this year Steve stepped down
from all involvement, except doing bits
on Inkspot, ringing ACA office-holders
with special advice, complaining nobody
has organized a coffee morning for ACA
members, picking up visiting firemen
from Sydney Airport and a few other tasks
that he has not thought of yet.
Steve was born 1964 and grew up in
Sydney’s northern beaches area where
he attended the St Augustine College. In
his second year there he had a caricature
confiscated, but recovered from the
loss and complete his Higher School
Certificate in 1982.
His continued interest in
cartooning led to a job on The Manly
Daily in 1985. The following year he was
offered a job at Weekly Neighbourhood
Newspapers followed by Community
Newspapers in Perth; he also joined the
ACA that year.
It was a big 18 months, but
unfortunately the job disappeared
when the newspaper disappeared. He
returned to Sydney and soon after
joined News Limited.
He had only been there a month
when the 1987 stock market crash
happened. So he was more than happy
to give advice to a fellow News Limited
worker on the state of the economy and
the speed of the News Limited elevators,
which may not have been going as fast as
some people might have liked. However
after travelling three floors Steve left
Rupert Murdoch in the lift to make his
own way to the next floor.
Steve and Rupert survived the
meeting and both continued on doing
their best for News Limited. Steve also
did his best for the ACA and served as
President in 1992-93.
However, all good things eventually
come to an end and after ten years
with News Limited, Steve decided to
concentrate on his freelance career.
Once Noz became established as a
freelancer he specialised in caricature
and cartooning and like all freelancers
he is also skilled in waiting for the phone
to ring. He also found time in 1998-99 to
have a second stint as ACA president.
One of Steve’s favourite quotes
comes from Winston Churchill, which
is “A lie gets halfway around the world
before the truth has a chance to get its
pants on.”
Given that truth and speed are not
traveling companions probably explains
why Steve is well known for being late.
Noz once told a client - who he had
keep waiting for 40 minutes - “this is
the earliest I’ve been late.” So he might
forgive the ACA in being a little late in
giving him the Jim Russell Award.
Lindsay Foyle is a freelance editorial
cartoonist and writer, and the ACA’s
new NSW/ACT Vice-President.
_____________________
“bestowing an award on him always seemed a
little difficult. Especially as he had always been on the committee that chooses who gets the Jim Russell Award.”
_____________________
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‘Moving Forward’ The Mark Knight Annual 2010
The Slattery Media GroupISBN 978-1-921778-03-2
$30.00 from all major book stores
As the author writes in the first few pages of his latest collection, ‘2010 may have been one of the most dysfunctional years in Australian political history, but it has been anything but for cartoonists. Every day, another moment of cartooning inspiration dropped into our in-basket ...In an environment like this, I will always wonder when people ask me, “Where do you get your ideas from?”
This prefaces yet another consistently impressive collections of 2006’s Cartoonist of the Year, and thrice Editorial Cartoonist of the Year, Mark Knight.
Anyone who follows Knight’s work in the Herald Sun will be familiar with his ability to perfectly capture the day’s event in the most thoroughly entertaining way possible. His wit has sharpened to a point where he knows precisely how to execute his ideas with just the right amount of detail to punctuate his gag.
In the fine tradition and influence of such doyens of political cartooning as Paul Rigby and Pat Oliphant, Knight has developed a style all of his own which suits his readers so perfectly, he has also become an institution.
For anyone who bought his last book, and enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at his sketching and idea development, they will be happy to know that this book has much of the same. His development of portrayals of Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott and of course the girl from his adopted home state, Julia Gillard are a fascinating insight into the way Knight’s devious and creative brain works. The study of Collingwood supporters is particularly amusing.
Easily one of the best political cartoonist’s collections I’ve seen this year, Mark Knight’s Moving Forward epitomises the bizarre year that was 2010 in the most thoroughly enjoyable way possible.
Jason Chatfield
Uncle Silas: Genetis By David FollettDark Horse BooksISBN 9781595825667US$9.99 through: www.darkhorse.com.au
Technicolour mushrooms, carnivorous plants, holographic apparitions and a giant rotting fish carcass. No, it’s not the contents of the Inkspot bar fridge, but a new graphic novel by David Follett.
Uncle Silas: Genetis hits the ground running as two kids (Selena and Tommy) visit their uncle (scientist and “ecologi-cal supergenius”, Silas Mortimer Mulch) only to discover him missing, with some bizarre plant activity occurring in his laboratory. They prove themselves to be pretty smart, tough kids. Instead of soiling their pants (as I would have done) when an overgrown cauliflower explains the situation, they take up the adventure with gusto - and set out to save Silas!
Tommy and Selena’s search for their uncle introduces them to an ever-changing, endless greenhouse of super-organ-isms; shrubs that spring up in seconds, fungal hard drives, frog cameras, smart pod suits with organic weaponry and a network of plants that make the your new Mac seem pretty dull. It’s environment meets technology, and watch out! The action comes thick and fast - almost giddying at times - in this book for kids of all ages.
Follett’s mastery of linework and form bring the artwork to life with a ton of energy and movement. The forest and its inhabitants are dense and intricately rendered, in stark comparison to the main characters, which are simpler and stylised. This contrast allows the reader to not only focus on the characters quickly, but to relate more easily to them. As the characters bounce around the page, one can sense deep roots of comic tradition in Follett’s flowering style - from the Manga-inspired action to European Bandes Dessinés, and a healthy dose of classic American adventure strips. Unfor-tunately, Dark Horse has printed the book fairly small (A5 sized), making the detail harder to appreciate in this edition.
Dave has been working on Uncle Silas: Genetis for around eight years. In its original incarnation, Silas was a weekly interactive half-page Sunday strip for News Ltd, but the project kicked into gear after winning US comic publisher Dark Horse’s New Recruits competition in 2008. Since then Mr. Follett has written, pencilled, inked and coloured the book in-between his busy freelance career, with publication by Dark Horse in October of this year.
And if his wife, Christie, thought she was getting Dave back on nights and weekends, she might be mistaken! There are five more sequels planned, all to be set in and around South Australia, and according to Follett, leading to “a massive earth-shattering climax!” I need a Bex and a lie-down already!
Anton Emdin
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