President’s Parlay Number 48 Autumn 2006 www.cartoonists.org.au 1300 658 581 --- ACA Board --Patron Vane Lindesay (03) 9523 8635 President James Kemsley (02) 4871 2551 president@abwac.org.au Secretary Steve Panozzo (02) 8920 9996 secretary@abwac.org.au Treasurer Mick Horne (08) 9527 3000 treasurer@abwac.org.au Vice Presidents Brett Bower (NSW) (02) 9589 4717 nsw@abwac.org.au Rolf Heimann (Vic/Tas) (03) 9699 4858 vic@abwac.org.au Sean Leahy (Qld) (07) 3325 2822 qld@abwac.org.au Dave Allen (SA/NT) (08) 8370 9010 sa@abwac.org.au Greg Smith (WA) (08) 9409 5026 wa@abwac.org.au ABN 19 140 290 841 Inkspot is produced four times a year by the Australian Cartoonists’ Association.
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ACA AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS National Cartoonists Society President: Rick Stromoski Secretary: Rick Kirkman
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President-General: Marlene Pohle Secretary-General: Peter Nieuwendijk
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Inkspot Editor: Jason Chatfield Inskpot Prüfriider: Steve Panozzo Many thanks to Inkspot contributors:
James Kemsley, Peter Lewis, Craig Stephens, Bill Leak, Jim Borgman, Lindsay Foyle, Marlene Pohle, Peter Nieuwendijk, Clive Collins, Rick Kirkman, Chris Kelly, Greg Smith, Ian C Thomas, Steve Panozzo, Chad Corley, Leigh Summers, Tim Mellish, Christophe Granet, Don Hatcher, Robert Mason, Mark Guthrie, Phillip Day, Gary Clark, Vane Lindesay, Ben Morgan, Rolf Heimann and Tony Lopes.
Cover illustration by Paul Rigby
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G K Chesterson once and not so modern said, “It is the test of a cartoon history lesson. good religion whether Daumier, Hogarth and you can joke about even Benjamin Franklin it”. I guess that’s (yes he of the kite and key, true about cartoons was also a cartoonist) were, as well. The test of relatively grim but none a good cartoon is the less also controversial whether it’s ultimately in their day. Though there funny. There has are no recorded instances never been a similar of flag burning, boycotting, controversy, or such embassy sackings or deaths worldwide publicity, over resulting from their work, they Jas on Chatfield also upset the apple cart from time a cartoon, or in this case the twelve cartoons, the Danish Jyllands to time. No I didn’t go back that far with -Posten first published on September Mr Media Suit, though I was tempted. 30 last year and then reprinted in a Cartoons, and let me include comic number of other publications. The strips as well, always upset someone newspapers’ reason behind their whether they intend to or not. I’ve publication, “freedom of expression”, had more than my fair share of letters was soon lost in the tempest of outrage and the odd editor’s phone call over that followed. Of course Jyllands“unsuitable content”. (Though I’ve only Posten issued an explanation as to been reported to the Australian Press why it published the cartoons but Council on one occasion.) Some of our few from the Muslim world were senior members might remember the convinced. It wasn’t something I’d Nazi hit list during World War II, which ever consciously thought about but included a number of cartoonists who now, like everyone else, realise that were singled out for special treatment, Islamic tradition bars any depiction of had Germany won the war. Apparently Muhammad, favourable or otherwise. Hilter, an artist himself, never saw the Were the twelve cartoons funny or funny or artistic side of David Low simply provocative for provocation’s and company’s lampooning, which sake? Should the cartoons have been included our own late Jim Russell with published or not? We all have our his “Adolph, Hermann and Musso” own opinion. I imagine we have all comic strip. I had a number chats with made up our minds on the subject. Jimmy about being a designated Nazi It should be noted that during the target and it was something he wore maelstrom, and the reporting of such, like a medal, he was very proud his was that many Arab governments, Muslim work was considered so provocative, religious leaders, and newspapers by Berlin anyway, but prouder called for calm during the protests. still that it was considered funny. As you will see this issue of Inkspot Not even our senior members will has devoted quite a bit of space to recall the 1903 story of a governor in the Muslim cartoon controversy, Pennsylvania, USA who took exception as have many similar cartooning at being portrayed as various types publications around the globe. The of animals by local cartoonists, so debate has also had more than its fair much so he had a law passed making share of pixels online, which includes “animalising” of public officials illegal. your ACA forum, where views have So what did the boys do? They promptly been mixed. The postings from your drew cartoons depicting public figures colleagues are still there, if you’re as vegetables. The law soon faded into interested, have a read and maybe the statute books. post a comment of your own. Go to www.cartoonists.org.au and Enjoy this issue, only our second ever navigate to the members’ forum. put together on the West Coast. My If anything positive has come out of thanks to Paul Rigby for his wonderful the controversy it’s that the cartoon’s cover, all the contributors who have power to solicit public opinion, taken time to send copy, cartoons and despite some views to the contrary, photos, Mick and Dee Horne who obviously has not dwindled over the always make sure the magazine is in years. I say despite “contrary” views the mail, and especially to the affable as recently I was speaking with a Jason Chatfield, whose talents as an regional manager of a large media editor, cartoonist, designer and layout group, whose view was that editorial artist are responsible for Inkspot #48. cartoons were a thing of the past. I did my best to convince him otherwise, even if it did involve a short modern
THE BIG ISSUE The Danish Muhammad Cartoon Saga The following articles are from industry professionals who have all been affected in one way or another by the fallout from the cartoon controversy. Sincerest thanks to Peter Lewis, Craig Stephens, Bill Leak, Jim Borgman, Lindsay Foyle, Marlene Pohle and Peter Nieuwendijk for their kind contributions to Inkspot on this important issue.
Not-So-Free Speech by Peter Lewis in Newcastle, NSW
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XACTLY twenty years ago I started work at The Newcastle Herald as an editorial cartoonist. At the time the editor gave the best advice a satirist can hear. “Be good humoured. If you’re nasty or insensitive then people will have your head on a plate.” Twelve Danish cartoonists could have used some of that advice. They are now in fear of their lives, along with the editors and staff of the newspaper Jyllands-Posten that published their cartoons in September last year. Their sin? Depicting the Prophet Muhammad. In the Muslim world it’s unacceptable to show even a flattering illustration of their founder because it ‘encourages idolatry’. A cartoon is blasphemous in the extreme. The reaction of Muslims, both in Denmark and the middle east, was swift. Furious demands
were made for apologies, not just from the newspaper but from the Danish Government as well. Ambassadors have been recalled, Danish products boycotted, and threats made. French and German publications responded by running the cartoons in a defence of free speech that ignited even more furore. Muslim rage has been fanned to new heights, with vows of retaliation and Palestinian gunmen prowling hotels for westerners. The Jamaat-e-Islami party of Pakistan has promised 5,000 kroner to anybody who kills one of the cartoonists. So what’s to be learnt from this latest clash of cultures? Is our cherished ideal of press freedom at an end? Well, to be honest, there’s no such thing as press freedom. Every day editors wrestle with a long list of ‘Thou Shalt Nots’ when putting a publication together. A single defamatory slip can cost millions in legal fees and fines. Then there are matters of taste: you can say one thing but not another; you can use one swear word but not another. It’s all very nebulous trying to figure out what is acceptable, what is funny, and what is offensive. But looking back over my two decades of cartooning, the hot topic;
On 30 September, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten made the decision to commission and publish 12 cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. The events that followed more than four months after they were published were a sign of how much the world has changed, and indeed how much it hasn’t.
the topic that’s almost certainly going to get you into trouble is religion. It’s where angels fear to tread. Fortunately, most western believers have grown a thicker skin. My cartoon of the Pope in a panzer tank didn’t produce a single complaint. Other religions aren’t so complacent. Criticise L. Ron Hubbard and you’ll get a writ from a Scientology lawyer. Islam is a faith that takes itself very seriously. Even being good humoured cuts no ice. The Fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989 was just a warning shot, one that JyllandsPosten ignored to their peril. I have mixed feelings about this mess. On the one hand I see it as a lost battle for satirists, another retreat from what can be said. On the other hand I think the Danes involved are idiots. I mean... duh! Newsmen who spend hours each day sorting the usable wheat from the defamatory chaff of newsprint should have seen this coming, and let’s face it, if a large group of people regard something as rude then shouldn’t their views be respected? Newspapers can’t print swear words because of the possibility of offence, so what’s the difference here? Everybody knew Muhammad was a no-go. The big worry is where the world goes to from here. I like to think of cartoonists as being canaries in the coal mine of freedom. While we twitter and make rude noises then all is well, but when we fall silent... Peter Lewis celebrates twenty years as the editorial cartoonist at the Newcastle Herald this year. He has a swag of awards to his name. Website: www.lewisart.biz www.cartoonists.org.au
School of big noses under fire by Craig Stephens in Copenhagen, DENMARK
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EAR Inkspotters, I guess by now that you’re all aware of the fact that there are cartoonists/newspaper artists working in Denmark that are at the centre of the worst diplomatic crisis in Denmark since WWII, and possibly the worst cartooning crisis ever. (OK, tell me I’m wrong!). I’m a little closer to the heat than most, as I have been living in Denmark and working for Danish newspapers since I left Sydney for Copenhagen in ‘93, along with my Danish wife, Mette. This included a 3 year stint at the paper involved in the controversy, JyllandsPosten (The Jutland Post), so the case concerns me closely. Our humble little profession has been dragged into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and our motives brought into question. Freedom of speech certainly has it’s limitations, but it is being allowed to decide those limitations for one’s self that is the catalyst for any cartoonist, otherwise one is just a tool of propaganda. In other words, give us a sacred cow and we’ll milk it! Besides, we all know that when people start coming after cartoonists, then society’s in trouble! The view in Denmark is that nothing should be too sacred for the subject of satire, at least until a few months ago. All of the 12 cartoonists involved in the depictions of Muhammad are now under protection, some have gone underground- in light of the $AU200,000 bounty per head offered by a religious group in Pakistan, so it’s no laughing matter.
Craig Stephens
Unfortunately, none of them are able to comment and defend their case, which is a pity because everybody else has been allowed to air their opinion, and freedom of speech has been discussed to the point where nobody knows what it means anymore. It’s a terrible result from an experiment that wanted to find out if there was self-censorship regarding Islam in Denmark.
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A very brief history is necessary. Some months ago, a Danish author of a childrens’ book about Muhammad was unable to find an artist willing to illustrate it, for fear of repercussions from the Muslim community here. He mentioned this in passing to a journalist friend, who then approached his editor at Jyllands-Posten with the story. They decided that it was time to find out if there was self-censorship in Denmark regarding Islam, in the light of recent events (ie, the murder of film instructor Theo Van Gogh, the Tate Galleries’ decision to remove pieces of art that they thought could offend Muslims, ect.) they sent a letter to all the members of the Danish Newspaper Artist’s Union (42 in all, yes Denmark is a little country!), inviting them to participate in the experiment by depicting Muhammad, despite such imagery being forbidden in Islam. They received 12 drawings, and subsequently published the lot with a leader explaining that Muslims should be able to tolerate being the subject of ridicule and satire, just like everyone else here, in the tradition of freedom of speech. Here endeth the lesson, as one Muslim put it. The result was outrage from the Muslim community here, and an immediate request from several Islamic figureheads in Denmark for a meeting with the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, to discuss the tone of the Muslim Debate, and demanding that he apologise on behalf of the
paper and give assurances that this situation would not happen again. The Prime Minister refused point blank, saying that freedom of speech was a cornerstone of Danish society, and that he had no control, nor a desire to control, the Danish media. But he was sorry if some Muslims had been offended. This was far from the apology that was hoped for, and lead to a letter from the 11 Arab ambassadors in Denmark to the PM, again requesting a meeting, again rejected, with the explanation that if they felt that the freedom of speech laws had been overstepped, that they could take it to the High Court. Offended by the indifference, a delegation of Muslims travelled around the Middle East with the newspaper drawings, and stories of racism from the north.
That’s when the shit REALLY hit the fan! Now there’s almost a complete boycott of Danish products in the Middle East, Danish embassies have been burnt down, Danish flags burnt in the streets, even pictures of the Danish PM burnt. Arab representatives from all over the world direct their scorn at Denmark, describing it as the most Right-Wing country in Europe, and there are many non-Muslims that agree with that description. So the country is writhing under a torrent of criticism and scrutiny. So what’s the temperature like over here? Bloody hot, especially if you’re a cartoonist. We all plod along, but I think anyone would be lying if they said it wasn’t in the back of their mind every time they take a pen up to comment on the days events, there’s almost nothing else in the news. The worst part about the whole thing is that it’s hard to find an objective view on the situation, everybody seems to be exploiting the situation to their own political advantage. To their credit, a lot of cartoonists continue to comment on the issue, somewhat tentatively maybe, but nobody could say
that they have the creative freedom in their head that they had before the crisis, so it’s had it’s effect. The political mood here resembles the last moments on the deck of the Titanic, accusations and finger-pointing everywhere, a veritable Pandora’s box of guilt and shame. Nothing can hide the fact that Denmark is becoming more Right-Wing, as are many other western countries, but here it’s really picking up momentum. The extreme Right-Wing party, the Danish People’s Party, as a member of the 3 party coalition government has picked up a lot of votes in the wake of the Muhammad drawings case (as it’s now called), and is now poised to overtake the Social Democratic Party as the second biggest party in the land. They have a serious influence over the ruling Liberal government, so the PM will attempt to appease them at every opportunity. So, as I have already stated, no comment comes without it being open to interpretation. What does the average Dane on the street think? Many are sad, horrified to think that so much anger could be directed at their little country, a country that is world-renowned for it’s human rights record and generosity to world aid. A people that were well received in the world, wherever they went- now they are advised to stay away from the Middle-East, and remove the Danish flag from their belongings. For myself, seeing the Danish flag burning and being trampled on, even by small children, was a very disturbing experience. My seven year-old son asks me why people are burning his country’s flag, and why do people hate us?, so it’s very difficult. I can’t imagine how I would feel if it was an Aussie flag. Many people also feel here, that the longer this thing goes on, and the more it escalates, then there are some mighty important principles at stake. Europe fought long and hard to get their secular societies, and they cherish their freedom of expression, so Muslims should view it not as an attack on Islam, but more a defence against any form of religious control. Lutheranism (The leading religion in Denmark) is a very tolerant, mild religion, and Denmark is the country in Europe with the lowest proportion of people that believe in God, so it makes for a volatile mix. There is also a real disappointment at the lack of support shown in the western world (Only really from France, who have their own immigration problems), that you can go to Iraq and put your country at risk, just don’t expect any favours in return- you really find out how much diplomatic weight you have.
All this is not helped by the fact that Denmark is definitely not a multicultural society, especially when compared with Australia. It is an ancient society, that in many ways is quite insular. It certainly surprised me when I first arrived, I expected a more open, more tolerant attitude to other cultures. But the reality is, that if one should wish to hold on to one’s own cultural identity in this huge melting pot that is Europe, then one must insulate ones self. There is certainly a xenophobia that exists among many Danes, or rather an inability to understand other ways of doing things or other thought processes. Maybe a mild suspicion of anything not Danish. This makes it difficult for foreigners to have any real success here, unless their very foreignness becomes a selling point in their work. It’s fair to say that the Arabs that have come to Denmark have definitely had serious problems integrating, I would say that since I arrived here in ‘93 there has hardly been a front page of a newspaper without a
Craig Stephens
comment about the ongoing immigrant problem, so Danes are not comfortable with it in general. A final word, on what the term “Freedom of speech” means in Denmark. I was quite shocked in the beginning, when I saw what was permitted to be said in the Danish media. There is a lot less censorship than in England, Australia, or America, and it took some getting used to, what I could now get away with! (I’m still not sure that I’m used to it!) Here, your right of artistic expression is respected, and you are never asked to be a mouthpiece for someone else’s opinion. That’s not to say that papers don’t have left or right leanings, just that all views are relevant to the debate. In the ultimate illustration of how far the Danes are prepared to go to protect freedom of speech, the
Danish Nazi Party have their own radio station, despite continued and bitter public protest. So that leaves us with the 12 drawings, and some interesting questions; Would this have ever been allowed to occur in Australia? Would you have said yes to such an assignment? It’s easy to be clever in hindsight, but I thought it was a bad idea from the start, as did most people here. Not very constructive, going after the man and not the ball sort of thing. They called it a “drengestreg” here, which translates to “naughty boy antic”. Jyllands-Posten are now trying to save their arses by saying that they have started a crucial debate that’s been a long time coming, and that they’re striking a blow for freedom of speech. What weakens their case is that the paper has, on several occasions, refused to run cartoons where the subject has been Christianity for fears of offending. (I personally know two cartoonists that were victims of this.) The drawings themselves represent 12 completely different viewpoints, as you would expect, some of them taking the micky out of the paper for doing it, some criticising the government, so it’s not fair to rope them all under a negative banner. The drawings that have caused the most backlash are not surprisingly all of a symbolic nature. Symbols say much more than words, and anyone who dabbles in that medium knows how fine a line one must tread, and how easily that imagery can be misinterpreted if one isn’t careful. Having said that, the tingle we get when we know that a drawing is possibly going to get someone’s back up can’t be denied, we’ve all been there before at one time or another. Just as long as it’s constructive. Here in Denmark, we’re all hoping that it will eventually die down and go away, so we cartoonists can get back to anonymity, where we work best. We don’t want to be taken too seriously, now do we? ( Then we’ve got ‘em right where we want ‘em!) In the meantime, I won’t be making any trips to the Middle-East in the near future. That didn’t stop a Danish cartoon friend of mine (who coincidently also works for Jyllands-Posten) from recently holidaying in Egypt and he came back in one piece! He said he was German apparently. Craig Stephens formerly an artist for News Limited in Sydney, now lives in Denmark with his wife Mette and progeny. He is balding, toothless and prefers gouache on toast.
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When you’ve got a bone to pick, try a funny bone. by Bill Leak in Sydney, NSW Originally published in The Wry Side column in the Australian, 15th March, 2006. Reprinted with Kind Permission.
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ID you hear the one about the crowd of Muslims, Jews, Christians and ratbags who went into a television studio? I was invited to participate in a forum on SBS TV to discuss the Cronulla riots and what they revealed about the state of race relations in Australia. “Of course,” I said breezily, anticipating an amusing hour of sharing opinions with the likes of George Megalogenis (a wog and a journalist, but not a bad bloke for all that), George Brandis (a Liberal senator, but also not a bad bloke) and The Daily Telegraph’s cartoonist, Warren Brown (a bad bloke). My mate Warren specialises in practical jokes. He’s the kind of idiot who once thought it would be hilarious to place a couple of eggs in one of my boots so that, the next morning when I had a cab waiting outside to take me to the airport, I’d discover them in that last, ghastly, moment. By the time I arrived in Melbourne my right foot was enveloped in a sockflavoured omelette. I thought a lot about murdering Warren that day but, as always, found myself crying with laughter at the recollection by the time I met him next for lunch. Warren has an awe-inspiring sense of humour and, believe me, you need a good
one yourself if you’re to maintain a friendship with him. So there we were last Tuesday evening, surrounded by a volatile mix of races, religions and proud Australians with their knuckles still swollen from the things they’d done to show how patriotic they were during the aforementioned riots. This was not a crowd who had turned up for the laughs. All their senses of humour combined wouldn’t amount to something that could fill a space between your teeth. There were, thankfully, a few reasonable people espousing moderate and well thought-out ideas but, despite the best efforts of poor Jenny Brockie, the alleged discussion soon turned in to a slanging match between the participants, most of whom were of the sort who put the “mental” into fundamental. A bloke sitting behind me kept hissing into my ear that I would never dare draw a cartoon that could be considered anti-Israeli. Having received abuse and death threats -- on many occasions -- for having done just that, it eventually became necessary to turn to him and politely insist that he hush up in a non-racist way. Meanwhile, Warren was having troubles of his own, having been placed next to Denis McCormack, the founder of Australians Against Further Immigration, a man who wore his racism like a badge of honour on the lapel of his bright green suit.
Bill Leak
Many of the views being hurled about the room were nothing more than outpourings of bile and hatred. If this was a microcosm of what life’s like for so many millions of people in the Middle East, then God -- or Allah -- help them. Both Warren and I
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kept ourselves nice, avoiding making any comments until, after about 45 minutes, a few of our cartoons were flashed up on a screen. Suddenly we were in the firing line. I made a feeble attempt to put one of mine into its context (it depicted two women strapping on belts of explosives under their hijabs with one saying to the other, “Does my bomb look big in this?”) by explaining that, far from poking fun at the women themselves, it was poking fun at Fred Nile who’d called for traditional Arab dress to be banned in Australia because of the possibility that such garments could be used to conceal explosives. It didn’t work. According to the woman on my left, the cartoon demonstrated how utterly insensitive I was and, to most of the rest of the crowd, it was simply offensive. I could feel a fatwah coming on. Frankly, I would have preferred to be doing just about anything else. Shovelling refuse from a burst sewer main in downtown Calcutta, for example. When, finally, the hour was up, Brandis was given the last word, a voice of reason in a sea of madness. He made the point that, in a free society, satirists can’t be expected to self-censor for fear of upsetting one small group within a very diverse community. A lot of things were missing in the crowd that night, things such as commonsense and mutual respect. But it was the total absence of humour that shocked me most. If you want to get along with those around you, a sense of humour is essential. If you have -- and cultivate -- one of those, you’ll be able to get along with just about anybody. Even bastards such as Warren Brown. Bill Leak is the editorial cartoonist for the Australian, and one of Australia’s most respected portrait painters. Leak has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize ten times, and has won eight Walkley Awards and nineteen Stanley Awards, including eight Gold Stanley Awards for Cartoonist of the Year.
Lost in Translation? by Jim Borgman in Cincinnati, OHIO
Originally published in Jim’s Blog, Borg Blog, 8th February, 2006. Reprinted with Kind Permission.
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OW surreal has it been to see the words “cartoon” and “rioting” in the same headline lately? For those of us plying our trade in the normally obscure trenches of editorial cartooning, recent stories of the Muhammad caricatures sparking riots in the Muslim world have given pause. How close have any of us come, in crafting subtle statements meant to provoke debate, to mass misinterpretation, cultural offense or even mob violence? Effective cartooning relies on the grasp of a subtle visual language most of us absorb through years of exposure to a common culture. I count on readers being able to understand that a certain statement a character is making is meant to be sarcastic, ironic, sardonic, tongue in cheek, or plain stupid. How do we telegraph these intentions? Beats me. It’s an unarticulated language pulled off through the subtleties of expression, gesture and a million other nuances. And a cartoonist spends a lifetime mastering that tool
belt of scalpels and sledgehammers. And there are a lot of readers who are less adept at that language than others. I hear often from readers who misunderstand my intended point, having cruised through a visual stop sign or failed to grasp some cue I’ve painted bright red. I have to think this is one of the reasons cultural senses of humour fail to translate, why British humour, for example, eludes some of us or other cultural humour seems too subtle, broad or obtuse. All of that said, the current controversy owes more to gross insensitivity on the part of the Danish cartoonists and their offending newspaper than it does to anything lost in translation. We in the western world have learned to roll our eyes at offending material, write it off as idiocy and turn the page. The Islamic culture, on alert to signals from an unsympathetic and dismissive world, has had enough of western condescension. Drawing cartoons, for all its healthy broad protections, has never been a license to gratuitously hurt people.
I fail to see any larger mission being served in the Danish cartoonists’ intentions than simply giving offense, kicking people who are different than themselves. I have no sympathy for anyone using the tools of what I have always considered to be the high calling of editorial cartooning simply to hurt feelings. There are times when, in the course of healthy debate of significant issues, feelings get hurt. That is impossible to avoid. But to begin a drawing simply intending to offend people seems unethical to me. Hell, it seems psychotic.
Jim Borgman is currently celebrating 25 years as the Cincinnati Enquirer’s editorial cartoonist. Borgman has won every major award in his field, including the 1991 Pulitzer Prize, the NCS’s Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1993, and most recently, the Adamson Award in 2005 as International Cartoonist of the Year. His award-winning daily comic strip Zits, co-created with Jerry Scott, is syndicated to1300 newspapers around the world. On top of this, Jim is nominated for two awards at the 2006 Reubens in May, one for editorial cartooning and the second for comic strip.
Freedom of the Press by Lindsay Foyle in Sydney, NSW
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artoonists love making people laugh. They also like to make people think, and the publication of 12 cartoons depicting the profit Muhammad by 12 cartoonists on September 30, 2005 in the Jyllands-Posten seems to have made some people laugh and almost everyone think.
apply to Muslims. But there is some wisdom in this custom if you look at the way some political leaders in dictatorships are deitised with the use of photos. Pop-stars and movie-actors are also elevated way beyond their station and it is even possible for someone like Paris Hilton to become famous just for being photographed.
hard to find drawings of Muhammad in the market stalls in Iran and some other Middle-Eastern countries and to find him depicted in Mecca. Muhammad’s image is on the US Supreme Court building and he has been parodied in the TV series South Park. Few of these descriptions have caused the slightest fuss.
The theory behind the controversy being put forward is Muhammad is not to be drawn so he is not turned into an idol. In a more extreme interpretation of this Islamic tradition (it’s not something mentioned in the Koran) is that there are even restrictions on images of all people. However it shouldn’t be forgotten these rules only
However Islamic convention hasn’t stopped images of Muhammad from appearing in the past. Medieval pictures of Muhammad often echoed Christian iconography, and religious icons were not uncommon during the time of the Ottoman Empire. Persia too, has a history of using images. An article in The Times claimed that even now it isn’t
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sees things differently and was quoted in the International Herald Tribune saying, “To Muslim communities worldwide, it is of enormous spiritual importance. For the last 14 centuries, Muslims have adhered to a strict code that prohibits any visual portrait of the prophet. When www.cartoonists.org.au
this code was violated and their prophet mocked for the purpose of humour, Muslims felt it a direct assault on their faith.” > Freedom of the Press
While nobody was expected to object to a book on the life of Muhammad there was some worry on how far some Muslim sensitivities about images should be taken into account. A free press in a free society is one thing but the perceived problem that some Muslim nutter would kill the artist who illustrated the book is something else altogether. Flemming Rose, cultural editor of Jyllands-Posten, told a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution in Washington in mid February, “the cartoonists were just treating Islam and Muslims in the same way they would treat everybody else.” At the time of publication the 12 cartoons caused some local outrage. Three of the cartoonists received death threats and a guard was stationed at the newspapers office, but little else happened. On October 19 some ambassadors from countries with a Muslim background complained to the Danish government wanting the paper prosecuted. What the charges would be is unclear because Denmark has a free press. The editor of Jyllands-Posten, Carten Justen had at one time refused to publish cartoons, which had poked fun at the Christian religion. Rose too acknowledged that the newspaper two years ago had declined to publish satirical cartoons depicting Jesus Christ, but said the current situation was not comparable, and noted that over the years Jyllands-Posten had printed cartoons deemed offensive by Christians, Jews and other religions. It is claimed a group of Danish imams, miffed at the Danish governments inaction set off on a tour of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with a dossier containing the 12 cartoons and three additional cartoons which had not been published or even seen in the office of Jyllands-Posten. Their intent, it is
said was to stir up trouble. There might be a bit of explaining to do when they get home to Denmark. While away the imams seem to be adopting a double standard. If the cartoons were offensive to Muslims it’s hard to understand why they would cart them round the Middle- East showing them to anyone and everyone. Especially as they were claiming the cartoons should have been seen by no one. The Egyptian newspaper Al Fajr published the cartoons along with a condemnation in October without much negative attention. On Thursday, 3 February, 2006 the BBC broadcast the cartoons. By then intolerance seemed to have overtaken commonsense and orchestrated outrage was running out of control. In an editorial The Australian newspaper said the BBC “have every right to do so. Some Muslims might find the depictions offensive, but the right to offend within the law is fundamental to free speech.” “These are dangerous times for community relations and media have to tread carefully” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, on a visit to Doha at an international media forum organised by the Arab satellite Channel Al-Jazeera. “But they must not compromise fundamental principles as they do so.” White went on to say “that widespread reporting of the cartoonists’ issue in the Arab world failed to appreciate the importance of free expression, although media were rightly drawing attention to the offence that the newspaper had caused.” Adelaide political cartoonist Peter Broelman is a little less subtle in his views saying, “In today’s tinderbox political and religious divide between Muslims and Christians the timing could not have been worse. Freedom of speech was used as an excuse for provocation by a Right-Wing newspaper. An editorial cartoon is about opinion; readers can choose to be offended. But if the cartoon is created to offend, a response is to be expected. Ironically the 12
hackneyed, unimaginative cartoons hardly deserve violent protests let alone worldwide attention and debate.” Alan Moir writing in The Sydney Morning Herald pointed out Western cartoonists have felt free to lampoon since 1831 when the King of France, Louis-Philippe had cartoonist Philipon charged with defamation for drawing him as a pear in the newspaper La Carricature. At the time that could be interpreted as meaning he was stupid. In covering the case, newspapers all over Europe took glee in frequently publishing the cartoons as often as possible. Philipon was jailed for six months and the court ruled no more drawings of pears should be published. La Carricature published the finding on the front page with the type designed to look like a pear. Louis-Philippe won the case however he was seen to have made a fool of himself. It became obvious to everyone it was better to accept a little ridicule rather than being seen as having no sense of humour. But things are a changing. The managing editor of the French newspaper France Soir was sacked early in February 2006 after reprinting all 12 cartoons from JyllandsPosten. In England The Spectator magazine briefly carried the cartoons on the web site, but acting editor Stuart Reid had them taken down after a few hours after consulting chief executive Andrew Neil, saying the images were “unnecessarily provocative.” Two New Zealand newspapers, The Dominion and The Christchurch Press published the cartoons in early February. By then the cartoons had been published in most European countries and in North America. However not everybody was impressed by them. Rod Emmerson, political cartoonist on The New Zealand Herald in Auckland says, “When I first saw the story some 5 months ago, it was blatantly obvious that the Danish paper was indulging in some poorly conceived mischief making. After all, the very ordinary ‘cartoons’ were submitted by the public, rather than by professional cartoonists, who could no doubt see it for what it really was. Papers that jumped onto the Freedom Bus months after the event and published the work looked somewhat ‘hairy-chested’ for no real purpose. No one in this day and age doubts the Freedom of the Press. We cartoonists (from all faiths) tiptoe all over peoples beliefs and sensitivities every day of the week and not everyone laughs, so we go about our work with great skill. But the Danish sortie into this minefield has done untold damage to journalism and unfortunately, has proved to be a handle for extremists on both sides to fan the flames.”
Peter Broelman
The Courier-Mail also published one of the cartoons and they were all published on Tim Blair’s website. So far little trouble in Australia has been detected. Courier-Mail cartoonist Sean Leahy interviewed on talkback radio on the subject said he “could not
www.cartoonists.org.au
see the 12 cartoonists’ or the Danish editor’s point in publishing the original cartoons other than to be deliberately blasphemous. Why draw a cartoon with that, as it’s sole purpose when there are so many more worthwhile religious issues to focus on? (eg. the role of women in virtually any religion, for one example) Then to turn it into a noble freedom of speech issue was really stretching credibility. It has turned out to be tragedy far worse than anyone could have imagined for everybody involved and all for no good reason.”
Mahir Ali, a Sydney journalist writing for Dawn in Pakistan questioned the freedom of western newspapers “European papers contend that republication of the cartoons was necessary in order to show their readers what the fuss was all about. But would they have been quite so eager to go down that road had the story - and illustrations - in question related to, say, graphic child pornography or pedophilia? Most probably not. Why? Obviously, in the interests of good taste, and in order not to offend public sensibilities. Does this mean Muslim sensitivities somehow matter less than those of other sections of the public?” Well not so for American comic strip artist Garry Trudeau - known for the lack of respect he gives to American political leaders - who said he’d never use images of Muhammad in Doonsesbury. “Just because a society has almost unlimited freedom of expression doesn’t mean we should stop thinking about its consequences in the real world.” The publishing of the cartoons isn’t one-sided either. The editors of Al-Mehwar and AlShihan in Jordan obviously thought their readers had a right to see the offending cartoons and reprinted them. The Jordanian government didn’t see things in the same light and the editors were arrested for their trouble. Rightly or wrongly, a free press in the Middle-East isn’t something people in the west expect to exist. One reason might be the reputation of extremist clerics who are involved in the administration of Middle-Eastern countries. Another is that Muslims, unlike Christians and Jews haven’t been prominent in large numbers in western media. This must add to the mistrust between the cultures.
When Al-Shihane published the cartoons they were accompanied by an editorial appealing to Muslims to be reasonable. Being reasonable would be fine for many readers of Al-Shihane, but being reasonable doesn’t seem to be part of every reader’s ethos. The publisher pulled all the copies of AlShihane from the newsstands. There are many governments and religious bodies in that part of the world who seem happy to foster ill feeling towards non-Muslims. Suicide bombers can blow themselves up knowing their families will receive substantial financial support from their pyrotechnics.
In the first week of February 2006 the editor of Jyllands-Posten, Carsten Juste apologised for offending Muslims. He has been quoted in the Saudi Arabian press saying, “Allow me in the name of Jyllands-Posten to apologise for what happened and declare my strong condemnation of any step that attacks specific religions, ethnic groups and peoples.” He has also cited freedom of speech in publishing the cartoons. The Danish Government has refused to apologise, in order to avoid undermining freedom of the press. Some rioters have lost their lives, in Nigeria Muslims attacked Christians and Christians attacked Muslims in payback assaults all on the pretext that that Muhammad couldn’t or could be cartooned. The dead outnumbered the cartoons by over five to one. Others died in Libya and more in the Middle East while leaving behind senselessly torched embassies, and offices of some European newspapers face bomb threats. Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Libya have recalled their ambassadors from Copenhagen. The Danes
Just because a society has almost unlimited freedom of expression doesn’t mean we should stop thinking about its consequences in the real world.
~ Garry Trudeau
have withdrawn from their embassy in Iran and diplomats from Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia and Indonesia. In Afghanistan Danish aid workers have been evacuated after a Taliban leader offered gold to anyone killing either a Dane or one of the original 12 cartoonists. Journalists in Russia, Algeria, Jordan, the Yemen and have been arrested for publishing the cartoons. And there is no end in sight to the Muslim opposition to the West’s interpretation to freedom of the press. If the discussions on a free press were worth having in the first place and if the support newspapers around the world have given to Jyllands-Posten is worth anything then the apology could be seen as more ill advised than the original publication of the cartoons. Melbourne lawyer Waleed Aly wrote in The Australian “The Koran forbids Muslims from insulting the deities of others, lest that inspires them to disparage God.” Being an educated and religious man Mahumoud Ahmadinejad would have more than just a passing knowledge of the Koran. He would also know it’s not within the sprit of the Koran to say, “The Holocaust is a myth.” But being president of Iran he’s probably keener on offending Israelis than he is on his own religious beliefs. He also wouldn’t have minded Iran’s largest selling and gov-
ernment-controlled newspaper, Hamshahri launching a contest for cartoons about the Holocaust. Graphics editor Farid Mortazavi explained the plan was to turn the tables on the assertion that newspapers can print offensive material in the name of freedom of expression. He might have thought twice about how offensive the Holocaust cartoons would be to Israelis, if he’d been in Tel Aviv when Mel Brooks farce The Producers opened in mid February. Micah Levensohn, the Israeli director said, “We don’t shy away from the images. If you look at Israeli television every night, there are swastikas and Nazi footage on one program or another. It’s not as if seeing a swastika is a shock for Israelis. The main objective is to make people laugh.” If the Holocaust cartoons had only been published in the Hamshahri, few people outside of Iran would have had the chance to be offended. However the cartoons were also placed on a web site to gives people from all over the world the opportunity to be offended. Melbourne cartoonist Michael Leunig was offended when he discovered someone had entered an old cartoon of his in the contest without consulting him. In 2002 the cartoon had been refused publication in The Age by the editor Michael Gawenda and then published on Media Watch under the guise of freedom of speech. Ted Lapkin, policy director for the Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Council was quoted in The Australian saying, “there was no denying the cartoon was offensive.” And many people in the Australian Jewish community were offended. But a survey in 2002 showed most ABC viewers thought the cartoon should have been published. Presumably because the cartoon wasn’t anti-Jewish, just anti-war. Then again they might have an Israeli sense of humour. There is a very fine line between what sections of the Jewish community will accept or be offended by. Many cartoonists have attracted strong criticism over cartoons on Israel - but no violence - even though the cartoon is political and not religious in content. The Fairfax Press was offended by Lapkin’s words and asked for an apology. Several Murdoch controlled newspapers in Australia found Leunig’s cartoon offensive and attacked him because his cartoon had been used out of context. When the cartoon had run on Media Watch Gawenda had been offended. He was also offended when it popped up a second time. He wrote in the Fairfax press about the competition saying it is a “matter that concerns not only Jews, as any form of racism offends more people than those against whom it is directed.” Anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli or anti-war Leunig’s cartoon would have gone over well in Iran, but when Leunig contacted Hamshahri the offending cartoon was quickly removed from the web site. Leunig said, “I did not set out to offend. Cartoonists usually just blunder into these things.” There is every chance there are 12 cartoonists in Denmark who would agree with that. www.cartoonists.org.au
Federation of Cartoonists Organisations
www.fecoweb.org
FECO “Politically Incorrect”
Twelve little cartoons published in a Danish newspaper have considerably disturbed the Muslim world. A handful of cartoonists dared represent religious subjects in the purest tradition of anticlerical drawings and this seriously bothered the bearded integrists of all kinds. Yet, pertinence and impertinence being the nature of press cartoons, we expect the members of FECO to send us one drawing whose theme would either be religion, censorship, self-censorship, intolerance or human stupidity and all that is linked to it (the list may be long).
First these cartoons would be exhibited on the FECO web site and some others. We may try to have a certain number of them printed in weeklies publishing cartoons. We could even think of issuing an album with all of them if we can find a publisher willing to do it. That could be a kind of manifesto against what “politically correct” is as far as press cartoons are concerned. So, welcome Christ, the Virgin, Benedict XVI or John Paul II, l’abbé Pierre or Mother Theresa, Yahvéor Bouddah, the Raeliansor the Jehovah witnesses, the born-again or the angel-faced evangelists, Giordano Bruno or Galilea, Torquemadaor George W Bush, a pair of scissors or an inquisition stake… but no Muhammad for reasons of obvious incompatibility of humour.
Marlene Pohle President General, FECO
“A Personal View” Of course Allah and God have a sense of humour, Otherwise he would never have created men! Up until today I have received 733 reactions by email from cartoonists all over the world. FECO members and nonmembers writing about their concern. FREEDOM of speech, FREEDOM of writing and FREEDOM of image is a very important privilege in most Western countries and should be respected. Of course it is great that the cartoon is back in the world and showed us once again its importance. The problem is the way it happened… Discrimination, or hurting others’ feelings on purpose, is NOT the same as provocation. A cartoonist may provoke, ridicule things, have to point out things, but not inflict deep wounds. Humour should always be the base and a way of communication. To communicate you need to understand each other’s language! People in Great Britain seem to have a different sense of humour than people in Japan or Egypt. Cartoonists in Germany draw in a different way than cartoonists in Russia. Phases in life are cheerfully illustrated in the form of pleasant madness and disguised reality by cartoonists. Humour is of all times and all countries (we can never say certain people do not have any sense of humour). But then not everywhere do people laugh equally loud or so often. Sometimes one will appreciate the humour of a certain country more when one gets to know more about the specific cultural traditions of its people. As far as I know there has never been a cartoonist who killed other people with his pen! 10 www.cartoonists.org.au
Freedom and understanding. “Drawing the world together” is what FECO wants and hopes. Is that still possible? I am shocked by the reaction and violence in some countries, based on non-communication and non-understanding (perhaps from both sides). There should not be both sides, just one side! I am pleased with the non-violent reaction of many Islamic leaders. I am pleased with the reaction of many FECO members, of which some disagree and some agree about the cartoons made by our Danish colleagues. That’s freedom; to agree or disagree. It should NEVER be a reason to end a friendship. We have to communicate, to respect other’s opinion, to continue a dialogue, to make cartoons in freedom. NOT to create blacklists with rules and names! If someone feels offended or discriminated against, there is always the possibility of going to court (that applies to many countries). Please, let’s continue to communicate by making fun, by making jokes about each other without hurting one’s feelings on purpose. Of course, a cartoonist walks the line, is thinking ‘how far can I go’, has some form of self-censorship - but that’s freedom too! Be proud to be a cartoonist. However today it seems to be a dangerous profession. Do not draw the world apart, but draw the world together!
Peter Nieuwendijk Secretary General, FECO
ACA Members can keep up-to-date with the latest competition and exhibition news by visiting the FECO website at: www.fecoweb.org
PARZ!
John Simic has left Auspac Media for a new endeavour. “I would personally like to thank everyone I met and liaised with during this time, it has been a pleasure.” His replacement is Margret Pfeiffer who has many years experience in the sales industry. Any queries can now be directed to her by email at: margretp@auspacmedia.com.au
Animators’ Honour for ‘Wallace & Gromit’ Forget all the high-tech computer-generated stuff. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the WereRabbit, produced using the claymation technique introduced in animated movies nearly a hundred years ago and popularized 60 years ago in George Pal’s “Puppetoons,” swept the 33rd annual Annie Awards. The film received 10 awards, including Best Feature, beating the computer animated films Chicken Little and Madagascar. Creators Nick Park and Steve Box received the directing awards.
One way to get your picture into all the papers! A man who allegedly robbed 82-yearold Victorian cartoonist Bill ‘WEG’ Green has been caught, thanks to a quick caricature drawn by his victim. WEG confronted the robber in the carport of his home one Sat-urday morning before he nicked off with a red bicycle. WEG offered to draw a picture of the robber when police arrived at his home. “Being a caricaturist or cartoonist all my life I can remember WEG’s famous sketch
faces immediately.” he said. Within half an hour, police took the drawing to other officers who had arrested a man for an incident at a hairdresser 600 metres from Mr Green’s home in Bedford Road. Senior constable Aaron Roche, who attended the scene, said: “It was amazing, the likeness was just fantastic. The sketch only took him three or four seconds!” Talk about burgling the wrong bloke!
Revenge can be sweet. Steve “Noz” Panozzo and 2GB’s website cartoonist Stephen “Zeg” Gunnell were guests on Murray Wilton’s radio show in Sydney in February. Nothing remarkable in itself, you may think. However, among the callers during the half-hour slot was none other than Noz’s highschool maths teacher who, whilst conceding that he had the ability to do well in her class, publicly noted his inability to focus on his schoolwork. Revenge can be sweet.
SUPANOVA 2006
is coming to the RNA showgrounds in Brisbane on April 22nd and 23rd. This year’s line-up includes special celebrity guests, Madman Anime theatre, an upper-deck gamingroom, tournaments and competitions along with excellent interstate and international contributors. For more info visit: www.supanova.com.au
Moir invited to lecture in the Senate! It’s only the second
time in fifteen years an Australian journalist has been asked to speak at Parliament House, but Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist Alan Moir has been hand picked, and says he’s “Glad to see our profession being taken ‘seriously’ at the top.” For a number of years the Australian Senate has run an occasional lecture program, in which public speakers are invited to present a lecture at Parliament House, Canberra. The speakers need to address some issue relating to Parliament, the Constitution, politics or Australian governance. Alan will talk this year on political cartooning and its role
in the political dialogue. The lectures are recorded and often broadcast on national radio, and published in the Senate journal Papers.
Artoons Exhibition
Western Australian ACA member Phil Faigen has painstakingly researched, tracked down and assembled a showcase of original works from cartoonists whose works were published in Western Australia in the last century. The collection has travelled from Perth to Geraldton and Mundaring and recently returned to Perth where it was on display at the Heathcote Gallery. The exhibition consists of works by 24 cartoonists including original pieces by Stan Cross, Bill Mitchell and Paul Rigby. The collection features editorial cartoons and caricatures as well as watercolour and oil paintings. Phil is hoping to expand the exhibition and is constantly looking for “new “ pieces. If you can assist, email Phil at: faigen@allpointsbuilding.com.au The exhibition has proven to be an invaluable visual record of the styles and major events of the last century.
Alston in second printing
West Australian cartoonist Dean Alston’s 20-year compilation book, “20 Years of Alston” has been flying off the shelves and is already in its second printing. (See page 16 for a review by Greg Smith.) Alston is heading to the UK for his second Shrewsbury festival along with ACA President James Kemsley and club secretary Steve Panozzo. Be sure to check out the coming issue of Inkspot for a full report on their shenanigans.
Seriously Funny - The art of humour competition and exhibition was presented by the ArtGeo Gallery and Courthouse Arts Complex in Busselton, in Australia’s South West. Running from the 4th March until the 2nd April, the inaugural annual exhibition featured artwork with specific purpose and function in its concept. The condition was that the artwork must contain an element of humour be it parody, hyperbole, wit, whimsy, black humour, satire, lampoon, burlesque, caricature or spoof. The winner, judged by Australian cartooning legend (SouthWest local) Paul Rigby took away $13,000. The competition is WA-only at this stage, but with a view to expand nationally. www.cartoonists.org.au
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Across the Walnuts & the Whine by Clive Collins from the CCGB
I
write this on a sunny day, whilst all around me I hear the shrieks of ‘Christ, mate! Put down that bloody knife!’ as hitherto devoted owners of Mynahs, African Greys and Cockatoos take emergency action to ward off the imminent threat of Avian Flu.
much baited as yawned. Frank Miller of course is the man who remoulded The Dark Knight, and it’s to be hoped that he’s wise enough not to portray Batters going head to head at any
were well represented on the walls. As Steve Bell said in his speech to open the event – ‘nobody likes Bush, it’s just that, as cartoonists we’d miss him if he wasn’t there.’
My doctor, who still does Harold Shipman* impressions at medical conferences and wonders why nobody laughs any more, told me that thanks to my dissolute cartoonists’ life-style I’ll be in the first wave to go under. Maybe the answer is to send in superheroes to clear up the mess, rather like the War Room is doing at DC Comics, where Dubya has finally called up Batman to fight Osama, in Frank Miller’s upcoming graphic novel ‘Holy Terror, Batman!’ This news, courtesy of our only remaining broadsheet paper The Daily Telegraph means that our capedcrusader – who, you may recall, has no more super powers than you or I; he just dresses…differently, and runs around with a younger man in tights – is scheduled to go head to head with the sheeted one, either later this year or early next. It’s an appropriate match I guess, since Osama also tends to spend a large amount of his free time in a cave, though he doesn’t seem to have the whizzo hardware that our Gotham City-dweller packs. Osama is ready to strike first – verbally at least – with his weighty tome llins e Co ‘Messages to the Cliv World: The statements of Osama bin Laden’, a title that doesn’t exactly have the zing of Miller’s, but for which “The New Face we all wait with of Terrorism” breath not so 12 www.cartoonists.org.au
Clive Collins
time with an actual portrayal of Muhammad, bearing in mind recent events in Denmark when, for the first time since Leonardo da Vinci’s doodle was being saved for the nation in the 70s, the word ‘cartoon’ has appeared in newspaper headlines. Meanwhile, back in the bunker with George Bush and things American, the British political cartoonists had a field day recently when Dr. Tim Benson threw open the doors of his Political Cartoon Gallery for a cartoon show entitled ‘Misunderstanding Bush’. This consisted of a brilliant spread of original cartoons depicting the great leader in a light that he might have wanted to stay dimmed. Political heavyweights like Bell, Brown, Davey, Gaskill, Griffin, Jensen, Moerland, Rowson, Schrank, and many others those of you who have never heard *theforname of this very British character, Dr.
Shipman earned the dubious distinction of becoming the most prolific mass murderer in civilian times, thanks to upholding his rigid discipline that ‘the patient must die’. Some sources place his tally as high as 400.
The Cartoon Art Trust (CAT) opened their new Cartoon Museum in February, and their brief is to preserve - and show - the cream of cartooning in Britain from the past through to the present, in all its forms. If you’re over in the UK this year, both venues would be well worth a visit. The Political Cartoon Gallery is at 32, Store Street, LONDON WC1E 7BS (Telephone: 0207 580 1114) and CAT is at The Old Dairy, 35, Little Russell Street, LONDON WC1A 2HH. Here’s to a healthy 2006 and breathe carefully.
Clive Collins is an international award-winning cartoonist. He has been a contributor to Playboy (US) since 1972, currently working for CMP Information Group; The Diplomat Information Group; Reader’s Digest (UK); drew for Punch (1964-92 when it was still funny), then 1996 until closure; ex-Chairman, and now Life vice-President of The Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain; Member of the NCS; Cartoonists’ & Writers’ Syndicate; FECOUK; He is on the advisory board for International Journal of Comic Art and Secretary of the British Cartoonists’ Association.
700 Square Feet of Me
by Rick Kirkman from the NCS
A
newspaper reporter recently came to my studio to interview me. From that visit I realised that a tour of my studio is a tour of me. It provided the impetus to vacuum up the dog and cat hair and organize my office more than it ever has been, so you’re lucky you won’t have to step over a lot of junk on the floors during this tour. It’s a short commute from the back door of our house across the patio, past the swimming pool, to the attached studio comprising three rooms (not counting bathroom and storage closet). The guitars and drums you see would be a tip-off that I’m a musician as well as an artist—or more correctly, that in addition to being a mediocre guitar player, I’m a mediocre drummer. Even so, it’s a great way to amuse myself. On the wall behind my drums is a framed pair of beat up drumsticks and a used drumhead signed by ZZ Top, the result of a trade for a Baby Blues original. Perusing the several hundred CDs stored around the office, you’ll see a wide taste in music from Caruso to Cream, from Sgt. Pepper to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Wide swaths of the collection are dedicated to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and 1960’s and 70’s soul. In the corner is a clay bust of Jimi Hendrix—a high school art class project immortalizing my favourite guitarist.
“Baby Blue s” Dist r ib
ute d by Kin
s ature g Fe
Amid the many cartoon books are dozens of bizarre cartoon images and figurines. One of my favorites is a large, green, upright rodent bearing the initials “R.F.”—for
“Rat Fink,” an iconic surf cartoon character from the 60’s by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. Many of the pieces are dogs. I have a thing for weird, crazy-looking dogs, which probably goes back to my love of George Booth cartoons. One that pops up frequently is a white dog with a large snout, black ears and a black spot on his back: Snoopy. Peanuts was a huge influence dating back to my childhood, and figures prominently in my studio. My hallway serves as a gallery of some of the signed cartoon originals I’ve traded with my favourite cartoonists. Closest to the work area, there are photos of my two daughters, some of them posed with my wife. I keep them close to the work area; they double as reference material. A gigantic cork bulletin board covers most of one wall. I “inherited” it from the office I used to share with my Baby Blues partner, Jerry Scott. It’s littered with photographs, a few taken in other cartoonists’ studios, including “Sparky” Schulz’s. From a few of the photos, you might think I had been a pilot and a pirate at times. (Jerry and I flew out to an aircraft carrier once, and I did dress as a pirate at the Reuben Awards in Cancun). There are photos of friends’ kids and a shot of Jerry and me with a bus boy from the restaurant where Baby Blues was partially conceived. There’s a quote from Ray Bradbury, a couple of Life In Hell cartoons, and caricatures of Jerry and me as the “Baby Blues Brothers,” a musical act we did a couple of times for NCS talent shows.
and Yafa Syndic at
My nerdiness is obvious. A large portion of the studio is dedicated to computers and other geeky paraphernalia. I am a diehard Mac person. In my free-lance years, I did a lot of graphics work for the computer industry, even demonstrating computer tablets using Painter at national trade shows.
On the shelf are several books that feature some of my Painter how-to articles. My drawing table is surrounded by piles of paper and small, scribbled Post-It notes. Next to the table lie discarded pencil stubs: black colored pencils (for the technically minded, Faber-Castell Polychromos No. 199) along with a few non-photo blue. My wife says I never throw anything away. I use an electric sharpener as well as an electric eraser. I draw the finished strips with colored pencil; a decision I’ve questioned many times when I add up all the pencils I’ve worn down, and all the fatigue my hand has endured from holding a pencil tighter than I would have to hold a pen or brush. Solid blacks are applied with Faber-Castell PITT artist pens (brush tip) and Calli India ink. On the table are Jerry’s e-mailed typewritten gags, and tight “rough” sketches of the gags that I have drawn on tracing paper, photocopied and faxed to Jerry to examine. Our collaboration consists of me editing his copy, and he editing my drawings. Using the light box next to the table, I trace them onto nonphoto blue pre-printed boards (about the equivalent of 2-ply Bristol). I scan the strips and send them out via email to the syndicate. The Sunday strip process is similar, though I now have a colouring assistant, who does the bulk of the colouring based on my instructions. That concludes the tour of Baby Blues East. Don’t trip over Moose, our yellow Lab, as you exit. Rick Kirkman is the artist partner of the hit US strip Baby Blues, which now runs in over 1000 papers. He is also secretary of the NCS. www.cartoonists.org.au
13
e
Sedition Nothing protects democracy more than free speech. Every autocratic government has suppressed it and no democracy has survived without it. Without it a political cartoonist is either in jail or an ex-cartoonist. Here in Australian we have always enjoyed a free press. In the 1820s the Governor, Sir Ralph Darling, tried to control the press by introducing a system of licenses for newspapers that could be withdrawn at the Governor’s pleasure. Presumably after his displeasure. These measures were in contradiction of the laws of England and Sir Francis Forbes, Chief Justice of the colony, refused to assent them. So Australia got to keep its free press. While many cartoonists have upset many politicians since then, no politician in Australia has passed laws to control the press except in times of war. But the times are a-changing. The federal government has pushed through new anti-terror laws that contain sections on sedition that seem to have no other purpose than to control the press. They fit well with this government’s behaviour. There have been constant attacks on the ABC by sections of the Federal Government claiming the organisation is biased. While there have been independent inquiries, few examples of bias have been found. This hasn’t stopped the Mad Right and the Liberal Party from continuing the attack and trying to turn the ABC into a propaganda machine. The point overlooked in these attacks and inquiries is not how biased the ABC is, but how far to the right and away from mainstream Australia those making the allegations are. It shouldn’t be overlooked that the same people who are making the allegations against the ABC will be administering the sedition laws. It fits with the government’s obsession with control. Think this is an exaggeration? Well ask yourself what is the purpose of the relentless attacks on the ABC if they are not about control? While the ABC couldn’t be said to have the right wing bias of some sections of the Australian media, it’s still a long way from being left wing. Phillip Adams - a successful capitalist - is said to be the voice of the left on the ABC and the most that could be said of his politics is that they’re small “l” Liberal. That’s way short of being left wing. Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung would have had him shot for his capitalist views. They knew what being a left-winger was all about. tttttControlling free speech (the press) is 14 www.cartoonists.org.au
Lindsay Foyle’s view on elements within the proposed new anti-terror laws the common refuge of all dictators. Still think all this is alarmist exaggeration? Think about Mr. Howard - who likes to portray himself as a representative of middle Australia while claiming to be the nation’s most conservative (right wing) Prime Minister - as he pushes new extreme industrial relations laws while claiming his government isn’t controlled by the Far Right. If it’s not to control the press then why did the federal government rush through the new sedition laws? These laws can be used to radically alter the nature of public debate. They draw on community fears and are intended to create a state where government and police will be able to act without accountability. Mr. Howard says the new sedition laws aren’t there to control the press, but as that’s all they seem to do, why are they there? Given we’ve only got the Prime Minister’s word on their use, cartoonists had better start developing a taste for gruel.
Why pass a bad law that is intended to be reviewed? It’s nonsense. The new laws are said to help protect us from terrorists, but no act of terrorism will do more damage to our way of life than the destruction of freedom of the press. In 1939 Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies said, “The greatest tragedy that could overcome a country would be for it to fight a successful war in defence of liberty, and lose its own liberty in the process.” There are some members of the government who see those dangers in the new laws and there is talk of a review. But why pass a bad law that is intended to be reviewed? It’s nonsense. Under the new Bill, the Australian Federal Police can make a request for a person to be put on a preventative detention or control order. The legislation also places restrictions on reporting details about a person in detention. A journalist who reveals that a person has been detained, the length of the detention or any other information relating to the order faces five years’ imprisonment. It’s an exaggerated penalty aimed at silencing journalists; intimidating them into submission and allowing miscarriages of justice go
unquestioned and inevitably unnoticed. So who benefits from the new laws- the public who will be deprived of knowing what is going on, or the terrorists who don’t want the public to know what is going on? The media’s ability to do their job is further crippled by the increased police power to obtain documents, which may relate to a terrorism offence. A notice to produce provisions will allow the AFP to force journalists to hand over information, including the identity of confidential sources, if those documents will help in the investigation of a “serious terrorism offence”. The fine for refusing to comply is $3,300. To add insult to injury, a journalist who discloses that they’ve received a notice or the contents of it can incur an additional fine of $13,200. And Mr. Howard says the new laws aren’t intended to control the press. Why would a government for the people and by the people take away the capacity of the people to know what was being done in the name of the people? Why would a government - claiming to champion freedom - attempt to impose anti-terror legislation on the media that would interfere with its capacity to report or cartoon on what is going on? How could any government send Australian troops overseas to fight wars to bring freedom to other countries turn around and restrict freedom within Australia? Would the current Australian government tolerate such suppression of truth in Iran or Afghanistan? Is it ok to impose freedom on people who don’t have it while taking it away from people who do? Terrorists act outside the law and are unlikely to worry about laws made by a government (they want to destroy) and designed to attack people who are only interested in reporting what is happening. Terrorists will not go away just because the media is stopped from reporting their stupidities. So why is the government acting in the manner of a mad religious order that can’t tolerate knowledge, freedom, dissent and democratic principals? The Sedition elements within the proposed new anti-terror laws contain serious threats to our democracy. If they are not withdrawn the only winners will be the terrorists (and the Mad Right). Lindsay Foyle is a cartoonist at The Australian, a respected comic historian and a regular contributor to Inkspot and The Walkley Magazine. Lindsay is a former president of the ACA and recipient of the Silver Stanley Award.
An Introduction to Levels !N )NTRODUCTION TO ,EVELS & !DJUSTMENT ,AYERS Adjustment Layers $EAR $OC 7HADDYA DO WHEN YOU VE SENT OFF A SCREAMINGLY ELEGANT COLOUR CARTOON TO A CLIENT THEY COME BACK WITH THE MUMBLED APOLOGY THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GREYSCALE 3URE YOU GREYSCALE A COPY OF THE IMAGE )MAGE -ODE 'RAYSCALE "54 YOU NOTICE THAT WHERE YOUR ORIGINAL COLOURS WERE SHARP CONTRASTY THE GRAY CONVERSION HAS LEFT SOME AREAS DECIDEDLY ILL DEl NED 3IMILARLY TONED REDS GREENS NOW LOOK KINDA MUCH THE SAME SHADE OF GRAY 7HADDYA DO
THE LEFT OF THE SLIDER TO BE TREATED AS PURE BLACK 3IMILARLY MOVING THE WHITE SLIDER TELLS THE COMPUTER TO TREAT ANY COLOURS TO THE RIGHT OF THAT SLIDER AS PURE WHITE 4HE COMPUTER WILL DO THIS THEN STRETCH ALL THE OTHER SHADES BETWEEN THESE TWO POINTS TO l T BETWEEN YOUR NEW PURE BLACK PURE WHITE REFERENCE POINTS ARE NO BLACK TO DARK .OW TO THE MIDDLE GREY SLIDER -ANY GREY PIXELS LOTS OF PEOPLE THINK THE PURPOSE OF THE MIDDLE VERY DARK PIXELS SLIDER IS TO MAKE A PICTURE BRIGHTER FEW DARK TO MEDIUM #ERTAINLY A PICTURE WILL APPEAR TO BRIGHTEN GRAY PIXELS MORE IN OR DULL AS YOU MOVE THE SLIDER TO THE LEFT THE LIGHT GREY RANGE ONLY SOME IN THE VERY LIGHT GREY TO WHITE RANGE ,ET S LOOK AT A FEW SIMPLE EXAMPLES BEFORE COMING BACK TO LOVELY +YLIE
4HE %FFECT OF ,EVELS ,EVELS ALLOW YOU TO CONTROL YOUR DARKEST PIXELS YOUR LIGHTEST PIXELS TO DEVELOP DETAIL IN SHADOW OR HIGHLIGHTS ! FEW $EAR $OC ) WANTED TO USE A COLOUR SIMPLIl ED EXAMPLES TO EXPLAIN 4HE l RST GRADIENT BAR REPRESENTS A PHOTO AS A BACKGROUND BUT LIKE ABOVE WHEN ) DROPPED THE PIC INTO MY GREYSCALE COLOUR CARTOON THAT HAS BEEN GRAYSCALED CARTOON IT WENT MUDDY INDISTINCT $OC !LL THE COLOURS HAVE ENDED UP BEING IN THE MIDDLE RANGE OF GREYS WITH NO BLACKS NO PLEASE HELP )T S DRIVING ME )NSANE WHITES THE CONTRAST IS POOR 4HE SECOND GRADIENT BAR SHOWS THE $EAR )NSANE THE ANSWER TO BOTH YOUR PRAYERS MUST BE THE % : 5SE ,EVELS EFFECT OF MOVING THE BLACK WHITE !DJUSTMENT ,AYER S ©˜ 7HINE TO YOUR SLIDERS INWARDS TO WHERE THE HISTOGRAM CLIENT ABOUT THE NEED TO RECREATE THE WHOLE SHOWS THE DARKEST LIGHTEST PIXELS ARE CARTOON DO l VE MINUTES WORK THEN SEND -OVING THE BLACK SLIDER INWARDS TELLS THE THEM THE GREYSCALE CARTOON YOUR GROSSLY COMPUTER THAT YOU WANT ANY COLOURS TO INm ATED BILL THE NEXT DAY Back to the lovely Kyle Minogue "ACK TO THE ,OVELY +YLIE -INOGUE !DJUSTMENT ,AYERS (ERE S THREE MORE VERSIONS OF +YLIE ,EVELS ARE JUST ONE OF MANY ADJUSTMENT )N PIC MOVING JUST THE BLACK SLIDER LAYERS AVAILABLE FROM THE DIAGONALLY INWARDS TELLS THE COMPUTER TO MAKE DARK HALVED BUTTON FOURTH FROM THE LEFT AT THE GREY BLACK ADJUST THE OTHER SHADES ACCORDINGLY BOTTOM OF THE ,AYERS 0ALETTE
!LL ADJUSTMENT LAYERS HAVE THE FOLLOWING FEATURES WHICH MAKE THEM EXTREMELY VALUABLE 4HEY ALLOW YOU TO ADJUST YOUR DOCUMENT WITHOUT DESTROYING ANY OF THE PIXEL INFORMATION BELOW 9OU CAN REPEATEDLY ADJUST THEM EVEN AFTER YOU HAVE CLOSED REOPENED A DOCUMENT /R YOU CAN JUST TRASH THEM WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR DOC 4HEY OFFER MAXIMUM m EXIBILITY WITH ZERO DOWNSIDE 9OU CAN ACCESS MOST OF THE ADJUSTMENT EFFECTS FROM THE )MAGE -ENU )MAGE !DJUST ,EVELS ETC BUT ADJUSTMENTS MADE FROM HERE AFFECT YOUR ARTWORK PERMANENTLY APART FROM #TRL #MD: CANNOT BE UNDONE AT A LATER TIME !CCESSING A ,EVELS !DJUSTMENT ,AYER /PEN ANY GRAYSCALE l LE OR GRAYSCALE A COLOUR ONE 0RESS THE !DJUSTMENT ,AYERS )CON HEREFROM CALLED !,) CHOOSE ,EVELS 9OU LL GET A DIALOG BOX WITH A HISTOGRAM BELOW THAT THREE TRIANGLE SLIDERS BLACK GREY WHITE )N THIS PIC OF +YLIE -INOGUE READING THE HISTOGRAM FROM LEFT TO RIGHT THERE
So now you’ve got a bit of grip 3O .OW 9OU VE 'OT ! "IT /F 'RIP (OW 4O 'ET A "ETTER 'RIP how to get a better grip /N )T on it?? !VOID THE PROBLEM OF LOSING DETAIL IN THE SHADOWS AS YOU GAIN IT IN THE HIGHLIGHTS VICE VERSA BY APPLYING ,EVELS TO AN ISOLATED AREA OR JUST ONE LAYER RATHER THAN A WHOLE DOCUMENT 9OU CAN ALSO APPLY MANY ,EVELS !DJUSTMENT ,AYERS TO JUST THE ONE LAYER MASKING OFF DIFFERENT AREAS AS EXPLAINED BELOW !FFECTING A WHOLE DOCUMENT /PEN A MULTI LAYERED GRAYSCALE DOC 7ITH THE TOP LAYER SELECTED CREATE A ,EVELS !DJUSTMENT ,AYER $O WHATEVER YOU LIKE WITH THE SLIDERS NOTICE HOW THE ,EVELS LAYER AFFECTS ALL THE LAYERS BENEATH IT 3HIFT THE ,EVELS LAYER DOWN THE PALETTE NOTICE HOW IT AFFECTS ONLY THE LAYERS BELOW IT NOT THOSE ABOVE IT
OR RIGHT 7HAT THE SLIDER IS REALLY DOING IS INCREASING THE OBSERVABLE DETAIL IN THE LIGHTER SECTIONS /2 THE DARKER SECTIONS OF YOUR WORK AS SEEN IN THE THIRD FOURTH GRADIENT BARS )N PIC MOVING THE MIDDLE SLIDER TO THE LEFT BRINGS OUT DETAILS IN THE DARKER AREAS MOVING IT TO THE RIGHT IN PIC BRINGS OUT DETAIL IN THE LIGHTER AREAS .OTE )NCREASING DETAIL IN SHADOWS CAN CAUSE A LOSS OF DETAIL IN HIGHLIGHTS x
!FFECTING ONE LAYER ONLY 3ELECT A LAYER THIS TIME PRESS /PTION OR !LT WHEN YOU CLICK ON THE !,) 4HIS GIVES YOU THE OPTION OF CHOOSING TO h5SE 0REVIOUS ,AYER TO #REATE A #LIPPING -ASKv #HOOSE THIS OPTION MOVE THE SLIDERS NOTICE HOW THE CHANGES ONLY AFFECT THE LAYER BELOW !FFECTING AN ISOLATED AREA 5SE THE LASSO OR MARQUEE TOOL ETC TO MAKE A SELECTION 4HEN CLICK THE !,) WITH OR WITHOUT THE /PTION !LT KEY ACCORDING TO WHETHER YOU WANT TO AFFECT MANY LAYERS OR JUST THE ONE -OVE THE SLIDERS NOTE HOW THE CHANGES AFFECT ONLY THE PIXELS WITHIN THE MARQUEED AREA .OTE THE MASK TO THE RIGHT OF THE ,EVELS LAYER 9OU CAN PAINT IN THIS MASK AREA TO INCREASE OR DECREASE THE ARE AFFECTED BY YOUR LEVELS ADJUSTMENT LAYER
4
ILL THE NEXT )NKSPOT THEN INFO CHRISKELLY NET AU www.cartoonists.org.au
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Reviews
Operation Funnybone Edited by Glen Shearer B&W & Colour 340p. Melbourne: OF, 2005 ISBN: 0975807501 Visit the Website at: www.funnybone.org.au Reviewed by: Ian C Thomas
20 Years of Alston Edited by Dean Alston and Stephen Scourfield B&W 296p. Perth: St George Books, 2005 ISBN: 0 86778 070 3 (softback) ISBN: 0 86778 072 X (hardback) Reviewed by: Greg Smith Dean Alston has been a cartooning institution for as long as I can remember. One time cartographer and publican, Dean joined the West Australian newspaper in 1985 and twenty years on has released his greatest hits collection. This 296-page book is a unique look at the major events of the past two decades as seen through the eyes of one of the best in the business. From the Americas Cup challenge, WA Inc and Mabo through to East Timor, Honest John, and Osama; Dean takes no prisoners. With pen in hand he dissects his subject, removes the bullshit, and holds up the truth for all to see. The task of marrying a political point with humour is the challenge we’re all up against and Dean nails it everytime. The Hawke, Keating cartoon on page 65 is a classic example. Dean has a unique style. There’s a slickness of line, a great use of expression and an enviable ability to caricature with very few strokes. Here’s to another 20 years of Alston. 16 www.cartoonists.org.au
This incredible anthology book is in support of a great cause, The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. In reviewing it, I have to declare my hand by saying that I helped with its compilation (contacting possible contributors and performing some text editing duties). However, this whole project was the inspired brainchild of Melbourne designer Glen Shearer, who has worked long and hard to produce a landmark book. Beautifully presented in a wellbound landscape format, this huge coffee-table book features the work of around 90 local comics artists and cartoonists. As a snapshot of where Australian comics artists are right now - across the whole range of styles and approaches - it truly captures the essence of the scene. There’s a huge amount of comics in there, along with detailed interviews with Australian comics creators. With so much reading it could be possible to lose sight of just how much graphic material is also in this expansive book - there are lots of substantial stories, short pieces, strips, standalone art pieces - a bit of everything. The balance of words to pictures varies widely from artist to artist. In a project of this enormity it was inevitable that some errors would slip through: in parts it could probably have benefited from further editing, but these flaws are generally minor. The
bulk of the book is in black and white, with the colour section at the back being a nice bonus showcase. The written introductions by editor Glen Shearer and Holly Shorland convey a perfect sense of what this book and project are all about. I think Holly’s story, Drip Drip Drip, is central to the heart of this project, and is a good place to begin reading. A special treat for me was that so many favourite pieces that I haven’t been able to own in print before - such as 24 hour web comics and stories printed overseas - are in this book. Australian comics are all about diversity and this is the best showcase of local comics artists I have ever seen – a tribute to Glen Shearer’s persistence and vision. The interviews give a lot of insight into the current Australian comics scene, the motivations and frustrations of the artists, and the joy they find in creating their work. There’s lots to laugh at, plenty to think about, and loads to keep coming back to read. The official launch of Operation Funnybone will be at Readers Feast Bookshop in Melbourne on April 20 at 11am. This fine book deserves a place in any artbook, graphic novel collection or library. And please remember that the proceeds go toward a great cause!
Reviews that time, the strip has developed such a devoted and well-earned following, he was awarded the NCS Reuben Award in 2000. This cute little book features the characters from Mutts - a lisping cat named Mooch and his best friend, a dog named Earl, and their respective owners.
The Gift of Nothing
By Patrick McDonnell Hardback, B&W 56pp New York: Little, Brown & Company, 2005 ISBN: 0-316-11488-X Reviewed by: Steve Panozzo
Mooch decides he wants to present his best friend, Earl, with a special gift, but is in a quandary about what give him. So he sets off on a quest to find the perfect gift for Earl - nothing. And in a world so full of somethings, that’s a tall order.
The Gift of Nothing is, surprisingly, Patrick McDonnell’s first picture book. Patrick has been drawing his comic strip, Mutts, for twelve years. During
This book is a sheer delight and in it’s simplicity, it is pretty much descriptive of Mooch’s perfect gift. A little bit of nothing in the face of so many somethings. And, for this pleasant, if challenging glovebox companion. If anything, the Australian love-affair with the humble FJ is set to become a little more literal as “Dr. A. S. Longlinga” take us on a colourfully-illustrated drive through the various sexual techniques one can employ whilst piston-pumping, tailgating, kerb-mounting or reverse parking with your favoured sexual partner. Certainly your big end will never be same.
By Adam Long Paperback, colour, 180p. Sydney: Big End Books, 2006. ISBN: 0-9775073-1-9 Reviewed by: Steve Panozzo
Following an enlightened Foreword from Vince Sorrenti, the book begins with a short history lesson followed by an extensive course on automotive sex... or at least, sex in cars. There are tips, advice, lessons on successful conversation and etiquette, all interspersed with casebook scenarios.
First off, no matter what you think of the subject matter, Adam Long deserves a medal for undoubted long-hours spent researching material and overhauling his car parts
Of course, of professional interest to us are the illustrations, which are here rendered in full colour and arguably instruct the various techniques in a more effective way.
Car-ma Sutra
like too few unassuming socalled kids’ story books, it feigns innocence, and delivers instead a powerful left hook as it explores issues such as materialism, consumerism, love and friendship. In the same way, McDonnell’s simple style masks a superb sense of composition. Clearly a master of economy, the book is printed in only two colours, but you could confess to seeing a whole rainbow. There is not a single wasted line in sight, with every line having meaning. Even the expansive white spaces speak volumes. It’s not hard to see the philosophical influence of Charles Schulz, McDonnell’s mentor. Buy it. Read it. Learn from it. Place it on a pedestal and worship it. Amen. Much effort has gone into covering a range of vehicles, including a red Aston Martin DB-5, a Rolls-Royce, a classic American pick-up and a few assorted European models of indeterminate manufacture. Importantly, the very sexy Morris Minor 1000 is a major player, as are both the FJ and EH Holden. Thankfully, there is no sign of a Volvo, despite a section on safe-sex and, rather curiously, a condom ad on the inside back cover. Informative and enlightening. Steve Panozzo is a former ACA President. He is the regular cartoonist for the Australian Journal of Pharmacy & National Newsagent, does a lot of other stuff, including on-the-spot caricatures at corporate events and occasional Morris dancing. Ian Thomas is a regular book reviewer for Inkspot. He currently draws Dillon’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fairies” in Total Girl Magazine and “Moth & Tanuki” in Manga comic OzTAKU. Greg Smith is the editorial cartoonist for the Sunday Times and the WA Community News group. He is a rabid Swans fan, and the Western Australian VP of the ACA. www.cartoonists.org.au
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SCHOOL DAYS Thanks for all of your contributions to “YVO” for Inkspot #48. Unfortunately we were unable to use everything but trust you will enjoy those that found space. The next YVO subject will be: TRAVEL Please email all submissions at 300dpi in RGB to: inkspot@abwac.org.au Tim Mellish (QLD)
Christophe Granet (NSW)
Phillip Day (QLD)
18 www.cartoonists.org.au
Robert Mason (VIC)
Don Hatcher (SA)
Mark Guthrie (QLD)
NEWS FROM THE BUNKER
Bunker Cartoon Gallery Coffs Harbour Greetings once again, illustrators and cartoonists! Thankfully, your friendly Inkspot editor has extended my deadline so you can actually be reading this right now! ‘Extended deadline?! Heresy! ’ you say? Yes, well, I hope you’ll all forgive me -- in recent weeks, Viscopy has completed another distribution, and let’s just say that all of our Australasian members should be happy that it’s kept me quite busy, which is an indication that things are going well and I’ve got a lot of numbers to crunch. Only too true; our most recent distribution was our best ever for our visual artist members from Australia and New Zealand. In all, $280,496.88 was distributed to Australasian Artists, almost $70,000 (33.3%) more than Viscopy has ever paid out to Australasian artists in a single distribution. And the numbers were up for practically every group we represent, including the illustrators and cartoonists -- not only was this distribution the highest collective total ever for ACA members (by almost 300% over the previous high!), but more individual ACA members received royalties in this payment than ever before as well. We’re not ones to rest on our laurels, though. We fully anticipate our next distribution due in August to be even better, and so far the early indications are very encouraging. However, if you’re reading this and thinking, “Well that’s nice, copyright dude, but I certainly didn’t see any royalty statements in my post box,” there’s one simple thing you can do to increase your chances: If you have works published in print, film or television, go to our website (www.viscopy.com - or call me direct - (02) 9368 0933) and obtain our alluringly-named ‘Publishing and Broadcast Claims Register’ form. Copy it as many times as necessary to include everywhere your works have appeared, and post or fax it back to us. Put more emphasis on the titles which might be more likely to be copied in schools or even governmental applications, but there’s no harm in including anything and everything; the more titles we can include in the surveys, the more likely its royalties will be found. Right, well hopefully I haven’t gone over time. Best regards to all ACA members, and I look forward to our next encounter!
A quick note from the Bunker where the action never stops! We currently have a great selection of cartoons for our visitors titled ‘The Artist and the Cartoonist’. This exhibition looks at the ways cartoonists (who are often great artists in their own right) frequently ‘take the mickey’ out of high art. Audiences have laughed loudly at this exhibition with school teachers returning to devise teaching plans for students of visual art and social history. The Bunker was also quick to comment on the Danish Cartoon massacres, with an exhibition titled ‘Something to Offend Everybody’ or “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Cartoonist’. As the title suggests these cartoons look at the (perceived) assorted sillinesses of various belief systems including Christianity, Buddhism and Islamic fundamentalism. The object of the exhibition is not to offend viewers, rather to promote tolerance by acknowledging that all religions are from time to time roundly ridiculed by cartoonists; and that cartooning is an extremely valuable manifestation of free speech in the West. Forthcoming ‘featured artist’ cartoon exhibitions will focus on work by Sarah Parsons and Christophe Granet, with dates to be advised. Several exciting events are scheduled for the Bunker in 2006. Photographs by traveller and living jazz legend Don Burrows will be installed in the foyer gallery in May with drinks, and an impromptu performance by Don, at the Gallery on Thursday 18th May. Bookings are essential! The extremely popular Bald Archies will be installed in August with the Rotary Cartoon Awards in September. I hope all cartoonists are readying themselves for the Rotary’s. Entry forms, complete with categories and other vital information will appear within the next few months on the Rotary website and on the Bunker’s site also. Lastly, I have just had a visit from Mr Ken Shadie who is looking for a book featuring the work of Stan Cross. He believes the title is ‘The Humour of Stan Cross’ circa 1920s 30s. Ken can be contacted at kpshadie@bigpond.com Mr Shadie is seeking to purchase the book. Hope all is well with ACA Members.
Until next time,
Cheerio!
Chad Corley Membership & Distribution Manager Vi$copy
Dr. Leigh Summers Director Bunker Cartoon Gallery
Don’t forget; we’ve moved! Our new contact details are:
Tel: +61 (2) 9368 0933 or Fax: +61 (2) 9368 0899 45-47 Crown Street, Wolloomooloo NSW, Australia 2011 Email Chad at: distribution@viscopy.com or visit us online at: www.viscopy.com
Don’t forget; we’ve moved! Our details are: The Bunker Cartoon Gallery is located onnew City contact Hill Drive, City Hill, Coffs Harbour. For further info, contact Dr. Leigh Summers:
Tel: +61 (2) 9368 0933 or Fax: +61 (2) 9368 0899 Email: bunkergallery@bigpond.com 45-47 Crown Street, Wolloomooloo NSW, Australia 2011 Tel: (02) 6651 7343 or Fax: (02) 6650 0908 ChadCoffs at: distribution@viscopy.com POEmail Box 2474 Harbour 2450 visit online www.viscopy.com oror visit usus online at:at: www.bunkercartoongallery.com.au www.cartoonists.org.au
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PANPA
PACIFIC AREA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS' ASSOCIATION
“Newspapers must embrace the technological revolution... or die.’’ So said Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation as reported in the March 15th edition of the new compact Courier Mail. Attention-getting stuff, and a sentiment that is thankfully being understood and voiced more often by the newspaper industry. This month’s PANPA Bulletin carries an equally situp-and-take-notice-or-die kind of quote; “Capturing younger readers is probably the most serious issue facing newspapers today”. And the quote gets better; “Most of the strategies used so far don’t work “. The above statement was an extract from a U.S young readers report which highlighted the need for newspapers to attract new readers while they are young –as young as 8 years old- or risk not attracting them at all. The report noted trends that are leading to the reinvention of the newspaper itself. It went on to state that newspapers will not succeed in attracting young readers with special sections, supplements and clever websites. These may be part of the picture but research has proven that these alone produce at best only short-term results. Longterm solutions are still needed.
After much research 50 editorial strategies were offered as possible solutions to the problem. I would suggest at this point that while those strategies may help a little there is one strategy that could do more than all of them combined; newspapers need to focus their combined attention onto their existing comics pages. While a lot of great creative thinking is going on all around them, the comics pages of a lot of Australian newspapers remain starved of creative marketing attention. They are like neglected Cinderellas hidden away in the scullery while the ugly sisters of young readers pulling power get the invitations to the ball and all the nice clothes. Let’s hope the urgency of this latest warning to attract new young readers “long-term or die” will cause some within the industry to rediscover the power of comics and invest in them accordingly. Extracts of the PANPA Bulletin article used with permission.
The ACA is an associate member of PANPA. Swamp creator Gary Clark is the ACA Board’s liaison officer to PANPA.
20 www.cartoonists.org.au
Vale Noel Kerr (1934-2005)
Noel Kerr
In 1985 after the memorable gathering in Adelaide of cartoonists from every State of the Commonwealth, and the resulting formation of the then named Australian Black and White Artists’ Club with State-based chapters, a cheerful, chubby fellow attended an early Victorian meeting and asked to join us as an Associate Member. Noel was not a practicing cartoonist, but he was a collector and an outstanding authority of both adventure and humorous strip comics, together with original artwork. It must have been about a decade earlier that I met Noel and had the distinction to see his vast collection and to handle rare copies of early Ginger Meggs Annuals and three scarce Fatty Finn Annuals, among other treasures.” By profession Noel was a printer, owning his modest plant, and typically he offered to print for us, free of charge, any stationery we required. Of fond memory are the bits and pieces about cartoonists sent to me. I joined him in his concern at the poor attitude to drawing of some cartoon features, namely one drawn by the last Ben Bowyang strip artist. Noel noted how in just two strip-panels depicting Bill Smith’s old jalopy the windscreen wipers changed position; the car door handle drawn on the wrong side; the car-door hinges were a different size and the radiator cap missing – all in the last panel. None of Noel’s friends would be surprised if he was, at the moment, counting the set of the feathers on Saint Peter’s wings. VANE LINDESAY
Vane Lindesay is the patron of the ACA and a former longserving Victorian VP. He is a Silver Stanley recipient and the author of a number of books on Australian cartoonists and cartooning including the “bible” of Australian black and white art “The Inked-in Image”.
Board Notices
on the Notice Board
PENCIL IT IN NOW!
WE WANT YOU
& YOUR
VIEWS!
A great deal has changed in the past few years. The way we produce and deliver our cartoons through to the new markets opening on the web while other traditional markets shrink. The ACA has changed and is changing as the association continues to evolve.
• How do you see the role of the ACA? • What direction should it take? • What else could the ACA be doing for its members? Let the ACA Board know... NOW! The ACA Board is meeting this May to map out the next few years to ensure the ACA continues to grow and deliver real benefits to our members
A word from
AppleCentre Taylor Square The Stanleys this year was an amazing success, and from everybody at AppleCentre Taylor Square, we would like to thank you for our invitation to attend. We all had a great time, and it was great to see so many brilliant artists attend. As part of our sponsorship of the 2005 Stanleys we are providing ACA members with a membership to our Academy ProCard Apple Learning Centre. The membership entitles you to attend workshop classes for 12 months, and also provides you with a members discount card and access to premium support services. To register your card, please visit: http://www.applecentretaylorsquare.com.au/academy/ ProCardMembership/procardapply.htm
Simply register for the $199 Individual ProCard and in the company field type: “ACA Member”
November 3, 4 & 5
Doherty’s Ballarat Lodge. and importantly that it stays relevant. The meeting will focus on our key objectives, aims and challenges ahead, we want your ideas on how to make your association even better! Please send your comments to: Brett Bower VP NSW Suite 22, 1 Pitt Street, Loftus 2232 or email: brett@brettbower.com.au Submissions close on MAY 12, 2006. It’s also time to start thinking about advancing your profile and standing in the community by nominating yourself for the 2007 ACA Board! Any full member is eligible to stand for election. Nominations close on August 6, 2006.
This is your opportunity to make a difference!
For Payment select “Payment in store” and your card will be sent out to you FREE of charge. Again, we would like to thank you all for our invitation to attend, and we look forward to participating in the 2006 Stanleys. Best regards,
Benjamin Morgan Academy Principal Apple Centre Taylor Square
AppleCentre Taylor Square is located at 7-9 Flinders Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010. For further info, contact Ben Morgan: Email: academy@applecentretaylorsquare.com.au Tel: 02 9332 8500 or visit us online, at: www.applecentretaylorsquare.com.au
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PS... Former LA Times editorial cartooist Michael Ramirez,
controversially dumped from the Tribune Co. flagship last year, has been recognised for his editorial work by the Scripps Howard Foundation and awarded $US10,000 for best editorial cartoonist. Ramirez, now syndicated through Copleys, was the ACA’s special guest at the Stanleys in Brisbane. The karaoke crooner now contributes to Investor’s Business Daily where he is also a senior editor. Runners up are Mike Luckovich and Back L-R: John Rogers, Vane Lindesay, Geoff Hook, Rolf Heimann, Sitting L-R: Bill “WEG” Green, Peter Foster, Matt Golding, Adrian Patterson and Leigh Hobbs. Kevin Kallagher (KAL) who has also left Tribune’s Baltimore Sun under similar circumstances. Ramirez is The ACA’s Walkley award is doing the rounds and made a also a nominated for an NCS Reuben award for editorial cartoons. guest appearance at the ACA meeting in Victoria in February. It was held at Rolf Heimann’s house and he and Leila did a marvellous job One quirky aspect of the Archibald hosting for 40 odd visitors. Leigh Hobbs talked about his visit to competition is the Packing Room Prize, awarded by the workthe US to promote his kids books and WEG also clarified his burglar ers behind the scenes who receive, experience (which got attention from not only Aussie media but also unpack and hang all the entries. the BBC and CNN and even a Chinese newspaper!) As well as this, First awarded in 1991, the Prize is Joe Szabo, the founder of International cartoonists’ magazine and adjudicated by the Gallery’s Storewebsite Witty World (wittyworld.com) gave a most enjoyable talk man, Steve Peters - who continues about his experiences as editor of the magazine and discussed his to claim his right to 51% of the votes. current projects ‘Zones of Silence’ (about countries where cartoonists This prize is traditionally awarded a are persecuted) and ‘The Image of America’. couple of days before the Archibald In
Michael Mucci’s winning portr ait
2006 the prize was awarded to Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist Michael Mucci for his portrait ‘A Working-Class Man’, featuring builder and television personality, Scott Cam.
London’s Daily Mail newspaper received so many complaints about the recent
The National Cartoon Museum is set for a grand re-opening in the Empire State Building in early 2007, featuring a worldrenowned collection of cartoons. The Museum, which was the first in the world exclusively devoted to cartoons, will occupy 14,000 square feet on three newly renovated floors in the landmark skyscraper, located at 5th Avenue and West 34th streets. As well as that, the Duke of Edinburgh opened London’s first cartoon museum on the 22nd February boasting 3000 books and 1200 images, covering three centuries. The collection includes graphic novels, comics, posters and some of the most famous cartoons ever published. The museum is in Little Russell Street, near the British Museum. BUT wait, there’s more! It’s not a museum, but Australian cartooning legend Paul Rigby christened his very own gallery studio on the 6th April. The gallery, located in a restored out-building on Rigby’s large Margaret River property, features a collection of his current paintings. The ACA wish Paul all the best with the gallery studio. See the next issue of Inkspot for more!
Tony Lopes
axing of The Odd Streak by Sydney cartoonist, Tony Lopes, that it caved in to public pressure and re-instated the strip just a few days later. The cartoon, which had been published in the Mail for five years, was replaced by Garfield, but after receiving 300 responses from miffed fans, the editors found a way of accommodating both strips. One avid reader wrote that ‘the Mail’s loss would be a rival newspaper’s gain’. Another, who tipped off Lopes that his work had disappeared from the Mail without his knowledge, wondered whether The Odd Streak would be “permanently ousted by yet another puerile animal cartoon.” Noting the backlash their decision had caused - and the value readers placed on being able to get a daily dose of their favourite cartoon - the editorial staff apparently replied to everyone who lodged a complaint, telling them that The Odd Streak would be re-instated. The paper also denied reports that the strip was going to be renamed; “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?”
Museums are going up everywhere!
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