jasonfranks

An audio interview I did with the excellent John Retallick, (host of The Comic Spot, every month on 3CR) is now available from his archives. The interview was recorded at DoujiCON in July. Also in the podcast are interviews with some other folks, including my mates Matt Emery and Dave Cunning.

http://thecomicspot.podomatic.com/entry/2008-12-02T00_08_44-08_00

-- JF

Last night was the launch of TANGO volume 8.

Bernard Caleo's TANGO anthologies are basically the Main Event for the indie comics scene in Melbourne, if not the whole of Australia. I think it's now 11 years since Bernard started the project, and every year it's a stronger outing than previously. This year was no exception; funding from Arts Victoria allowed Bernard to put together a beautiful 250 pages book with work from more than 70 different comics creators. The book retails for $20AUD and is most easily available from http://www.cardigancomics.com/. J. Marc Schmidt and I have a six page story called "Damsel in Distress" in there.

Bernard also anounced a BEST OF TANGO volume next year, to be published by Allen & Unwin. This should be out late next year, and it will have Australia-wide bookstore distribution and possibly even availability in Europe and other foreign parts.

As usual, Bobby N. has much more detailed coverage, including photos, on his own blog and I refer you directly to his blog.

Peace in the Middle East,

-- JF

I've been meaning to do this for ages--write up some of the local indie comics I've been reading since I moved back here. Stuff that's not available through the direct market, although you should be able to pick up any of it off the links provided. There's a lot of stuff, so please consider this a start.

DIGESTED.01 by Bobby N (http://www.bluetoaster.com)
DIGESTED is Bobby N's new irregular anthology book. As well as serializing pieces of his uberwork, a graphic novel called OXYGEN, he runs discrete social realist/autobio stories (I hate the term 'slice of life') in the book. And it's just fucking great. Bobby's a self-publisher of the Dave Sim school; he is dedicated and rigorous and he works damn hard, and it shows on every beautifully-designed page. The art falls somewhere between Nickelodeon and Chris Ware in style, but with a bit more texture... but that comaprison does it a bit of a disservice. Bobby approaches each page as a design task, rather than a challenge to his draftsmanship, and it really shows. It's hard to tell what's going on in OXYGEN fro, this first installment, but the shorts are sardonic and understated and blackly funny; there's none of the requisite whining or sentimentality that eems to come with the territory of autobio comics. If you like DIGESTED you should also check out Bobby's prior minicomics, ISOLATION ROOM and WITHHELD. Bobby brings the goods.

THE LIST by Paul Bedford and Henry Pop (http://www.the-list.com.au/)
The List, written by Paul Bedford and illustrated by Herny Pop (inks by Tom Bonin from #2 onwards), is one of the most fucked-up books I've read in ages. Compelled by the ghost of his dead Father, the Son must complete a series of tasks enumerated on The List in order to wake an Angel. I don't know what any of that means, because thew firts issue is a bit sparse on clues, but it involves lots of blood and a collection of knives and blades and it's completely fascinating to watch the mad bastard of a protagonist try to work out how to accomplish his psychotic quest. Henry Pop's artwork is lavish, drenched with blood and black ink. There are some problems with the lettering, but this is a really unique and distinctive book and I can't wait to see where it goes. Issue #2 should be out in October, I believe.

SAWBONES by Trevor Green and Jen Breach (http://www.sawbonesonline.com)
The first trade paperback of the webomic SAWBONES is out, and it's a full colour beauty. Following the exploits of two zombie skeletons, Sheriff Sawyer and Bones O'Brien, SAWBONES goes all kinds of places that you'd never expect: a farm, Hollywood, the wild west, the opera... and every situation is funnier than the last.  SAWBONES a sort of really-really- odd-couple type of book: Sawyer is an hillbilly gunslinger and O'Brien is an aristrocratic pedant, and they are both undead brain-eating monsters who make their livign as actors in zombie flicks. The stories are laid out daily-strip style; each story arc is built out of a sequence of good-natured and elegantly choreographed gag strips. You can check out the strips online, but it's well worht getting the trade, which supplements the comics with ads, letters and publicity from the world of Bones and Sawyer.

Just the tip of the iceberg, fellas. More to come...

--JF