Mermaid Books 7 – The Mermaid and the Red Candle

I completely forgot about this children's picture book title in my mermaid book collection. Someone gave me a copy when I was about nine or ten. I don't know whether it was new or secondhand but it is still in pretty good condition now. The book in question is called The Mermaid and the Red Candle. The author is Jane Carruth. The artist is Konosuke Iwamoto. It was published in 1968 by Paul Hamlyn. It's a story about an elderly couple who find and adopt a mermaid baby. She brings blessings and riches to their candle making business. It's also a sad story of greed and exploitation. It is beautifully written and poignant, and the illustrations are lovely. It's out of print now but we found that Amazon has contacts to sellers who have used copies. We advise you to track them down quickly before they sell out.

World Premiere of Australian Graphic Novels Documentary

The world premiere of feature documentary Graphic Novels! Melbourne! by filmmaker Daniel Hayward and comic book maker Bernard Caleo is happening in Melbourne later this month.

The film took a year to shoot and edit. It examines the amazing Melbourne comic book culture, and features Nicki Greenberg, Pat Grant and Mandy Ord. The film also features interviews with international comic book luminaries Scott McCloud, Paul Gravett, Dylan Horrocks and Shaun Tan. The soundtrack is by Martin Martini and the poster is by the incomparable Pat Grant. 

The film premieres on: 

Date: Thursday 22 November 2012

Time: 8.30pm for 8.45pm speeches and a 9pm film start

Place: Tyne Street laneway next to Readings bookshop 309 Lygon Street Carlton

(if it's a wet night, then the movie will move to Cinema Nova).

Price: FREE.

Bookings: Book through Readings on (03) 9347 6633 or events@readings.com.au

Mermaids in Comics 5 – Lucia and the Golden Mermaid

 "Lucia and the Golden Mermaid" was a comics serial that ran in the weekly Princess comic book published in the UK in March and April 1961. Our resident Princess comic book collector and expert – Terence – forwarded these to us. We're hooked. We've got to find out what happened in the story.

Mermaids in Comics 4 – More Milly the Merry Mermaid [UPDATED 08/1/12]

One of our blog followers – Terence – contacted us to let us know he had read a previous post on the "Milly the Merry Mermaid" comics that appeared in various UK girls' Annuals published during the 1960s and 70s. He kindly filled in some of the gaps in our knowledge and sent us several more pieces to share with you.

Apparently, "Milly the Merry Mermaid" ran in the weekly Princess Tina comic book. The first image is from 02/03/68. The sea horse image is from an issue dated 04/05/68. The third piece is from the very last issue released in 06/12/69. The strip reduced in size, and two weeks later Princess Tina absorbed the Penelope comic so Milly was phased out. She made a reappearance again in comic books in the 70s, as well as an in several Annuals and summer specials. Terence pretty much has the entire collection, and he mentions that the last one in his possession is 1980.

Thank you, Terence, we appreciate you opening the door to more Milly.

Elf~Fin Leaks and Peeks 31

What's caught the Waverin attention? Sorry... we can't tell you at this point of time until the story is officially released but we can tell you who's who. That's Fillayne, Lyban and Hyfus in the top pic, and Hyfus and Razbi in the bottom one. 

Just wanted to let you know that Jozef is on the home run in painting pages from Elf~Fin: Hyfus & Tilaweed #1, and these two panel art snapshots are amongst the last to be released here before we head to print. The remaining pages have too many plot spoilers so the pickings will be sparse and we'll be choosing very carefully from now on.  

Can't wait to bring you the work in totality!

Mermaid Treasures 24

I should have posted this a few days ago prior to Halloween come to think of it... This little Mer-Witch hanging ornament is an absolute delight. She has a sparkly black tail and an even more sparkly pumpkin handbag. This was a gift to me from one of our long-time readers – Jaysun – from Alaska. He sent a merman companion gift to Jozef as well, which we'll feature here soon. At the moment this ornament is hanging from the bookshelf in my office but once my mermaid room has had a makeover, I'll relocate her. Thanks, Jaysun, for your thoughtfulness. She's gorgeous.