Presenting Comics Masterclass at the Australian Cartoonists' Association Stanley Awards and Conference

Black Mermaid Productions’ (BMP) partner and comic book writer Julie Ditrich will be presenting an information session on the new Comics Masterclass arm of BMP at the upcoming Australian Cartoonists’ Association (ACA) Stanley Awards and Conference in mid November. Julie will talk about this new professional development service that provides comics script and sequential art assessments, short courses and training for the next generation of Australian comics creators. Comics Masterclass team members Julie Regan will discuss the benefits of Creativity Coaching, and Lyndall Briggs will addresses creatives who are struggling with inner life issues such as anxiety and depression that may be hampering their success.

The event features an extraordinary line up of cartooning and comics talent including Nicola Scott, Pat Grant, Madeleine Rosca, Bernard Caleo, Steve Panozzo, Peter Lewis, Mark Knight, Nigel Buchanan, Jon Sommariva, David Rower, Sarah Catherine First, Warren Brown, Mike Bowers, David Pope and many others.

The Conference will be followed by the Stanley Awards on the Saturday night.

Here are the details:

Dates: Friday 14 and Saturday 15 November 2014
Venue: Menzies Hotel, 14 Carrington St, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
Cost: $75 per day (members); $90 per day (non-members)
For more information and registration: https://cartoonists.org.au/stanleys-registration/

You can download the brochure here.

PS Julie is super excited and honoured to have had her first ever caricature, which was created by the amazing Christopher Downes. See if you can spot it in the poster at the top.

MEDIA RELEASE: Black Mermaid Productions™ Launches Comics Masterclass™

MEDIA RELEASE
8 September 2013

Australian comics team and publisher Black Mermaid Productions™ has just launched its new professional development arm—Comics Masterclass™. Originally conceived in 2011 as a one-off weekend event that was run in conjunction with the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and which attracted participants from around the country, Comics Masterclass™ has now evolved into a brand in its own right and a niche service that offers creative, business and self mastery opportunities to Australian (and overseas!) comics creators.

Comics Masterclass™ has three big picture goals:

1. To help emerging and developing comics practitioners realise their creative potential
2. To contribute towards creating an Australian comics economy where comics creators’ published works, expertise and experience are valued both critically and commercially, and
3. To facilitate the shift from an Australian comics community to a thriving internationally recognised and commercially viable industry.

The first offering is the Comics Masterclass™ script assessment service for emerging and developing comikers who are working on comic books, graphic novels, webcomics and comic / cartoon strips. This is the first dedicated comics script assessment service in Australia.

Says co-Black Mermaid Productions™ Director Julie Ditrich, “We have been talking to Australian comics creators about their professional needs for many years now. We become increasingly aware that there was a demand for critical feedback on comics projects in development but that no professional services were available to take on that task, which is why we came up with the idea of a comic script assessment service that critiques both writing and sequential art. It took us over a year to organise and assemble a high calibre team of qualified comics professionals with vast publishing credits, as well as editing and teaching experience, who would work as assessors and provide value and direction in this creative medium.”

Comics Masterclass™ is also pioneering in the Australian comics landscape by providing a variety of other services including creativity coaching, premium coaching, professional consultations, proofreading, editing and a counseling referral service. Furthermore, from 2014 it will also offer short courses and weekend intensives.

“We predict that Australia is about five years away from exploding onto the international stage and producing world class comics talent and publications in a big way,” says Black Mermaid Productions™ co-Director Jozef Szekeres, “We believe that Comics Masterclass will be at the forefront of facilitating this growth in the Australian cultural landscape.”

Ultimately, Comics Masterclass™ is about encouraging and nurturing new comics talent, and offering a safe place for creators to develop their creative and entrepreneurial skills.

For further information contact Julie Ditrich or Jozef Szekeres on
Phone: +61 2 9606 4728
Email: media@comicsmasterclass.com
Website: www.comicsmasterclass.com 

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.

Mermaid in Comics 1 – Milly the Merry Mermaid

This is the first part in a series where we'll be looking at what's out there in the comics world – outside of our own Elf~Fin comic book series – that features mermaids. This selection is probably little known but it is a point of nostalgia for me. 


"Milly the Merry Mermaid" were delightful short stories published in the the Princess Gift Book for Girls (1973) and the Princess Tina Annual (1971) by IPC Magazines, London, and distributed in Australia by Gordon & Gotch. There are many other books in the series but I only have those two. I found second hand copies of them while I was growing up and read them over and over again. I loved the gentle humour, some of the environmental themes, and Milly's undersea animal pals who could all talk. 


These stories really influenced me. I've chosen a one page story to showcase here, and a two pager where we see a large full body panel of Milly where her tail takes prevalence. It looks like there were two artists working on them, as the style is different for both. I have no idea who wrote or drew them, as there are no creator credits in the book—a real shame. Many writers and artists were anonymous in those days. I believe if they were published now, the creators would have had a great fan base. Anyway, we hope you like them. You can still find some of the Annuals on eBay or online. Here's one of the books from whence these stories are sourced. It says 1972 but my book says 1971. I wonder who'll be the first to grab it for their mermaid collection...

BMP on ACA Stanleys Conference Comics Panel

BMP Directors, Jozef Szekeres and Julie Ditrich, as well as fabulous Aussie comics creators Tim McEwen and Dave Follett, will be speaking at the Australian Cartoonists' Association (ACA) 27th Annual Stanley Awards on a panel session titled "Comics and the Australian Creator" on Friday 11 November 2011 at 2pm. Conference details and information on the Stanley Awards can be found on the ACA website.

Stanley Award Winners!

Jozef and I attended the Australian Cartoonists' Association Conference, as well as the 25th annual Stanley Awards dinner during the weekend of 13-14 November 2009. We had presented a 30-minute talk two years ago at the Wollongong conference, but this was our first time attending as delegates.

We had a fabulous time. The cartoonist contingent was warm, funny and exceptionally clever. We even got dressed up for dinner – Jozef in a black jacket, a nice snazzy crushed white shirt and black patent and gold Dolce and Gabbana sneakers (no jeans or hoodie in sight). I wored black satin pants with a crushed black blouse with pink and blue embellishments and my new black suede 1950s-style pumps, which were surprisingly comfortable despite the heel height. Dinner consisted of mixed canapés – Vietnamese rice paper rolls, salmon gravlax, panko bread-crumbed chicken drummettes and Japanese gyozas (all served with their individual sauces). The main was a choice of beef or pumpkin risotto, and the dessert was a berry meringue tart. The table centrepieces had Ferrero Rocher and Lindor Balls secreted away inside them, but I have an uncanny knack of sniffing out hidden chocolate so we found them even before dinner had commenced. Needless to say we got a huge sugar shot on the night.

The company was terrific and our raucous laughs could be heard every few minutes. The actual dinner was held at one of the rooms in the Darling Harbour Convention Centre, which had a wonderful view of the harbour and a Sydney-scape full of night lights.

But the most important part was the actual Awards themselves and we were lucky to have been seated at the table with freelance political cartoonist, Adelaide-based Peter Broelman who picked up two official awards on the night – Cartoonist of the Year and Editorial/Political Cartoonist of the Year. Broelman acknowledged the global financial crisis, the swine flu outbreak, and the asylum seekers in his speech.

Other Stanley Award winners include – Gary Clark (comic strip Swamp), Matt Golding (single gag cartoons), Anton Emdin (illustrations), David Follett (media graphic artist) and John Spooner (caricatures).

During the actual conference, Jozef and I sat near a cultured elderly man with a white mop of hair. We offered up our seats to who we thought was his wife, but she declined. Later on we found out that this gentleman was no other than Mr Squiggle creator and former Bulletin cartoonist 88-year old Norman Hetherington, who was awarded the Jim Russell Award for outstanding contribution to Australian cartooning. Mr Hetherington was met with a standing ovation during his speech.

We also had an opportunity to have a chat with MAD Magazine caricaturist Tom Richmond. I told him a story of my travels through the USA during the late 70s when I was a kid. My family had gone on an overseas trip for six months and we had finished our US leg in New York City. I was buying gifts for all my school class mates and I bought up ten MAD books for the boys. Needless to say, my love affair with MAD began at that moment – I loved the books so much I kept them and indeed still have them. There's nothing like the film parodies or Spy vs Spy to keep you laughing. When Jozef and I had the good fortune to be given a tour of the DC offices after the 2007 New York ComicCon, the bit I loved seeing the most and which brought back the nicest memories was the MAD offices.

During the Stanley Award presentation, our FaceBook friend and now real-life friend Jules Faber announced the first inductees into the Hall of Fame. These honourees were Ginger Meggs creator, Jim Bancks, Stan Cross, Will Dyson, Percy Leason, Norman Lindsay and Pulitzer Prize winning Australian political cartoonist Pat Oliphant.

It was a fabulous night and we thank Jules Faber for helping make it happen.

For more information about the Australian Cartoonists' Association check out their website.

Comic Strip Superstar Winner Announced

Amazon.com has announced the inaugural Comic Strip Superstar Grand Prize winner – Dana Simpson, creator of the delightful Girl. Dana's prizes include a publishing contract with Andrews McMeel Publishing, a development contract with Universal Uclick and syndication on Gocomics.com. Congratulations!