Character Sketches
Character Sketches is the first release from Gestalt Publishing, a newcomer on the Australian scene with obvious ambition. As such, this may be taken as a taste of what may be coming, as well as enjoyed in its own right. With the eye-catching cover by Justin Randall, hopefully it won t be overlooked. Shaun Tan, who has won great acclaim for his books like The Lost Thing and The Arrival, presents an illustrated vignette called "The Water Buffalo" which is quite lovely. "The Mechanic" fits in here as well being - perhaps - a surreal superhero origin story. There is some nice detail in Daniel Burke's writing, but it is Mark Welsh's art that leaves the main impression of those scant four pages. Perhaps it is the start of something bigger. I'm not sure if it s just my own cultural myopia, but the jagged and distorted realism that Mark Welsh uses has become a distinction of the successful Australian comic artist, as measured by overseas work. Ben Templesmith and Ashley Wood are the prime examples, and Justin Randall is also doing well indeed, he is following Templesmith's work on IDW's 30 Days of Night. Here he both illustrates and writes a story called "Broken Monkey", about a prize fighter who has made a strange pact, in a world inflicted by some sort of plague. Again it looks great, and the story holds together, but still comes across as somewhat fragmentary. This time we are told there is more to come. In similar terrain is Andrew Richardson's "Near-Distant Murmurs", about the dying of a man who breeds spiders and kills little girls. As in "Broken Monkey" there are hints a great infrastructure behind the world, stylishly rendered. The first story of the anthology is also about the terrors of childhood, with a fascinating sting. Christian Read provides detail, depth and precisely enough story for his page count in "Burning", with effective art by the appropriately named C. B. Burns. We re not done with childhood yet, because we also have "Toy" by Skye Ogden, who uses his single page well - even if I did have to reread it to work out what was going on. And finally we have "Tiny Tragedies", a tale of bees and relationships. Written and illustrated by Anton McKay, the art is fairly basic, with some high points (mostly of the bees). That is all the writing needs though, in a story that looks like it is building towards something but isn't, which is the point. It is an effective, melancholy piece. So, eight tales, of varying length and theme (with a few close matches), all presented in a handsome package. To introduce the anthology are some deft words by Terry Dowling. I was happy to see his involvement it shows Gestalt are interested in grabbing talent beyond the comic scene. --David Carroll, ASiFCharacter Sketches is the first release from Gestalt Publishing, a newcomer on the Australian scene with obvious ambition. As such, this may be taken as a taste of what may be coming, as well as enjoyed in its own right. The bad news first: the thing I liked least about this comic is its name. 'Character Sketches' is somewhat bland and potentially misleading, since I was half expecting a gallery of portraits. The subtitle of this particular volume, 'Trauma and Joy', is more descriptive, and with the eye-catching cover by Justin Randall, hopefully it won t be overlooked. I ll cover the Joy component first because, as in the modern world it seems in danger of being swamped by the Trauma. Shaun Tan, who has won great acclaim for his books like The Lost Thing and The Arrival, presents an illustrated vignette called "The Water Buffalo" which is quite lovely. I guess "The Mechanic" fits in here as well being - perhaps - a surreal superhero origin story. There is some nice detail in Daniel Burke's writing, but it is Mark Welsh's art that leaves the main impres --David Carroll, ASiFCharacter Sketches is the first release from Gestalt Publishing, a newcomer on the Australian scene with obvious ambition. As such, this may be taken as a taste of what may be coming, as well as enjoyed in its own right. The bad news first: the thing I liked least about this comic is its name. 'Character Sketches' is somewhat bland and potentially misleading, since I was half expecting a gallery of portraits. The subtitle of this particular volume, 'Trauma and Joy', is more descriptive, and with the eye-catching cover by Justin Randall, hopefully it won t be overlooked. I ll cover the Joy component first because, as in the modern world it seems in danger of being swamped by the Trauma. Shaun Tan, who has won great acclaim for his books like The Lost Thing and The Arrival, presents an illustrated vignette called "The Water Buffalo" which is quite lovely. I guess "The Mechanic" fits in here as well being - perhaps - a surreal superhero origin story. There is some nice detail in Daniel Burke's writing, but it is Mark Welsh's art that leaves the main impression of those scant four pages. Perhaps it is the start of something bigger. I m not sure if it s just my own cultural myopia, but the jagged and distorted realism that Mark Welsh uses has become a distinction of the successful Australian comic artist, as measured by overseas work. Ben Templesmith and Ashley Wood are the prime examples, and Justin Randall is also doing well   indeed, he is following Templesmith s work on IDW's 30 Days of Night. Here he both illustrates and writes a story called "Broken Monkey", about a prize fighter who has made a strange pact, in a world inflicted by some sort of plague. Again it looks great, and the story holds together, but still comes across as somewhat fragmentary. This time we are told there is more to come. In similar terrain is Andrew Richardson's "Near-Distant Murmurs", about the dying of a man who breeds spiders and kills little girls (you can tell we 're well into the trauma now). As in "Broken Monkey" there are hints a great infrastructure behind the world, stylishly rendered. The first story of the anthology is also about the terrors of childhood, with a fascinating sting. Christian Read provides detail, depth and precisely enough story for his page count in "Burning", with effective art by the appropriately named C. B. Burns. Christian's autobiographic tales as the Dude in the Coat lend this a little extra spice as well, as you start to wonder how much of it may be true. We re not done with childhood yet, because we also have "Toy" by Skye Ogden, who uses his single page well - even if I did have to reread it to work out what was going on. Skye also provides the art for Wolfgang Bylsma s "Momento Mori", which illustrates its title and not much more. And finally, in my mixed-up ordering, we have "Tiny Tragedies", a tale of bees and relationships. Written and illustrated by Anton McKay, the art is fairly basic, with some high points (mostly of the bees). That is all the writing needs though, in a story that looks like it is building towards something   but isn't, which is the point. It is an effective, melancholy piece. So, eight tales, of varying length and theme (with a few close matches), all presented in a handsome package. To introduce the anthology are some deft words by Terry Dowling. I was happy to see his involvement   it shows Gestalt are interested in grabbing talent beyond the comic scene. Like them, I think Australian specfic writers and comic creators have common ground, and if you want to see the possibilities this is a great place to start. --David Carroll, ASiF