Friday, June 20, 2014

TOMORROW AND PIGGISH AUSSIE SUPERMAN CRASH

Continuing  sketches   from   the   black  and  white  life  of  one  of  Australia’s best  known  cartoonists,  Vane Lindesay , also   illustrator  of  numerous  publications , award  winning   book designer ,  bibliophile.


Lindesay’s   definitive  work   on    Australian comic art ;  he has  also contributed  numerous  articles to  the   World  Encyclopedia   of   Cartoons.

In   the   immediate  period  after   WWll,   one  of  the  many   publications Lindesay  was  involved  with  was  the  trail-blazing  monthly ,  Tomorrow  , launched in 1946 by  the   John  Reed  / Max Harris  publishing  group . Produced  in  the Angry Penguins  editorial  office , 48 Queen  Street , Melbourne , it  was a forerunner    of   Nation, The  Observer  and  Nation  Review. In  his autobiographical  A Life So Far Some  Fragments Recalled ,  Lindesay  said  it was fresh, provocative , topical and anti-establishment. Within its 32 pages of international and  local  news , features  and cartoons   it attempted  to guard the peace  , fight censorship  and  thought control, oppose red- baiters , and express concern about  atomic  arms  build- up.
 At the  request  of  Max Harris , Vane , a  freelance cartoonist ,  provided  a full-page colour  comic strip , Bob Superming,  satirising  Prime  Minister   Bob " Pig-iron"Menzies .


Prime Minister  Menzies on cover of 1985  Hutchinson book suggested  and  introduced  by  Vane Lindesay  which  includes   a  caricature  of   himself .

Recently   discussing   Tomorrow   with     Vane ,   he   said   Superming , like Superman, wore a skin tight  costume    with  the   letter  S   on  his  chest.  From  memory , Superming  was  a baddie , trying to   make  off   with  a  female,  the   Labor Party , saved   from   his   clutches   by   ALP  hero  , Ben  Chifley.

The  magazine   closed  after   only   10 editions , killed   off   because  of  the rationing  of  expensive   newsprint ,  lack of  advertising  support  , barriers  placed  against   its  distribution by  vested  interests   and  what  Max Harris  described as   wide  community  apathy.

 The editor,  Jack   Bellow  ,    was  a  well known  Sydney  journalist , formerly  involved  with  the Packer  Press  ,    who   had  been  prominent  in  the  battle for control of  the Labor Daily  newspaper in the  tumultuous Jack Lang  years  in  NSW  .  In  1947  , he   founded  with  other   newspaper  men   Atlas  Publications to  cash in  on  the  wartime  imposed  ban  on   imported  publications , including  comics . One   of the  many  Australian  comics  produced  by  the  company   was  the   popular   Captain  Atom,  drawn  by  Arthur Mather . Atlas  Publications  expanded   but  eventually  went  bust  publishing  Family Circle.

Other  Tomorrow  staff  were John Sinclair, later the (Melbourne)  Herald  music critic ;  Peter  Ryan ,who became   managing director of  the Melbourne University Press ,  and  the  young  poet,  Geoffrey  Dutton .

 Apart   from   drawing  the  Superming   comic strip, Vane was  also  designing stage  settings  for  the amateur  radical  playhouse  named   New  Theatre  which trained and  produced  many stage , cinema  and   radio personalities.  NEXT :   Vane’s  insights   into  a  cavalcade  of  colourful  characters,   magazines ,   books  and  his  artwork .