Loving the craft

It's been a long time since my mum bought me a comic book. Years ago, between the age of ten and twelve, I used to be the king of wagging school – or at least the king of trying to. This was back in the days when the first Star Wars had just come out and all I wanted to do was stay home and draw pictures of Luke Skywalker blowing up the death star and Darth Vader stalking rebels across the galaxy (just like my boy Tom now does).

I tried to get out of school any way I could, feigning nausea and headache, licking my palms to make them feel clammy, standing on my head to get a hot flush in my cheeks – you name it, I tried it. Not even the threat of actually taking me to the doctor was enough to make me 'fess up. Of course my mum was pretty smart and knew exactly what was going on, and I still got sent to class most days anyway. But I'm sure she remembered what it was like to be a kid and sometimes she took pity and let me stay home, as long as I kept up the ruse, remained in my room and didn't cause her any problems. On those occasions she'd tuck me into bed, fetch me a big bottle of Sprite (my favourite drink) and return later from the nearby drug store with a stack of comics to while away the afternoon. Green Lantern was my top choice, Spiderman a close second. Thor and the Silver Surfer were also cool, and those goofy Archie and Jughead digests, with their terrible jokes and fifties-style artwork, also entertained me for hours. If you want to know how and when I was first inspired to be a cartoonist, that was it. Those were good days.

Anyway, after my recent separation I moved out of my old house and back in with my parents. That's so typical isn't it? Even Rodney Hide did the same thing last year. But don't get the wrong idea, I'm not regressing completely into a teenager (though you might disagree at the end of this post, more in a minute). My parents are in Kuwait for a few years so I have the run of the place, and we'll only actually live together over the holidays when they briefly return. It's a great setup and I'm extremely fortunate and grateful they're sharing their home with me while I get back on my feet.

Anyway, we were all together over Christmas and it was nice to catch up a bit with my mum. She's an artist as well, and a very interesting person with, shall we say, somewhat eclectic tastes. She likes to read, and she reads everything, and sometimes we talk about what book she's studying or what author has caught her attention. Often we appreciate the same things, and one night I was surprised to hear her ask me about H.P. Lovecraft.

I probably haven't mentioned this, but once upon a time I also wanted to write horror novels. That was not long after my obsession with Green Lantern ended and my introduction to Stephen King began. I think it's almost de rigueur for teens to go through this morbid phase, though I was determined to pursue my new career no matter what and wrote stacks and stacks of terrible stories as I emulated my fiction heroes. King was the best as far as I was concerned, followed by Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker, Edgar Allen Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Alfred Hitchcock, Harlan Ellison and ... H.P. Lovecraft.

Of all those, Lovecraft was the most obscure, and his weird Cthulu cult tales were often out of print and hard to come by before the internet age. But Lovecraft is also the one who has probably most stayed with me over the years, with his creepy gothic imagery and obsession with parallel dimensions and mythic god-creatures tapping into something I really respond to. Don't ask me why. So I was intrigued when mum mentioned him and asked me if I'd heard of his story "Beyond the wall of sleep." I had. She said she was ordering it over the net and it related to something else she was studying. Cool, I thought. She's in for a treat.

Anyway, a week or so later she brought me a comic book and disappointedly said that she'd made a mistake. She had wanted a Lovecraft book, but instead she ordered a comic adaptation. Doh! Her loss, my gain. And I was especially excited to see that it was an original Malibu Comics edition, in mint condition from 1992. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Beautiful. This was in the days before computer colouring and you can see that the watercolour cover is a masterpiece of pen and ink and gouache. The same style continues throughout the story, harking back to the classic era of the seventies and early eighties when the Fantastic Four, Batman, Superman, Spiderman and others dominated the stands. I love the strong blacks and confident linework, the stark contrasts of light and shade, combined with the old marker style of colouring. The craftsmanship is exceptional. It was like stepping back into my school-skipping days and it made me want to snuggle into bed with a chocolate bar and a Sprite again, to lose myself in another world for a while. Thanks mum, and better luck with ordering over the internet next time!

Lovecraft ramble aside, her are a few toons from the first part of the week. To save my editors at Stuff a big headache, I'll post the rest on Monday. Sorry I've been such a bad blogger. I'm well aware that I can only use my divorce as an excuse for so much longer, so I'll play that card one more time and ask you to forgive me while I continue to get my act together. Next week will be better.

I like this one. It's always good to combine two unrelated topics in a new way and Health Minister Tony Ryall's clampdown on DHB bureaucracy dovetailed nicely with a recent report on hospital mistakes. I like drawing Mr Ryall too, with his "lemon squeezer" head I've mentioned before.

Doesn't Judith Collins seem a bit like a barking dog who chases cars and has finally caught one ... only to find she's bit off more than she can chew? She should have known that Barry Matthews would never be as soft a target as boy-racers, and her quick backdown from the tough rhetoric on the Corrections boss had to be embarrassing. Again, combining two different topics seemed like a good way to go.

New Zealand's sometimes great about introducing half-baked legislation, then hoping for the best as we try to make it work. The Electoral Finance Act was a great example of this, and so is the proposed law on internet piracy, which gives ISPs a judicial and enforcement role that should properly belong to the Government. You'd think our politicians would learn from their mistakes, wouldn't you?

Meet my new midlife crisis antidote.

Okay, I'm not really old enough to be having a midlife crisis, but the abrupt end of your seven-year marriage tends to hasten things in that department. To keep my sanity I've been running a lot, cycling a lot, hanging out with my kids a lot, watching movies and reading a lot, and generally distracting myself with everything BUT thinking about my ex. I believe that's understandable.

But one of the consequences of this relationship cataclysm has been that I have a new appreciation for the brevity of life and the necessity of pursuing your dreams with a modicum of urgency. As you may gather, I've never been the sort of guy who hangs around and waits for other people to make me happy, and my current editorial cartooning career is the determined realisation of a longtime ambition. I love it. A few other ambitions have been getting my motorcycle licence and learning how to paraglide, and now that I have both extra time and a bit more cash, they are suddenly achievable objectives.

It was a bit of an impulse buy, but I've wanted a Vespa for as long as I can remember. I'm not a motorcycle man, but I do dig the thrill of the open road, the wind on my face, and piloting something that is both stylish and well made. This new scooter – a 300cc, smile-inducing piece of Prozac-on-wheels – is just such a machine. I took it out for a spin on Tuesday and didn't come home till it was dark and raining. I can't wait to get my licence so I can range all over the place, just me, the bike and a ribbon of highway that stretches from sea to sea. This is a serious touring scooter and tour I will, reacquainting myself with New Zealand from another perspective. It's going to be a blast.

So what does this have to do with cartooning? It's all about inspiration I suppose, and the curious places you find it. For me the best ideas often come when I'm running or walking, or when my body is engaged and my mind is free to wander. And doing anything that brings you joy, even if it's unrelated to other tasks, has a spillover effect that is contagious. Excitement can't be contained, and the excitement of this new freedom is a metaphor for where I find myself right now: at a crossroads with anything possible. Which direction do I want to go? What twisty, scenic course shall I follow? I don't quite know, but I'm going for a ride to discover new things, and that thrills and inspires me anew. It feels well deserved after the tough past few months, and being a kid again – if only when I'm alone on my bike for a few hours – has a lot of appeal.

Have a great weekend!