Fatal Rage remix…

Someone has remixed Fatal Rage!  I love crap like this.

I got tricked into entering into a storm of controversy about a mascot called Unit Man.

From the Australian Financial Review, Friday 30th October:

Unit Man will show up in grocery catalogues, online and at checkouts. But the Queensland Consumers Association doubted the unit prices would be as visible as their heroic mascot.
“We have found far too many of the labels are either difficult or impossible to read for a normal-sighted person,” spokesman Ian Jarratt said.
“The print height isn’t big enough, the print isn’t dense enough, in some cases the characters are too close together and in others they are too low on the shelves.”
Melbourne-based cartoonist Ben Hutchings did not share consumer groups’ apprehension.
“He’s quite well drawn – and cute,” he said.

Now I sound like an antagonistic shit-stirrer.  I wonder if when Ian Jarratt reads this (if it’s printed on paper) he’ll scrunch the very page with his clenched fist (of rage) as he reads it, his face turning a deep shade of crimson and his whole body shaking.  Then he might get his index finger and stick it in his collar and pull it out to let cool air flow and swirl around his tits to reduce his body temperature.

I wonder if he is actually really insecure and reading some hip cartoonists laid-back, laconic counterpoint will make him feel foolish and uncool in front of his fiancee.  Or maybe I am the fool, because Ian Jarrat seems to have a no-nonsense design sensibility but my opinion is just baseless.

I guess only time will tell who is the fool, and indeed if perhaps in our own ways we are all fools.

THE END

By Ben aged 34.

PS:  I have like two itchy bites on my arse.

Comics of Smallness. Limited Run!

The amazing Comics of Smallness has finally been reprinted!  Due to the sheer annoyingness of printing these things, Comics of Smallness is only available very rarely, and in print runs of only 12 at a time.  Each comic has been lovingly printed on my vintage Epson Stylus Photo RX530, carelessly stapled, hand guillotined (which hurts if you bang your thumb when you put it under the handle) and folded with my own artistic hands.  The comic itself is a 37 x 47mm, 32 page oddyssey, starring the surreal adventures of a cat named Barry.  For a measly $1 + postage you can have this fat little comic wilting in the palm of your hand in no time!

Tales from the Pub: Screamin’ F*ck Knuckles

In other news, Fatal Rage of Conflict is mentioned in Wikipedia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Game

By someone who doesn’t understand grammar.

Rappin’ about comics on ABC radio…

Mal Briggs from Impact comics, Jon Sommariva and Ben Hutchings (me) talk to Peter J Casey about comics on ABC radio one balmy Sunday afternoon.

Click here to listen!

“Fragment” – an unfinished pitch

A while back, before I had two rockin’ regular comic  jobs I was playing around with a couple of ideas.  This is a page from an unfinished pitch for a teenage boy’s magazine.  It doesn’t really show that the strip is a sci-fi action chase story, but it is nicely drawn I think!I was so excited about this, as it’s an idea I came up with in college 17 years ago, and it reflects the exact comic attitude and imagination I had at that age.

I can’t even begin to tell you how awesome this comic would be.  My vision of the future is the best.  Not a computer or holographic user interface in sight – just Australia as it is, but exaggerated by 250%, and with heavily armed postal vans, bus chases, destruction and flying eye-ball ships manned by renegade freak convicts from the moons of Jupiter.  Maybe after Stinky 10 I will turn my attention to this.  I really have to restrain myself from going on and on about it, and telling you why it’s so awesome.  Why won’t you believe me.

Beard of Eternity on Top Shelf web site!

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/

An Open Letter to Kevin Rudd…

Dear Kevin,

How are you?  How’s the family?  I am pretty good…. I am writing this because I saw a picture of you in the paper and thought I’d write to say hello!  I am just on my computer.  There are really loud cockies outside screeching… hmmm must be that time of year or something.  I haven’t got much news.  The other day some dude left a busted up car in our parking area and it was blocking all the other cars.  The note he left said he bought it for parts, but then it broke down and he had to put it there so it didn’t get stolen.  What a wanker!  The people in my apartment block who own cars moved it out of the way but then it was blocking my space so visitors can’t couldn’t get in, so eventually me and Simon actually pushed the thing up the driveway along the side of the apartment block.  I pushed it with my back while he steered, and it was really hard.  He kept saying we couldn’t do it, but I got annoyed and said “Come ON, man!”, like are we not men?  He can be so half-arsed.  The driveway gets steep near the top and I kept complaining that if I lost control, I wouldn’t be able to move out of the way before it just run me over, and I was panicking a bit!  So when we got to the really  steep bit I got Simon to hold it and I went to call out to the Indian dudes upstairs to come and help us.  I kinda took my time, forgetting immediately how heavy the car was to hold on your own and sort of dallying about, leaving Simon sort of there on his own, eventually calling “hello?” up to the window.  When I did, I heard them imitating me and laughing, which I found interesting but they came down and helped us push it the rest of the way.   They had thick hair and one had a moustache.  The shorter one with the larger, rounder head had the moustache.  I think that is the rule in India.  So yeah, we shifted the car, and then headed back inside, congratulating ourselves for a while and laughing about how I was all Captain Intenso, but then leaving Simon to hold the car on his own for ages.

La la laaa… hmm hmm what else… apart from that, not much has been up.  I got my editor wanting to run Lesson Master in 100% Home Girls which is a Picture spin-off.  I said OK, as long as I didn’t have to make it rude.  I wouldn’t have thought LM would really suit the audience, but he must know what he’s doing and as my sister Sarah pointed out, probably all kinds of people read porno mags, eh.  For instance there is a group called Suicide Girls who do nudie porn, and it’s exactly the same except they have that  goth/Bettie Page look and instead of pouting their lips like retards they do smug, one-sided smirks like fuckwits.  They are aimed at alterno type guys.  Oh, and girls since all goth girls are ‘bi’.

Anyway, hope you are enjoying being Prime Minister.  I don’t follow politics at all, because it’s so depressing.  Not because of what happens, just because everything about it is boring.  Like, even the word ‘policy’ just makes my heart sink.  And ‘legislation’.  But no offense!!!!! I know you need to have politics and that it’s important!  Don’t hate me!!!!!  I bet you do a really good job.  I get the GetUp newsletter but then it started getting sent to my spam folder and I haven’t bothered un-spamming it because I know I will just never read it.  Whenever they go on about “the future of this country” I just think “fuck off.” But I bet you don’t care about comics or drawing so….

I don’t really have anything else to say now, so I’d better go and do some more work and then I might make some dinner.

Those cockies have stopped screeching which is good.  I hope one day I can meet you.  But it’s more likely Sarah will first!!!!

Talk to you soon,

Regards,

Ben