Sci-Fi & Squeam

1 May 2016

Humour and Humanity:Queer Activism in Comics

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Humour and Humanity:Queer Activism in Comics

On Saturday April the 30th 2016 at the Homecooked Comics Festival 2016 : Activist cartoonists reflect on the LGBTIQ civil rights milestones of the last 30 years. With Kenton Penley Miller, Jo Waite and Sonja Hammer was held as part of the festivals Artist Talks at the Northcote Town Hall 4.30-5.45pm, Melbourne, Australia.

The panel discussion went from personal origin stories of how Jo and Kenton began drawing and how they were affected by the issues of the times in the community, but also how the outer community viewed and responded to their art. Kenton shared about his “survivor humour” during the 1980s and 1990s when facing the AIDS and HIV crisis and it’s impact on Australia’s queer community.

Below, Left to Right: Artists Jo Waite and Kenton Penley Miller are R rated.

Jo spoke of her experiences in the 80’s and 90’s in the Lesbian and in the political spheres in the community.

So find out what happened in Australia in comics and cartoons for LGBTIQ in this lengthy, yet engaging panel discussion: Humour and Humanity.

Below: Left to Right ,Sonja Hammer, Jo Waite and Kenton Penley Miller, April 30,2016.

Panel included slides from Josephine ( Jo ) Waite and Kenton Penley ( Kenton Penley Miller ) and Sam Wallman.

Below: Kenton Penley Miller’s cartoon.

Jo Waite

‘Jo Waite has been an alternative comic artist for more than 20 years and refuses to be lured away from drawing comics for grown-ups into any more sensible and lucrative work.

Her drawn stories have appeared in various small-press compilations; Tango; The Giant Romance Comic, The Lifted Brow, Inscribe, Going Down Swinging, Blood and Thunder, and she has printed her own comics, zines and diaries since 1987. Her comics appeared in The Tango Collection (Allen & Unwin 2009) and she and Bernard Caleo have curated Melbourne Fringe Festival shows containing the very cream of Melbourne’s comic art talent for the last 5 years.’

Below: Some cartoonist ladies who exhibited at the FOE gallery in 1991. Deborah Kelly, Trudy Clutterbok, Kathleen McCann, Judy Horacek, Nicole MacKinnon Bronwyn Halls and Jo Waite (Joan Rosser, Kaz Cooke and Jane Cafarella aren’t in the picture).

Kenton Penley Miller

‘Melbourne-based cartoonist Kenton Miller used cartoons to represent the lives of LGBTIQ people for more than 30 years.”Cartoons are a way of seeing us – just like we want to see ourselves in books and films, we need to see ourselves in cartoons,” he said.

“Not just for representation but because we need to laugh, and cartoons have a way of getting to the point.”

During the 1980s, Mr Miller used dark humour in his cartoons to tell stories about HIV and AIDS and the tragic effect on the community.

“It kept popping up in my cartoons, trying to normalise safe sex and trying to cope with the enormous grief we had because we lost partners and friends,” he said.

His current work focuses on acceptance and the challenges associated with homosexuality in modern society.’ Excerpt from an ABC article online 2015.

THIS PODCAST RECORDING CONTAINS R RATED MATERIAL AND QUEER CONTENT.

Below: Jo Waite cartoon

Below: Sam Wallman.

Thanks to everyone at Homecooked Comics Festival 2016, and to Jo Waite and Kenton Penley Miller and Sam Wallman,Suzana Dewa and Clea Chiller and Sarah Howell.

Below Sam Wallman .