One panel from... Calvin and Hobbes

It's been nearly two years since I did one of these — a look at a single standout panel from a comic strip or graphic novel.

Calvin and Hobbes (1985–1995) by Bill Watterson is one of the most successful comic strips of all time. I've read just about every Calvin and Hobbes strip ever drawn, because it was a staple in The West Australian when I was a teenager. It still is, even though the strip ended over 28 years ago. 

How many strips did Bill Watterson draw? Well, the complete three-volume hardcover collection published by Andrews McMeel contains a total of 1,440 pages, so you can work that out in your own time. Let's just say it's a lot, alright?

The dailies were your standard three- or four-panel gags, but where the strip really stood out was in its Sunday strips, with innovative and unconventional layouts and detailed renderings of things you wouldn't normally see in a typical gag strip: it might be two dinosaurs fighting, or a giant bee, or a speeding plane about to crash. 

The protagonist Calvin is a six year old boy who has no friends and so frequently escapes into flights of fantasy, which allowed Watterson to let loose with his cinematic visuals. Nothing was off limits (within publishing guidelines, that is) and it all made sense in-world.

So, you're probably thinking that the panel I've singled out is one of those Sunday strip colour panels. Probably one depicting space or a Martian landscape, or even a stately winter scene. Well, it is from a Sunday strip, but it isn't any of those. It is, in fact, this!

When you see this, you instantly know that Calvin's dad, who is being seen as a slug-like creature with one eye, is talking to Calvin in his regular voice. While his dad sits there reading, Calvin imagines his parents and objects in the room becoming various monsters. Except Hobbes, who is absent from this strip. Would he just stay a tiger? Anyway, this panel sums it up for me — the little kid whose life is usually so dull that he has to literally make something abnormal happen just to stay sane.

The whole thing is great. I particularly like how the mounted monster head (where a picture frame was before) has a different expression in the next panel, and that the creature the lamp and table has turned into is now holding a little umbrella. The dad's facial expression is perfect. Surreal and bizarre moments like these in newspaper comic strips today are pretty much unheard of.

Strangely enough, the book of collected strips that this strip comes from...

...is Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, published in 1994. Calvin and Hobbes was on hiatus for most of that year, as Bill Watterson was taking an extended break. 

Well, my local library's copy of the book has an unusual label in it:

Hmmm. Well isn't that ominous.

Book cover designs of the mid-2020s

I was walking around my local Dymocks this morning, not looking for anything in particular, and thinking how much goes into book cover design these days. Not just the actual design, but the printing too – spot varnish, holograms, embossing and gold leaf weren't all that common in past decades. Here are a few that stood out to me. Although, will I look back on these in 20 years' time and think, "That looks so mid-2020s!"?

Let's Find Out.

You would expect a book about the moon to have a picture of the moon on the cover, right? That's No-Brainer Book Design 101. But the moon is just...a nondescript grey ball. Sorry, but it is. Don't get me wrong, the moon is a wonderful thing. In fact my niece always looks for it in the night sky and I've started giving it more attention than I used to. And this vivid colour treatment used here is pretty dynamic, with its high contrast and sense of gentle rotation and motion. Also, it's a good book, from what I read flicking through it.

A travel book that avoid the usual clichés, instead going for more abstract imagery and vivid colours. Bold typography and spot varnish on this larger-than-A4 hardcover book.

m    i    n    i    m    a     l     i     s     m

I like this one, with its bold orange (or "satsuma" if you will [no]) contrasted by the dark background, with the Eurostile typeface prominent. The only thing I don't like is the extraneous text, and this is far from the only example. Does "The number one bestselling author" really need to be there? Number one where? And when? And which? And also, "A novel" written under the title. Thanks for that, mate. I thought it was a board game, but thanks for setting me straight.

Old-style/vintage typefaces and iconography always score high with me! It's a crappy photo, but you get the idea. For some reason this treatment always works well when there's a character's name in the book's title. "Glorious Revenge" on its own just wouldn't cut it. Don't ask me why. More extraneous text here: I'm also not a fan of pull quotes cluttering up the front cover. No, I'm not particularly interested about what the Sydney Morning Herald had to say about this book. Leave me alone.

As a fan of The KLF and their bizarre antics in the world of late '80s–early '90s house music, I actually want to get this book! But, you know, times are tough. But the design uses the same Compacta Black typeface used on The KLF's cover art, and the lurid pink and yellow is redolent of Never Mind The Bollocks, so that's a plus point too. And the sheep. And just so you know, yes, they actually did burn a million pounds. More power to them.

A simple gold leaf overlay of a dinosaur skull, and simple sans serif typographic layout in a tasteful orang-utan green. The top half isn't actually dark, I just took the photo like that to emphasize the gold lettering. Not that I had much time to set up the shot in a crowded bookstore.

Not the best photo, but hopefully you can see the hologram effect on the book title and other design elements on the cover. Some designs overdo holograms but this one is understated and quite effective. It actually makes me want to learn more about phosphorescence. Well, no it doesn't. I can take it or leave it. But opposite this was a book called "Taylor Swift and the clothes she wears". Zzz. I know which one I'd rather read.

Depending on how long these books stay in print, it's fair to say that these cover designs will not be permanent. Unlike record covers that stay the same regardless of how long the album is in print, book designs are regularly updated and re-designed. (Why is this, I wonder? Can anyone tell me? Hello? Planet Earth, can you hear me calling...)

The SHERRY MONOCLE Tour Part 2

Continuing from the last post...here are some photos of the suburb of Northbridge (directly north of the CBD) that were taken too late to be included. But that's okay because it kind of deserves a post on its own. Here are a few neat things I found:

 

 

Here we have an area that celebrates Egyptian culture and the reign of the Pharaohs. This particular fellow was a well-known king in the 14th century BC. He is honoured by the locals by affixing pink googly eyes on him, meaning he can see all. It also assures a brief period of mirth for all who gaze upon his noble and virtuous features.

 

 

 

And a Middle Kingdom-era Egyptian frieze depicts his kingly visage in a high relief style, by the stonemason 'Shisha'. This resplendent mural predates Perth itself. I expect it to be behind clear perspex before too long. The mural bears the legend 'Post no bills – $150 fine – Littering Act 1979'. This message has puzzled hieroglyphics scholars for centuries. (Posting bills counts as littering? Okay then!)

 

 

 

I've been to all three of these places.

 

 Nothing says solitude

Like

A rare box of Fortune Cookies

Basking in the

Thursday morning

Raspberry sun

The SHERRY MONOCLE Tour of Perth's suburbs with a train station

Welcome back to my blog for 2024, friends. It's the blog's 15th year, so I promise to make more than three posts to celebrate this 'landmark' year.

The folks at Transperth decided to make public transport – buses, trains and ferries – free for SmartRider holders from Christmas Eve to most of January. Their spokesperson said it was because they get less customers this time of year, but yours truly reckons it's because they're about to 'transition' to a new credit-card-based payment system and will probably 'roll' it out when the free travel time is over. So I thought I'd milk it make best use of this generous offer to see certain suburbs that people have been crowing about. Do they measure up to the hype?

First up is Hillarys, which I visited on New Year's Day. I used to occasionally come to the boardwalk here as a teenager. The boardwalk is still there, but it has been redeveloped a bit, prompted by a fire that destroyed six of the shops (and apparently part of the boardwalk as well) in June 2003. There's now a water play park there. It's meant to be for kids, but was soon taken over by smarmy teenagers. Luckily, one of them spontaneously combusted while underwater and I managed to catch the moment on camera.

Next up is Fremantle. Freo is a great place. I used to hang out there when I was doing work experience at the Maritime Museum. Lots of historical buildings, but the historical signage is just as interesting. Here's an old painted advertisement for MacRobertson's Freddo Chocolate Frogs, at the entrance to the markets.

And one that was most likely painted in 1983 – the boxing kangaroo emblem holding a can of Swan Lager. "It's a symbol of fascism", quoth one passer-by. Well I never.

Right, next on my travels I hit up the bohemian enclave of Maylands, next stop but one from both 'Baysie' (Bayswater) and 'Basso' (Bassendean) on the Midland line. Despite having no dumb shortened name, it can hold its own in the hipster stakes, although if you're not out to pose on the coffee strip you had better go peddle your Matt Damon aspirations elsewhere, matey. 

Hey, I found this ancient knocker on someone's door that's shaped like a hand. This alone makes the trip to Maylands worth it (although the riverside area is meant to be nice, too. I didn't see it though, it was 40 degrees that day).

 

 

Why is there no one in this coffee shop?

 

Weary from my other pursuits, I now arrive in Bayswater, home of no bay and no water. The best thing here was a hand-painted message outside someone's house:

 

Brilliant. NO FRIVOLITY is going to be my motto for 2024. Also, is that the Ukrainian flag?

There are some interesting patterns and designs on shop-front ceramic tiles if you make the effort to look. I found another one but you'll just make crude references to genitalia so I'm not posting it.

 

Remember Rolf Harris? Up until ten years ago he was a Perth icon, one of the few people to emerge from this city that people could, and did, brag about. Then he was convicted of being an old perv, and his career was over. His TV shows will never again be rebroadcast and his albums line the record bins of op shops. His death in May 2023 at the age of 93 went largely unnoticed by the media. But most people in Perth know that the suburb of Bassendean was where he grew up. Perhaps you'd see him on occasion heading to the Bassendean pharmacy with his wobble board or whatever. There are a few dodgy shop fronts there but I'm afraid that's about it.

And this, whatever this is.

Rockingham next. Here's that print shop I posted last time. No extraneous text, just PRINT. If you're ever in Rockingham just stroll in there and say "One PRINT please". Then get ready to book it as they'll probably come after you with a 12-bore. I also like the idea of that blank space on the wall with nothing in it. Because nothing says "Come to my print shop" like a big white circle.

To the far north of the metro area we go, Joondalup to be precise. To be honest, I didn't see any of it other than the Lakeside shopping centre there, which the train takes you directly to. I did walk around the outside a bit, but the only photo worth posting here was of this big orange ball outside the centre. Ain't it lovely.

And finally we come to Claremont. This was a thriving nightlife area until it got a really bad reputation in 1996 when the Claremont serial killer came to light. One of the women who disappeared was seen in an infamous bit of grainy CCTV footage right outside the Claremont Hotel, shown here. Although at that time, the place was called Club Bay View. Another misnomer. My first high school reunion was held there in 2005. The area is well covered by CCTV now, don't you worry about that.

But hunting grounds of serial killers aside, here's the most interesting thing I discovered about Claremont. Take a look at this building. What would you say it is? A church, perhaps?

 

 

Nope – it's a library! To be fair, it was originally a Methodist church, built in 1922. But after the infamous 'Night of the Long Tinnies' which preceded the bloody and brutal Methodist purges of 1978, the building reopened as a library in January 1979. And they vowed never to speak of the purges again. In fact just forget I just mentioned them.

 

The choir loft at the back, or is it the pulpit, or where the organist used to sit? Church nomenclature is not my strong point. Note the stained glass windows with memorials on them. They are all to people with the same surname. One for a boy who died a hundred years ago aged nearly 2, the other for two men who went to fight in the Great War and never came back.

BONUS ROUND

One last surprise for you. Here's a photo of the so-called Shark Rock, in McDougall Park in Manning, where I used to play as a kid, and is still within walking distance of where I live now. See that rock? It kind of looks like a shark's head. Personally I think it looks more like a dog's head. But whatever. You project whatever you want onto it. I'm not gonna tell you one way or the other. But for all the years I went to this park, I never knew about Shark Rock until last Friday. And apparently people have written reviews of it online. So take the family down to see Shark Rock of an evening. Top night out.

All photos are ©2024 by me, in conjunction with the SHERRY MONOCLE Corporation, in association with Dunderheaded Velocipede Seats and the Utterly Inanely Named Crew.

It does what it says and it says what it does

PRINT. A print shop in Rockingham, Western Australia.