Local Act Comics - Past, Present & Future - Part 4: Five, count ‘em FIVE LAUNCH TITLES…
Tue, Oct 28 2008

Since there was a lot of material in production before the initial print run of anything there was the opportunity to expand beyond Ma.B right from the beginning. Vigil #1 was well on its way, as was After Life, Millie Piddley Pup and the first LAC Presents… Anthology. By the time we had out first event (Supanova Sydney 06) we had the above five launch titles ready for release. I think it surprised people a little bit to see five titles on the table when we were basically just starting out.

I’d like to take this opportunity to go over those original 5 issues that got the ball rolling for LAC…

After Life

This comic just continues to impress. Despite some criticisms that it was stretched too far to fill a whole issue, I stand by the result as one of the most memorable comics in LAC’s range.

After Life is a gritty science fiction story set in the not too distant future, covering topics like immortality, ecology, the price of progress and a future with limited water.

After Life is "a topical story with a strong wake up call for our generation" Graeme McDonald (Writer).

“After Life represents yet another example of the depth of talent Australia has in terms of comic book creators and we are proud to have this title amongst the ever growing range of genres and styles Local Act Comics produces” Dave Cunning (Director LAC).

After Life is "a marriage of two great arts, the craft of words and pictures, Local Act Comics is helping to develop some wonderful projects" Gareth Colliton (Illustrator).

Whilst After life was originally scripted as a six-page piece for the Local Act Comics Presents Anthology, Dave Cunning (Director) saw the potential of this story and requested that it be made into a larger project. As a consequence

Writer(s): Graeme McDonald
Artist(s): Gareth Colliton
Pages: 28


Millie Piddley Pup – The Great Pop Idol Swindle

Millie Piddley Pup started as a one-off six pager for the LAC Presents...Anthology. The characters are loosely based on writer Graeme McDonald's two pets and their antics which later became stories he made up to make his daughter laugh.


Millie the plucky pup with a bladder problem is paired up with a cantankerous old cat, who just happens to be a master of Kung-Poo, to form an unlikely crime fighting duo!

Writer(s): Graeme McDonald
Artist(s): Chris Catlin
Pages: 36



Vigil #1

This is the issue that launched the McDonald / Wells combo.

A meditation on violence and its impact on everyday people's lives. Vigil follows the lives of three men and women as they respond in individual, personal, political and collective ways, to acts of violence. Some will face violence with peaceful opposition, some will fight using violence against itself and others will become...the violent.

Writer(s): Graeme McDonald
Artist(s): Colin Wells
Pages: 28



LAC Presents... #1 Anthology

Our first attempt at a themed anthology ended up lacking content, but at the time when I was about to pull the plug on this idea a few other anthologies fell over and I managed to salvage some pretty good content from folks who were looking to still be published.

Local Act Comics is proud to present to you some of the fine individuals that make up the Australian comic and cartooning community.


Writer(s): Various
Artist(s): Various
Pages: 32



Ma.B #0 Comic

The zero issue. At the time I wasn’t aware that it’s a bit of a no-no to try and sell a zero issue. You have to give ‘ash-cans’ away. Since then we’ve only had the one zero issue which was received with a bit more approval, even though we were still breaking the rules.

This introductory issue features concept sketches, background information, character profiles and preview pages from the series.


Writer(s): Graeme McDonald
Artist(s): Dave Cunning & Chris Catlin
Pages: 20


Stay tuned for the next article where we look at merchandising. Until then...Dave.C