Welcome to Anyhowtown

Dave Hodson's name might not be immediately familiar to anyone with a even cursory interest in Australian comics - and that's a damn shame. Dave has been one of 'true originals' of the local comics scene since the late 1980s/early 1990s, when he made a splash in the pages of Fox Comics, most notably with his semi-autobiographical vignettes, 'True Confusions' (These strips have since been collected in the Truly Confused: Excerpts from a Preplexing Life, published by Paper Tableaux, 2001).

During this period, Dave collaborated with Greg Gates on the sinister, atmospheric Tattoo Man. It easily ranks as one of the most accomplished works from the 'New Wave' of Australian comics and, in many ways, was a forerunner of the present-day generation of Australian graphic novels. Initially serialised in Fox Comics, and later published in its entirety by Fantagraphic Books, Tattoo Man was reissued under the new title, Tide of Dreams, by Paper Tableaux.

But the precarious fortunes of the Australian 'indie comics' scene have seen so many promising talents fade from sight - no doubt in justifiable pursuit of more lucrative fields of endeavour - and, for a while, it seemed like Mr. Hodson was destined to join the ranks of "whatever happened to...?' That, thankfully, has been rectified by Dave's reappearance in the Adelaide-based anthology, Fistfull of Comics. The February 2011 edition (which can purchased online) featured the opening installment of Dave's long-awaited graphic novel, Anyhowtown, a meditation on childhood nostalgia, overlaid with a creeping sense of dread. Kind of like Last Year at Marienbad, with a dash of e.e.cummings thrown in for good measure. And set in Adelaide.

So, welcome to Anyhowtown. Your guide, Mr. Hodson, awaits you....