Radical in black and white

October 16, 1991
Issue 

Scratch!
A scrapbook of radical cartooning in Australia
No. 2 Winter/Spring 1991
Subscriptions $10 for two issues
Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen

Green Left readers will immediately recognise the work of many of the contributors to this lively magazine. Scratch! is packed with cartoons by Judy Horacek, Jim Cane, Chris Kelly, Rona Chadwick, Heinrich Hinze, Ange and many other radical black and white artists.

The project is intended as a forum for cartoonists, but there's more than enough here to warrant a broader audience. First, the obvious point that it's worth it just to enjoy the cartoons.

Second, there's the chance to eavesdrop on the interesting discussions this lot are having amongst themselves (Hinze quotes a friend's comment on the layout for the current issue: "a lot of bloody words for a cartooning magazine"!).

What's the merit of a community arts grant beyond a chance at a regular income for a struggling freelancer? Why go on drawing workers as men in singlets when 47% of the paid workforce is women? What is the state of play in the creation of a "visual language for the left"? And so on.

Basically, the discussion is about how radical ideas can be made accessible and convincing; about how to get a message across without boring people. That concerns all of us, not just cartoonists.

For the radical cartoonist (and the like-to-be), Scratch! is clearly indispensable. You get information on copyright and tools of the trade, reviews of cartooning books, a sense of communion with your peers across the continent.

Send $10 for two issues to Scratch!, Labour Studies Resource Centre, University of Adelaide, GPO Box 498, Adelaide SA 5000. Cheques and money orders payable to the LSRC.

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