Week-end nostalgia

Much of my body of work as a professional cartoonist appeared in a travel magazine titled Travel Week over a period of +/- 26 years. The work covered both B&W and full colour as print technology dictated. Until 1997 all of my stuff was hand-drawn/coloured on paper or board and hand-delivered to the publisher (I never trusted snail mail for delivery of 'one only' original art-work) until digital production became the modus-operandi, about mid-way thru that year. Within the cartoon sphere, I had produced regular caricature portraits of travel industry notables, opinion 'toons and comic strips about industry doings. From time to time. I was also called upon (as a psuedo staff artist) to provide  advertising pieces about industry coming events. One 'toon format I had always fancied myself as doing was the 'spot' humorous illos (ala those which dot the news pages of daily newspapers), but the opportunity never arose intentionally, until...

... for the February 12, 1997 issue of TW, the editor decided to run a 'fantasy' piece about the possible 'look' of the Travel Agency business in 2015. I got the job of imagining what TA's might look and feel like 18 years ahead in the form of '5 or 6 ' spot illos "you know... in the way of Tandberg" sayeth he who must be obeyed. I probably replied with an over-the-top exclamation like "look out Ronnie, here comes the competition... at last!" Of course, the status-quo never even trembled. Ron remains the Australian doyen of the pocket 'toon to this day and, rightly so!

Nonetheless, I was pleased with the hand-cobbled stuff I whipped-up at short notice (with not a small reference to then (as ever) popular Star-Trek). Here they are...