Judy Horacek

The Project

Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection will be a book of my cartoons, in full colour, professionally designed and produced. It will be my tenth cartoon collection and coming in at 288 pages will be my longest yet.  The cartoons cover all my familiar themes – the environment, feminism, social justice, progressive politics and other causes dear to my heart, along with plenty of simply silly cartoons about the absurdity of life.  And for some reason, quite a lot of giraffes. Whimsy, satire, political protests, quirkiness - it's all here!

Obviously the book pictured above is only a mock-up. The final book won't actually look like 

this. I won't be hand-drawing the cover, and I am working on coming up with a better title.

There will be lots to make you Laugh Out Loud in this collection. There are also some very sad cartoons. Some are political, particularly about the mess we find ourselves in through our treatment of the planet. The cartoons are all from my twice weekly gig in the Melbourne daily newspaperThe Age (Fairfax) covering the period from 2017 (when my most recent cartoon collection, Random Life, was published) until now. 

I have been a cartoonist for a long time, and I have always periodically gathered up my published cartoons to make a collection. It's a wonderful way to give them another life in the world and to help them travel further. Each collection is kind of a home for the cartoons that I have done. 

From the late John Clarke's Foreword to Random Life, my 2017 cartoon collection:

'Judy can be funny about almost anything and in this collection of work...we see the range and sharp humour of her work and we also see a consistent world view. It is a feminist view, an egalitarian and inclusive view, and it is not a view to be pushed around. It bites. It's not always clear whether your laughter and delight are comforting to your perspective on a particular issue or are giving it a swift kick in the pants.  This too, is rare and helpful...Judy's is a creative process whose main characteristics include a sublime subjectivity and lightness of touch.'

Check out the brilliant rewards and come join me on The Journey to turn the Idea of Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection into A Reality!

Why is this Judy's LAST Cartoon Collection?

I'm certainly not saying this will be the last time I will ever be involved in a book, but I'm pretty sure it will be the last time I will publish a straight cartoon collection like this - a book that is made up purely of cartoons. I have been a cartoonist for a long time now, and I still love it, and love the medium and what it can do, so simple yet so complex.  But I now want to do more writing, particularly non-fiction, and to work on a new style that is a mix of words and pictures. Still covering my usual concerns of the environment, feminism and progressive politics of course.

Another factor in this being my Last Cartoon Collection is that the outlets for publishing single frame cartoons are dwindling, and the ones that are left have ever-shrinking budgets, which means it is very difficult nowadays to make much of a living being a freelance cartoonist.  

I have lots of projects in mind. New challenges, new ideas about how to express the complexity of who we are and our crazy world.

But meantime, there's this one last cartoon collection to make a reality.  My tenth cartoon collection – a wonderful round number to finish on. Horacek X – it's irresistible!

You need to know this

Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection is available EXCLUSIVELY through this crowdfunding campaign.  Unlike my previous cartoon collections, this book will not be distributed into shops, which is a whole other level of work and difficulty. My aim is simply for this book of cartoons to come into being.  I want the book to exist in the world, for it to be in libraries and in people's homes.  I'm making it primarily for people who enjoy my cartoons to be able to see my work from the last few years all gathered together in one place. It might even introduce some new people to my work.  I'm also making it for myself, to draw a bit a line under things and to round off my collection of cartoon collections with the tenth one.

This means that the ONLY way to get this book is through this Pozible campaign. I'm not asking you to pledge money in order for me to make thousands and thousands of books, I'm asking you to pledge money to make it possible for me to do a modest print run of this book. 

And also because I know you really need Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection on your bookshelf, and your friends probably too.  This campaign is the only window of opportunity to get your hands on this book,  it's a smallish window, but if we all put in a bit of effort, we can make it huge! (Or at least viable!).

BTW – Mildred!

The new book will include my cartoon character Mildred, who made her first appearence in the Age a couple of years ago. She has gained many fans since then, with her low-expectation-sometimes-even-curmudgeonly view of life. There are now almost forty Mildred cartoons, all of which will be in Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection. You can see more of her in the September Topic of the Month on my website.

More detail about the cartoons in the Rewards

'THE ENVIRONMENT ON YOUR WALL'  REWARD

Below are the cartoons that are the laser prints for the Environment On Your Wall Reward so you can see them properly.  This reward also includes two copies of the new book.  Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection contains probably more cartoons about the environment and the mess we find ourselves in than any other single topic. These are five of my favourite ones.  

'THE BELIEVE IN YOURSELF'  REWARD

A better image of the handprinted limited edition Therapy Santa screenprint is below.  This reward also includes two copies of the new book.  The Therapy Santa cartoon isn't in the new cartoon collection, but it's sentiment is a handy thing to bear in mind when doing a crowdfunding campaign.  Or when doing anything at all really.  And besides, it's actually almost Christmas! Or at least 'almost almost' Christmas.

This cartoon isn't in this collection, but it could be on your wall as a

limited edition screenprint. It's part of the 'Believe in Yourself Reward'.

Who is Judy Horacek?

I'm a freelance Australian cartoonist, writer and illustrator whose work has been published widely both in Australia and overseas. I am one of the very few professional female cartoonists in Australia, in fact there aren't many of us in the entire world. For the last decade or so, I have had a a regular cartoon gig in The Age twice a week, where all of the cartoons that will be in this new book first appeared.  I have published eight cartoon collections through various publishers, and self-published one, Random Life, my most recent collection, from 2017. Two retrospective exhibitions of my cartoons have been held, one at the National Gallery of Victoria, 'Laughter the Universe and Everything', and one at the National Museum of Australia, 'I am woman, hear me draw'. Both of these exhibitions toured to various galleries and institutions.

I've been drawing cartoons for a long time – about silly and ridiculous things, and also about more serious things I care deeply about, such as the environment, social justice and feminism.  I originally became a cartoonist to try and change the world, but I have to admit that sadly that hasn't turned out quite as I'd hoped. 

Things people have said about my work:

"What has always appealed to me about Judy's work is not just her withering disdain for politicians, lazy men and housework but that somehow she knows exactly how we are feeling at the right time"  Christine Gordon, Readings Bookshop

" ...one of Australia's best cartoonists and should be a worldwide phenomenon.  She brightens the day with wit and intelligence." Lucy Sussex, Sunday Age

"Her cartoons about the joys and disappointments of being human...strike the deepest chord", Rachel Gibson, The Age

"[She] combines verbal puns, simple lucid illustrations and a healthy dose of feminism to create humourous one-liners that tend to go beyond the topical and ephemeral." Sasha Grishin, Canberra Times

"Horacek manifests her whimsy, angst and wry observations in her seemingly simple drawing", Kevin Kearney, Sun Herald

And also

Yes, I am the Judy Horacek who co-created theWhere is the Green Sheep? with Mem Fox, the classic children's book so beloved by millions of children.  Mem and I have now done five picture books together. The most recent one, Bonnie and Ben Rhyme Again, came out last year in Australia and is about to be published in the USA.  I've also done four picture books on my own, including Yellow is my Colour Star, about my favourite colour, which is still available in the States (as Yellow is My Color Star!).

Below left, what is probably my most famous cartoon - Woman with Altitude, and below right, what is absolutely definitely my most famous book - Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and me.

The Previous Nine Cartoon Collections 

Life on the Edge (Spinifex Press 1992, 2nd edition 2003); Unrequited Love Nos. 1-100 (McPhee Gribble, 1994); Lost in Space (Allen & Unwin 1997); Woman with Altitude (Hodder Headline 1998); If the Fruit Fits (Hodder Headline 1999); I am woman, hear me draw (National Museum of Australia 2002, 2nd edition 2013); Make Cakes Not War (Scribe Publications 2006); If you can't stand the heat (Scribe Publications 2010); Random Life (Horacek Press 2017). The cartoon books that are still in print are available through my website shop, as are many of my picture books and some other things.  The two most recent cartoon collections PLUS the new one are also available through this crowdfunding campaign, as The Trio Reward.

If you would like to know even more about my work

Please visit my website, www.horacek.com.au. Among other things, it features my cartoon Topic of the Month. You are very welcome sign up for my free monthly newsletter at the chicken on the right, and receive notice of the latest Topic of the Month, as well as regular news about my work, exhibitions, and new publications.  Here is my topic for September, which featured my cartoon character Mildred (all of these cartoons will be in the new cartoon collection).

Over the years, my cartoons have been printed not only in newspapers and books, but on greeting cards, fridge magnets, aprons, teatowels, mugs, even a snow globe.  Currently many of the cartoons are produced as greeting cards by Blue Island Press in shops in Australia and on their website here, and by Cath Tate Cards in the UK and Europe.  There is also lots of merchandise featuring my cartoons available worldwide through the print-on-demand service Redbubble, you can visit their Judy Horacek page here.

ALL THE CARTOONS SHOWN HERE APART FROM THE THERAPY SANTA SCREENPRINT WILL BE IN JUDY HORACEK'S LAST CARTOON BOOK.

How The Funds Will Be Used

The funds sought are to produce 1000 copies of a 288 page paperback book in full-colour on good quality paper stock.  The book will be of a professional quality and standard.  At 288 pages it will be my longest book yet, a nice chunky brick of a paperback. (It will be slightly smaller in format that most of my other cartoon books, to allow for the extra pages). The largest part of the funds will go towards the printing, a little bit over $10,000. I will be printing the book in Australia.  Printing overseas is cheaper but I want to support – with your help – the local printing industry.  I am using the same printer as for my last book, they did a wonderful job on that. They do a lot of the book printing that is still done in Australia and are used by a number of publishing companies. Part of the rest will go towards the design which will be done by Fiona Edge of Design Edge, who will make the book look fantastic inside and out. I have worked with Fiona on many projects, including my 2017 cartoon collection Random Life.  She is very good at making things look wonderful.  I am also allowing some money to be able to pay someone to help me with all the packing and posting out at the end (I vastly underestimated how long this would take in my last campaign and had to ask for lots of favours!). And a small contingency sum in case anything goes wrong.

Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection will be the second book published by Horacek Press, that is, self-published by me.  I have the experience and the knowledge to produce this, not only from self-publishing Random Life in 2017, but from everything I have learned from the publishers of my other books.  And the main hurdle is completed -  all the cartoons are already done! They have all been scanned and are now just waiting to be gathered up into a collection of their very own.

A cartoon book waiting to happen.

If the funds raised go over the target...

That means that there will be lots of copies of my Last Cartoon Collection out in the world which would make me happy. It would also mean that I might make a bit of a profit - making a living as a freelance cartoonist isn't easy, especially in these days of fading newspapers and diminishing publishing opportunities. That would make me happy too. 

One Last Reminder about  this book being only available through this campaign

Just making sure that you got the message that Judy Horacek's Last Cartoon Collection is available only through supporting it in this Pozible crowdfunding campaign. Yes, the campaign you are looking at right now. It will NOT be distributed to shops or other retail outlets. Don't put it off and end up missing out! The campaign closes at Sunday 3rd November, 10pm Australian Eastern Standard time.