A comic look at Melbourne

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Ted Janet is producing a comic book portraying Jewish characters who work, play or live in one of the city’s better-known Jewish suburbs.

Ted Janet

Balaclava Junction is an Australian comic book anthology from grumpy screenwriter Ted Janet and illustrator Edward Rocha, crowdfunding via Indiegogo for a projected release in 2014.

The book aims to intimately portray the culture and identity of its titular suburb, famous for being the centre of Melbourne’s Jewish community. It combines a graphic telling of local history with biographies of noted residents such as singer-songwriter Shelley Segal, whose ‘An Atheist Album’ took unbelievers by storm, and Raphael Aron author of five books including ‘Cults: Too Good to be True’ (Harper Collins 1999) and ‘Cults. Terror and Mind Control’ (Bay Tree 2009).

“It’s a holistic look at a community”, says writer Ted Janet, “we wanted to show people who came up in the same place but to entirely disparate views about the world.

“Our lives share common themes despite our differences.”

In the footsteps of crowdfunded projects, Balaclava Junction is offering donors the chance to be ‘extras’ in the comics pages. Those who pledge over a certain amount will be able to have a background character inspired by their likeness illustrated into the text.

The local writer, who has previously worked ‘invisibly’ for several Australian film production companies, insists on a DIY ethos.

“The world is changing. If there’s a project you’re passionate about, you find a way to do it, with or without the middle man”.

When asked about his choice of medium, Janet says, “Despite a long tradition of alternative, historical, biographical, and autobiographical comics, the medium is famous for superheroes and horror, which I am a big fan of, but there are possibilities beyond”.

The producers have begun courting community support via social platforms of Facebook and Twitter.

‘Balaclava Junction asks us to reimagine our familiar avenues, schoolyards, and hangouts, as landmarks, brimming with story, mystery, and philosophy’.

Janet told J-Wire:  “The stories are about regular members of the community who have an interesting tale to tell. I am not focusing on the high-profile members.”

For further details, please contact Ted Janet on 0402 067 621 or [email protected]