Moira Bertram

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| name = Moira Bertram

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| pseudonym = Bert

| birth_date = {{birth year|1929}}

| birth_place = Sydney, Australia

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| occupation = Comic book/strip artist, illustrator,

| nationality = Australian

| period = 1945–1950s

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Moira Bertram (born 1929) was an Australian comic book artist and illustrator.

Biography

Moira Bertram was born in Sydney in 1929, the daughter of a Sydney wool shipper.{{Cite web|url=http://www.daao.org.au/bio/moira-bertram/#artist_biography|title=Moira Bertram|date=19 October 2011|author1=Cuthbert, Penny|author2=Kerr, Joan|publisher=Design and Art Australia Online|accessdate=24 May 2012}} She studied portrait painting under the noted Australian painter Antonio Dattilo Rubbo (1870–1955){{Australian Dictionary of Biography

|last=Oakley

|first=Carmel

|authorlink=

|year=1988

|id=A110482b

|title= Rubbo, Antonio Salvatore Dattilo (1870–1955)}} during which time she also began writing and drawing comic books for her own amusement.

"When I was at school…I made up my mind to draw and write them [comics]. I was always very successful."{{Cite book|title=Women and the comics|author1=Robbins, Trina|author2=Yronwode, Catherine|publisher=Eclipse Books |page=93 |year=1985 |isbn=0913035025 }}

Still in her teens, Bertram's first published work was the fantasy-styled adventure strip, Jo, which debuted in Sydney's Daily Mirror newspaper on 8 January 1945.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ausreprints.com/content/articles/?apg=1|title=Moira Bertram: Queen of the Comics|last=Patrick|first=Kevin|publisher=AusReprints|accessdate=24 May 2012}}

“[I have been drawing/writing comics] since I was fourteen – I told the publishers I was sixteen for fear they wouldn't publish them."

Jo was a beautiful raven-haried dancer who, with the aid of her magic cape, to assist her American fighter pilot boyfriend, Serge Shawn, to outwit gangsters and the Japanese.{{Cite news|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/arts/aussie-heroes-left-to-history/story-e6freqkf-1111114882189|title=Aussie heroes left to history |last=Juddery|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Juddery|publisher=Queensland Newspapers|work=The Courier-Mail|date=16 November 2007|accessdate=28 May 2012}}{{Cite book|title=Panel by Panel: An Illustrated History of Australian Comics|last=Ryan|first=John|year=1979 |publisher=Cassell Australia |page=54 |isbn=0-7269-7376-9 }} The strip quickly established Bertram's reputation as a vivid and imaginative cartoonist, her work characterised by her granite-jawed heroes and voluptuous, glamorous women.

According to Kevin Patrick, Bertram was "Unlike many of her male counterparts of the time," and "from the outset grasped the dynamic storytelling possibilities of the comic book page. Huge panels, inventive compositions and dizzying perspectives dominate her page layouts (many of which were prepared by her sister, Kathleen), while her use of over-the-top sound effects anticipates the comic book paintings of 1960s 'Pop' artists like Roy Lichtenstein."

According to Ingrid Unger, "Bertram developed a striking visual style that included a skillful use of changing angles for dramatic and humorous effect." "Bertram's stories are action-packed, without being excessively violent, and often contain humour. They feature strong women and a variety of other female characters."{{Cite book|title=Bonzer: Australian Comics 1900s–1990s|last=Shiell|first=Annette|publisher=Eluga Media|place=Redhill, South Australia|year=1998|page=77|isbn=1-876308-12-5}}

After finishing work on the Daily Mirror, she signed a three-month contract with publisher Frank Johnson in June 1945, with Jo & Her Magic Cape subsequently appearing in a range of Frank Johnson Publications during 1945–46.

"Moira was a proud attractive person and the strength in her work showed in her personality. She had never married and when the comics' scene finally died, she did portraits and magazine illustrations for a number of publishers."{{Cite journal|last=Clements|first=John|year=1998|title=The Golden Age of Aussie Comics|journal=Comic Edge|issue=21 (May–June)|pages=22–23}}

In 1949, Moira and her sister Kathleen (who did the lettering) turned to self-publishing their comic book Red Finnegan, which ran for four issues. In the 1950s she worked for companies, including Horwitz Press,{{Cite book|title=Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia 1946–2005 |author1=Munro, Craig |author2=Sheahan-Bright, Robyn |publisher=University of Queensland Press |year=2006 |page=52 |isbn=0702235598 }} Invincible Press (The Thrilling Adventures of Dan Eagle (c.1954), Army and romance comics,{{Cite news|last=McInerney|first=Sally|title=Moira, Black Knox and the Flame Man|publisher=Sydney Morning Herald|date=6 August 1983|page=34}} Bring Back My Love (c.1956), Army (c.1956),{{Cite book| last=Bertram |first=Moira | title=Army | publication-date=1950 | publisher=Calvert | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/151081385 | accessdate=28 May 2012 }} Campus Snobs (c.1959){{Cite book | last=Bertram |first=Moira | title=Campus Snobs | publication-date=1956 | publisher=Calvert | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/14085417 | accessdate=28 May 2012 }} and Rivals in Love(c.1959)) and Calvert Publishing (pulp books). Bertram additionally illustrated covers for 'Carter Brown' novels, and contributed stories to the 'Silhouette Romance Library' (Reigate Pty Ltd).{{Cite web|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/b/bertram_moira.htm|title=Moira Bertram

|publisher=Lambiek |accessdate=24 May 2012}} She ended her comic book career in the late 1950s.

Another of her comic book creations was Flameman, published by K.G. Murray Publishing Company in 1946, which documented the adventures of a super-powered 'genie of the sun'.{{Cite book|title=Comics in Australia and New Zealand: The Collections, the Collectors, the Creators|author1=Burrows, Toby|author2=Stone, Grant|publisher=Haworth Press |year=1994 |pages=30–31 |isbn=1560246642 }}

John Ryan in the comic book anthology, Panel by Panel describes Bertram's work as "highly stylised and confident; her experiments with perspective include placing large shapes in the foreground to enhance the visual drama of a story, and placing the reader above the action."

Moira Bertram

Biography

References

Further reading