Tales of pop culture and noodles

ANYONE who remembers the pre-smartphone culture of the 1990s will relate well to an author talk coming up later this month.

Award-winning Ballarat author and illustrator Dillon Naylor is preparing to spill the beans on the real life experiences behind his underground comic series, Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles following the recent publication of his third hardcover book that brings them all together.

“It’s an adult graphic novel that collects a series of underground comics I created throughout the 1990s which centre around an inner-city Melbourne sharehouse and its five occupants,” the local creative said.

“It’s no coincidence that this was how I was living throughout that decade and the comics have documented this pre-smartphone lost world of the recent past.”

Naylor will be appearing at Collins Booksellers in Bridge Mall on Friday 24 April in an author’s talk exposing true tales of inner-city bohemia in St Kilda in the 90s.

He will be joined in conversation by award-winning sci-fi, fantasy and horror fiction writer Steven Paulsen as they discuss Pop Culture and 2 Minute Noodles, the inspirations behind the comics, and how they were made.

“Steven will ask me a series of surprise questions on the background behind the underground comic, the real stories that inspired some of it, and why it took 35 years for the comics to be collected into a hardcover book,” Naylor said.

The comic strip was created 35 years ago and appeared in difficult-to-find self-published zines and newsagent comic books until 2002.

Naylor is currently working on a few new books including a horror-science fiction graphic novel and a colour collection of his rock poster art.

The upcoming author’s talk event takes place from 6pm-7pm on Friday 24 April, and will also feature hundreds of pages of Naylor’s original hand-drawn comic art on display.