Design and Art Australia Online

cartoonist, comic book artist, watercolour painter and journalist, was a prolific freelance contributor of cartoons to Australian newspapers, magazines and comic books. He often drew gags with a Queensland background, particularly ones relating to life in the sugar-cane industry, of which he had first-hand experience. He published Cane: a book of drawings by a Canecutter (Townsville: T. Willmett & Sons, 1932). A mini biography in Man June 1937, 2, stated that Such:

“... Spent early life engineering, seafaring on Canadian boats, bartending in waterside pub, carrying swag in Riverina, cane-cutting and scrub-felling in North Queensland. Took drawing for profession after marriage, and graduated to press work with no more than the usual share of poverty. Indebted to Brisbane Telegraph for first published drawings, Melbourne Table Talk , New Idea , Sporting Globe , Herald , Star , Sydney Bulletin , Women’s Mirror , Sydney Mail , Fashion and Society . If independent would concentrate on water-colour…”

Such wrote occasionally for the Bulletin as well as drawing many cartoons for it, nearly all gags about gender and many about gender reversal (sometimes about race inversion). Examples include a pun about a caterpillar tractor climbing a tree 1936; (a bloke delivering a keg of beer to church altar in the middle of a wedding ceremony) “Where d’yer want it?” 1939 (ill. Lindesay 1979, 257); “Make this the last!” 9 August 1939, 21; “Morning, comrades” (Managing Director striding through office) 1941; “Then I gave him a burst” (serviceman recounting past glory with soda water) 1941; “And don’t mix the bottles!” (departing servicewoman to her husband nursing triplets) 1941; “Found her in the last batch of reinforcements, sir!” (military policeman to female officer with enormous breasts) 1941; “Go on, now – I bet you’ve got a boy in every port” (man to female officer) 1941; “Yes, gents?” (barman to two female officers) 1942; “Where’s your swimming togs?” (policeman to naked man attempting to commit suicide) 1946; “Here – wear 'em and stop nagging!” (man forcing his wife to wear his trousers) 1947; “Yes, I’m the editor” (glamorous woman at desk with Man magazine publications on wall behind), published 23 May 1952 (original ML); 'And don’t forget the burnt sienna and orange vermilion!’ (Aboriginal artist at easel to whitefella going off in truck) published 21 September 1955 (original ML). The last two were included in Joan Kerr, Jo Holder and Craig Judd’s exhibition, Artists and Cartoonists , at the National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery in 1999.

More of Such’s cartoons were published in Man , including: “So you want passports. Married?”/ “No, we only met last week” (two effeminate men at counter) December 1936, 47; (effeminate actor) “Play the he-man? Why, sir, my contract provides that I shall not be called upon for character roles” June 1937, 23; (effeminate man at hotel reception desk) “Oh no, it’s Wilson now. Haines was my maiden name” April 1938, 27.

K.G. Murray published the anthology Such Nonsense in 1937. An original cartoon (ML Px*D69/1393) in the papers of Frank C. Johnson, who published several Such cartoon collections in the early 1940s, shows a hotel manager pointing out a giant keyhole in 'Ladies Bath’ to a lascivious old man. It is dated 1945 and annotated 'paid 21/6/48’. Such drew several science fiction comics starring Buster Braddock that were published between 1945 and 1950; two covers are illustrated in Shiell 1998, 30. His 'racy pirate adventure strip Rip Weston was included in the first few issues of Tim Valour , drawn by John Dixon (Shiell, 47), and he did other comics during this period (see Mick Stone in Shiell 1998).

Douglas Stewart (p.36) called Such 'a burly big fellow with a nutcracker nose and chin who was famous for his continuous use of the fruitiest of the four-letter words and for chucking his flaming ice chest in the flaming harbour when the flaming landlord wouldn’t repair it for him – “flaming” was not exactly the word he used.’ He died in Sydney in 1963, the year his last book A yen for Yokohama: Les Such was published by Horwitz. There is some speculation that it includes anecdotes and stories as well as cartoons.

Writers:

Kerr, Joan

Date written:

1996

Last updated:

2007