Recombinant Records

Why is Australian cartoonist Stuart McMillen inside a box?

29th October 2012, Filed under Cartoons

Q: What would compel me, an ordinary cartoonist, to videotape myself cramped inside a 80 x 55 x 60 cm box?

A: To explain the concept behind my Rat Park comic, and to encourage you to dig deep with crowdfunding pledges.

Rat Park crowdfunding video #2: cartoonist in a box

I think the video speaks for itself. Please share it with your friends as a fun way to raise awareness of my Rat Park project.

The latest with me and my crowdfunding campaign:

  • My War on Drugs comic has had a great response, with over 56,000 readers in 3 weeks. Most readers found it to be a fresh way of looking at a complex issue.
  • My Rat Park crowdfunding project has raised over $2,600 in pledges from 75 supporters in 3 weeks. Brilliant!
  • Still, my campaign needs approx $3,400 to succeed. My $6,000 target for Rat Park is based on carefully-budgeted costs of producing and posting my rewards, plus the 2 months it will take me to write and draw the comic.
  • I have decided to extend Rat Park to be a 40 page comic. Originally conceived as a 28 page comic (the same as War on Drugs), it became clear I needed more space to fully tell the story of Rat Park. I am willing to create, print and post these longer comics at the original prices listed on my crowdfunding page.
  • One of the original Rat Park researchers, Prof. Bruce Alexander, has agreed to help me by reviewing draft versions of my comic, and by digging up reference photographs from the original experiment. Bruce is proving to be a friendly, helpful person to work with!
  • Since one of my supporters has ordered a wall print through the crowdfunding campaign, I decided to print it up early, and photograph it for you. The comic booklet and greeting card are there for scale. It is an A1 (594 × 841 mm) size print on high quality 200gsm photosatin paper.

Stuart McMillen Thin Air urban nature wall print. Photograph of printed poster and comic book and greeting card.

Remember: supporters with merch-envy, or a newfound enthusiasm for funding Rat Park can easily increase their pledge by logging into Pozible.

Once again, thank you for you support so far – I’m honoured to have you on board. Please do me a huge favour and help share: 1) my “cartoonist inside a box” video – i.e. this page, 2) my Rat Park crowdfunding page, and 3) my War on Drugs comic.

With your support, the fascinating story of Rat Park will be shared with the world through my unique comic style.
Kind regards,

Stuart McMillen
Brisbane, Australia

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Behold! The new Stuart McMillen comics website

26th April 2012, Filed under Cartoons

Stuart McMillen. All things.

stuartmcmillen.com features more of my cartoons on science, society and ecological sustainability. It went live today. Right now it features one old comic, plus two new ones (Purpose and Supernormal Stimuli). More are in the pipeline right now.

The old email list/RSS feed will not carry forward to the new website. If you want to hear news from me, please subscribe to my new comic feed, blog feed, and/or my new quarterly newsletter of Stuart McMillenland news.

The recombinantrecords.net website will remain live as an archive of my works 2007-2011. It was an interesting time. The early efforts show a young bloke wanting to share unconventional ideas in an unconventional format. They are crude and a touch embarrassing, yet they are the product of a younger version of myself, and his vision. They will stay online.

(The only exception being Amusing Ourselves to Death, which is no longer with us.)

For my pick of the best stuff from this site, check out: Challenged (many fan messages from teachers who shared this one with their students) and Green Tax Shift (unknowingly foreshadowed the Australian government’s similar carbon pricing laws, which were legislated 11 months after my comic was published). Oh, and I like St Matthew Island so much I transplanted it to my new site!

The new website is a chance to draw a line in the sand and begin a new collection. I am hoping to earn a living from cartooning, and the new website will give a fairer representative of what I am capable of these days. Although I will be available for commissioned jobs, I hope a large part of my future comes from drawing comics straight from my own creativity.

The reason I continue publishing comics (and honing my craft) is due to public demand. Thank you for reading, thank you for sharing, and let’s both see what the future holds. On with the new comics.

Stuart McMillen
Brisbane, Australia
26 April 2012

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St Matthew Island

9th February 2011, Filed under Cartoons

St Matthew Island cartoon

What happens when you introduce 29 reindeer to an isolated island of untouched natural resources?

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Green Tax Shift

6th December 2010, Filed under Cartoons

Green Tax Shift cartoon

Above link is single 1.2 MB PNG file.

Other viewing options:
8 separate comic book pages (lightbox popup within browser window)
Environmental policy is not a matter of black and white.<br />Our environmental problems are not caused by 'evil' corporations trying to destroy the planet.<br />They are the unintended side-effects of human progress and development.<br />Every product, every service that we produce has a mix of 'good' and 'bad' qualities.<br />Our challenge is to maximise the good and minimise the bad.</p><p>Economic markets fail when the total costs of an activity are not measured by its price.<br />If the total societal costs are not internalised by the company conducting an activity...<br />...these costs are 'externalised' and passed to society to remedy.<br />This is an inefficient way for our world to operate, and it is created unintentionally by our current laws and mindset.</p><p>Our current approach to taxation is twisted and tangled.<br />So often it discourages the activities that we want more of...<br />...and encourages activities that we want less of.<br />Our current system throws a blanket over all businesses operating in the economy,<br />regardless of the burden their activities place on society and the environment.<br />We need a 'green tax shift'...<br />A change from taxes on good activities (employment, investment, goods, services)<br />...towards taxes on bad activities (waste, pollution, bads, disservices)</p><p>Green taxes work because they do not suppress business activity in general.<br />Rather they specifically target the waste and pollution that would otherwise burden society.<br />Green taxes would be introduced at a rate equal to the roll-back of existing taxes,<br />as the primary aim is not to grab for cash, but to provide incentive for businesses to invest in clean technology and practices.<br />A green tax shift supports business leaders, who would no longer be conflicted about caring for society versus maximising shareholder profits.</p><p>Following a green tax shift, the tax a business pays would be proportional to the amount of waste generated.<br />Instead of companies profiting from externalising as much waste as possible into the environment, companies would profit from removing as much waste as possible from their processes.<br />Companies would continue their relentless quest for profits...<br />...but would create a competitive advantage from leaving a light footprint on the planet while conducting business.</p><p>Each year, businesses would be rewarded for being more efficient than their rivals...<br />...but they would be kept on their toes as governments steadily raise their standards for 'best practice' over time...<br />...and gradually expand the scope of taxes to include more and more categories of waste.<br />Over time the green tax shift would rid more and more inefficiencies out of businesses...<br />...and profitably lead us to a more sustainable economy...<br />and a cleaner environment.</p><p>Pollution is not an inevitable by-product of industrial 'progress'...<br />...it is an indication of exactly where our designers, inventors and engineers stopped innovating under our current laws and incentives.<br />We are all responsible for inspiring the behaviour of industries in our economy.<br />Our current system forces businesses to be the 'bad guys'.<br />It's time to change the law and let them become the good guys.</p><p>Rather than wondering how to clean up the mess left by industry...<br />...let's turn industry itself into the force that reverses humanity's impact on the planet.<br />Let's begin the green tax shift. 8 x A4 page PDF file (6 MB)

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The Problem

7th June 2010, Filed under Cartoons

The Problem cartoon

PDF icon Download an A4, printable version of this cartoon.

Read some expanded thoughts on ideas contained in the cartoon.

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