The Thousands

Between 1973 and 1981 Tony Edwards worked for Australian surfing magazine Tracks (here’s what it looked like back then). According to reports, what he did there was “embrace the worst excesses” of the era, give everyone doobs before they went on the radio – and draw a comic about a foul-mouthed yobbo surfing pig called Captain Goodvibes. Now the surfers at Flying Pineapple Media (who you might remember as the publishers of Peter Troy’s journals, To The Four Corners of the World) have gathered together every Captain Goodvibes strip published over those nine years and turned them into a book – with historical anecodotes from Tony, original Tracks cover art and correspondence (including a complaint letter from Barry Humphries).

This is a massive document – 400 pages – printed on rough comic paper that you just want to smell, then colour in, then rip out and frame. But you wouldn’t do any of these things because Captain Goodvibes is a legend who should be respected and feared. He’s also loveable, though, as former Tracks editor Phil Jarratt observes: “Over time [Tony] gave Captain Goodvibes a gentler, more whimsical, even caring side.” It seems crass to compare this cult Australian creation to an American project, but fellow fans of Dave Carnie-era Big Brother Magazine and how little it gave a shit will understand how excited I am when I say Captain Goodvibes has the same thing going on. But Tony did it first!

I commend the Captain to any of you who want to experience a time capsule of Australian, Whitlam-era surf culture – and what it’s like to be friends with an overweight top banana swine.