OperaHouseSydney-migration

Another interesting fact. Many of the "identities" Richard has been using on his scams are actually real people. Kerry Pocock and Vince Greck (both residents of Australia) had their details stolen by Rae and there is very likely many others. Here's a photo of the actual Vince Greck:

Richard worked in advertising for Maher and Holmes, but after he was fired he went after some clients on his own including controversial Australian politician Pauline Hanson. Hanson was known for her far right, anti-multicultural views. Rae didn't last long in the role. Around 2009, some purported nude photos of Pauline Hanson surfaced, sold for $15,000 to the media. Richard starts giving interviews to the media that the photos were "real" and Hanson had "admitted it all" to him years before. The photos were later found to be as fake as much of Richard's original comic art and Richard's statements were "retracted" A few years earlier, Richard entirely funded a portal and publishing venture known as Home Grown Media and Art Banana by scamming ten of thousands of dollars from a businessman called Andrew Miles who never saw any return. Material that was published included golden age Oz artists Hal English, Stanley Pitt. There's also a Gully Foyle Stars My Destination reprint mentioned here . Rae seems to have been selling this English & Pitt stock on ebay for years with no payments going to any of the investors or artists or their families. Andrew Miles never got any of his money repaid from the failed portal or books. I have at least one more post on a major scam involving (of all things) the Olympic Games and also details on Australian veteran comic artists who had their property stolen by Richard. The Australian police are very aware of Richard's past activities and he has been arrested and jailed on numerous occasions. If you've been scammed by him, please report it to CrimeStoppers or the Australian police.

A former Sydney dealer has shared press clippings and photos which tell some of the story. Peter Mitris ran a comic store called Comic Empire which was at 105 Bathurst St in Sydney Australia. Initially it was Mitris and Rae who were originally friends before things turned sour. Mitris later hired a guy called Ken first in a temp position and then permanently. Rae saw this as an effort to screw him and was very bitter. The 1986 convention ran badly and both Peter Mitris and Richard Rae had brushes with organised crime and drugs. Mitris also seems to have also worked as an architect and Rae had a bizarre run in advertising. More on that later. Precise details on the Mitris murder are sketchy. The murder occurred around April 17, 1991. Police had been told Mitris was savagely bashed and his body dumped "in the ocean off Sydney" a week later. The body was not found and evidence was sparse. Alleged involvement was from Rae and a certain Jim Taousanis The alleged reason for the murder was the theft of a large quantity of drugs worth between $30,000 to $100,000 hidden in a shipment to Australia of comics and magazines The case remains unsolved to our knowledge and charges not laid, mostly due to the lack of a body. Here is a rare photo of Richard Rae and Peter Mitris some years before the incident. Next, I have more on Richard scam's with a company called Home Grown and his involvement with fake nude photos of Australian polititian Pauline Hanson.

That's from the Facebook page of the "publication", doesn't seem to be a bigger version. Here's another bizarre article and cartoon written in incredibly poor taste by Richard Rae, regarding the disposal of dead bodies. You can actually read the text on this one. Follow that with this newspaper article written on Richard's murdered business partner Peter Mitris. Feel free to draw your own conclusions: http://www.crucifix.com.au/crucifix-articles/1996/3/28/unkown-bones/

Richard has also being submitting his Collector's Society posts as articles to a giveaway ad-zine. Seriously. Here's one of them, published under yet another fake name. And yeah, that's the Steranko/Buckler lightbox art AGAIN.

What a lunatic. Richard, either pay Rich Buckler or don't use his work. How about you just leave the world of comics entirely? You won't be missed. Are you referring to Bill Loebs??

Hmmm... Perhaps. Rich Buckler did ask to be kept informed on the trouble Rae was causing. Does he know that Rae is advertising his book all over Facebook as featuring him as a major contributor?

The work intended for 'Unearth' is the same that Rich has referred to in the past: I am sorry that I actually did get duped into contributing to one of his publishing ventures. If he is actually not at fault in my dealings with him that went south--well, how come it has been over a year now and he still hasn't straightened anything out yet? Has Buckler actually been properly paid yet? I doubt it. Does he want to be associated with such a book and publisher as Richard Rae? Richard is shilling this book on Facebook by stating Buckler, Loeb and Royer's involvement. Most of the work was done years ago.

Does anyone have contact with Rich Buckler or Bill Messner-Loebs? We need to get them to withdraw their work from this "Unearth" comic as it may damage their professional reputations to be associated with Rae.

Back like a bad smell. Here is an extract from an email I received from an Australian dealer who knew Richard Rae in the 1980s in Sydney:

Rae is trying to shill his STERANKO/BUCKLER in this FB group and other new fakes, some just printouts of OA. He has been gloating about finally publishing the work he scammed from Buckler, Royer etc in a self published comic called UNEARTH. He's trying to raise money to fund it by shilling fakes/stolen art on FB with this Fake Account. I highly recommend everyone go on and report it as a fake account if you're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richard.rae.75

Glad that Ralph got some money. A shame that the publication will never see the light of day, as the character is one that Rae was specifically forbidden to use by the rights holders. Nat Karmichael Bill I have just messaged Richard to ask him to clearly state his position. I expect he will do so. He is well aware the Wedd family do NOT wish to have The Scorpion character used. This is not a slight on Richard...they want NO ONE to use the character. Which is fair enough. And I do believe Richard will say this when he makes his statement. Justin Wedd Hi All, Monty Wedd's "The Scorpion" will not be continued. I am Monty's son and state that it is my mother's wish (Dorothy Wedd) that her late husband's (Monty Wedd) work not be continued by any other artist. The Wedd family hold the copyright for all Monty Wedd's body of works. . Ralph Reese this is the first I am hearing about any of this.... I guess the deal fell through.... December 10 at 5:14pm

Not mine, but it was found in Sydney a few weeks ago and announced by the Australian Cartoonists Association. Also, there is a Frank Johnson Publications exhibition planned in early 2015 at the State Library NSW.

Some Golden Age Australian Original Art from Facebook groups Stan Cross and Yarmak.

Richard's latest example of this scam involved a George Wilson Lost in Space painting, which he swindled from Joan Gispert some years ago. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=318559521661734