I've also encountered people along the way who have stated that it's impossible to earn a living solely doing British comics... and admittedly there have been tough times, but I've been doing comics week in, week out, for 35 years and managed to pay off my mortgage a few years ago so it is possible, and many others will have similar stories to mine.
It's never an easy ride being self employed, and a lonely path to take, but if you have a passion for something you have to follow it. Each year is unpredictable and you never know what ideas and characters will spring forth, what opportunities will come along. For all the highs and lows I'd still rather be doing this for a living than anything else, so thanks for all your encouragement and friendship over the years. Onward into the unknown and hopefully more daft comics! (The photo above is from 1985 but it's the closest one to the date. That was when I was still living with my mum so the floral wallpaper wasn't my choice. :))
10 comments:
Was there a defining moment that made you think, "Okay, now is the time"? Or was it a long process, rather than a leap into the unknown?
I was on the verge of giving up until I sold my first cartoons in 1983, then work started to build up over the next several months until I felt confident enough to sign off the dole. So it was a gradual process really. It could have easily gone wrong, but at the time I was still living with my mum in a council house so I could afford to take the risk. Thankfully it paid off.
There's some saying there's no industry and your deluded.
There are always some spiteful types about. As I said, I've worked in comics for 35 years. Others have matched or exceeded that. We couldn't have done it if there was no industry.
By your own admission you live in a council house so your probably on benefits.
I don't know why I'm bothering to reply really as you're obviously a troll. As clearly stated above, the photo is from 1985 when I lived in a council house. I bought my own house in 1990 and paid off the mortgage a few years ago. I haven't been on benefits since I was on the dole in the early 1980s!
Now push off, to put it politely.
You don't have to prove anything to the morons.
Your three-and-a-half decades working in comics is your proof.
They CANNOT deny you those years.
The proof is in the pages of the published comics themselves.
As you probably know, Gareth, the sort of people making such claims tend to be failed artists/writers so it's purely down to childish spite. They convince a few of their friends abroad who have no notion of UK comics, or friends who haven't bought a comic since 1974, but most people who chance upon their nonsense just shake their heads and laugh. Anyway, let's not spend a second longer thinking about them, because that's all they want.
There are very very talented artists out there looking for work so don't tell your stories about how there's an industry. If there was an industry why are people far more skilled than YOU not getting work???
OK, that's the final time you get to comment anonymously if you're going to be so confrontational. I have every sympathy for struggling artists. I'm not finding it easy myself these days, and I've never said it's easy. There's not so much work going around now and there are more people coming into the business all the time so it's become far more difficult than it used to be to maintain a surviving income.
That said, if you go to any comic con in the UK you'll find artists who are in regular employment in comics; Nigel Parkinson, Laura Howell, Hunt Emerson, The Etherington Brothers, Jamie Smart, - to name but a few.
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