Dandy artwork for sale this week

 

It's been a while since I listed any original art for sale but I currently have two items on eBay this week. The auctions end on Sunday 19th April so not long to go!

There's a Keyhole Kate strip from The Dandy Annual 2021 and a Postman Prat (Christmas theme) one from The Dandy Annual 2023. As you know, I draw my strips traditionally, ink on Bristol Board, and scan them into Photoshop (or other software) to colour them digitally. So... the originals are still black and white but I thought you'd like to see the colour versions (above). 

Please bid if you wish to have a chance of winning these original pieces of comic art. Good luck! Just to clarify; it's the black and white original art you'll receive, not the digital colour versions.

Here's the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=graphite47 

Dandy and Doctor Who artwork for sale

I'm selling my original artwork from The Dandy Annual and Doctor Who Magazine! Auctions end this coming Sunday (16th Nov). All bids appreciated.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

There's a mini strip of The Smasher from The Dandy Annual 2017, a Postman Prat strip from The Dandy Annual 2023, and a full page Keyhole Kate from The Dandy Annual 2019 plus a Daft Dimension comic strip I did for Doctor Who Magazine No.484 back in 2015. 

All original hand drawn artwork, not prints or facsimiles. Good luck with your bids!

 

 

 

 

 

 

ORIGINAL COMIC ART UP FOR SALE!

I'm selling more of my original comic art, with pages ranging from 1985 to the present day including a Keyhole Kate page from The Dandy Annual and pages from Buster and Oink! 

See each link for more photos of each page including close ups of panels.

I haven't sold any of my Dandy artwork before but needs must so here we go! This is a complete Keyhole Kate page I did for The Dandy Annual 2019...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205822338653?itmmeta=01K97GPMCY22QKBXGC7C82CV2M&hash=item2febf7a65d:g:SvUAAeSwQuJpB6Qu 

 

Next, an unusual one-off strip I did for Oink! No.19 back in 1987. Muesli Man, the health-nut superhero!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205822317590?itmmeta=01K97GPMCZ1FWKE9YAHJHBXWKG&hash=item2febf75416:g:0TEAAeSwc1dpB6Dk 

Far more recent is the current Daft Dimension comic strip from Doctor Who Magazine No.622 featuring Daleks!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205822343809?itmmeta=01K97GPMCZM7D4Z5TB0VK4J97B&hash=item2febf7ba81:g:XyUAAeSwbMFpB6VJ

Back in time 40 years for a real rarity; artwork for a full page advert I drew for Birmingham's Nostalgia and Comics shop, written by the shop's owner Phil Clarke! This was done for a convention programme...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205822332711?itmmeta=01K97GPMCY0QQBV376V9JEG6XH&hash=item2febf78f27:g:b2UAAeSwV6NpB6LH

Back to 1994 now for a Tom Thug on 'Oliday page I did for Buster comic...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205822288076?itmmeta=01K97GPMCYDD2MV6BD1EBZ61C6&hash=item2febf6e0cc:g:sLwAAeSwG8dpB52O

 

...and from around 1990, a Vampire Brats page also from Buster comic...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205822300490?itmmeta=01K97GPMCYP93C4XK8YB9HJYMC&hash=item2febf7114a:g:QVsAAeSwQm1pB55f

Finally, a huge A2 sized spread I drew for the first issue of Know How! magazine back in 2002...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205822308328?itmmeta=01K97GPMCZ75AM4TMKR3CMYH67&hash=item2febf72fe8:g:HRgAAeSwdjNpB59s

Here's the link to see all the artwork as a list...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

 

Auctions end on Sunday 9th November. All bids very much apprecated! Best of luck!

The 2024 Annuals are out now!

A month later than usual but the Annuals for 2024 are on sale now. This year I have four pages of Kid Cops stories in The Dandy Annual 2024. The first time I've returned to these characters in years. 

The 112 page hardback features all new material from people such as Steve Bright, Laura Howell, Andy Fanton, Hunt Emerson, Mychailo Kazybrid and many more. Grab one now for Christmas!

https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/dandy-annual-2024/hardback/9781845359553.html 

Over in the Beano and Dandy "gift book", there's a selection of older material from various creators. You know you're getting old when some of your material turns up as a "classic" reprint and this year they're chosen the three part Keyhole Kate story I did ten years ago. In this adventure, Kate travels through time, and in one experience she meets the original Keyhole Kate from 1937!

Beano and Dandy: Spills 'n' Thrills and Belly Laughs is available now from online sellers such as WH Smith.

https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/the-beano-and-dandy-giftbook-2024-spills-n-thills-and-belly-laughs/hardback/9781845359492.html

***************************

The 2023 Annuals are out now!

My order for the Dandy and Beano 2023 Annuals arrived today and once again they're great books for young and old. Each hardback annual has 112 full colour pages packed with brand new strips including many of the usual favourites with art by Laura Howell, Nigel Parkinson, Hunt Emerson, Nigel Aucterlounie, Steve Bright and many more...

...including a few strips by me. For Beano Annual 2023 I've written/drawn 8 Biffo the Bear mini-strips and really enjoyed working on that classic character. Yes, I made sure to put his best pal Buster in there too, meaning that I've now drawn both the D.C. Thomson 'Buster' and the Rebellion (IPC) 'Buster' characters in an official capacity. 

For The Dandy Annual 2023 I've written/drawn 4 full page Keyhole Kate strips, plus 8 Postman Prat mini-strips. Kate is one of the oldest characters in comics, originating from The Dandy No.1 back in 1937. Prat is more modern, and first appeared in the new-look Dandy in 2010. Both are back in all-new stories.

I know a lot of people think annuals weren't published until December years ago but, nope, they've always been published this time of year. Most of the books are given as Christmas presents though so I've made sure to do Christmas episodes of all my strips in these editions.

Each book has a R.R.P. of £9.99. If your local bookshops haven't displayed the annuals yet you can order them directly from the publisher as I did. Here's the link...

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/books/annuals

Enjoy the summer... and summer specials!

Not much new stuff to report on of late. Due to the effects of Covid and other health issues I haven't even drawn anything for three weeks apart from the quick sketch I showed last week. However I am determined to get back on that horse, or in this case the stool by my drawing board and crack on with work today.

In the meantime, don't forget that The Dandy Summer Special is still available in shops (if you're lucky). I did a full page Keyhole Kate strip for it plus a half page illustration. There's a photo above of the illustration when it was on my drawing board back in early February.

You can order The Dandy Summer Special from the DC Thomson Shop at this link:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-summer-special-2022 

As we're fast approaching August now that means that the annuals will be out soon! Hopefully those of us who pre-ordered them will receive them over the coming days.

 

Dandy and Beano Annuals ready for pre-order

A reminder that the 2023 annuals will be published this August but you can pre-order them now directly from D.C. Thomson at this link:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/books/annuals 

As I've mentioned before, I did work for both The Dandy Annual 2023 and Beano Annual 2023. Specifically Keyhole Kate and Postman Prat for the Dandy, and Biffo the Bear for the Beano book. All characters that I enjoyed working on and hope that one day I will again. Here are some preview images...

 

The Dandy Summer Special is here again!

The Dandy Summer Special dropped through my letterbox this morning. 68 pages of fun including a new Keyhole Kate story from me, a new Dreadlock Holmes story by Wayne Thompson, 11 new illustrations to accompany historical notes about the characters, plus classic reprints by other creators including the very first Brassneck story from 1964. 

It, and the Beano special, should be in the shops this week, or you can order it directly from D.C. Thomson at this link:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-summer-special-2022 

BRASSNECK ART BY BILL HOLROYD

COVER BY STEVE BRIGHT.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Summer's coming! The DANDY SUMMER SPECIAL is out next month!

Summer's coming! The Dandy Summer Special 2022 will be out next month and is now available to pre-order from the D.C. Thomson webshop. As in recent years, contents will be mainly reprint but there is *some* new content. I'm just not sure how much. 

What I do know is that I did a new full page Keyhole Kate strip and a half page illustration for the special. As you can probably guess by Steve Bright's cover (shown below) and my Kate illo above, it has a football theme this year. To pre-order go over to the publisher's webshop at this link:
https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-summer-special-2022

COVER BY STEVE BRIGHT.

 

Dandy and Beano Annuals revealed for 2023

Over on his comics news blog, Down the Tubes, John Freeman has shown the cover images for the 2023 dated annual that D.C. Thomson will be publishing. As always, the books are dated a year ahead but they'll be out in late summer; usually August. (For example the 2022 annuals were published on August 1st last year.)

Here are the covers of The Dandy Annual 2023 and Beano Annual 2023 to look out for later this year:

Both books will contain all new content as usual. For The Dandy Annual I've written and drawn 4 full page Keyhole Kate stories, and 8 Postman Prat mini-strips. For Beano Annual I've written and drawn 8 Biffo the Bear mini-strips. 

It's a bit too early to show any proper samples but I thought I'd post some photos of close ups of my original art before it was completed. These are the pencil/ink stages before I scanned them into Photoshop to fill in the solid blacks, made corrections, and coloured them.  

The publisher's own online shop will have the books listed for pre-order soon so bookmark this link for quick access:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/ 

See the Down The Tubes news item at this link for more annual covers: 

https://downthetubes.net/beano-dandy-2023-annual-covers-revealed/

Keep a Dandy Handy!

Another reminder that The Dandy Annual 2022 is out now in all good bookshops (but no annuals at all in my town yet for some reason). 112 pages of all new strips including four Keyhole Kate pages written and drawn by me. (I also did the colouring and lettering 'cos that's how I roll.)

The Dandy weekly ended nine years ago but the annual (and summer special) continue. There'll be one next year too!  

If your town is as useless as mine in stocking annuals these days you can order The Dandy Annual 2022 directly from the publisher and it'll arrive well packaged for protection:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-annual-2022

Currently out there...

Here's a quick rundown of what I currently have in print. First off there's Sgt.Shouty of the Moon Force in the independent comic The77, and you can buy the latest issue (No.6) and previous editions from their website at this link...

https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/

Then there's The Daft Dimension in Doctor Who Magazine, available from newsagents, comic shops, and supermarkets or directly from Panini UK at this link...

https://www.panini.co.uk/shp_gbr_en/magazines-comics-books/doctor-who.html

...and The Dandy Annual 2022, where I have several Keyhole Kate pages. You can buy the 112 page book from bookshops or directly from D.C. Thomson at this link...

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-annual-2022

Coming up in a few weeks is the Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular, but I'll talk more about that when it's published. I'm also an infrequent contributor to Animal Planet magazine, although I'm not sure when my next strip will appear there. Will let you know as soon as I know!

The Dandy Annual 2022 is here!

I've just received my order of The Dandy Annual 2022 from Amazon. 112 pages of all new material including five Keyhole Kate pages by me. This is the 11th year I've contributed to The Dandy Annual, and I'm currently working on the next one which will be out this time next year! 

The 2022 book is available now from online sellers including the publisher DC Thomson. Cover art by Steve Bright. 

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-annual-2022

Cover by Steve Bright.

 

A Peek into the Future

As it's such a snowy day I thought you'd like to see an advance sneak-peek at a snowy scene from The Dandy Annual 2022. The book won't be out until July/August of this year so it's a long way off yet! 

I'll have five pages in this book. Four full page Keyhole Kate strips that I've written and drawn, plus artwork for a puzzle page. The pages were done last year because we work way in advance on the annuals.

I'll show you a few more snippets closer to the publication time. 

For now, stay safe... and stay warm! Just a few months ago temperatures reached as high as 33C here. Today... below freezing! British weather eh? 

The view from my house today.

Postman Prat meets Keyhole Kate!

 

It was inevitable that as both of them live in Dandytown that Postman Prat would eventually run into Keyhole Kate on his rounds. After all, she spends most of her time peeking through keyholes, and Prat is delivering the mail so...

The meeting is brief but it's connected to the main plot of a Postman Prat two pager in The Dandy Annual 2021, out now! There are also three other Postman Prat double pagers in there plus no less that eight Keyhole Kate mini-strips! Grab your copy now! 
https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-annual-2021 

 

Retro Kate!

It's always a pleasure to do new Keyhole Kate strips for The Dandy Annual and one of the most enjoyable ones was this page I did a few years ago for The Dandy Annual 2015. 

In a three-part story spread throughout the book, Kate embarks on journeys through time, thanks to a time machine built by her inventor uncle Black-Hole Bert. In this second episode she travels back to 1937 to meet her ancestor, the original Keyhole Kate, who appeared in The Dandy in its early days. 

As a homage to the past I used the original 1930s Keyhole Kate logo that I scanned from a vintage Dandy. (The particular shade of blue is also close to that used in comics of the past.) I also tried to "ghost" the style of Allan Morley (the original Keyhole Kate artist) as best I could for Kate of 1937, whilst keeping my own style for Kate of 2015. 

Note also the grey sky, thick with smoke from the chimneys, and the folded up comics clipped to the entrance of the newsagent, as comics were displayed back then. 

For 1937 Kate's speech balloon, I used more of a flourish for the tail, ending in a single line, as speech balloons were back then. The only drawback is that in 2015 The Dandy Annual wanted lower case lettering on all their strips, so I couldn't mimic the stylised upper case lettering of the 1930s. Still, a minor point and not important.

Admittedly most of the young readers wouldn't know of these little homages to the past. Most adult readers wouldn't know either, really, but it was just an indulgence I wanted for the strip for the benefit of the few who would appreciate it. 

Out now! The Dandy Annual 2020

I've just received The Dandy Annual 2020 that I ordered from D.C. Thomson. 112 pages of all-new material including three Keyhole Kate pages from me. Order early for Christmas! 
https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/books/annuals/dandy-annual-2020

Cover by Ken Harrison.