Comics for Sale!

I'm selling some old UK comics on eBay at the moment including a run of 9 scarce Scottish editions of Vulcan. Auctions run until next Tuesday. All bids appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

More photos and details at the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&_ssn=graphite47&_sop=10

Thanks for your support!

My thanks to those of you who are bidding on my latest art auction, and to those of you who have bought pages from me previously. It really helps in these difficult times, especially in January when bills are coming in thick and fast!

If you don't wish to bid on my artwork, but you'd like to give a small donation to this blog, you can via PayPal or card payment at this link:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=RYE8SASHSWG56

Thanks for your kindness. 

COMBAT COLIN and TOM THUG original art pages up for auction

I've put a couple of my original art pages on eBay for auction this week. They are...

The second ever Combat Colin strip I ever drew, back in 1987. This was actually published third in the run but it was intended as the second. (Not that it mattered that Marvel didn't run them in order as they were complete episodes at this early stage anyway.) I'm not selling the first Combat Colin strip so if you want the earliest one available that I created, this is it! 

The Tom Thug page from Buster dated 31st December 1988. A New Year's Eve theme story featuring the brainless bully. A page that's now 34 years old but still in clean, flat condition. This was just after Tom Thug had moved over to Buster from Oink! so it's Tom's first Hogmanay in Buster comic. 

Both auctions run until this coming Sunday evening (22nd January). All bids appreciated. Good luck! Here's the link where you can see more close up images of each item:

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

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Comic Scene Awards

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that this blog has been nominated in the Comic Scene Awards, so if you think it's worthy your vote would be very much appreciated. 

Please vote in the other categories too of course for your best comic, event, etc. Here's the link...

https://comicscene.org/2023/01/15/vote-in-the-comicscene-awards-2023

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Beware of scammers!

Just a heads up to fellow artists. I almost fell for a scam recently when someone commissioned me to produce eight simple cartoons for a staggering $8000. You'd never get that fee in comics but I know that commercial art pays far more. (Twenty years ago I drew an advertising strip for £1000 so it wasn't too far fetched to think that in 2023 some company would pay more.) 

However, red flags went up when the client insisted that they'd only pay by cheque (or "check" as it was American). "My sponsor doesn't use online payment platforms. He's an old-fashioned businessman." 

I Googled the email address and discovered that other artists had reported it as a scam:

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/01/10/scummers-gonna-scam 

As I understand it, the con is that they send you a cheque but it's "mistakenly" for a higher amount than agreed. Then they tell you to bank it and refund them the difference. Their cheque then bounces and you're out of pocket.

I'm angry that some creep tried to con me but relieved I nipped it in the bud before they got me.

 

Comic Conventions for 2023

Shewsbury International Comic Art Festival in 2016

 

If you run a comics event and you'd like to invite me as a guest in 2023 please message me for availability. I don't do workshops or solo presentations but I'm happy to appear on panel discussions and do signings and sketches. I'll always help promote the shows I'm attending too by spreading the word on social media as often as I can.

2023 marks my 40th year working in the comics industry so it'd be nice to get out there and meet more readers.

So far I'm booked for Comic Book Day in Liverpool on March 25th, and Lawless Comic Con (Bristol) for May 27th/28th plus one or two others that haven't been announced yet.

 

Feast or Famine!

Remember I'd said how the past year or two had seen a serious reduction in work and how worrying that was? Things were looking very grim indeed and frankly it felt like the end of the road. 

Well, I'm very pleased to say that things have suddenly turned around and I now have a lot of work to do over the next several weeks. Nothing ongoing, except for my regular Daft Dimension strip, but rather lots of one-offs and private commissions to keep me busy through February at least. (I can't specify what the jobs feature yet for copyright reasons but I'll show some extracts eventually.)

I'm not out of the woods yet of course as it could all dry up again by March but as I'd told you how bad things were I thought I'd relate how things have picked up somewhat. 

This is my 40th year in the comics industry and it's always been up and down, just as it is for everyone, but recent times have been worse than before. You soon learn never to take things for granted in this business, (or indeed any self-employed profession). 

It's definitely a "feast or famine" profession... and speaking of which, as I've managed to lose four stone over the past year or two I've certainly no desire to over-indulge in any "feasts" again but as long as I can keep solvent I'll be happy. (Reading that back I think my virus made me screw up the metaphor I was trying for but ah well, you get the jist I think. :))

(Presently still very much under the weather due to a persistent bug - NOT Covid this time - but will get back to the drawing board today!) 

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