COMICS! Important News, Chums!

As you know, I've been selling my self-published comics on eBay for years, and it's proven to be a good place to attract readers. However, that is about to change.

From early February, eBay are implementing changes so that sellers will have to wait two weeks before funds are avalable on each item! Apparently this is to protect the buyer in case we don't deliver the goods, but it's a very cynical move because I'm sure most sellers are honest and, like me, have a 100% rating! (I suspect the real motive is so that eBay can profit from interest for a longer period.)

The alternative is to use Signed For or Special Delivery, in which case eBay pay the seller when the buyer signs for the goods. That's fine for higher priced items (and I will continue to sell artwork that way on eBay) but detrimental for single issues of comics! No one would want to pay for postage that costs more than the comic, and I wouldn't feel happy charging that. Postage rates are high enough as it is (and apparently rising again this year).

So... at the end of this month I will be removing my comics from my eBay listings. I'm currently looking for a better alternative, and at present it's likely I'll move them to KoFi. I'll let you know here on this blog when that happens. As I said though I will continue to sell original art pages through eBay auctions as those are posted recorded or special delivery.

At the moment, until the end of January, you can still buy my comics from my eBay page so if there are any you've been considering, now's your chance. There's Combat Colin issues 3, 4, and 5, plus the Fanzine Funnies special. Any purchases greatly appreciated!

Here's the link...

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

Last chance to bid on these original art pages

My latest art auction closes on the evening of Sunday 12th January so here's a chance to bid on these particular pieces of comic artwork. 

I've selected a variety of items so there's a Christmas Pathetic Sharks page from Viz, a Tom Thug page from Oink!, a Tom Thug's Skooldayz page from Buster, a Mini-Marvels strip from Panini UK's Rampage, a Daft Dimension strip from Doctor Who Magazine all by me...

...PLUS a Sweeny Toddler page from Whizzer and Chips by none other than Tom Paterson! 

All original comic art, black ink on Bristol Board. Not prints, not facsimiles, not pages clipped from the comics! (I know that will be obvious to most of you but there are some shady sellers who call prints "originals".)

Here's the link to the listings. Your bids are very much appreciated!

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

 

Team Toxic are back... but is it a flying visit?

Imagine my surprise today when I flipped through the latest issue of Toxic (No.399) in WH Smiths to find that one of my Team Toxic strips was reprinted in there. The reprint is from issue No.287 that I did back in 2017 so most of the current readers won't have seen it before. However, it's a pity that although 99% of the strips I did for Toxic were stand alone stories, they've chosen to reprint Part Two of a three parter! Hopefully readers won't be too confused as it's quite self contained. If they are baffled, don't blame me!

I did Team Toxic for 17 years for Toxic right from issue one in 2002 to issue 317 in 2019 so there's a lot of material they could use if they wished. (They already reprinted several stories a few years ago.) There's no reprint payment of course. Standard policy in British (and American) mainstream comics is they can reprint as much as they like and we don't get a penny. (Viz was an exception as they did, and hopefully still do, pay for reprints.) I can't complain as I knew the score going into this business thanks to reading Leo Baxendale's It's A Very Funny Business back in the 1970s. Sadly it was this "no fees for reprints" policy that made Leo quit mainstream comics in 1975 and who can blame him? 

It's hardly a surprise though. Remember that the British comics industry was founded on unpaid reprints, when Alfred Harmsworth created Comic Cuts in 1890 and filled issue 1 with cartoons nicked from other publications. In that instance, he had no rights to the art and had to commission new material pretty quickly going forward. Even so, he made sure that the publishers held the rights to material commissioned and that policy hasn't changed since.

It really should though, shouldn't it? No wonder today's new creators opt for self publishing or working with book publishers who offer a better deal.

Anyway, if you're interested, you'll find that Team Toxic strip in Toxic No.399, out now. It's the only story in the magazine, despite the publishers now calling themselves 'Story House Egmont'. The rest of the 36 page mag is taken up with brief features and activity pages relating to the latest games, genre movies etc. 

And it comes wth a cover mounted toy 'Archery Set and Fidget'. All for £5.99. 

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

Original comic art! Viz! Oink! Buster! Doctor Who... and Sweeny Toddler!

I have several of my original pages up for auction right now, with the bidding ending on Sunday 12th January, so if you ever wanted to own original comic art now's your chance.

Pages of mine from Oink!, Viz, Buster, and Doctor Who Magazine PLUS a Sweeny Toddler page by the great Tom Paterson! 

Here's the link. Good luck with your bids!

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

Mini-Marvels from Panini UK

Pathetic Sharks from Viz (2010)

Daft Dimension from Doctor Who Magazine

Tom Thug from Oink! (1988)

Tom Thug from Buster (1990)

Sweeny Toddler by Tom Paterson! (1985)

My favourite Pathetic Sharks page

Click image to see it full size.

 

I worked on The Pathetic Sharks for Viz comic throighout the 1990s and into this Century and it was always an enjoyable experience. I think the page I enjoyed the most though was this Christmas episode that I did for  Viz No.201 in December 2010.

Putting the Sharks into a festive setting was fun and doing the last panel as a big image with lots of odd characters was a bonus. I'm aware though that devout Christians might not be amused, but I hope they appreciate that the Sharks are intended to be a bunch of idiots! 

Much as I like this page it's time to part with it, so it's included in this week's auction that ends on Sunday 12th January. I hope it finds a good home! Here's the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205211535071?itmmeta=01JH19P039TJTBGR5HDMTCHS1C&hash=item2fc78f86df:g:P2UAAOSwZztnfZOh

 

I also have other pages up for sale from various comics plus a Tom Paterson Sweeny Toddler page from Whizzer and Chips! All auctions end on Sunday 12th January. Here's the listings:

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

GOOF! Grab it for a laugh

One of the comics I was proud to contribute to last year was Goof, a brand new humour anthology edited and published by Marc Jackson. 

Cover by Marc Jackson

The 24 page comic gathered together a bunch of today's humour comic creators into a summer special that felt fresh, stylish and new for all ages. Contributors included Tor Freeman, Rachael Smith, David Leach, Charlie Adlard and more! 

Story and art by Tor Freeman

 

Story and art by David Leach

You can still get it from Marc Jackson's KoFi page at this link...

https://ko-fi.com/s/d7475af5fd 

...or if you're in London, drop into the fantastic Gosh comic shop in Soho's Berwick street as they have copies on the shelf that have been signed by Marc Jackson and Tor Freeman.  

Want funny comics? Go Goof!  

 

Marc Jackson at London's GOSH comics shop yesterday.

 ******************

 

 

 

Tom Thug, Snail Man, Daft Dimension - auction ends soon!

My first auction of 2025 ends soon! Bidding closes on these pages of my original artwork on the evening of Sunday 5th January. I know money is tight for many after Christmas but I hope these items will entice you to place bids. 

There are two complete Tom Thug pages from the 1990s that I did for Buster, a Snail Man strip that appeared in Marvel UK's Spider-Man comic in 1985, and a Daft Dimension strip from 2023 that I did for Doctor Who Magazine. 

As always, these are the original, ink on Bristol Board artworks, not prints or facsimiles. 

Your bids are greatly appreciated at this time. Best of luck! 

Here's the link:

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