The Dandy Annual 2027 is here!

Available from online sellers today (and hopefully in shops soon) The Dandy Annual 2027 has arrived! With fantastic covers by The Sharp Bros, the 112 page hardback is packed with all new comic strips featuring favourites from past and present; Corporal Clott, Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, Keyhole Kate and many more. 

My contributions are three new double page Dinah Mo stories (script, art, and colouring) with the environmental inventor dealing with polluters, a mad robot, and her accident prone dad.  

As I've mentioned before, these stories are my last work for DC Thomson (and mainstream kids' comics in general) so I dunno if that adds to the book's collectability or not. 

Just to clarify; this does not mean I've given up drawing yet! I'm focusing my energies on my Doctor Who Magazine strip and working on my self-published comics. I still have lots of ideas for my own comics but whether or not health and finances will allow me to reach those goals remains to be seen.

Anyway, The Dandy Annual 2027 is a smashing book that I'm privileged to be part of. In fact I felt privileged to work for all the comics I've been in over the years.

Other creators involved in the annual include Laura Howell, Wayne Thompson, Nigel Parkinson, Andy Fanton, Steve Bright, Iain McLaughlin, Mychalio Kazybrid, Nigel Auchterlounie and more!

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-annual-2027

COVER ART BY THE SHARP BROS.

 

The Prisoner discussed

One for fans of the classic enigmatic 1960s TV series The Prisoner. A brand new 320 page book has just been published entitled Half A Dozen of the Other: It Means What It Says that contains numerous in depth essays about the series. 

This is Volume Three of a series (and the final volume) that was begun by the late Ed Fordham, and has been concluded by Prisoner expert Rick Davy. It contains submissions by many writers, giving their observations, theories and knowledge about the show, and is an intriguing and entertaining read. The book also includes many new black and white photographs of Portmeirion, the village that served for location filming of The Prisoner. 

Why am I plugging this book on my business blog? Well, because I'm pleased to say there's a cartoon by me in the back, that I drew in 2007. This one didn't appear in my Fanzine Funnies Prisoner cartoon collection ('cos I forgot to include it) so it's the first time it's been in print since the PM2007 convention booklet way back when.  

If you enjoyed The Prisoner, Half A Dozen of the Other: It Means What It Says is a great read. Profits from the book will go to the charities MIND and Ty Gobaith Children's Hospice so it's all in a good cause. You can buy the book at this link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Half-Dozen-Other-Means-Three/dp/B0HCGNVBGS/

See you on August 15th at COMICS ASSEMBLE!

Only a week to go until COMICS ASSEMBLE, the brand new comics convention in Gloucester! Saturday 15th August, Gloucester Leisure Centre. Here's the link to get your tickets! Hope to see you there!

https://comicsassemble.net/

 

 

One for the Gamers

Not comics related but I thought I'd mention that I'm selling an original Game Boy console from 1989, boxed and with the Tetris game and all the extras etc. in the original packaging. Excellent condition and working. I bought this decades ago brand new just for my own entertainment but didn't use it a great deal.

Auction ends tomorrow, Sunday 9th August. Good luck if you're bidding!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206460003831?itmmeta=01KZGKAE399F7JPE5TD7V7EY3D&hash=item3011f9a5f7:g:0JAAAeSwc5lqb1DZ

 

Keyhole Kate flashback

I really enjoyed my few years creating new Keyhole Kate stories for The Dandy Annual. A classic character who originated in The Dandy No.1 way back in 1937, so it was a privilege to put my spin on the legend. 

I haven't worked on the character for a while, and doubt I ever will again unfortunately but here's one of my pages that I did seven years ago for The Dandy Annual 2020. Hope you enjoy it! (I also designed the title banner.)

 

 

Daft Classics

I've been writing/drawing The Daft Dimension in Doctor Who Magazine for 12 years now. One of my longest running strips. I was invited to contribute back in 2014 when the mag had a little revamp for the start of Peter Capaldi's tenure as the Doctor. I really enjoy producing these little strips and they seem to go down well with the readers. 

Usually I'm asked to tie in the strip with the main theme of the issue or the latest episode, or sometimes I just wing it and come up with whatever I think will work. Since I semi retired last year, it's the only ongoing strip I still do for a mainstream publication and I'm grateful to my editors at Panini UK that it's still running.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a small selection of past Daft Dimension strips on my blog today. All of these are from 2018. Hope you enjoy their daftness! Click on the strips to expand them to full size.

 

...and here's the very first Daft Dimension I did, as published in Doctor Who Magazine No.477 back in August 2014...

 

Last chance to bid!

My latest art auction ends soon (Sunday 26th July) so if you're interested in a Pathetic Sharks page from Viz (2008) or a Combat Colin page from Marvel UK's The Transformers (1989) here's your last opportunity. This is my original artwork drawn in black ink on Bristol Board for the comics back then. Not prints, not pages torn from comics, not copies, not facsimiles. (You'd be surprised what some chancers pretend is original art.)

I'm surprised that as it stands right now there have only been two bids on the Viz page, as many of you have been asking me to list Viz artwork. I haven't found any other complete pages so don't miss out on this.

The Combat Colin page is another rarity. It's very unlikely I'll be selling any more Combat Colin pages in the foreseeable future but I listed this one as there had been demands for it. Usually I prefer to hold onto my Combat Colin pages as I own the rights. 

Remember, the auctions end very soon! All bids appreciated. Here's the link where you'll find close up photos of the artwork and will be able to place your bid:

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