38 years in comics... or is it 39?

Photo of my drawing board on 18th January 2020.

It's 38 years to the day since I officially became a self-employed cartoonist/writer. Although in reality it's more like 39 years. I sold my first professionbal cartoon in 1983 (in Marvel UK's The Daredevils No.7), and other bits and bobs of work followed but I was still on the dole at the time. Yes, I did declare it, but those initial cartoons only paid £5 a month so it wasn't enough to affect my benefits. 

Eventually I was getting enough work to sign off the dole, and on March 2nd 1984 I went full time as a professional freelance comic artist.

So... 39 years in comics but 38 years full time. (Actually, if we include fanzines that I did before turning pro then that takes us back to late 1978 so that'd be 44 years. If we include the comics I drew as a kid that I only showed my parents that'd be 55 years... but let's keep it simple and stick to the professional work.)

It's never easy being self employed, and the last couple of years have been particularly difficult due to cutbacks of the pandemic and the associated stress that brought, but I'm still hanging in there. There are some very anxious days ahead for all of us of course, with rising prices being the least of it, so let's hope the war doesn't escalate and we can all keep going.

My thanks to all of you who have followed and supported my work, whether it's been since the beginning or any time over the past four decades. I can't remember what I was actually drawing on this day in 1984 but today I'm writing the next Daft Dimension (for Doctor Who Magazine No.576), and drawing the next Sgt.Shouty (for The77 No.7). Then it'll be straight on to drawing that Daft Dimension, and also the next Pup Parade for Beano. Next week I'll be focusing on a commission I had ages ago that really needs to be finished, and a couple of other bits.

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