Click to enlarge.
In the early part of my career in the 1980s I was submitting comic strips on spec to numerous publications in the hope of them being used. Not just comics; I tried everywhere from Smash Hits to Celebrity magazine, from my local paper to video magazines. None of my submissions were successful but I didn't give up. (In the end I stuck with comics, which did appreciate my work.)
One area I tried was gardening magazines. I created a strip called Spud about an average gardener in suburbia, hoping editors of Gardeners World and the like would go for it. Not a chance. One editor refused it because he didn't like "silly bugger characters" as he called them. Apparently gardening was too serious a subject for levity.
I'd forgotten all about the strip until I found my samples the other day. Here they are, published here for the very first time. As you can see, I'd started colouring one of them as I was noticing more mags were using full colour, but then decided not to bother submitting it again. It's not a great strip by any means. I was still developing my style, and I can appreciate they weren't what they were looking for back then. I hope you get some amusement out of them anyway.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
