BABE OF THE DAY - COTE DE PABLO...

"So much for this new toilet design," thinks COTE DE PABLO.  "There's no hole in the seat or any plumbing to flush it all away."  Not that it matters much as she's forgotten to drop her kecks anyway.  I'd wash 'em out as soon as you can, luv.

KID'S KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - FANTASTIC #54

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

This was the third merged issue of FANTASTIC & TERRIFIC, and

the reason it stands out in my memory is because I remember seeing it

lying on a newsagent's counter in the local shopping area of the neigh-

bourhood next to mine.  I don't think I bought it then, but acquired it

later, probably in a bunch of Fantastics that a friend gave to me.

Whenever I look at this cover today, I'm back in that dingy, old-

fashioned newsagent's where I bought many a comic in the days of

my youth, way back in the swinging '60s.  I visit there often, but only

in memory, alas.  What memories, if any, does this particular cover

summon forth for you?  Reveal all in the comments section.

KID'S KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - STAR WARS WEEKLY #1

STAR WARS - the comic that saved MARVEL.  Not the British

edition you see above, but the American one.  Apparently, Marvel's

fortunes were on the wane and if it hadn't been for them acquiring the

rights to GEORGE LUCAS's space fantasy epic,  they may not have

been around for DISNEY to acquire a few years back.

Funny how these things work out, eh?  The Marvel U.K. weekly

didn't have quite the impact as the U.S. monthly, but I think we can

safely assume that it did okay for itself.  The Force was with it!

BABE OF THE DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

Okay, you've had more than enough time to comment on

my artwork, so, given the few responses I've received, most of you

clearly think it's sh*t.  Never mind, here's a picture you won't turn

up your noses at - the crackin' CINDY CRAWFORD!

NOT JUST A LETTERER...

'Homage' to cover of IRON MAN #150.  Hand drawn, no tracing or graph
paper or projectors involved.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS

It's not generally known, but although I was primarily a lettering artist throughout my 15 year career in comics, my original ambition was to be an adventure comic strip artist.  I started lettering simply to get my size 9s in the door, but when I saw that I could earn more as a letterer than as an artist (on account of being faster at the former than the latter), I stuck mainly with the lettering.

However, I did a bit of drawing as well, adding to panels when re-sizing IPC comic libraries, and doing occasional spot illos when the opportunity presented itself.  I also worked as a restoration artist on some MARVEL MASTERWORK volumes, re-inking and even re-creating JACK KIRBY art, which was a huge thrill for me.

However, my frank and forthright views on this blog on the current state of the British comics 'industry' (hah!) has brought me in for criticism from some quarters, with a few disgruntled individuals dismissing me as "only a letterer" and a "Kirby tracer".  Thing is, I got my first paying gig as a cartoonist when I was still at school, and have produced artwork for publication (for which I was paid) since even before (during and after) I started freelancing for IPC/FLEETWAY, MARVEL COMICS (and others).

So here are a few examples of pencil and ink artwork ranging from my teenage years right up to adulthood.  Quite a few are professional pieces I was paid for, some were freebies for people I know, and the remainder were done simply for my own amusement.  I've shown them all before on the blog at various times, but it can't hurt to remind people that I'm certainly more than "only a letterer".  Funny how some people who work in comics mistakenly imagine that it's the only legitimate outlet for an artist's work, eh?

******

Wow!  This is one of the fastest visited posts in my blog's history - and quite a number of them via proxy servers and 'detour' routes too.  (Must be from people who don't want me to know they've looked.)  And yet, no comments so far.  Don't be shy now;  tickle my ego by telling me what I know already - some of these images ain't half bad at all!

Pencil caricature (using my pseudonym) done as a gift for someone

"If you don't like a certain cartoonist's version of DESPERATE DAN, then why
not try drawing it yourself?" someone dared me.  So I did! Characters copyright
D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

B&W copy of colour ad for a local restaurant.  I was going
to be paid £100 for it, but decided against it in the end

2000 A.D. pin-up.  I was paid for it, but don't know if it was ever
published.  Characters copyright REBELLION PUBLISHING

One of the lettering samples which got me the promise of work from
IPC.  Pencils by me.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS

Set of four cartoon illustrations for Equestrian event programme

Cartoon illustration for local business

Acrylic ink caricature of a friend's son

Pencil caricature done as a gift for someone

Parody of AMAZING FANTASY #15 splash page

Cartoon strip for local business

Proposed strip (at the request of BOB PAYNTER) for OINK! comic while
at the preparation stage.  Never got any feedback, but a similar character
appeared a few months later

WILLIAM HARTNELL 'DOCTOR' figure and TARDIS drawn
in 1983, background completed 30 years later, in 2013

Acrylic ink portrait done as a gift for someone after much
badgering.  Yeah, you can see my heart wasn't really  in it

Inked drawing done as a gift for someone.  Characters
copyright KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, Inc

Newspaper ad drawn as a teenager for local business

Photocopy of pencil drawing done for my own amusement

Instruction leaflet for local business's delivery drivers

Newspaper ad for Glasgow hairdressers

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Logo for The ILLUSTRATED COMIC JOURNAL

Drawing done as a gift for someone

Pair of flyers for local business

Proposed logo for Glasgow Con.  Don't know if it was used or not

Cartoons for two camping posters done in my late teens/early 20s

Logo for local business

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Quick caricature done as a gift for someone

Fun & Activity booklet produced for local business

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Unfinished pencil caricature

Comic strip drawn for The BOOTS NEWS when I was 17

Pencil drawing done as a teenager

Unpublished strip for local paper.  Others were published though

Cartoon strip drawn for my own amusement

Character copyright DC COMICS

And finally - a couple of pages of JK artwork I inked.  The FF one appeared in an issue
of The JACK KIRBY Collector.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS