Friday, December 07, 2012

Comic Cuts - 7 December 2012

I've spent most of the week working on Lion King of Picture Story Papers, which is now running to over 220 pages. I'm still working on layouts, which take a huge amount of time to do because I'm having to source and clean up so many images. About 325 so far and more to come, as I still need to illustrate quite a few features.

All this digging around and looking at comics reminds me how good the old comics were. I don't have anything like a complete run of Lion and there are stories in the issues I have that I'd love to read the complete run of.

I have also been pitching for an actual paying job as I need some work if I'm to pay the rent. I will say that Bear Alley Books has been doing quite well the past couple of weeks, thanks to the release of the new Sexton Blake Annual. The annual itself hasn't sold in huge numbers, but every time I announce a new title, I get a flurry of sales for older books. Total sales are still relatively low – around 350 for the year – but it's not bad for someone with zero advertising budget. But I still need to multiply that number by quite a few if I'm to make anything approaching a living.

I wanted to say something about the final Dandy but I've been unable to find a copy of the issue. It hasn't turned up in our local Co-op, and Mel works near to a large Tesco but has also failed to secure a copy. Hopefully Smith's will have a copy on Saturday, but I'm not convinced that I'll find one if eBay is anything to go by. Lew Stringer at Blimey! linked to an online seller who was offering copies at cover price (plus p&p) and his auction ended after 2,162 sales. As you'll see from the pic below, copies have been selling for three or four times the cover price already.

Although it is the final issue of Dandy in print, the comic lives on in digital format. You can see the digital issue zero at the Dandy's website and the new weekly digital title begins next week. There are a couple of ongoing exhibitions celebrating the Dandy's 75th anniversary at The Cartoon Museum (which runs until 24 December) and the University of Dundee has a new exhibition, which will run until 12 January. Last Sunday, the ABC Show at the Royal National had a signing attended by a number of Dandy artists, including Lew Stringer, Henry Davies, Gary Northfield and Nigel Parkinson. Down the Tubes has a report with photos.

Today's random scans come care of Morgan Wallace. I've only had a little time this evening so only a couple of pics this week. These are two scarce Scion westerns, the first by John Russell Fearn (as Mick McCoy), the second by Stephen D. Frances (as Tex Ryland).

Coming Soon: Over the weekend I have some questions for sharp-eyed readers. I've found a couple of British reprints of European strips that I need information on. I'll be posting these Saturday and Sunday, so I hope you'll check-in to see if you recognise them. Next week, I'm pleased to say, we will be starting a new Paul Temple strip. I think it will be starting on Wednesday Thursday and will run through Christmas and New Year... Unbelievable to think we're so close to the end of another year. Not sure what I'll be posting Monday or Tuesday. It'll be a nice surprise.

1 comment:

  1. You'll probably be able to get a copy of the last Dandy here:

    http://www.lasteverdandy.com

    ReplyDelete

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