LOVELY LETTERING FOR YOU TO LOOK AT...

During my 15 years as a professional comics contributor, I lettered a

couple of regular strips for LOADED magazine, which was published by

IPC, I think. This was well-after the infamous ROBERT MAXWELL

had bought their YOUTH GROUP, the division responsible for the

various comic periodicals that IPC created for the nation's youth.

What you're looking at above, is a scan of a photocopy of a strip

which appeared in Loaded mag, which I took it upon myself to re-letter,

as the original lettering was pretty poor.  I then sent it in to the magazine

and it was this that led to them asking me to letter a couple of strips for

them as they were quite impressed with my calligraphic skills.

When I spoke to the editor about remuneration, I quoted £20

per page as this was what the going rate was for 2000 A.D. at the time.

The editor (whose name I forget, sorry) told me to invoice for £50 and I

was hardly going to argue with him.  So each page I lettered for Loaded

was worth a fabulous £50 a pop, a very nice paying gig indeed.

However, I'm not here to rub your faces in what I was capable

of earning for half an hour's work 20 years ago.  No, the reason I've

included the above page is because I'm really proud of my lettering on

it.  You see, there's quite a big difference in doing something at one's

own pace and for one's own amusement, and doing it under a dead-

line for a professional publication in order to earn a living.

When I used to letter my own home-grown strips, I employed an

ordinary fountain pen and took as long as I needed.  However, when

I first started my professional career for IPC, I was using Rotring pens

I wasn't yet comfortable with, and the wrong kind of patch-paper (matt

instead of gloss), which the 2000 A.D. boys kindly provided me with

to start me off.  (Patch-paper is the generic name for the adhesive

paper on which one lettered and then stuck onto the art.)

Consequently, some of my early lettering for various comics

wasn't exactly as good as it might've been, and it took me a while to

develop a style I was happy with.  By the time I did the above page, I

was at a point in my career where I'd achieved a standard I was proud

of, and I'm still proud when I see it today.  Which is why I decided

to share it with all you pantin' Criv-ites here today.

So if you ever see one of my early pages and think that it isn't

particularly good, remember that I improved, and became one of

the better letters then working in British comics.  Truth to tell, I was

almost as good as I am modest and humble, and as you can see, I'm

very modest and humble indeed.  In fact, I'm actually quite proud

of my humility and am justly famed for it.

Huh?  Wait, come back!  What did I say?

Posted in: Cartoons