Comics UK

Lew Stringer wrote:Bear in mind though that some editors haven't been able to get in because of the snow in Scotland, plus they're busy on getting ahead before the Christmas break, so don't worry if you don't hear anything for a while.

No problem ! I'll wait.

If this was a certain other forum i go to i'd be saying "Post of the week!" right about now.

Indeed ! Great pages.

One more fan-art !



Merry Christmas & happy new year !

Willy the kid !



No answer yet from DC Thomson - too bad.

Is Bananaman a totally-computerized job, MMi?

Yeah. I doodle when I'm waiting on things to print, taking a break, or slightly bored (which isn't often). I was already doing stuff in Photoshop and decided to doodle. I was wanting to finish colouring it in, but I get bored of that as well! I tend to draw Bananaman as a serious-looking dude, but with the recent revamp of him, this was an attempt to make him look gormless.

I'm the absolute opposite, MMi: I use 19th-Century technology for cartooning [metal nibs, bottled ink, etc] and I have yet to take the computerized plunge!

I [tentatively] looked at my bank balance recently, and I can just about afford photoshop or whatever: I'd love to see my stuff in colour.

I can colour by hand, [and I actually prefer the results this way] but it looks like I will have to embrace the new technology.

It's quite an investment, buying Photoshop, but for me it's excellent for all sorts of things. It's not just for photographs, as you may already know, as there's features galore for producing all sorts of Art. But if you're not in a hurry or have a great need for it (you're happy hand-colouring), then it's a personal decision to get it.

One thing I'd recommend for artists using Photoshop, and sadly it's not cheap either, is a Wacom Tablet. I never used one before joining the firm (never needed to), and now I can't do without it.

What does it cost for the basic photoshop?----it sounds very adaptable, you can do a lot more than just colour in cartoons with it.

You can get photoshop "elements", which is "cut down" but contains all the features a non-professional / non-animator will reasonably need for about £20-30. If you look in the bargain bin of PC world or something you might find an old version for even less. I'm still using the one i got in 2001.

A Wacom "Bamboo One" tablet isn't much either, maybe £40-50. Better ones go for £70-100 and for funny money you can get one that's a monitor in itself that you draw directly on to! But the Bamboo is OK. Mind you I only colour (badly) on the computer, I draw with pens and paper. Using a tablet is a whole different "feel" to the traditional way so don't be surprised if your early attempts look like your artistic skills have jumped back about 10 years!

There are other companies that make tablets, including a cheap £20-ish one you might see in bigger Tesco's. One word: DON'T.

Thanks for the heads-up, Mike: it sounds cheaper than what I was dreading: I probably just need the basics.....adding colour to comic-strips, 'stitching' images together, etc. Do you buy the bleeder in a shop [as you indicated] or do you pay online then get it downloaded [or both?!]

Well I bought it in a shop but this was in the 56k days! Bigger shops like PC would ought to have it. Though there's likely to be some new fangled downloading malarkey too these days.

There's also some "better than paint, anyway" free image editors you can download for nothing. I hear good things about GIMP and Painter, but haven't tried them.

Maybe it's just me but most students I come across nowadays seem to take photoshop for granted - and wouldn't dream of actually paying for it!

- Phil R.