Comics UK

A rare (as far as I'm aware) instance of Joe signing his work. Whoopee! and Cheeky 27 June 1981.

I've always wondered if artists signed their work more often then we actually see but it is "whited" out by the editor. You would presume if an artist signed his work once he'd do it every time but quite often I see long running strips just signed once or twice. My pet subject Mike Brown being one example. Only a few of his "The Group" strips in Pow! were signed and the same with "Wiz War" in Smash!.

I'll take a guess at what happened in this case. In the issue after the one from which the above scan was taken, the winner of the readers' poll of most popular characters is announced as Mustapha Million. I'd guess that either the editor suggested that Joe should sign his work, or Joe decided he'd do it anyway, to get some well-deserved kudos. Not sure why it should happen the week before, though - Joe's MM strip in the issue in which the poll results were announced is unsigned.