how to earn a million bucks a year drawing cartoons.......

[Digifiend]

Me neither. I buy The Sun every day, but I wasn't born then. In fact, anything which ended before Striker VR (Striker's first 3D attempt) launched, I probably won't know about. The Sun clearly doesn't care much about the history of its comic strip page.

[Lew Stringer]

ROBERT NIXON and TREVOR METCALFE did a collaborative strip around 1973 called 'GEMS' in the SUN that was in the PEANUTS mould-----this strip never lasted long however.

Also from the SUN was a HUGH MORREN [of SMASHER fame ]strip called WACK from the early 70s.

JOHN GEERING done a mid-90s strip called TARGET for the DAILY SPORT and he also contributed editorial gags for the notorious SUNDAY edition.

there must be more examples than these, though, surely?

I wrote/drew a strip called Norma Snockers for 69 issues of the Sunday Sport 20 years ago if that helps. It would have continued longer but it was always such a chore chasing them for payments that I quit.



Lew

[Phoenix]

I wrote/drew a strip called Norma Snockers for 69 issues of the Sunday Sport

An appropriate number I would have thought for that rag.

[Digifiend]

The Sport isn't my type of paper at all, but that strip is funny Lew! Two rude ruffians given a black eye each by her big boobs! Considering that the Sport has a bigger reliance on Page 3 girls than even The Sun, the premise of a girl with excessively large breasts was a good fit for the paper. And if they weren't paying you on time, forcing you to quit, it's their own fault, and their loss - any good employer shouldn't have to be chased up. And anyway, you've gone on to bigger things since then (literally, I'm referring to your modern work being a full page or more, and in colour, not just a monochrome one-liner).

(oh, apparently there was another post added while I was typing!)
Phoenix, I don't get it. What's so significant about the number 69?

[Lew Stringer]

I wrote/drew a strip called Norma Snockers for 69 issues of the Sunday Sport

An appropriate number I would have thought for that rag.

Yes, I had been considering quitting for weeks and decided on that number deliberately.

Lew

[Lew Stringer]

And anyway, you've gone on to bigger things since then (literally, I'm referring to your modern work being a full page or more, and in colour, not just a monochrome one-liner).

I was drawing full pagers then too (Tom Thug in Oink for example, and Combat Colin in Transformers). However the Sport rates for that little strip were as high as the full page rates I was getting from the kids' comics at the time.

It was my decision to do it as a limerick strip every week by the way. The Sport just wanted crude big boobs jokes, but I wanted it to have a little bit more to it than that. Cheeky limericks were associated with such humour from the days of Max Miller and before, so that's what I did. It wasn't always easy but it was worth it.

Oh and Norma always came out on top, if you'll pardon the expression, when dealing with such situations. It didn't stop me being accused of sexism at a comics convention 20 years ago though, but at least underground cartoonist Melinda Gebbie (now Alan Moore's missus) was on my side during that same debate.

Lew

[STARBOY]

Digi "69" is a sexual position

[steelclaw]

Digi "69" is a sexual position

Arrhhh Digifiend are you really that innocent.
ps. I'm not having ago at you.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

great to finally see an example of the infamous 'NORMA SNOCKERS', Lew. The very title of your strip accurately summed up the contents of this publication, and was tailor-made for the SPORT.

JOHN GEERING also put in occassional 'boob' gags in his SUNDAY EDITORIAL topical gags [one was framed in my local boozer at the time.]

[Digifiend]

Digi "69" is a sexual position

Arrhhh Digifiend are you really that innocent.
ps. I'm not having ago at you.

Don't worry! I admit it, I'm a virgin...

I'm glad you didn't elaborate STARBOY. After all, there might be kids reading this!

[STARBOY]

- good one !

[presterjohn]

Back in the 90's Image, Marvel & DC were making an awful lot of money for the top creative teams they employed (and were owned by) John Byrne was earning over half a million a year for some time and Rob Leifeild was earning double that for a while too and he couldn't even draw well! Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee and many other names were also raking it in. I seem to remember that McFarlane even spent several million dollars on a signed baseball once. It is sad that the much of the talant that came before these guys were purely work for hire and did not get the royalties that the new breed earned.