A 1868 Victorian cartoon by John Leech titled “Bits from the Mining Districts” (or “Further Illustration of the Mining Districts”), originally published in Punch magazine, is just one of several original artworks in the current Comic Artworks Auction (US Comics) on Catawiki, closing today, Wednesday 4th November.
Featured alongside modern comic art by Simon Bisley, John Buscema, Bill Morrison and others, this seems a bizarre place to offer what for comic fans might be a strange item to include, so vintage cartoon fans may have missed it. Check out the lot directly here
The associated caption, reflecting deep rooted wariness of strangers in mining communities of the time, one character seemingly breaking the Fourth Wall and eyeing the Punch reader is as follows…
First polite native: “Who’s ‘im, Bill?”
Second polite native: “A stranger!”
First polite native: “‘Eave ‘arfa brick at ‘im” (Heave half a brick at him).
John Leech (1817 – 1864) was an English caricaturist and illustrator best known for his work in Punch.
The Punch official website has an archive of Leech’s work here, noting his social observations, whether highlighting the plight of the poor and forgotten; or the daily humour of family life and leisure in Victorian England, formed the tone and set the standard globally of how readers identified Punch magazine (and Great Britain) and what the English aspired to be. “Beautifully detailed images in the tradition of Hogarth and Gustav Doré show a great affection for his subjects and a celebration of the Victorian Era”.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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