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Crowdfunding Spotlight: !GAG! by Phil Elliott, Eddie Campbell and Glenn Dakin

By John Freeman on December 4, 2022

Comic creator Phil Elliott has recently launched crowdfunder for !GAG!, a 60-page comic featuring comic strips by him, Eddie Campbell and Glenn Dakin.

This collection features an introduction by Eddie Campbell and introductions to their comic strips by Glenn and Phil, too.

Featuring…

Robot Crusoe by Glenn Dakin

“I invented Robot Crusoe in the late summer of 1997,” says Glenn, “when I found myself broke after losing my job at Marvel/Panini, and then unwisely taking a long holiday in Australia. In need of regular funds I surveyed the horizon.

“The Funday Times , the children’s section of The Sunday Times, printed heaps of cartoons, and I thought surely there was room in there for one more.

“Robot Crusoe remains the longest comics job I ever had, and was surely the most pain-free, like being on a little desert asteroid of fun all my own.”

Glenn Dakin is a writer and cartoonist, specialising in fantasy and humour. His work includes Mr. Spock’s Little Book of Mindfulness, the Candle Man novels, and his autobiographical strip, ‘Abe.’

Tribe of Ush by Phil Elliott

“The Springfield Reference Library in Maidstone was a great source of comfort, refuge and research for me,” recalls Phil, “and this is where I scoured the magazine section looking for possible outlets for my talent. Obscure magazines like The Planner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Managing Schools Today and The Magistrate.

I knew little about Magistrates but I was friends with someone who worked as an Usher in Maidstone Magistrates court and decided to concentrate on the Ushers, who seemed to do most of the hum-drum work. I sent them some ideas for a comic strip and this resulted in ‘The Tribe of Ush’, which ran for almost three years.”

Phil Elliott is a renowned illustrator, comic book artist and colorist whose work has been published in numerous magazines around the world. He’s recently re-released a number of early projects utilising Kickstarter, as well as continuing to create new comics.

Shakespeare by Eddie Campbell

“I created Shakespeare, two weeks of supposed ‘dailies’, in the way that one might write a sonnet,” says Eddie of his strip.

“It struck me that this mock-daily comic was the most apt arrangement to show poor old Bill writing off every day in an attempt to obtain an overdue cheque that constantly fails to materialize.”

Eddie Campbell is probably best known as the illustrator of From Hell (written by Alan Moore), and as the creator of the semi-autobiographical Alec stories collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and Bacchus, a wry adventure series about some of the Greek gods surviving to the present day. Eddie is also a historian of cartooning and comics; the Goat Getters, published in 2018, was his first large scale work in this field.

• Check out GAG! here on Kickstarter

*Some !GAG! covers, the title published by Harrier Comics*

The collection takes its title from the eponymous Harrier Comics title, published in the 1980s, which also included work by Paul Grist and Ed Pinsent, and others, which ran for just seven issues and is hard to find today.

With the project now fully funded, as an extra bonus, all backers of the physical copy of !GAG! will also receive a print of Glenn’s cover of the original newsprint title.

• Check out GAG! here on Kickstarter

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “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.