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“Webcomic Name” cartoonist Alex Norris continues battle for his creation

By John Freeman on April 3, 2024

Welsh cartoonist Alex Norris, creator of the webcomic Webcomic Name, recently relaunched his GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to support him in an expensive and protracted copyright case with American company Golden Bell, to protect his ownership of the title, so that he can continue to make his comics for huge audience around the world.

For those unfamiliar, Alex is a queer artist from Swansea, who studied English Literature at University of Bristol. After reading the greatest works of literature in the English language “I went on to work in the lowest medium of all: webcomics,” he says.

“After I graduated from university in 2013, I wanted to become a writer, and decided webcomics were a great way to get my art out to as many people as possible very quickly. I began my first webcomic – Dorris McComics. This was an experimental series where I tried to see what I could do with short form comics, often breaking the form and trying out different styles of punchlines. I then made two webcomic series for LINE Webtoon – How to Love (a comic-format agony aunt series, collected last year) and Hello World (a photo collage travel series).

On his GoFundMe page, Alex explains “I created Webcomic Name in 2016, originally as a parody of relatable webcomics. For the past six years, the format has been the same: three panels long, featuring a silly pink blob, and ending every time with the punchline ‘oh no’. Over time, it has increasingly become a commentary on issues close to my heart: social justice, gender and sexuality, internet culture, and what it means to be an artist on the internet.”

Alex has been battling Golden Bell since 2019, the legal case arising out of an agreement to make a board game based on his webcomic in 2017. Alex explains, the publishing company used this as an opportunity to take all of his intellectual property, and has even claimed ownership of Webcomic Name as a whole.

Golden Bell’s action against Alex is not the only battle they have been having, as the Tabletop Tribune has previously noted in a lengthy feature. The company, founded in 2016, has fiercely defended itself from critics of its management and completion of crowdfunding campaigns. However, their activities led Kickstarter to prohibit the company from using its platform.

The details of the “Norris v. Goldner” case are publicly available to read online and although by early March 2024 Alex had “mostly won” a first court case, Golden Bell recently initiated a second lawsuit against him, taking up even more of his life and unfairly forcing him to spend more and more in legal fees.

This second suit has been filed by Golden Bell against Norris and publisher Andrews McMeel, who published a collection of the webcomic in 2019, despite a cease and desist order.

“I love making this webcomic, and I am so thrilled it has been amazingly popular with the internet and beyond,” Alex notes on his GoFundMe page, “I am proud to have found something my readers love reading as much as I love making!

“This lawsuit was filed in the U.S. and it has been incredibly expensive,” he explains. “I am a queer Welsh artist based in the UK, from a working-class background. As you can imagine, this whole thing has been devastating to my mental health, and a massive struggle for the past five years. I have never been through anything like this before. I haven’t posted so much recently, and this is why. It has had an overwhelming effect on my life, on my ability to work, and my ability to enjoy things day by day.

“I am proud to have funded my way through this case so far through my own hard work, and the support of my incredible readers through my online shop, Patreon and appearances at comic conventions. I haven’t felt able to talk about this much publicly, until now. Your kind donations will help cover the legal fees I currently owe, and support me until the end of the case. Any funds that may be left over once the case is finished will be given to a charity of my selection.

Thank you to everyone for your support- it means the world! I am grateful to have such a wonderful audience! And thank you to all of my amazing friends and family who have been an emotional support through the particularly rough times.”

The second suit means Alex has had to re-open his fundraiser to get out of debt with my legal fees yet again.

“If this was intended to wear me down even further, I won’t let it,” he insists. “The end is in sight, despite their ridiculous conduct and attempts to complicate things.

“Thank you to everyone who is able to help me get to the end of this. Once again, I am so grateful for all your support.

“I have essentially won the main case based on the decisions made last summer. The Judge has clearly stated that I own my comics, and that the other party has infringed on my copyright.

“It is not over yet, as there are still a few things that need to happen. Hopefully things will all be wrapped up this year. After six years of legal battling, I can’t wait to be free of all of this.

“Hopefully, this second case will backfire, and they will be sanctioned for filing it. But to get to that point requires a frustratingly large amount of work, time and money.”

As of today, Alex has raised £317,754 of a £340,000 goal, the previous funds from the lawsuit fundraiser have been spent to get this far.

“I was hoping to pay for the remainder of the legal fees out of my own pocket, using income from my comics and online shop, as I did for the first few years of the case. But I’m having to open the fundraiser again to pay for this new load of work.

“If you have already donated, thank you so much. If you could spare another donation for this second lawsuit I would be incredibly grateful. And if you aren’t able to donate – thank you for sharing and liking these posts, and spreading the word. I couldn’t get through this without you.”

• If you can support Alex in his legal battle, you can donate to his cause here on GoFundMe

• If you can’t help at this time, then share his GoFundMe campaign on your social media or web blogs, and raise awareness of the fight

• You can read WebComicName on Tumblr

• You can also support Alex on Patreon – or buy WebComicname merchandise here

• Follow Alex on Facebook, Instagram or X | LinkTree

• Buy How to Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone by Alex Norris (UK links)

• Buy How to Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone by Alex Norris (US link)

How to Love brilliantly witty and wise illustrated guide to relationships for teens – by the hugely popular webcomic artist and creator of Oh No!

Isn’t it wonderful when love strikes? When you encounter someone beautiful and interesting and suddenly: feelings. But what do you do when that first crush squashes you flat, when sparks fly but fizzle out, when you and your other half just don’t click together?

Enter How to Love! Your funny, wise and very different guide to relationships of all shapes and sizes, covering topics from singlehood to jealousy to happily ever after – all delivered in Alex Norris’s clever, accessible and bright graphic style.

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.