UPDATED: major museum publications

As ever with blog posts sometime you've just got to start somewhere. So today I want to start compiling a list of books / exhibitions about comics / cartoons / caricaturing that have been held by major museums and galleries.

Now updated with these two Tintin items. First up is 'The adventures of Tintin at sea' - the official book of the National Maritime Museum's [2004] exhibition.

There is also this (bi-lingual) guide to the exhibition.

There's also this British Library exhibition catalogue (from 2014). Cover art by Jamie Hewlett.

Now updated with this catalogue from the National Portrait Gallery's 1976 exhibition of cartoons from Vanity Fair.

I'll start the ball rolling with this publication by the V&A museum. It's a catalogue of a collection of prints in the possession of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Victoria and Albert Museum

More suggestions welcome for other such publications!

UPDATED: the watercolour work of Mike Western

I've posted before about the watercolour artwork that Mike Western produced in later life (such a contrast to all that black & white comics artwork on Leopard from Lime Street, The Sarge and Darkie's mob). 

Today's addition isn't really in keeping with the rest of the watercolour work I've featured (below) previously but I wasn't sure where else to file it on the blog! So here's a 'Twin Peaks' image by Mike Western. Maybe it was a tryout piece for a comic? A magazine image? Any tips welcome!

I've now found this painting - 'The tinker's wife'

New images found for this painting 'Corn Dolly'

Another piece has now come up for sale on eBay, priced at £150 (or best offer) and it's here - the piece is untitled.

The seller is in Worthing and offers to deliver within 25 miles of their postcode (but doesn't seem to want to post it)

The last piece offered on eBay, priced at £209.60 on a buy-it-now it's called 'At the turn' and is available here

Other pictures 

A recent ebay search on sold items has turned up these two interesting pieces by Mike Western - the first picture is called "the rebel" and the second is called "Pipe dreams". The third picture is untitled and was attached to the back of the 2nd picture but has been identified by Peter Western as a self-portrait of his father.

The first two pictures appear to be companion pieces to these pieces I also found...

Original cover for Earthside 8 revealed!

This original piece of art by Brett Ewins was up for sale recently (it sold for £77.90). I've snagged these images for posterity because this art was used as the cover for the 2000AD spin-off comic that never was, Alternity.

Here's what the dummy looked like. According to this site the material in Alternity had been re-cycled from the aborted Earthside 8 (2000AD spin-off comic) title... 

...we can see here that this should have been used as the front cover to Earthside 8 (rather than the Dave Gibbons image that was used).

Lawless 2025 - the photos, part 3

For anyone (like me!) who thinks it'a a very long time to wait until Lawless 2026 here's some photos of Lawless 2025 to help keep you going until May 2026.

Simon Bisley prints were here

More prints & Bisley paintings were here

and now some pencils...

Sleep Clinic - Neville Colvin

One for fans of newspaper strip collections today...yes it's 'Sleep Clinic'. I'm aware of one other similar publicaton by The Daily Express ('Isometrics') which I'll feature on the blog soon. Were there other health based newspaper strips I'm not aware of???  

Script by Ridwan Aitken and art by Neville Colvin. Colvin is probably most well known for his long run on the Modesty Blaise newspaper strip. His wikipedia entry is here.

Stella is definitely not asleep here!

Heroes! The British invasion of American comics - part 1

Recently (ish!) finished at the Cartoon Museum (here)was their exhibition 'Heroes! The British invasion of American comics'. 

For anyone who couldn't make it here's part 1 of my look at what you missed...