Re the Nobrow thing. It makes me sad to think of young artists being put off the joy that comes from this art form, maddening as it almost always is. In that spirit - if you’ve had good experiences of working with good people in comics, please share them below!

My top tip, FWIW: if you are making a graphic novel, get an agent. If someone approaches you asking you to make a book, get an agent.

This is what prose authors do, and you should too. Very few ‘specialise’ in comics in the UK, but that doesn’t mean they won’t rep you if you have publisher interest. If you can’t get an agent, seek good independent advice.

Ok to start off: I’ve had great, experiences with Random House, and now Faber. I’ve heard good things about Self Made Hero, Avery Hill, Myriad, Breakdown, Shortbox. Apparently Penguin have a new imprint called Gameish which I hear is good to work with. Anyone else?

*by random house I mean Jonathan cape, an imprint of

Oh and if a publisher says they ‘don’t work with agents’? That is literally not a thing. You do not want to work with that publisher.

Returning to this thread to clarify for any still reading: I’m talking about getting a literary agent here, as opposed to an illustration agent. For various quite legitimate reasons, illustration agents take a higher cut than literary agents -

- and literary agents are less accustomed to taking on cartoonists. But if a publisher has expressed an interest in your work, a literary agent will be quite likely take you on and do your contract stuff. They should only take about 15%, ish.

Illustration agents do mor legwork in terms of arranging day to day income jobs and promoting you. Literary agents, for a graphic novelist, save your arse from being gaslit by contract-wielding vampires on the rarer occasions that you embark upon a massive graphic novel project.

And yes, you CAN have both a literary and an illustration agent, and if either try to stop you getting the other, no, that isn’t normal or ok.

For example, with my graphic novel stuff that I *write*, my literary agent deals with it because he knows the books world. If I get a contract for an illustration job, that is often dealt with by my illustration agent. Or I do it myself! Hope this clarifies!

(Sorry to go off-topic: the recommendations for good folks in UK comics begins below. I’ll shut up now...)