Jim Lavery Comics and Illustration

One of the things its advised not to do when seeking attention from editors is to show them pin-ups. They are no indication of an ability to tell a story which is more important than a polished action pose. That being said, drawing superheroes is how I started as a kid and something I still love to do, even though I don't often get the chance. Here are a few I've done over the past while:

Here are pages I worked on with a writer, we had been promised publication and delivered well within deadline and there it languished. Eventually we were told that due to an abundance of material the publisher couldn't give us a date as to when or even i9f the pages would be printed. It's an aspect of comics and being an artist that is unfortunate but part of the process. At least I get to share them with you here: 

When preparing portfolio work, particularly for comics, artists often use their favourite characters or familiar ones to the editor whose eye they hope to catch.  It's often wise to do something to make one's art stand out but how to do so without straying too far from the original design? In the pages below, I wanted to draw a 'Wolverine' story but to distinguish myself I decided to set the story in depression-era America. I'm not sure how wise or successful it is but it sure was fun:

I love cartoons and animation as well as comic books, it's often commented on. Here's a few pages of colourful comics I completed for younger readers:

Recently I submitted these pages to the 2000ad/Thought bubble competition. There was a script supplied, I enjoyed interpreting it and seeing how other artists tackled it. I worked hard on it because I knew the competition would be tough and because of the deadline, I was happy with what I had produced. It’s only after I can go over it and see flaws, things I want to change or do better. I had a professional comic artist friend go through it with me, pointing out things from their perspective, things I knew but over looked, other things I hadn’t spotted. I believe this is an important thing for any artist to do, criticism is healthy when it’s constructive. Overall, I’m glad I did it, the winner and nominees were very talented and have spurred me on to up my game.