Jack Teagle Interview

Jack Teagle is a UK cartoonist. He is known for his Garfield parody strips, as well as his Magic: The Gathering cards.

Hey Jack! Thanks for agreeing to the interview. I may have follow up questions based on your answers.

How did you get in to comics?

Jack: I fell into it! I’ve always loved all types of comics. I grew up with the Beano, and as a teenager I discovered Robert Crumb, Tom Gauld, Simone Lia, Julie Doucet, Dan Clowes, and I read a lot of manga.

I was studying illustration and creating a lot of narrative painting. 

My final major project in University won a graduate award at an exhibition I entered. It was a triptych of acrylic paintings, so I guess it looked like a comic page. It got picked up by Nobrow Press, and they approached me to make a comic. I was very nervous, I built up what comics were and how they were made too much in my head, but I gave it a good go, and it sort of just snowballed from there. The comic started to open up opportunities for me as it had a pretty good readership with a trendy new publisher.

I’ve worked as an illustrator, and I studied as an illustrator for the longest time. Comics fall into that for me, and I’ll take on any work where I can get it. In the early days it was sort of a specialism of mine, and I’d draw comics as infographics for kids magazines or cartooning or whatever. Some of my comics helped to get me storyboarding and animation work. My Fight! comic helped me to get a job directing an advert for Converse. I storyboarded it and made digital maquetes of all the characters. Sadly it never got put into proper production, and I’ve lost a great deal of the original work because my computer and external hard drive broke within a week of each other and I lost a big archive of my early work.

How long have you been making comics?

Jack: I had been making zines and things since I was about 10, but nothing seriously, just messing about and experimenting. I guess seriously, I’ve been making them since I was around 20. I did have a geocities website where I made joke comics about my teachers in secondary school, but that was my only other attempt and I don’t really count that! I started making zines using a photocopier in university, and I started to screenprint some of my early comics too.

You self-publish your comics. Do you print them yourself, pod, or a local shop?

Jack: I do a bit of everything. I used to have a riso machine that I’d make everything on. It was given to me for free, and I learnt to repair it, but it got too time consuming. I used a local printer/ copy shop, but for black and white zines, they were really expensive and didn’t understand what we were doing. I use  larger printers now and get print runs made in full colour of the collections of my comics. These are mostly perfect bound books.

I think I remember you shouting out publishers on Facebook, like Boom and IDW. Did anything ever come from that?

Jack: With those two in particular? No. It’s always a shot in the dark. I can’t say what I’m working on at the moment, but I have had some work come through specifically from fan art from a certain intellectual property that I keep drawing. 

Occasionally I’ll work with a big brand or company, but I’ve never had success with larger comics publishers.

Lately you’ve done artwork for Magic the gathering cards. How did that come about?

Jack: That’s actually through comics too!

I’ve known my art director Jacob Covey for a long time. I’ve been on the internet posting prolifically for a very long time, and I can’t remember how he came to be aware of my work. Probably my Nobrow comics.

He always said if Fantagraphics ever released a third volume of their BEASTS book, I would have been included. He commissioned me for some paintings a long time ago, one of my wrestlers, and one of the Greek mythological figure, Argus, the giant with many eyes.

He knew that I had my own fantasy world and creatures, and he was always looking out for me. He started working at Magic the Gathering and said if there was any work for me, he’d let me know. He’s been really kind in looking out for me and getting me involved in some very fun jobs. They really remind me of the work I made for him back in the day.

They’re so fun to get stuck into. Obviously it’s in my own style, but I really try to stay true to the tradition of the cards, and I really try to make the compositions and ideas as dynamic and imaginative as possible. 

I loved those retro game illustrations you did a while ago. What were they for?

Jack: They were for a few different books published by Lost in Cult. The Console Chronicles and a Handheld History: 88-95

I love video game art, I think for older games, it really helps to fill out the world you’re inhabiting. It’s a real magic illusion.

I really enjoy getting my teeth stuck into niche work I’m passionate about too. There’s little official art of some of the games, and having played a lot of the games thoroughly, it meant I could add to the culture surrounding all of those games. 

I’ve seen your comics have been translated in to German. Have you been to Germany for your comics? How big is the German comic scene?

Jack: Yes! Plem Plem Productions under their Ugly Bug label have published my books The Jungle, Jeff Job Hunter and Rad Erwank which was illustrated by me and written by the great Łukasz Kowalczuk.

They’re been so positive and encouraging and really playful and inventive with their ideas. Jeff Job Hunter had a “design your own cover”, which was left largely blank, with a large sticker sheet of my characters and monsters so you could create your own image.

I’ve not been to Germany for my comic work. I’d love to. I’m not actually sure how big the scene is over there. I visited there about 18 years ago as a school trip and bought a lot of comics.

I’ve bumped into some great German artists during my travels. The late Ralph Niese was incredible and he very kindly took me under his wing when I was younger. He used to send me materials he’d use, and show me his layered .psd files. If I bought comics from him, he’d send me crazy things like resin cast art toys he made as a gift.

Biografiktion are great and have been going for as long as I can remember. It’s a small collective made of Till Hafenbrak, Paul Paetzel, Ana Albero. They’re all incredible talented. I’ve collaborated on small press zines and Nobrow anthologies where we crossed over a few times. I got to meet Paul when we both exhibited comic work and gave talks in Antwerp at the Grafixx festival, and he’s a really nice person too.

What tools do you use?

Jack: Most of my comics have been drawn with dip pen and India Ink. 

I tend to thumbnail, then I’ll do pencils, lightbox over those on a seperate final piece of cartridge paper with dip pen, and then scan and colour on photoshop. 

My illustration work is either made with acrylic paints, or I’ll work digitally, similarly to how I make comic work. 

What are you currently working on?

Jack: I’m trying to find representation for my illustration work, and I’m making a lot of paintings. Sadly the world seems to be getting smaller and it’s harder for me to post as myself as a micro business. I will continue to do so, but I’m trying to build local connections with my work. I’ve always felt like I was an international artist, but it’s very difficult to post abroad as the prices get so expensive to sending books. 

I’m making a lot of personal work, mostly drawings, big narrative illustrations, and I’m working on some more things for Magic the Gathering.

I’d like to make some more bootleg comics for the Simpsons and Turtles. That work seems to transcend the comics crowd and it’s much broader and easier to sell to and to entertain people with. 

You can discover more about Jack’s art at: https://www.jackteagle.co.uk/

His wife finished a graphic novel last year called the Witch’s Egg: https://donyatodd.com/