On Saturday June 23rd, not only will I be hosting the 3rd annual MACC-POW! Macclesfield in Cheshire’s day of comics, as part of the 10 day Barnaby festival in the town, I’ll also be launching a brand-new online comic for all-ages, called GOOF!

GOOF! harks back to the good old days of comics for children (especially in the UK) that had a sense of craziness, anarchy and all-out fun whilst embracing the modern age. It’s a monthly, 30 page digital comic that costs just £1 per issue (£12 for the year maths fans) that you can subscribe to and read online at www.goofcomic.co.uk On the first Saturday of every month, you’ll receive a link to read it in your inbox, just like that.

Taking inspiration from BEANO, the Dandy (in fact it was thinking about the Dandy’s sad demise that started this whole process) the classic OiNK comic and the one-off 1983 Marvel special ‘Channel 33 1/3’ by Dicky Howett and Tim Quinn, whilst embracing the great work that both Jamie Smart’s MooseKid comics and David Lloyd’s Aces Weekly have done for putting quality comics online. GOOF! aims to connect those two groups and offer something fresh and unique for all-ages comics, that stands tall with its’ mighty predecessors!

Here’s the awesome bit and the part I still am pinching myself about… I have lined up some of the greatest cartoonist from around the world, maybe even the known universe to be involved and they will bring their incredible versatility to create a truly unique event in all-ages comics. The UK’s Lew Stringer will bring back his Derek the Troll character, I Kill Giants artist Ken Niimura delivers a one-off and exclusive drawing especially for the launch issue, Observer comics prize winner 2017 Tor Freeman introduces us to ‘Spells in the Forest’ alongside MAD magazine’s Luke McGarry. Lorenzo Montatore from Barcelona brings the crazy with ‘BOX’, the wonderful Emmeline Pidgen brings wonderful witchery with ‘Nona the Ninth’, Dan Moynihan creates ‘Mark and Spark’, Fulton Beal introduces the madcap adventures of ‘Flot and Zot’. Up and coming new comics talent Jessica on Paper gives us ‘Life Jacket’, Jolly Jim Boswell delivers ‘Stick Pig’ and US cartoonist Andrea Bell, shows us all ‘How to be cool’ Genie Espinosa introduces ‘Olivia and Puff’ Joe Matthew goes cosmic with ‘Space Dawg’ and even the legendary Fred Hembeck, famed for his work for both Marvel and DC in the 80’s is creating a new comic!

In addition, alongside that line-up, GOOF! features new characters and comics from Jess Smart Smiley (US) Andreas Schuster (Canada) Rick Eades (UK) Mari Ahokoivu (Finland) and Macclesfield illustrator Dick Vincent (UK)

Each cartoonist brings a different style, a different take on what making an all-ages comic means to them, whilst having fun with the medium itself. GOOF! aims to show you the kind of comics you might expect and something brand new, showing children and adults alike that this is an amazing time for the medium and presenting them in throughly modern way. Crazy adventure comics, funny animals comics, comics that show you how to be cool to your friends, even comics about cooking and culinary skills… we got ‘em!

These comics are exclusive to GOOF! so if you want to check them out, this is the only place to do it.

There is no money upfront, as we are all doing this purely for the love of comics and wanting to create and be a part of something amazing. I have been thrilled with how many of my cartooning pals and heroes have agreed to create comics for this project. The creators only earn from a shared split of the profits taken from sales, so the pressure is on us all to get the project out there and to make a success. It’s great to do what you love, but we still need to pay the bills and the crowdfunding at this stage will help to cover everything we all have done so far to get GOOF! started and for me to show them all how greatful I am for their involvement from the start.

This project brings a new role for me as an editor and general man in charge, as I have being bringing the comic together since early January. Scouring instagram feeds for hot new talent and dipping into my address book to reach out to the old-pros who I know can deliver. I’ll be heavily promoting GOOF! from here on in (as will all the creators to make it the success I truly believe it should be) and we’ll be promoting and introducing what is inside at larger events such as the Lakes International comic-art festival in October, who have offered me great support so far. Keen to not get left out of the comics action too, I’ll also debut a new strip called ‘Donald Dogsbody does the dishes’ and I can’t wait to see him as part of this amazing line-up.

Visitors to MACC-POW! can sign-up and start reading issue zero on the day right there and then. Half of our creators will be in attendance in person including Lorenzo Montatore and Genie Espinosa from Spain, giving the event a truly international flavour. I hope that children will then engage with those creators and talk to them about the new characters they enjoyed and maybe event get a signed drawing of their favourites. Making it a truly interactive first for a comic launch of this kind.

Wherever you are in the world, GOOF! will be waiting for you at www.goofcomic.co.uk so don’t miss out on, comics for everyone!

GOOF! and all related imagery and content © Marc Jackson 2018

Stick Pig © Jim Boswell 2018

Derek the Troll © Lew Stringer 2018

Olivia and Puff @ Genie Espinosa 2018

Spells in the Forest © Tor Freeman 2018