Topical cartoon: Death of Margaret Thatcher

"It's not a protest, it's a summary of the day's newspapers."

This one didn't make the cut, I imagine quite a few cartoonists were chasing this particular subject. So I've put it here as it's about the seemingly endless coverage of Margaret Thatcher's death in the media and will only be relevant for a few more days – hopefully!

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Not Yet Sold: Ceiling groovy

"There's an app for that."

One from my rejection pile, which I like to ironically refer to as the "Not Yet Sold" pile. You can see more NYS cartoons here.

Topical cartoon: Closure of The Dandy

Topical gags can sometimes fall victim to the twin perils of print deadlines and other cartoonists coming up with the same idea.

This one, about the closure of The Dandy comic after 75 years, was accepted by Private Eye last Thursday but they phoned today to say that regrettably they won't be using it in the new issue, which is out tomorrow, as two similar cartoons have since appeared in national newspapers.

Such situations do crop up from time to time and a daily publication is always going to have the advantage. All is not lost, however, as the Eye still pays a (smaller) fee in such circumstances and I can still give it an outing here on my blog.

I was a little unsure about doing a cartoon on this subject, as my son is a Dandy fan and I know people who work for it, but I aimed for poignancy rather than a cheap shot.

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Olympics cartoon: Flame on

"This is the 'Mother Flame' – three for a pound down the market."

This is a rejected Olympic Torch cartoon. Too cynical? Maybe, but cartoons don't really work when they celebrate something. Or they are not funny, at least. Cynicism is kind of the default position for cartoonists.

The Torch came down our way this week, just a couple of streets away, so I popped out to see it and posted a rubbish photo of it on Twitter.

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Not Yet Sold: At the cinema

Time for another in my occasional series of rejected cartoons. (Not that my cartoons are only occasionally rejected, you understand ...)

This was inspired by my six-year-old daughter who, largely to wind me up I think, likes to scoop up popcorn off the floor at the end of a film and shove it into her mouth, while saying, in a Homer Simpson-style voice, "Mmm ... floor popcorn."

You can see more Not Yet Sold cartoons here.

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 17: Bear with me

"You must come over to ours for Boxing Day."

This is one from a couple of years ago when there were lots of cartoons depicting polar bears on floating bits of ice. Maybe editors had had their fill though, as it didn't sell. Or maybe they thought that worrying about global financial crisis at Christmas time is enough, without also worrying about global warming.

To avoid a Frozen Planet controversy, I should point out that this is not a real depiction of polar bears, it's just a drawing.

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Not Yet Sold: Just say no, kids

Look, it made me laugh, OK?

It appears that I was probably alone though, hence it is currently dwelling in the file marked Rejected, er, I mean Not Yet Sold. You can see more here.

Not Yet Sold: Cats cartoon

"You really must have nine lives."

I'm not sure if this one works, or if it is that original, but I was really pleased with my design for the "crash test cat dummy"! All comments welcome below, as usual.

More in this series of rejected cartoons: Not Yet Sold.

Not Yet Sold: Astrology cartoon

"Hey, what sign are you?"
Quite often when I dig out cartoons for this occasional feature on much-rejected gags I think, "Hmm, if I change this guy a bit, and maybe reword that" ... and the cartoon ends up being reworked, rather than shown here.

This is one I've pretty much given up on though. It still makes me chuckle, but sometimes you have to admit defeat. What do you think? All comments welcome below, as usual.

Click here for more in this series: Not Yet Sold.

Not Yet Sold: Yet another HMV cartoon

"I've pimped your sound system."

As regular readers of this blog will know, I've done many, many HMV dog cartoons over the years. It's like an illness. Quite a few have been published but some, such as this one, are languishing in the Not Yet Sold files.

Click here for more in this series of rejected cartoons: Not Yet Sold.

As is often the case with my rejected cartoons though, this makes an unpaid appearance in the Foghorn, magazine of the Professional Cartoonists Organisation. I even coloured it in for them.

You can read an archive of the Foghorn online, just click the button on the right-hand column of this blog (scroll down). To buy a print subscription to the mag, which comes out six times a year, go here.

Not Yet Sold: Cat and dog cartoon

"I couldn't imagine life without my little getaway in the country."

This cartoon has it all: a dopey looking dog, a sly cat, and the satirising of contemporary middle-class mores. Yet cartoon editors failed to see its charms, so I present it here in my occasional series on rejected cartoons: Not Yet Sold.

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Not Yet Sold: Kilroy was here

"Wot, no ladder?"

Time for another in my occasional series of rejected cartoons. I'm not sure why it's occasional, as rejection itself is pretty frequent in the cartooning game.

This is a bit of a bizarre one. I always thought it was a long shot, but the joke amused me so I drew it up. It may have stood more of a chance 30 years ago! When I was a kid the graffiti character that this is based on was quite popular, though it has been around since at least the Second World War.

For those who still have no idea what this is about, the character is popularly known as Kilroy, as in "Kilroy was here", though when I was a kid we knew him as Chad.

Wikipedia can fill in the gaps, and if you really want to get into it there's a website called kilroywashere.org !

Kilroy/Chad would often be seen peeking over a wall, lamenting the absence of something. Like this:

"Wot, no cartoon sale?"

Click the link for more Not Yet Sold cartoons.

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Not Yet Sold: Cowboy cartoon

"Actually, my name, if you had bothered to ask, is Keith."

Geddit?! He's been through the desert on a horse with no name! You know, like in the song? Oh, suit yourselves.

Perhaps the joke is a bit obscure, or expects a bit of a leap of logic, either way this cartoon is a long-time occupant of the rejected pile. Click the link for more Not Yet Sold cartoons.

It made me laugh, anyway. I liked the idea of a horse called Keith. My kids have a similar sense of humour, I think. We recently got an adorably cute kitten and they decided that he is to be called Mike. Not Fluffy, or Mr Tibbles. Mike.

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Not Yet Sold: Art cartoon

"Funny guy, eh?"

Here's another rejected cartoon. One of quite a few I've done over the years which riff on the René Magritte painting The Son of Man. Here's one which did see publication, and so is all coloured in properly.

Click the link for more Not Yet Sold cartoons.

Once again, this gag has been given an airing in a non-earning fashion, as it appears in the latest edition of the Foghorn, the magazine of the Professional Cartoonists' Organisation.

You can read an archive of the Foghorn online, just click the button on the right-hand column of this blog (scroll down). To buy a print subscription to the mag, which comes out six times a year, go here.

Royston's portfolio website

Not Yet Sold: Sherlock Holmes cartoon

"I remember when you used to look for answers using your astute powers of deduction."

As there's a new Sherlock Holmes on our TV screens here in the UK, and he's a contemporary, all-texting, all-Googling kind of guy, I thought I'd dig out this cartoon from last year, for my occasional series on rejected cartoons.

I now realise that instead of being a one-off, joke cartoon, the idea of a Googling Holmes was really best suited to a three-part BBC TV mini-series. Missed a trick, there. I do hope that as it has a contemporary setting they will at some point work in the tried-and-tested line of dialogue "No shit, Sherlock?"

Click the link for more Not Yet Sold cartoons.

Not Yet Sold: Office cartoon

"You were the last person I expected to fall down on the job, Trubshaw."

Here's another rejected cartoon for you. I liked this gag, but perhaps the reference to the Weebles toys was lost on anyone who wasn't brought up in the 1970s like me.

Click the link for more Not Yet Sold cartoons.

This gag has actually been given an airing, albeit in a non-earning fashion, as it appears in the latest edition of the Foghorn, the magazine of the Professional Cartoonists' Organisation.

You can read an archive of the Foghorn online, just click the button on the right-hand column of this blog (scroll down). To buy a print subscription to the mag, which comes out six times a year, go here.

Not Yet Sold: Duel cartoon

"On second thoughts, shall we go for Rock-Paper-Scissors?"

Haven't had one of my rejected cartoons on here for a while, so here's one from 2008. I was quite pleased with the drawing here but, alas, the cartoon failed to find a home.

Click the link for more Not Yet Sold cartoons.

Royston's portfolio website

Not Yet Sold: Ramblers cartoon

"I hear there have been a few Big Cat sightings around here."

I'm kind of running out of things to say about these Not Yet Sold cartoons. No magazine has bought them – that's basically what I'm trying to say. Have then been purchased? No, they have not. Could you call these big sellers? That would be an untruth ...

Click here for more Not Yet Sold cartoons. I have now posted ten, over a period of ten weeks. This will probably be more of an occasional feature from now on. If you're craving more rejected cartoons, go read The Rejection Collection and/or its sequel.

Not Yet Sold: Drinking cartoon

"I don't think We Are the Ovaltineys counts as a drinking song."

Here's another rejected cartoon for you. The editor of The Jester, the Cartoonists' Club newsletter, liked this one. He put it on the cover when the cartoon theme was Beer (and no, I'm not talking about my period as editor!) But paying markets? Not a sniff.

More Not Yet Sold cartoons.

Not Yet Sold: Toilets cartoon

Here's a bit of toilet humour for you, as part of my series of rejected cartoons. The disconnect between the rather old-fashioned term "gentlemen" and what is often the modern reality is what I was trying to get at here. Whether it works or not, I'm not sure, given its oft-rejected status.

More Not Yet Sold cartoons.