Gary Spencer Millidge

I’m launching a Patreon to help me get the final chapter, Strangehaven: Epilogue finished. Patreons will receive exclusive access to updates, work-in-progress and more. Please check it out. patreon.com/millidge

The UK government released its progress report on AI & copyright today. The good news for creatives is that the government formally dropped its preferred option of a broad copyright exception with an opt-out. This was unworkable and hugely unpopular. It's good that they've recognised this. The bad news is that weakening copyright law is very much still on the table. They haven't actually ruled out that hugely unpopular opt-out proposal, and they are explicit that they are still considering other forms of copyright exception too. We are obviously in a better position than we were eighteen months ago, when the government was clearly in the pocket of big tech and was actively proposing an extremely harmful policy. Credit should go to the many, many creatives who fought that proposal, and to the new leadership at DSIT for listening. But it's important not to see this as more of a win than it really is. The government is still considering weakening copyright law to favour AI companies, and those AI companies will continue to lobby very hard for them to do so. Until the government rules out weakening copyright law, people need to keep making their voices heard. Our work is not the government's to give away. Speaking up works. Read the report here: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69ba6922…

🚨 It looks like the UK government is gearing up to upend copyright law in favour of AI companies, legalising the theft of their work. This is despite creatives' huge protests, and despite previous proposals being roundly rejected by the public. There are rumours it is considering introducing a 'commercial research exception' for AI training. This would be disastrous. It would mean handing the life's work of British creatives to AI companies for free, to train their models on. In the House of Lords today, a government minister refused to rule this out. To be clear, this would amount to legalising theft. It would fly in the face of public opinion on what is fair, and would mean a surrender of British creatives' work by this Labour government. It would mean the lobbying by big US tech firms had succeeded, and the protests of the UK's creatives had been ignored. People's work is not the government's to give away. If you're in the UK and you care about creatives and the creative industries, please write to your MP!

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez: Starting next week, my government will implement the following actions: First, we will change the law in Spain to hold platform executives legally accountable for many infringements taking place on their sites. Second, we will turn algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content into a new criminal offense. Third, we will implement a hate and polarization footprint system to track, quantify, and expose how digital platforms fuel division and amplify hate. Fourth, Spain will ban access to social media for minors under the age of 16. Platforms will be required to implement effective age verification systems — not just checkboxes, but real barriers that work. Fifth and last, my government will work with our public prosecutor to investigate and pursue the infringement committed by Grok, TikTok, and Instagram.

So that’s another year almost done and dusted. Just the celebrations, the gifts, the food, the reflections and the regrets yet to come... You can read my full annual Christmas message on my Patreon page here: patreon.com/posts/glad-tid… Lashings of yuletide love, --Gary.

@GailSimone I buy anything I can find drawn by Jakub Rebelka.

Name a comic artist whose work you will always buy, regardless of the title, because you love the way they draw so much.

@rewindtvuk The Shadoks from 1968

Name a TV show you watched religiously that nobody else seems to remember. The more obscure, the better. 📺 🎬 🎞 Freeview 81 | Sky 182 | Freely 141 #classictv #archivetv #rewindtv

@AaronMeyers Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Just had surgery

Only a few hours to go on my latest art auction so if all of you who asked me to sell my Dandy artwork are still interested, here's your chance. All bids appreciated. ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?ite…

@Heccles94 UK, left

I want to trace where the algorithm is pushing my posts, if you see this post comment with the country you live in, and whether you identify as left, centre, or right on the political spectrum 👇

Comics collecting my classic strips from the 1980s/90s are available exclusively from me at my KoFi shop. See the link for more info and pics. ko-fi.com/lewstringer/sh…

@geengeenie and I treated ourselves to a pair of the cheap seats at Basildon Vue to see James Gunn’s Superman…which was, predictably, brilliant. Everything from the casting to the music choices is perfect. Mister Terrific is just that and Krypto is the new Baby Groot.

Aaaargh! The blue screen of death. patreon.com/posts/135297867

@AlKohol66 @ScarredForLife2 Any adaptations would be covered under my media agreement, but I'll mention it next time I speak to them.

@millidge @ScarredForLife2 Hey Hitchhikers was always best served by audio IMO…if you need any help or such…feel free to nudge me…I’m a creative type too . BTW, I love The Archers ! Strangehaven- an every day story …that’s not an every day story.

I can’t quite believe where all that time went, but this month thirty years ago, the first issue of Strangehaven reached comic shops across the world.  New Patreon post: patreon.com/posts/this-lon…

@AlKohol66 @ScarredForLife2 Not a bad shout. There were a couple of proposals for a series of 'webisodes' when they were a thing...but audio? Like The Archers but with more women in fishtanks and aliens? It could work!

@millidge @ScarredForLife2 Definitely…maybe one day there will be an audio adaptation. I think Strangehaven would suit that medium….but hey what do I know…mere mortal.

@AlKohol66 @ScarredForLife2 @AlKohol66 It is, but there are perks and benefits. Control and ownership of my own work is paramount.

@millidge @ScarredForLife2 This self publishing and creating lark…is fab for us mortals but a ton of work for you creative types!

@AlKohol66 @ScarredForLife2 I don't know what the status of Meanwhile...is, you would have to ask Soaring Penguin. But there won't be any more Strangehaven in it.

@millidge @ScarredForLife2 Is there more to come from Meanwhile?

@ScarredForLife2 @AlKohol66 Well let's see once it's all finished shall we?

@AlKohol66 @millidge Yes! 🙏🏽

@TerrasIncognita I never went away!

@millidge Welcome back!!!!

@TheeMondoWray Hang in there, Richard. Everything's a bit scattered and hard to find at the moment, but that will change in due course.

@millidge I'd love to get these again, I think about the series quite often. Lost them when a relationship came to an end over 20 years ago now.

@KylePrometheus Thanks, Kyle. Are they any easier to do now..? I wouldn't want to be just starting out...

In the Beginning... 😎💬🎨🐠 30 years, eh? *Adopts a 'power pout' pose... 'Probably the best Indie Comic In the World.' 💬🍻 Like Excalibur itself...rising from the primordial waters... As Sun. 🌞 As gleaming redemption in a post-watchmen shattered superhero world... (...and don't get us started on Heroes 'Reborn' - still, a debt to 'Team Red' that drove us into the realm of Indie Comics, starting with this G.O.A.T!⚔️) (...back when Indie Comics were soul suckingly difficult to do...)