Legal fund for Alex Norris "oh no" comics

I am Alex Norris, creator of the webcomic Webcomic Name. I am here to ask for help fighting a legal case to protect my ownership of Webcomic Name, so that I can continue to make my comics for my audience around the world.

I have been fighting this case since 2019. It arose out of an agreement to make a boardgame based on my webcomic in 2017 but the publishing company has used this as an opportunity to take all of my intellectual property, and has even claimed ownership of Webcomic Name as a whole. I can't go into more detail here, but the details of the case are publicly available to read online.

In 2023, the publishing company have launched a baseless SECOND lawsuit against me. I refuse to let them try to intimidate me. However, it does mean that I am having to raise even more in legal fees that I originally thought- and I feel this is why they are doing it, to try to silence me as a small individual artist. Again, this case is publicly available to read online. With your help, I hope to fund all the work to end this for good soon.

I made the first "oh no" comics in 2015, and then created Webcomic Name in 2016, originally as a parody of relatable webcomics. For the past 9 years, the format has been the same: three panels long, featuring a silly pink blob, and ending every time with the punchline "oh no". Over time, it has increasingly become a commentary on issues close to my heart: social justice, gender and sexuality, internet culture, and what it means to be an artist on the internet.

I love making this webcomic, and I am so thrilled it has been amazingly popular with the internet and beyond. I am proud to have found something my readers love reading as much as I love making!

These lawsuits was filed in the U.S. and it has been incredibly expensive. I am a queer Welsh artist based in the UK, from a working-class background. As you can imagine, this whole thing has been devastating to my mental health, and a massive struggle for the past 5 years. I have never been through anything like this before. I haven't posted so much recently, and this is why. It has had an overwhelming effect on my life, on my ability to work, and my ability to enjoy things day by day.

I am proud to have funded my way through this case so far through my own hard work, and the support of my incredible readers through my online shop, Patreon and appearances at comic conventions. I haven't felt able to talk about this much publicly, until now. Your kind donations will help cover the legal fees I currently owe, and hopefully support me until the end of the case. Any funds that may be left over once the case is finished will be given to charity. I can't wait to finally make exciting new plans for my work once this is out of my life.

Thank you to everyone for your support- it means the world! I am grateful to have such a wonderful audience! And thank you to all of my amazing friends and family who have been an emotional support through the particularly rough times.

Lots of love

Alex