To supplement his income from 1861 on, Gilbert wrote a variety of stories, comic rants, grotesque illustrations, theatre reviews (many in the form of a parody of the play being reviewed), and, under the pseudonym "Bab" (his childhood nickname), illustrated poems for several comic magazines, primarily "Fun", started in 1861 by H. J. Byron. He published stories, articles, and reviews in papers such as "The Cornhill Magazine, London Society, Tinsley's Magazine" and "Temple Bar". In addition, Gilbert was the London correspondent for "L'Invalide Russe" and a drama critic for the "Illustrated London Times". In the 1860s he also contributed to Tom Hood's Christmas annuals, to "Saturday Night", the "Comic News" and the "Savage Club Papers". "The Observer" newspaper in 1870 sent him to France as a war correspondent reporting on the Franco-Prussian War.