Home › Comics › British Comics › 200th anniversary celebration of “The Glasgow Looking Glass”, the world’s first comic, in the works

200th anniversary celebration of “The Glasgow Looking Glass”, the world’s first comic, in the works

By John Freeman on June 20, 2024 • ( 0 )

Following up on his The Dunfermline Story anthology project, Commando writer Colin Maxwell is looking for artists and writers to produce short satirical strips for a comic to launch Summer 2025 – a 200th anniversary tribute to The Glasgow Looking Glass.

The Glasgow Looking Glass - 'Palmam Qui Meruit Ferat'. Vol. 1, No. 2, published in 1825

The project will be crowdfunded in early 2025.

“The Glasgow Looking Glass (later The Northern Looking Glass) was published in 1825 and is considered by many the first ‘comic’, Colin explains. “It used speech bubbles and is believed to be the first publication to use ‘to be continued’.

“Similar to the more famous Punch, the Looking Glass contained satirical cartoons commenting on politics and society of the day. This tribute comic will be a satirical look at modern day Scotland.”

• You can contact Colin via Maximized Comics – maximized.co.uk

• There’s more information about the original publication here on the website of Special Collections Department in the Library, of the University of Glasgow

• Michael Dempster’s research into the Looking Glass on Wee Windaes

• The Dunfermline Story comic reveals city’s proud history

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.