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

By John Freeman on June 20, 2024

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

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.