A new Facebook group dedicated to British girls comic artist John Armstrong has just gone public with the support of the artist’s family, who are keen to see a lasting memorial to his work.
John, who died last year aged 94, was a lifelong artist who will be best known to downthetubes readers as co-creator of “Bella at the Bar” for Tammy and “Moonchild” for Misty – but his work encompassed many styles and genres.
Much of the art featured in the new group is from John’s personal archive, kindly released by his family in an effort to celebrate his life as an artist and assembled for online viewing by the downthetubes team.
The images uploaded – which include art from World War Two, college art, stage show posters, book illustrations, portraits and some examples of John’s comic art are featured.
Sadly, very little, if any, original art from John’s work on titles such as Misty and Tammy is known to exist. Some was believed destroyed when then owners IPC moved to a new warehouse and more was destroyed at the direction of senior management during Robert Maxwell’s ownership of many Fleetway titles.
Any information on some of the work featured, if published, is welcome.
The new community is the latest of many dedicated to individual British comic artists on Facebook, which also features groups dedicated to 2000AD artist John Michael Burns, Commando artist Ian Kennedy and 2000AD artist Ron Smith.
• Visit The Art of John Armstrong Facebook group
• Read the downthetubes tribute to John Armstrong
• In His Own Words: John Armstrong on his life and career
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All imagery © respective creators/ publishers. Misty © Rebellion Publishing Ltd.
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.
Categories: Art and Illustration, British Comics, Comic Art, Comic Creator Spotlight, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News