Ian Kennedy’s “Great War Dundee” cover revealed

By John Freeman on August 31, 2019 • ( 1 )

Ian Kennedy’s cover art for the upcoming free, limited edition Great War Dundee Comic has been unveiled, featuring “Ragtime Soldier“, a character created by Pat Mills, with art by Gary Welsh and Phillip Vaughan.

Just 300 copies of the Great War Dundee Comic, with a cover by Ian Kennedy, will be printed

As we previously reported, “Ragtime Soldier” is the lead strip in the anthology, a strip Pat considers a successor to his brilliant “Charley’s War” saga created for Battle with artist Joe Colquhoun. The Great War Dundee Comic is just part of a Heritage Lottery funded project about the Great War Dundee, edited by Phillip Vaughan and Chris Murray at the University of Dundee, which will be printed and publish through the University’s imprint UniVerse.

The launch of the comic will coincide with the end of the project and will be launched at the V&A Dundee on Friday 20th September 2019, where Pat will be the guest of honour.

The anthology also features “The Woman’s Toon” written by Erin Keepers (Cosmic, Nasty Girls), Hailey Austin (Commando) with art by Anya Morozova (2000AD), and “Casualties of War” by former Commando editor Calum Laird and artist Ell Balson (Slow Shutter) – and all the strips will also feature in an issue of Comic Scene magazine.

The lunch time launch, which includes an appearance by Pat Mills, is free, but ticketed, and you can book your tickets here.

“It’s an all ages event/comic,” Phillip Vaughn has previously commented, “and we are looking to highlight some unknown (or unpublicised) stories about World War One. This is why we approached Pat for the ‘Ragtime’ script: we wanted to have a ‘Charley’s War’ vibe to the lead comic strip.

“We are looking to expand the 11-pager to a full graphic novel at a later date and are currently looking at other funding streams.”

Due to popular demand, the stories from Great War Dundee will be featured in the October issue of Comic Scene (Issue 9). There will be articles on the project in both Judge Dredd Megazine and Comic Scene this month, too.

The team behind the project are printing a limited initial print run of around 300 copies of Great War Dundee to give away at the event, but wider access will be either a free PDF to download after the 20th or reading the strips in Comic Scene.

As part of Great War Dundee, another comic has already been published – 5:47, available as a digital download, by Fruzsiner Pittner, supported by The Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee Innovation Internship, and Iain Donald, Abertay University.

WEB LINKS

• Book your launch event tickets

• Great War Dundee is online at www.greatwardundee.com | V&A Dundee

• Pat Mills is online at www.millsverse.com

• Gary Welsh is online at wixsite.com/garywelsh

• Explore the downthetubes “Charley’s War Micro Site”, originally published by Neil Emery and created in its current form with thanks to Pat Mills, Moose Harris and Rebellion Publishing Ltd

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.