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Mechanical Comics makes limited edition debut from comics advocate Ernesto Priego

By John Freeman on October 4, 2025 • ( 0 )

Ernesto Priego, an advocate for comics studies since the early 1990s, has announced the release of his first very limited edition in print of his Mechanical Comics.

Mechanical Comics is a 16-page comic book including a set of 15 wordless one-page comics by Ernesto, created with Public Domain images from the British Library’s digitised collections, serendipitously found through the British Librar’s Mechanical Curator.

These wordless pages prompt reflection on authorship, ownership, and legacy. As experimental comics, they seek to explore how non-algorithmic digital technologies can potentially reimagine historical images and creative processes, and uncover new textures, details, and stories.

Though these comics were created through computer-mediated methods absolutely no Generative AI tools were used and no author’s intellectual property was infringed in the production of this work.

This first edition first printing is an experimental, numbered, (very) limited run of 20 copies (!), so grab your copy while you can!

“For me personally this is an exercise of applied research and I am very much aware of its limitations,” says Ernesto. “Some of the ephemera collectors out there may be interested in securing a copy before they vanish.”

Mechanical Comics | ISBN 978-1916360020 | Available from the Manzanamas Press Big Cartel, to be delivered via Royal Mail to a UK address or, if you are going to Comics Forum on 13th – 14th November, you can preorder it online and Ernesto be pleased to deliver your copy in person.

Regrettably, due to the unstable environment regarding international tariffs, Manzanamas Press are currently only able to ship within the UK (or else deliver in person at conferences etc.).

• Ernesto Priego is online at ernestopriego.com

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.