2026 opens with an awards win for downthetubes

By John Freeman on January 1, 2026 • ( 0 )

Happy New Year and a very big THANK YOU to all our readers, as today officially brought news downthetubes had again won the ComicScene annual award for Best Comic Media.

These awards are nominated and voted on by comic fans.

downthetubes won the award in the category this year with just over 36 per cent of votes cast, Comics Journal and the Mega City Book Club podcast (produced by Eamonn Clarke) coming second and third.

The winners of the ComicScene Awards were first announced in the ComicScene Yearbook 2026, and in Episode 317 of the Mega City Book Club podcast, but have now been released through the ComicScene substack.

Congratulations to all the nominees, final nominees and eventual winners in all the awards categories.

Speaking to Eamon Clarke in an interview outlining the ComicScene Awards process and discussing the results, publisher Tony Foster kindly said: “I’m really pleased that [downthetubes] won it, and because it is a great website, particularly if you’re into UK comics. It’s a wonderful resource. John Freeman does such a wonderful job with it. It’s always the best for, you know, interesting articles and resources on British comics and their history.”

Along with the Awards announcement the 2026 ComicScene YearBook, available to buy here, includes a Comic Review of 2025, plus articles on the future of comics, “Mytek the Mighty” by Bear Alley’s Steve Holland, a feature on the indie title Blazer by writer and editor Steve McManus, a celebratory article on 50 years of Battle by Paul Trimble, interviews with Pat Mills, Gary Welsh and Philip Vaughan about the Ragtime Soldier project; plus, former Tiger editor Barrie Tomlinson on what Roy of the Rovers comic would look like now, 50 years later, Richard Sheaf on Jeff Hawke, and much more.

• Get your copy of the ComicScene Yearbook 2026 from the SHIFT webshop | Follow ComicScene on substack

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.