Birmingham-based Time Bomb Comics is gearing up for the launch of its Kickstarter for the latest adventure in its popular gothic horror Dick Turpin series, a reimagining of the legendary highwayman. And if the preview art they’ve teased by John Erasmus is anything to go by, this revamped adventure, based on a tale first told by Steve Tanner and Andrew Dodd back in 2007, it could be their most stunning yet.
Written by Steve Tanner, with interior artwork by John Erasmus, letters from John Robbins and edited by Paul H Birch, Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead sees the infamous highwayman battle zombies in a full-colour reworking of Time Bomb’s second ever story.
Originally published in black and white drawn by Andrew Dodd and just 24 pages in length, that edition is now long out of print. The 2026 edition is a full length graphic novel, containing completely new art and a substantially expanded plot.
A flamboyant figure on the independent comics scene, editor, publisher and writer Steve Tanner‘s passion for comics knows no bounds. An avid reader and collector since childhood, Steve decided to fully realise his enthusiasm for the medium back in 2006 when a visit to a local comics convention inspired him to set-up Time Bomb Comics. He’s been publishing quality one-shots and graphic novels in the UK since September 2007, the company’s publications, which include the anthology title, Quantum, spanning historical horror to mind-bending science-fiction, with only one restriction: the imagination of the creative teams.
Artist John Erasmus has been a comic book and storyboard artist for thirty years, whose many credits include work for Dark Horse, Marvel, the original Toxic, and The Dandy, as well as working on titles such as Bomb Scares for Time Bomb. His film and TV storyboard credits include The Raven, House at the End of the Street, Gotham, Lucifer, Wanderlust and Doctor Who. Alongside film director Yousaf Ali Khan, he’s also the creator of Amazonas Comics, a part-time passion project which he hopes will contribute, through the education system, to the growing global environmental conservation movement.
John and Yousaf conceived Amazonas Comics back in 2011, while staying on a floating research facility on the Amazon River; a place louder than any city and teeming with more life than anywhere else on the planet.
Recreating The Restless Dead
Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead will be the third full length Dick Turpin adventure published by Time Bomb Comics. The character’s previous stories – The Vengeful Shade, drawn by Roland Bird, and The Crimson Plague, drawn by Graeme Howard – have seen him face ghosts and vampires, with both gothic horror romps having highly successful pre-order campaigns on Kickstarter.
“I think now that Dick Turpin defined Time Bomb Comics,” says writer and publisher Steve Tanner, talking about why he keeps coming back to his version of Dick Turpin, a character whose adventures he started writing back in 2007, twenty years ago. “Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead was its second comic, released in 2008. But it was received much more enthusiastically than our first (the science fiction one-shot Ragamuffins). So much so, that I think it put Time Bomb on the radar regards what was being published in British indie comics at the time.”
“Similar to what I did with Ragamuffins, this takes the original story and reworks it, with completely new art and lettering, and now in colour,” he says, describing what readers can expect from this new version of his story.
“Those who read the original will recognise some of the original plot, but hopefully will be surprised, and perhaps horrified, with the new twists and turns. Imagine a modern movie version of a forgotten 1960s black and white TV show – that’s the difference between the two.
“The original version of Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead was still very much traditional small press in how the story was presented. What’s great about this new 2026 take is that it’s pretty much my definitive version of a story that I’ve always been fond of, and which began my 18th Century obsession in the first place.
“That, and the visual treat of added brutal highwayman versus zombie action from artist John Erasmus, of course!”
Further details about Dick Turpin and the Restless Dead, including the cover and cover artist, the Kickstarter launching later this month. You can sign up to be notified on launch at this link.
Head downthetubes for…
• Time Bomb Comics is online at timebombcomics.com | Follow Time Bomb Comics on Bsky | Facebook | Substack | X
• Read our review of the original Dick Turpin and The Restless Dead, published in 2007
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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.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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