Fancy some reading some fantastic independently published British comic anthologies, featuring a slew of amazing talent, first published by Accent UK, for free – with no strings attached? Of course you do…
Back in the early 2000s, Accent UK, the publishing brainchild of Colin Mathieson and Dave West, became well known for its annual themed anthologies. ZOMBIES was one of their first books to be distributed through Diamond, and was followed by ROBOTS, WESTERN, ZOMBIES 2, and PREDATORS.
Dave West, one of the AccentUK co-founders, has been recently asked to sign these at conventions, which this has sparked interest in these long out of print books from others at the table.
“It isn’t feasible to reprint, and charge for them,” says Dave, “as it would be almost impossible to track down all of the creators in order to award an appropriate royalty payment, but the books deserve to be enjoyed by people who missed them the first time around.”
With this in mind, Dave has put them up on his 4D Comics website and made them available to be freely downloaded, right here.
If you are a creator who features in one of these books Dave is happy for you to make it available on your own website, but asks only that you honour the fact that it must not cost anything to download it, and it mustn’t be printed.
ZOMBIES was published in 2007, pulling together short stories from a wealth of talented independent UK creators, and some friends from further abroad all based on the theme. It was a runaway success and quickly sold out. You can read David Hailwood’s original review here, posted back in 2008, on downthetubes
In 2008 the Accent UK themed anthology subject was ROBOTS, reviewed here by David Hailwood, featured strips by Daniel Merlin-Goodbrey, Benjamin Dickson, Leah Moore & John Reppion, Lee Robson and many more.
WESTERNS followed in 2009, contributors still including talents such as Keiron Gillen, joined by Steve Bissette and over fifty other creators. It was reviewed for downthetubes here by David Hailwood.
PREDATOR, featuring a striking cover by Kev Mullins, was first published in 2011, featuring 25 self contained strips, again by established and emerging creators from around the globe, print copies sometimes popping up on sites such as AmazonUK. Contributors included Steve White and James McKay, providing a brilliant dinosaur tale, “A Good Day” and other fine talents such as Mo Ali and Andy Bloor, Lee Robson and Bryan Coyle, and Natalie Sandells. There’s a review by P.M. Buchan here on the Starburst website
The living dead returned in 2OMBIES, published in 2012, an all new follow up ZOMBIES, offering over 30 original self-contained funny, sad, scary, and thoughtful tales – a quality collection with plenty of bite!
While Accent UK, one of the UK’s longest established independent comic collectives, announced they were disbanding in 2022, it’s great to hear their fantastic legacy is being preserved. Do check out these fantastic anthologies, there’s plenty to enjoy within their now digital pages!
Plus, as 4DComics, the creators behind that initiative are still very active today – check out their latest projects online, or check out their stand at the upcoming Thought Bubble Festival in Harrogate!
• Check out all the Accent UK anthologies offered as free official digital downloads on 4DComics
• Colin Mathieson is online at momentofadventure.blogspot.co.uk
• Dave West is online at strangestoftimes.blogspot.co.uk
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
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, Comics, Creating Comics, Digital Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
A Halloween Treat! Markosia celebrates 20 Years of publishing with launch of year-long Digital Comic Giveaway 
Liam Sharp’s art wows visitors to Madeira’s Centro Cultural e de Investigação do Funchal 
Envision Entertainment soft launches new digital comics app, “Fable”, at MCM London this weekend
Leave a Reply