Book and Magazine Collector 317

By John Freeman on 1 February 2010

The latest issue of the A5 size monthly Book and Magazine Collector is now in the shops with two British comics creators being covered.

The magazine includes an interview with artist and writer Garen Ewing on his work on The Rainbow Orchid. Interestingly the six page interview is presented in the magazine’s New Collectables slot which must bode well for how the magazine sees copies of Garen’s title appreciating in the future. Garen mentions the interview on his own blog on The Rainbow Orchid website.

The long running series of articles on Great British Comics Artists by David Ashford and Norman Wright has reached part 33. This issue’s subject is Fred Holmes who worked on such strips as the highwayman Claude Duval in Comet in the 1950s, Roy Of The Rovers in Tiger in the 1960s and Carson’s Cubs in Lion in the 1970s. Holmes worked on many of the digest comics in the 1960s including Tiger Sports Library and the Cowboy, War and Battle Picture Libraries. He retired in the mid 1970s with Dredger in Action being amongst his last work.

A reminder that Norman Wright and David Ashford’s book collecting 14 of the Great British Comics Artists series from previous issue of Book and Magazine Collector, Masters Of Fun And Thrills, is still available directly from Norman.

Book and Magazine Collector issue 317 is available for £3.50 from WH Smiths and Easons, or from the B&MC website.

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.