Something Useful from the European Union…

By John Freeman on February 16, 2009

— Well, sort of… it’s in beta at present but the European Union is assembling a huge online digital resource, which includes imagery from publishers as well as museums at: www.europeana. eu/portal

You can search for subjects etc and results are broken down into all results, text, images, video etc.

I did a quick search for comics and cartoons and got some interesting results, although some are postage stamp size so not much use. However, it does include imagery from the British Museum, for example, and I’m sure it will grow in its usefulness as organisations get their act together. DC Thomson, publishers of The Beano etc. are among the first on board, although there don’t appear to be any of their comic strips available through this service just yet.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “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.