Back when British comics had sales in the hundreds of thousands every week, they had a promotional budget to match, extending to retail promotions like this Wham! poster, offered to newsagents in the 1960s by its publisher, Odhams Press
Leo Baxendale
From the Archives: Last Words from Leo – An Interview with Leo Baxendale
First published in October 2017 on the inexplicably and ruthlessly pruned Forbidden Planet International blog, an act of cultural barbarism about which Forbidden Planet (Scotland) Ltd has yet to reverse, we are delighted to republish, as first published and with… Read More ›
eBay “SMASH Comic” item reveals rare insight into writers and artists working on British comics in the 1960s
Nestling among hundreds of comic lots currently on offer from online eBay auctioneer Phil Comics is a copy of SMASH Issue 8, cover dated 26th March 1966, that some collectors might turn their noses up, because each strip inside has… Read More ›
Who’s Who on the Cover of the Cor! & Buster Special
News of Rebellion’s Cor! & Buster Special (out 17th April) has gone down well with downthetubes readers and artist Neil Googe‘s cover brings the classic British comics humour characters bang up to date. But for those of you might be… Read More ›
Leo Baxendale’s Sweeny Toddler, Death Wish collections on way from Rebellion
We’ve previously reported on some of the Treasury of British Comics titles on their way to bookshops in 2019 from Rebellion, but now the 2000AD publisher has released more information – and covers – for three of them. Despite the… Read More ›
Who will be cast as Minnie the Minx in new live-action show?
Who will be cast as Minnie The Minx? That’s the question many Beano fans are asking, some wondering if this week’s anniversary celebrations will be accompanied by more news about the announced live-action TV show from Lime Pictures, in partnership… Read More ›
Happy Birthday to the Beano at 80: Why It’s Still Much Loved
In the run up to the 80th anniversary of the Beano‘s debut in July 1938, I asked comic creators and fans of DC Thomson’s much-loved weekly humour comic (now produced by Beano Studios) who their favourite characters or strips were,… Read More ›
Lakes International Comic Art Festival honours Leo Baxendale with unique print installation in Kendal
Honouring the acclaimed comics creator Leo Baxendale, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival is has announced a specially-made print – “Baby Basil Does His Bit” – is now on permanent display in Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre. The installation is a a… Read More ›
Bryan Talbot payes tribute to Leo Baxendale in final Grandville tale
Artist Bryan Talbot has sent us this panel from his final Grandville story – a homage to the late Leo Baxendale, scripted five years ago, penciled and inked about 15 months ago and coloured in January. “I’m going to dedicate the book to his… Read More ›
Leo Baxendale Remembered, by Beano artist Nigel Parkinson
The first name I recognised in comics was Leo Baxendale, who signed his name on the front cover of WHAM! In 1964. Until earlier this month, he was still my favourite living cartoonist. In the 1950s he gave us Little Plum,… Read More ›