Talk of banning smoking completely in West Lancashire council offices — no more fag breaks etc. — prompted memories of anti-smoking campaigns in 1960s comics, and the image here from TV21 #21 coincidentally arrived in my mailbox this morning.
Anti Smoking Ad: A Shock for Bully Brown
Of course it would be difficult to run such a campaign now. I don’t think you can even feature smoking in comics in the UK unless it’s an “adult” comic — although that doesn’t explain how Simpsons Comics get away with it…
- 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, downthetubes News
Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2026 Guest Spotlight 
Christmas is coming! BEANO Annual and more on sale next week 
Minnie the Minx is Doctor Who! 
Loving the Alien
I remember that. An anti-smoking message portrayed as a Mod vs Rocker fight. Brilliant! (Artist was Tom Kerr, who drew lots of stuff for Lion etc. He also did a weekly advert strip for Wayfinders shoes which appeared in the comics, if anyone remembers that.)
Lew Stringer
Were the Wayfinder shoes the ones with a compass in the sole?