Author Archives
News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson's The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.
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In Review: The Scorpion – In The Name Of The Son
The Scorpion returns with In The Name Of The Son, the fourth part of the latest ongoing story of the swashbuckling 18th century rogue who is trying to discover who his father was and his battles with the less-than-holy Pope Trebaldi which… Read More ›
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The Bible Goes Commando At The British Library
The British Library’s comics exhibition Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy In The UK, enthusiastically billed by the library as “the UK’s largest ever exhibition of mainstream and underground comics” has just completed its time in the library’s PACCAR Gallery. However… Read More ›
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Saucy Goings On At The Edinburgh International Book Festival
The Edinburgh International Book Festival is currently in full swing and while the 40+ events of last year’s Stripped 2013 festival-within-a-festival have been scaled back to the more typical BookFest number of a dozen or so, with creators including Bryan… Read More ›
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In Review: Kenya – Apparitions
Kenya – Apparitions is the first in a new series created by Leo and Rodolphe and translated into English by Cinebook. Colonial Kenya in 1947 is a place for big game safaris and American pulp novelist John Remington is on… Read More ›
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In Review: Antares – Episode 5
Brazilian artist and writer Leo (Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira) continues his Worlds of Aldebaran saga with Antares Episode 5, the continuation of the third series of his incredibly alien tales of 22nd century interplanetary settlers and the beasts and… Read More ›
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In Review: Red Baron – The Machine Gunners’ Ball
Cinebook present a new series, Red Baron, set during the First World War and “loosely inspired” by the life of German fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, written by Pierre Veys and illustrated by Carlos Puerta. This isn’t the Luftwaffe against the… Read More ›
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In Review: Largo Winch – Cold Black Sea/Red-Hot Wrath
Writer Jean Van Hamme and artist Philippe Francq deliver up another slice of the rather complicated life of billionaire playboy businessman Largo Winch in the two-part story Cold Black Sea and Red-Hot Wrath. In New York at a party to… Read More ›
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Entries Invited For Dundee Comics Prize 2014
The Scottish Centre For Comics Studies and the Centre For Scottish Culture, both at the University Of Dundee, have teamed up to make October 2014 Heroes And Villains month in Dundee and this then will be the theme of the… Read More ›
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In Review: The Scorpion – The Mask of Truth
The Scorpion returns with The Mask Of Truth, the third part of the latest on-going story of the swashbuckling 18th century rogue and his battles with the less-than-holy Pope Trebaldi written by Stephen Desberg and illustrated by Enrico Marini. One… Read More ›
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In Review: Bearlands Issues 1 to 3
Subversive Comic’s full colour glossy Bearlands, written by Jeremy Biggs and illustrated by Bakki, tells the anthropomorphic story of an unnamed chopper-riding, leather-clad, Matrix sunglasses wearing, cigarette smoking teddy bear as he tries to survive in the aftermath of a… Read More ›
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To Arms! Via IndieGoGo
During our interview earlier in the week with writer/artist Jessica Martin, she mentioned that she is involved with a new Great War anthology graphic novel entitled To Arms! This is planned as an 80+ page hardback anthology with stories based… Read More ›
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In Review: Leap Issue Zero
Northern Ireland’s Uproar Comics, best known for their ongoing series Zombies Hi set in an around the City of Derry after a zombie apocalypse, have introduced a new science fiction space opera title to their output, Leap. The sleeper ship… Read More ›
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Creator Talk: Six Questions For Writer/Artist Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin is a familiar name, if not necessarily a familiar face, from her time as an impressionist on the TV series Spitting Image. Her CV includes stage acting and singing, radio, and other television series including her role as… Read More ›
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In Review: It Girl by Jessica Martin
The phrase ‘It girl’ is bandied about these days without the majority of people using it knowing how it was coined or who it originally referred to. In 1927, as she was starting her rise to becoming the biggest grossing… Read More ›
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Team Girl Comic Celebrates The Release Of Issue 10
Glasgow’s Team Girl collective are celebrating hitting double figures with the release of the bumper sized Team Girl Comic issue 10 this week which features special guest contributors Donya Todd, Hannah Berry, Kate Charlesworth, Lucy Sweet and Trina Robbins. Issue… Read More ›
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Creators @ MCM Belfast Comic Con 2014
The inaugural MCM Belfast Comic Con took place over the weekend of 7/8th June drawing around 16,000 attendees to the King’s Hall Pavilion in Belfast and was reviewed here in downthetubes. A selection of the creators in the Comics Village… Read More ›
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Photo Review: MCM Belfast Comic Con 2014
With their six monthly London events now the largest ‘Movie Comic Media’ events in the country, the MCM organisation is expanding its activities further around the British Isles, albeit under the now chronically over used tag of “Comic Con” rather… Read More ›
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Free Karrie Fransman And Amruta Patil Event In Dundee
On Friday 27 June 2014 as part of the Culture 2014 tie-in with the Commonwealth Games, Scottish PEN and Literary Dundee are holding a graphic novel panel talk featuring Karrie Fransman and Amruta Patil to be chaired by Peggy Hughes…. Read More ›
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Comics @ Edinburgh International Book Festival 2014
The Edinburgh International Book Festival has released its programme for 2014. As expected after the 40+ events for their major Stripped ‘festival within a festival’ in 2013, this year BookFest has dialled their coverage of comics and graphic novels back… Read More ›
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In Review: MULP – Sceptre of the Sun Issue 1
The first issue of writer Matt Gibbs and artist Sara Dunkerton’s new five part anthropomorphic adventure series, MULP: Sceptre Of The Sun, which we previewed back in May, is out. Former soldier Jack Redpath is called to Egypt by his… Read More ›