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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Photo Review: 2D Festival – Creators At The Comics Fair
This year’s 2D Comics Festival in the UK’s 2013 City of Culture, Derry-Londonderry, was the largest comics event ever held in Northern Ireland. With talks and work shops in the days running up to the weekend, the weekend itself had… Read More ›
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Dan Dare: Six Questions For Writer Rod Barzilay
In the 1990s Rod Barzilay had the idea to bring Eagle comic’s best known character, Dan Dare, back into print, not updated for a Star Wars audience as in 2000AD or as a political commentary as in Revolver, but rather… Read More ›
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Dan Dare: Six Questions For Artist Graham Bleathman
For most comics readers Graham Bleathman’s name is synonymous with large detailed cutaway paintings of buildings, vehicles and flying craft both real and fictional. It was not surprising then that he is now the artist behind four of the new… Read More ›
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Rainbow Orchid Prequel In The Phoenix This Friday
Artist and writer Garen Ewing’s latest adventure of Julius Chancer, The Secret of the Samurai, a prequel to his three book Rainbow Orchid saga, is starting a four week run in The Phoenix beginning this weekend. The twenty page adventure… Read More ›
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Commando Cover Prelims – Aerial Warfare
The Commando team, as well as managing to publish 104 issues of the comic each year, have been using the official Commando Comics Facebook page to give some behind the scenes info on their titles. This includes some of the… Read More ›
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Commando Cover Prelims – Convict Commandos
The Commando team, as well as managing to publish 104 issues of the comic each year, have been using the official Commando Comics Facebook page to give some behind the scenes info on their titles. This includes some of the… Read More ›
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In Review: Largo Winch – 3 Eyes Of The Guardians Of The Tao/The Way And The Virtue
Largo Winch, writer Jean Van Hamme and artist Philippe Francq's James Bond-like billionaire businessman adventurer, returns in his latest two part adventure in Cinebook's The Three Eyes Of The Guardians Of The Tao and The Way And The Virtue. An… Read More ›
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Latest Issue of Illustrators Journal now available
Illustrators journal celebrates the finest magazine, book and comics illustrators published in the UK and Europe featuring fabulous artwork in every issue, much of which is taken from scans of the original art. It gives readers the stories behind the… Read More ›
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More Big Commando Books From Prion
15th August 2013 will see Prion Books release four new Commando books, each reprinting six stories from the long running war comic, and bring the number of Commando reprint books released by Prion in 2013 to eight. With painted… Read More ›
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Digital Dandy Issue 8 Now Available
Kat and the crew from Retro-Active face an explosive end to a rooftop rescue, Bananaman has a face-off with the ultra-naughty League of Super Villains, there’s some (nearly) bare-faced cheek as Desperate Dan tries to take a bath in private,… Read More ›
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In Review: Antares – Episode 3
Brazilian artist and writer Leo (Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira) continues his Worlds of Aldebaran saga with Antares Episode 3, the (presumably) middle part of the third series of his incredibly alien tales of 22nd century interplanetary settlers and the beasts… Read More ›
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In Review: Thorgal – Ogotai’s Crown
Thorgal – Ogotai’s Crown picks up directly from where the previous book, Brand Of The Exiles, left off. However this Thorgal title is very different to the more traditional Viking tale of exile and slavery of the preceding book as… Read More ›
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New 9th Art Award: Submission Details announced
Graphic Scotland and the Edinburgh International Book Festival have announced that submissions are now open for the inaugural 9th Art Award for graphic fiction. The 9th Art Award will choose the best work of graphic literature originally written and published… Read More ›
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In Review: Thorgal – Brand Of The Exiles
Cinebook may have completed Jean Van Hamme’s XIII series of books but they still have others from the bandes dessinee master and one of them is the Viking fantasy series Thorgal. Illustrated by artist Gzegorz Rosinski, The Brand Of The… Read More ›
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Ranger Book Available From Bear Alley Books
The Rise And Fall Of The Trigan Empire is rightly considered one of the best British comic strips of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Written by Mike Butterworth and initially illustrated by Don Lawrence, it ran in Look and… Read More ›
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Photo Review: Dundee Comics Expo 2013
Saturday 30 March saw the inaugural Dundee Comics Expo at the University of Dundee. The university had been running the event that is now known as the Dundee Comics Day since 2008, a day of creator talks normally tied into… Read More ›
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In Review: WesterNoir Book Two
After the Old West of the first book, writer Dave West and artist Gary Crutchley take us to America’s Deep South where demon hunter Josiah Black is battling a new supernatural enemy in Accent UK’s WesterNoir Book Two – The… Read More ›
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Web Find: Bunty And Judy Digest Covers
Here on downthetubes we regularly promote DC Thomson’s (and indeed the UK’s) last digest or ‘Picture Library’ comic, Commando, a title that has changed little in the half century since it was first published. As well as war, DCT’s boy’s… Read More ›
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XIII x 18 = A Full Set
With our review of The Last Round, downthetubes has now reviewed all 18 of the XIII books published by Cinebook over the last two and a half years – from the beginning of the saga of the amnesiac agent in… Read More ›