Apparel of Laughs has just launched a new range of 12 t-shirt designs celebrating the classic British comics from IPC Fleetway, in conjunction with the owner of the characters and comics, Rebellion. Each t-shirt design features one classic title from the archive with a selection of the characters that appeared in that comic. Comics featured include: Buster, Cheeky Weekly and Whizzer and Chips, along with some shorter running titles like Wow!, Cor!!, and Shiver and Shake.

“I have been an avid collector of British comics for over 15 years now, with too many issues and annuals to count in my collection,” says Founder and Designer of Apparel of Laughs, Jude Coram. “The artistry and story telling is often overlooked for other mediums, but the British humour comic gives us a great insight into the national culture and sense of humour over the years. Back in the day, the humour titles of IPC Fleetway, now under the supervision of Rebellion, were the comics that filled the newsstands of the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.”

“I wanted to celebrate the many different classic comics from the Fleetway stable with a range of t-shirts,” he continues. “I delved into my own collection to find the many different characters to feature on the designs. I obviously wanted to show off the most recognisable characters by some of the most famous artists like Ken Reid, Leo Baxendale, and Mike Lacey. I also wanted to find some of the hidden gems that popped up in the issues that people might not have necessarily heard of before.

“Hopefully it will prompt people to look back to find these forgotten characters to give them another read.”

“We are thrilled to see this collection of T-shirts featuring a dozen of the UK’s greatest humour comics,” a Rebellion spokesperson told downthetubes. “We have seen how much love there is out there for all of these titles from readers, old and new, and this is a perfect way to celebrate the vibrant world of hilarious British comics and characters.”

Apparel of Laughs has been selling t-shirts and gifts celebrating British culture from when it first launched in October 2019. Since then, it has spread a bit of Britishness to customers all over the world with designs featuring food, TV, film, sports, and art from the UK. All the shirts are printed using vegan inks, and all are sent in plastic free packaging. All clothing orders are also sent for free to the UK.

The new collection of comic t-shirts perfectly sums up what Apparel of Laughs is all about; showcasing classic parts of British cultural history with fun, unique, and original designs.

• Check out the full range of Apparel of Laughs Classic Comic T-Shirts here

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.

Categories: British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Licensing, Merchandise, Other Worlds

Tags: Apparel of Laughs, Buster, Cheeky Weekly, Rebellion Publishing, Shiver and Shake, T-Shirts, Whizzer and Chips