“I want to be Caliph instead of the Caliph!” Baghdad’s grand Vizier Iznogoud is an arrogant, conniving man with ideas above his station and that station is as number two to the placid and rather dim Caliph Haroun Al Plassid…. Read More ›
British Comics – Books
In Review: The Scorpion – The Treasure Of The Templars
The tales of the 18th century adventurer known as The Scorpion, written by Stephen Desberg and illustrated by Enrico Marini, continue in The Treasure Of The Templars. Pope Trebaldi has sent his warrior monks, lead by the mysterious Rochnan, after… Read More ›
In Review: XIII – Where The Indian Walks
Who is XIII? Presidential assassin? Special forces soldier? Husband? The questions continue in the second part of the XIII saga Where The Indian Walks written by Jean Van Hamme and illustrated by William Vance. Amidst the chaos and unanswered questions… Read More ›
In Review: Vern And Lettuce
Of all the books in the DFC Library already released or scheduled, Vern and Lettuce is aimed at the youngest audience so far. Written and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre, it follows the humorous antics of Vern the sheep and Lettuce… Read More ›
In Review: XIII – The Day Of The Black Sun
Who is XIII? Cop, gangster, secret agent or mercenary? The stories concerning the amnesiac man with “XIII” tattooed on his shoulder written by Jean Van Hamme and illustrated by William Vance ran to a total of 19 French albums with… Read More ›
In Review: Alpha – The List
Cinebook publish a number of spy or spy-like series including IR$, Lady S and Largo Winch, but the only CIA agent on (or rather in) their books is Alpha. The List was originally published by Le Lombard in 1999 as… Read More ›
In Review: Scared To Death – Malevolence and Mandrake
Horror comics for children have had an awkward time of it in the past so full marks to Cinebook being brave enough to translate the Belgian series Mort De Trouille into English for the first time. Written by Virginie Vanholme… Read More ›
In Review: Yoko Tsuno – The Dragon Of Hong Kong
Roger Leloup’s tales of the adventures of Yoko Tsuno, a female Japanese electronics engineer, began in Spirou magazine in 1970 and while set in the modern day they can veer between full on science-fiction and more realistic straight adventure. The… Read More ›
In Review: Valerian and Laureline – The City of Shifting Waters
The biggest science fiction comic strip in the French language world is not, as you might think, Barbarella but rather a series called Valerian and Laureline. Running for over 40 years it has reached a total of more than 20… Read More ›
Grandville, Manga Shakespeare shortlisted for Children’s Book Awards
Much to the author’s surprize, Bryan Talbot’s cracking steampunk-inspired graphic novel Grandville has been shortlisted for a Sheffield Children’s Book Award in the awards new graphic novel category, one of five titles topping a list of favourite comics based on… Read More ›
In Review: The Scorpion – The Holy Valley
Adventurer, womaniser, swordsman, thief, swindler, arrogantly self assured of his own survival, with blood ties to one of the most important people on the planet, and a woman whom he both hates and desires, and who appears to reciprocate those… Read More ›
In Review: The Art of Pho
By Julian HanshawPublisher: Jonathan CapeISBN: 9780224089845Out: 1st July 2010 The Book: The noodle soup called pho is the national dish of Vietnam. When Little Blue – having been dropped by a mysterious man with a red car and being told… Read More ›
In Review: IR$ – The Corrupter
The Corrupter is the second and final part of the IR$ story begun in Silica, Inc. which was reviewed on downthetubes when it was published earlier in the year. That first book left the reader wondering about a red haired… Read More ›
In Review: Largo Winch – See Venice… And Die
Largo Winch is the Eagle Award nominated series that follows the life, loves and tribulations of one of the richest men in the world. Written by Lady S, Thorgal and XIII’s Jean Van Hamme and illustrated by Philippe Francq, the… Read More ›
Competition: Win a Rude Britannia Book!
Marking the launch of the Rude Britannia Exhibition at the Tate, downthetubes has THREE copies of the tie-in book – Rude Britannia: British Comic Art by Martin Myrone, Tim Batchelor and Cedar Lewisohn – to give away! Comic art –… Read More ›
In Review: Thorgal – The Master Of The Mountains
Writer Jean Van Hamme may be more familiar to us for his contemporary thrillers such as Lady S, Largo Winch and XIII with Largo Winch having been turned into a movie and XIII into a mini series, but he has… Read More ›
In Review: Pandora’s Box – Gluttony
The third of the Pandora’s Box series of individual but themed stories based on the seven deadly sins, it was inevitable that Gluttony would concentrate on food. The book takes the BSE and vCJD scares of recent years and sets… Read More ›
Hairsine delivers "Masked" cover
Top artist Trevor Hairsine has provided the cover to a new superhero short story anthology edited by my friend and ace SF book editor Lou Anders, who used to work for me on Star Trek Magazine and Babylon 5 Magazine…. Read More ›
In Review: Good Dog, Bad Dog
It was the first of the DFC Library books to be released and Good Dog, Bad Dog is perhaps the most complete book of the three released so far. Written and illustrated by Dave Shelton, this is a fun ride… Read More ›
In Review: The Spider Moon
The Spider Moon is the last of the first batch of books from the new DFC Library range, written and illustrated by Kate Brown it is set in a manga styled fantasy land of islands floating not just in the… Read More ›