On Thursday 15th October at 3.00pm, six incredible artists will enter a room in Kendal to draw in a single day a whole 24 page comic book each. The following day each of those books will be printed and available… Read More ›
Creating Comics
Articles on creating comics, how tos, reference information and more
Jazz, Hot Jazz and Comics and a CallFor Papers – It’s an Irresistible Mix!
If you’re the find of comics person that’s backed Hunt Emerson‘s Kickstarter to publish a deluxe edition of his Hot Jazz comic strips (in the vein of his marvellous Calculus Cat collection last year, now on sale), then this new… Read More ›
“Eagle Daze” – Part Two: The Fall of Eagle and the Rise of Max Clifford
We are pleased to publish Part Two of the memories of Roger Perry – memories of now more than half-a-century ago – of his days at Fleetway Publications working on Girl and Eagle… 1963: A New Home brings about a “Cleansing of the Slate”… Read More ›
Exploring Tapastic: The Weird and the Fantastic
As regular readers of downthetubes know, we regularly post new episodes of our SF adventure strip, Crucible, to the web comics platform Tapastic. The series, written by me, drawn by Smuzz and lettered by Jim Campbell (and which has had an… Read More ›
Guest Post: Support British Comics, urges Lew Stringer
Comic artist and writer Lew Stringer argues the case for more positivity from fans about the current British comics industry… There’s often a bit of negativity on the ‘net about the British comics industry and how things were so much… Read More ›
Guardian newspaper launches #OpenComics project
The Guardian Witness has launched its #OpenComics call out, which aims is to get creators of all skill levels to share comics you’ve created that reveal the personal and political untold stories from around the world. Here’s the details in full from… Read More ›
Incoming: Episode 4 of The Awesome Comics Podcast, featuring artist Christian Wildgoose
Episode four of the new UK small press Awesome Comics Podcast will be coming at you this Monday. The hosts Vince Hunt (The Red Mask from Mars), Dan Butcher (Vanguard) and downthetubes contributor Tony Esmond will be chatting to artist… Read More ›
Halfpenny Dreadful Comic Publishing – punk pulp fiction from Mike Knowles
Halfpenny Dreadful Comic Publishing – the brainchild of veteran comics writer Mike Knowles – is seeking aspiring writers and artists who might enjoy producing punk pulp fiction. Mike has been a published writer/artist for over 30-years working mainly in comics, (DC Thomson… Read More ›
Something for the Weekend (22nd July 2015) – A little 2000AD for the weekend, folks?
Here’s this week’s list of comics on sale now in comic shops across the UK. As usual, our list highlights the work of British creators and publishers. Prize-winning British cartoonist Julian Hanshaw makes his US debut this week with the… Read More ›
Panel Borders: Bruce Mutard – from The Bunker to The Sacrifice
Continuing a month of shows about Australasian comics, Alex Fitch talks to Melbourne cartoonist Bruce Mutard about his career so far, from his first graphic novel The Bunker to experimental comics such as Alice in Nomansland, and working on a sequel to his… Read More ›
Comic Creator Spotlight: Comic Artist Jim Watson
There are many comic artists that I have still to identify whose work I’ve enjoyed down the years. Others that I have identified and see that others also share my enjoyment of their work. But there are many more who… Read More ›
In Review: Panel Borders: Crowd-Funded Comics
A train journey to the Lakes afforded me the chance to listen to this terrific episode of the Resonance FM ’Panel Borders‘ podcast about the positives and negatives of crowd funding your comic projects. This show concluded a month… Read More ›
John Ridgway Interviewed for Doctor Who Panel to Panel Podcast
Veteran comic artist John Ridgway, still drawing issues of Commando but perhaps best known for his work on 2000AD, Doctor Who Magazine and DC Comics Hellblazer, is the guest on the latest Doctor Who: Panel to Panel podcast. A true Doctor Who comics legend,… Read More ›
Warren Ellis: “Read Comics. All comics. And then cut them open…”
Comic creator Warren Ellis – author of Trees, Injection, Ministry of Space and whose fanzines I bought back in the 1980s when we met at the Westminster Comic Mart days, publishes an entertaining weekly newsletter, Orbital Operations (subscribe here), covering all… Read More ›
Proposed New US Copyright Act threatens creator rights worldwide
(Updated 21st July, added comment by artist Tim Perkins): Proposed changes to US copyright law, effectively re-inventing the failed “Orphan Works” act put forward seven years ago, have come under attack from a huge number of artists and writers,… Read More ›
Breaking Surface: An Interview with Jay Gunn, creator of “Surface Tension”
“Surface Tension” is Jay Gunn’s first foray into the world of comics and we’re delighted he was up to talk to downthetubes about it
Awesome Comic Podcast probes Tom Ward, co-creator of Merrick the Sensational Elephantman
Join Vince Hunt, Tony Esmond and Dan butcher and the Awesome Comics Podcast‘s first ever special guest, writer Tom Ward (co-creator of Merrick: The Sensational Elephantman), to find out more about his critically acclaimed series. The team also talk about controversial… Read More ›
Sapphire and Steel Competition: First Entry, by Tony Luke
We recently launched a challenge to artists to draw a new Sapphire & Steel strip or send in art inspired by the show, which may be returning to our screens with Luther writer Neil Cross at the helm. Here’s our… Read More ›
Dennis the Menace – as you’ve never seen him before!
Here’s a version of The Beano‘s Dennis the Menace and Gnasher you probably never expected to see – and it may leave some purists seething. But not us! Ace artist Mike Perkins – perhaps best known for his work on… Read More ›
New Frank Hampson artwork site launched
Peter Hampson, the son of Dan Dare creator Frank Hampson, recently launched a new web site dedicated to the art and life of his late father. It’s a marvellous cornucopia of delights that’s now fully operational, offering several galleries of rarely… Read More ›