For most of us, the idea of a day chatting and hearing about comics has to be as close to a perfect way to spend an afternoon as we could get. In this event, Dundee University got it exactly… Read More ›
Creating Comics
Articles on creating comics, how tos, reference information and more
Really Heavy Greatcoat stars return in Team Sputnik’s new “Skid Avenue” web comic
Lancaster-based Team Sputnik’s brand new comic strip Skid Avenue is now free to read online, telling the story of John and Jo, a pair of ordinary folk who suddenly find themselves becoming part of the ‘squeezed middle’. Taking a wry and… Read More ›
Hachette test drives new part work, “Draw the Marvel Way”
British comics commentator and creator Lew Stringer recently spotted the debut of a new title from Hachette Partworks, who are also putting out the impressive Judge Dredd Collection, although it’s not yet gained national distribution. Draw the Marvel Way is a fortnightly partwork… Read More ›
Free Celtic Comic from Daniel de Sosa, for limited time only…
There are only a few days left in a promotion from Backwards Burd cartoonist Daniel de Sosa to get your hands on an a Celtic Comic, downloadable from the Amazon’s Kindle store – a fantasy comic about a bard who… Read More ›
Imaginings: How The Twelfth Doctor Got His Costume
The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, Issue 484, is on sale now in the UK. Along with its usual mix of news and features – and a fun one part comic strip involving a hungry tentacled beast… Read More ›
This Saturday: Comics, So What? at London’s Cartoon Museum – and Beyond!
London’s Cartoon Museum “Comics, So What?” project – also being run at the University of Dundee and at Staffordshire University, as Jeremy Briggs reported last month – kicks off this Saturday (7th March 2015), celebrating comics and graphic novels. Take along your… Read More ›
UnPearable, a fruity comic from Lydia Wysocki
Applied Comics Etc founder Lydia Wysocki, whose report on UnConference 2015 features here on DownTheTubes, kindly sent us her latest fun comic, UNpearABLE. It’s a quirky and fun thing she’s created in different ways that I’m sure you’ll be… Read More ›
Comics UnConference 2015: A Report by Applied Comics Etc founder Lydia Wysocki
Comics creator Lydia Wysocki recently blogged about the Comics Unconference in Glasgow on 28th February 2015, what reads like a fascinating day devoted to Comic Studies, including developements in digital comics, and has kindly permitted us to repost her report here. It… Read More ›
Breaking into Comics: Escaping Despondency
As many regular readers know, by day I’m a comic book editor as well as writer. I’ve been in the business a long time and seen it change down the years, with fewer and fewer openings for young creators… Read More ›
Get Well Soon, Barrie Tomlinson!
David McDonald from Hibernia Comics has Informed us that one time IPC Group Editor, Barrie Tomlinson has had a few health scares in the past few weeks. Barrie’s name will be very familiar to some but to others it maybe… Read More ›
A Few of My Favourite Things: An Interview with “Skeleton Key” and “Gum Girl” creator Andi Watson
Andi Watson is the author of the wonderful graphic novel Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula, which is in on sale this week from US publishers First Second, who have very kindly given us permission to re-present their recent interview with this… Read More ›
Creating Comics: Lettering Comics Before the Digital Age with David Lloyd
Back in the days before computers (and Richard Starkings), comics were hand lettered – and it was something of an arcane art that only a trusted few were employed to do at Marvel UK, where I worked in the 1990s. It… Read More ›
Looking Back: Marvel UK’s Pencilling Do’s and Don’ts
I’ve got my grumpy head on this morning. Bear with me while I grumble. Back in the 1990s, many young artists would show up at the few British comic conventions there were back then and present their portfolios to… Read More ›
Chris Doherty: Bringing His Own Look to Sherlock Holmes
I’m a big Sherlock Holmes fan and have been since I was a child. I was pretty excited, therefore, when I heard that some my favourite creators – John Reppion, Leah Moore, Adam Cadwell and Chris Doherty – were getting… Read More ›
Creator Profile: John Cooper
Perhaps best known as the artist on “Johnny Red” for Battle Picture Weekly, John Cooper, who died on 22nd February 2015, is regarded by some as the British “Gil Kane”. John first drew comic strip for TV21, drawing “Secret Agent… Read More ›
#PicturesMeanBusiness: UK campaign to gain Illustrators credit for their work grows
A number of British artists are actively campaigning for better credit (and, by default, better financial reward) for their work as illustrators, including comic creator Sarah McIntyre and writer-illustrator James Mayhew. Recognition for illustrators is important on so many levels – not… Read More ›
In Review: Perspective for Comic Artists
By David Chelsea Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications Inc., US (October 1997) The Book: Acclaimed artist and autobiographical cartoonist David Chelsea and his hollow-headed pupil Mug together explore the many aspects of perspective, the art of rendering the visual effect of… Read More ›
Dundee University asks “Comics, So What?” in March
On Saturday 7th March 2015 from 1pm onwards the University of Dundee is hosting an event celebrating comics and graphic novels entitled “Comics, So What?” It features workshops and talks by comics creators, and invites members of the public of all… Read More ›
A Barbed Fist in a Velvet Glove: An Interview with writer Gordon Rennie
Going into this interview I had heard that Gordon Rennie isn’t the sort of writer you ask for a cuddle. He also isn’t the sort of writer who spends his day gossiping on Facebook or posting photos of his… Read More ›
Making Sense of the new Secret Wars: Battleworld and the Marvel UK Superheroes
Mark Roberts has been documenting the histories and current fates of many Marvel UK characters, from Captain Britain and Death’s Head to Motormouth and the Gene Dogs, for many years on his excellent blog, It Came From Darkmoor. But… Read More ›