Articles on creating comics, how tos, reference information and more
The countdown has begun to this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival in October (13th – 15th). We’re delighted to continue our “Kendal Calling” interviews with 2000AD comic artist Mark Sexton, who’s coming to the event all the way from Australia… Read More ›
The new Eagle Times – Summer 2017 issue (Volume 30, Part Two) – is out now. Features include “Life After Eagle“, about Dan Dare‘s brief run in Lion, the second part of downthetubes contributor Steve Winders article about Frank Bellamy’s “The… Read More ›
Comics culture site Broken Frontier has announced the publication of their 2017 Small Press Yearbook, an anthology celebration of the work of BF’s ‘Six Small Press Creators to Watch’ of 2016 – Rebecca Bagley, Kim Clements, Brigid Deacon, Emily… Read More ›
Written by Tom Tully Art by Mike Western, Eric Bradbury Publisher: Rebellion Graphic Novels (British Treasury of Comics) Out: Now The Book: Billy Farmer lives with his Aunt Joan and Uncle Charlie in the sleepy town of Selbridge. Visiting the… Read More ›
When everyone has a number, everyone knows their place. Lower numbers are better, higher numbers are less important, and that’s just the way it is. But what if that number could change? You might try to buck the system and… Read More ›
The team here at downthetubes were very sad to learn of the passing of the influential comics American comic creator Sam Glanzman, whose work we have highlighted on several occasions. Here, his son Thom Glanzman pays tribute to his father…… Read More ›
It’s time for an Awesome Comics Podcast catch Up! (Let’s hope the boys didn’t mean what they said about cattle prods and anchovies if I got behind again, eh?) Dan Butcher, Vince Hunt and Tony Esmond have been chatting with… Read More ›
Kendal’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival has announced several Australian comic creators have joined this year’s line-up of both British and international guests for its weekend-long event, taking place 13th – 15th October 2017 – including 2000AD artist Mark Sexton. The Caravan of… Read More ›
Are you an aspiring graphic novelist? Do you have an original story to tell? Jonathan Cape Graphic Novels and Comica have again got together with the Observer newspaper to offer you the chance to see your work in print and win £1,000…. Read More ›
Yes, you read that headline right. Corbyn comics are needed from artists up and down the UK and beyond – and they’re needed fast – by 9th August 2017. No, not Kirby comics – Corbyn comics, as in Labour Party… Read More ›
There’s great news for all fans of 2000AD creator Pat Mills and historians of British comics this week. His memoir of the origins of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic – Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave! – currently available digitally, is to… Read More ›
Writer and artist Steve Bright, co-creator of Bananaman, recently posted a touching memory of The Beano’s second editor Harry Cramond on social media. Steve worked for Harry on The Beano for some 18 months and came to know the idiosyncrasies of… Read More ›
This Saturday, 15th July 2017, author Michael Barrett will be at the National Football Museum in Manchester, giving an illustrated talk about the story behind the graphic novel Preston North End – The Rise of the Invincibles. Michael, the writer and publisher… Read More ›
Ace artist Jesús Redondo Romain recently posted some great looking pages of a Marvel UK-commissioned Motormouth story, guest starring Death’s Head II. The only problem – he couldn’t remember what the story was called, so we did a bit of digging… Read More ›
Brighton-based publisher Myriad Editions has teamed up with the award-winning comedy television company Roughcut Television (perhaps best known as producers of The Office and The IT Crowd) in a call-out for a comedy or comedy/ drama in graphic novel form that… Read More ›
Blimey! What’s not to love about this 1983 issue of the British comics fanzine Chain Reaction (Issue Five), edited by Frank Plowright, the late, great and still much-missed Steve Whitaker and Hassan Yusuf? Initially titled Direct Currents (the name changed… Read More ›
It’s here! Copies of TOXIC and Doctor Who Magazine cartoonist Lew Stringer‘s self-published comic, Combat Colin #1 have arrived from the printers and the comic will be launched at Macc-Pow! in Macclesfield at Macclesfield Town Hall tomorrow, Saturday 1st July 2017…. Read More ›
Former Commando editor Calum Laird pays tribute to artist Gordon Livingstone, who died recently… When British comics lost Gordon Livingstone, they lost one of their finest servants. As I was lucky enough to work with him, on and off, for… Read More ›
England’s Arts Council has just announced its National Portfolio Organisations for the next four years – and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival is one of them, securing long-term funding for its ambitious comic art development and promotion plans, which… Read More ›
Sue Glanzman, US comic artist Sam Glanzman‘s wife, has asked Drew Ford, who has successfully got some of his most critically-acclaimed work back into print, to inform his fans that the much-admired comic creator has entered the first stages of… Read More ›