My first article regarding the work of Ron Smith acted as a introduction, to remind us how great this veteran artist, now retired, has been over the course of his career. This next pair of articles will focus on one aspect of Ron’s… Read More ›
Featured News
Major new stories on downthetubes – or simply things we feel are major!
In Review: Asterix and the Missing Scroll
Written by Jean-Yves Ferri Art by Didier Conrad Original title: Le Papyrus de César Published by: Les Éditions Albert René UK Publisher: Orion Children’s Books Out: Now The Book: Julius Caesar has finished writing the history of his campaigns in Gaul. His publisher, Libellus… Read More ›
Eagle Daze: The Life and Times of Leonard James Matthews – Part Three
Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway and the Eagle Group of Comics, was a “Creative Visionary”… but that, Roger Perry argues in his extensive biography of the man which continues here on downthetubes, is only due to him having utilised… Read More ›
Christmas Fun’n’Games From Tesco
Over on his Blimey comics history blog, Lew Stringer has been running his now traditional Christmas Comics feature showing the Christmas covers from the comics of yesteryear. We aren’t about to try to compete with Lew but did think that… Read More ›
The British Comics Industry: Looking Back on 2015, Looking Forward to 2016
With the festive season upon us and 2015 racing to a close, over on Comic Book Resources, staff writer and comics retailer Brian Hibbs, in an article titled “Tilting at Windmills: Trouble on the Horizon?“notes we’re in an extremely odd… Read More ›
Radio 4 re-broadcasts “Eagle” documentary
Available now on BBC iPlayer for about a month is the Radio 4 documentary Eagle: The Space Age Weekly, hosted by Sir Tim Rice and includes author Philip Pullman amongst the guests, as well as the voices of Marcus Morris… Read More ›
Eagle Daze: The Life and Times of Leonard James Matthews – Part Two
Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway and the Eagle Group of Comics, was a “Creative Visionary”… but that, Roger Perry argues in his extensive biography of the man which continues here on downthetubes (Part One here), is only due to… Read More ›
Comic Creator Spotlight: The Art of Ron Smith, Part One
As a comic fan of long standing, one of my real pleasures is identifying and applauding some of the artists that I feel never got the appreciation that they so richly deserved. But I have found that even with the… Read More ›
Artist Ian Kennedy Talks About His Return To 2000AD
To put it quite simply, Ian Kennedy is the most experienced British comic strip artist working today. Beginning his career as a staff artist at DC Thomson in Dundee in 1949, he went self-employed in 1954 for the simple expediency… Read More ›
In Review – Porcelain: Bone China
Written by Benjamin Read Art by Christian Wildgoose Colours by Andre Many Lettered by Jim Campbell Published by Improper Books Full Colour. Softback. £14.99 or $22.99 “Set within a world that’s a magical echo of our own, Bone China is… Read More ›
In Review – Dirty Rotten Comics Issue 6
Edited by Gary Clap and Kirk Campbell Art and Design by Gary Clap These people do not mess about. Back with another big old chunk of awesome comics anthology goodness are the creators from Dirty Rotten Comics in their sixth… Read More ›
Stref’s Peter Pan art chosen for 2015 Great Ormond Street Hospital Christmas Cards
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity have chosen “Flying to Neverland”as their Christmas card this year, exclusively available from their web store. The image was created by Fin Cramb and Stephen White (aka Stref) for the wonderful JM Barrie’s Peter Pan The Graphic… Read More ›
Creators @ Thought Bubble 2015: Part 2 – Small Press
The ninth annual Thought Bubble Festival took place in Leeds over the week of 9-15 November 2015, however it is the huge two-day comic convention over the weekend of 14-15 November that the vast majority of punters and creators think… Read More ›
Creators @ Thought Bubble 2015 : Part 1 – Artists
The ninth annual Thought Bubble Festival took place in Leeds over the week of 9-15 November 2015, however it is the huge two day comic convention over the weekend of 14-15 November that the vast majority of punters and creators… Read More ›
Eagle Daze: The Life and Times of Leonard James Matthews – Part One
Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway and the Eagle Group of Comics, was a “Creative Visionary”… but that, Roger Perry argues in his extensive ten part biography of the man which begins today on downthetubes, is only due to… Read More ›
In Review: Thought Bubble 2015
The culmination of the Thought Bubble Comics Arts Festival in Leeds was this last weekend and, as with previous years, it was a busy bustle of comics in all forms. I was there from the Friday night party to the… Read More ›
In Review: I Love This Part by Tillie Walden
Created by Tillie Walden Published by Avery Hill Publishing 68 pages The Story: Two girls are growing up in America. They are in school and are tied up in all that a life like this includes. They discover a friendship… Read More ›
In Review: MULP – Sceptre Of The Sun Issue 2
The second issue of writer Matt Gibbs and artist Sara Dunkerton’s five issue MULP: Sceptre Of The Sun, now being published by Improper Books, is being launched at Thought Bubble 2015. This anthropomorphic adventure series set in the 1930s follows a… Read More ›
52: Graeme Neil Reid’s Year In Time And Space
Just over a year ago artist Graeme Neil Reid, whose artwork has appeared in 2000AD, Judge Dredd Megazine, Radio Times, and The Dangerous Book Of Heroes, began to paint A6 watercolours of characters from Doctor Who. His intention was to… Read More ›
In Review: Night Post by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder
Improper Book’s first hardback publication, Night Post, has been on limited release for some time now but it is just about to become available to a wider audience through Diamond. Writer Benjamin Read, of Porcelain, Butterfly Gate and the recent… Read More ›