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 ›
Features
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 ›
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 ›
Marvel UK Heroes Lost in Action: Officer Outbody by Glenn Dakin and Ross Dearsley
A Marvel UK character that fell foul of the company’s implosion in the 1990s
Celebrating the Genius of Ken Reid at Christmas
Over on this always-entertaining blog about British comics, cartoonist Lew Stringer has posted a number of terrific Christmas strips drawn by the wonderful Ken Reid. You’ll have seen some of the pages before on Lew’s blog over the years but others… Read More ›
IDW announces Al Williamson’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Artist’s Edition
The legendary late artist Al Williamson’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back stories have been collected in the award-winning Artist’s Edition format by US publisher IDW, to be released in April 2016. Al Williamson is an artist much admired by comic creators worldwide and, back… 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 ›
Amazing Comics Podcast Episode 25: Tally Burtram and Bajo Mano
This week Vince Hunt, Dan Butcher and Tony Esmond are joined by the creator of the procedural cop drama comic Bajo Mano Tally Burtram to talk about the series and how it came to be. She also tells the ACP crew about… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Comic Artist and Editor Luis Bermejo Rojo
A tribute to the Spanish master, whose credits included “Johnny Future” and “Lord of the Rings”
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 ›
Doctor Who: Panel to Panel Podcast Interviews Cavan Scott
Episode 43 of Doctor Who: Panel to Panel is out, and in the section “The Pandorica Opens”, Jeremy Bement reviews the Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Year Two #2, covers recent news and chats with writer Cavan Scott about… Read More ›
The Really Heavy Greatcoat Review of the Year 2015
The Really Heavy Greatcoat by myself and Lancaster-based artist Nick Miller was published fairly regularly for about 20 years in alternative Lancaster print titles such as On The Beat and Off the Beat and online on virtual-lancaster.net. The strip’s last regular appearance in print was in the… Read More ›
Cup of O – Small Press Reviews
Hello! You find me still plundering through my enormous backlog of small press marvels – the first two titles here are from the Melksham Comic Con 2014 and the last is the first of my teetering pile of titles from Thought Bubble… Read More ›
The British Comics Industry: Still Alive and Kicking, Despite Troll Claims to the Contrary
Phil Boyce runs the Oink! blog, dedicated to the original, cheeky, innovative comic that once featured the best of British talent, as well as extra posts on every aspect of the world’s greatest comic, creator info, behind-the-scenes shenanigans and more. He recently posted… 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 ›
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 ›
Awesome Comic Podcast Thought Bubble Special
Get the sherbets out and It’s the Awesome Comic Podcast‘s first convention special folks! Vince Hunt and Tony Esmond discuss their time at Thought Bubble Festival 2015 (unfortunately Dan couldn’t make it), give shout outs to the lovely people they met… Read More ›