In December 2007 I was fortunate enough to interview Calum Laird, who edits DC Thomson’s Commando. The interview was conducted as research for an article about writing and Calum was very generous with his time. I felt it seemed a shame to waste… Read More ›
by John Freeman I’ve just been catching up with some recent email and read that Pauline Baynes, whose illustrations gave life to Narnia, as well as appearing in books by J.R.R. Tolkien, Mary Norton, Richard Adams and countless others, passed… Read More ›
Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park and Beano editor Alan Digby were interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, part of the ongoing celebrations for the weekly comic as it fast approaches its 70th birthday. Park, who is… Read More ›
Comics artist Jon Haward and writer John McDonald, part of the creative team on Classicial Comics Macbeth, have been interviewed for the BookZone TV, an online video channel from the Borders bookshop. View the video here Classical Comics recently announced… Read More ›
by Jason WilsonPublished by Dealer Comics The Book: A 74-page graphic novel telling the story of an ordinary British couple – he works in IT, she works in Marks and Spencer – who, when on holiday in Spain, stumble across… Read More ›
Comics writer and editor Barrie Tomlinson has been in touch with sad news that prolific British comic script writer Fred Baker died earlier this month. He had been ill for some time with Alzheimer’s and died of pneumonia on 4th… Read More ›
Writer and former Tiger and New Eagle editor Barrie Tomlinson pays tribute to Fred Baker, one of British comics unsung heroes, who died on 4 June 2008. He had been ill for some time with Alzheimer’s and died of pneumonia…. Read More ›
Over on the Forbidden Planet International blog, Joe Gordon has posted an interview with Brighton-based Hannah Berry, author of the recnetly-published Britten & Brülightly from publishers Jonathan Cape, a film noir-styled debut graphic novel that centres on ‘Private Researcher’ Fernández… Read More ›
In the second of a series of creator interviews to mark the upcoming NoBarCodes event next Saturday in Camden Lock Market, London, David Baillie talks to Sean Azzopardi, creator of Twelve Hour Shift and one of London Underground Comics’ success… Read More ›
Artist Beryl Cook, a painter with a cartoonists’ sensibility for accurate observation from life, has died aged 81. Her official biography on her web site indicates she was born in 1926 in Surrey, one of four sisters. She left school… Read More ›
Following the death of British comics artist Mike Western, reported earlier this week, we’ve published two new features on the main downthetubes site to celebrate his life and work. In Mike Western Remembered, Ian Wheeler pays tribute to the late,… Read More ›
For a little over five years, John Freeman and I produced Eagle Flies Again, a fanzine dedicated to British boy’s comics with a bias towards 1980s Eagle and other comics of that era. John and I were blessed to have… Read More ›
Sad news via Steve Holland’s Bear Alley: one of the giants of British comics, Mike Western, has laid down his pen for the last time. Mike, who suffered a heart attack in 2007 and was laid low by it for… Read More ›
Check out this digital vampire comic by Rodrigo Diaz Ricci
When top Scottish comics creator made an appearance at Scotland’s National Library in April 2008, Brian D Morgan was on hand to report what he had to say about his approach to drawing comics for downtheubes. Read his full report… Read More ›
There was a time not that long ago when British boy’s comics celebrated the heroism of British and Commonwealth servicemen. As London celebrates the current British forces with the City Salute, Jeremy Briggs takes a look back at how… Read More ›
Matthew Badham has just posted a great interview with 2000AD and small press creators Al Ewing and PJ Holden (who has also worked for Image Comics and Fantagraphics) on his Overspill blog. “We were supposed to be talking about Dead… Read More ›
Over on Bear Alley, Steve Holland has just paid tribute to writer and illustrator Terry Maloney, who died on 16 March 2008, aged 90. In the 1930s, Maloney joined the Communist Party and renounced his Catholic upbringing and the church… Read More ›
This interview was first published on 9th April 2008 on downthetubes and was merged with this blog in 2013. First published in 1961 Commando is Britain’s last war comic. Indeed, of those British comics that many of us grew up with,… Read More ›
First published in 1961 Commando is Britain’s last war comic. Indeed, of those British comics that many of us grew up with, only the ubiquitous Dandy and Beano are older – however, since there are eight Commandos a month, its… Read More ›