By Zen Bucko Experimental comics can be a gamble, one that in my opinion more often than not does not pay off. Combine that with the often also overplayed hand of the autobiographical comic and you are betting something of… Read More ›
Features
In Review: Kenya – Interventions
Kenya, Leo (Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira) and Rodolphe’s (Rodolphe Daniel Jacquette) ongoing series of spies, extinct beasts and strange flying lights that is set in the post war British colony reaches its fourth book, Interventions, translated from the French and published by… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Comic Creator Alan Joseph Mitchell
The sudden passing of the inspiring comics creator Alan Mitchell, perhaps best known for co-writing “Third World War” with Pat Mills for Crisis, aged just 55, came as a tremendous shock to both family and friends. Although we met only a couple of… Read More ›
Celebrating the British Small Press: 60 Great Small Comic Press (Part One)
When Marvel UK shrunk its original strip output in the mid-1990s, not being a 2000AD reader, comics creator Andy Luke had nowhere to go. He came to find that the small press, often photocopied works, were a core part of… Read More ›
Eagle Daze: The Life and Times of Leonard James Matthews – Part Twelve
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… Read More ›
In Review: Underpants by Alex Potts
by Alex Potts Underpants is a selfppublished collection of mostly autobiographical short stories from the creator of last year’s excellent A Quiet Disaster, telling tales of the life and interests of its laconically sarcastic and observant creator. Some of my favourites were… Read More ›
A Box of Delights: London’s Cartoon Museum
Alan Russell visits London’s Cartoon Museum, revealing some of its treasures for British comic fans… I’ve been a comics fan since I was a young child back in the early 1970s. In those days of course, there were far fewer things… Read More ›
In Review: Nom: The Demon Eater
By Paul Tonner “Cursed to wander the nine circles of Hell for all eternity and with an insatiable hunger for the flesh of demons, Nom The Demon Eater will stop at nothing for a tasty snack. “Expect lashings of gratuitous… Read More ›
A Massive Awesome Comics Podcast Catch Up!
What with holidays and a mass of other stuff (yes, the work that pays the bills), I’ve gotten behind on coverage of what’s been on the small press-devoted Awesome Comics Podcast, although I did congratulate Vince Hunt, Dan Butcher and Tony… Read More ›
In Review: The Survivors – Episode 3
The on-going prequel series to writer and artist Leo’s futuristic Worlds Of Aldebaran, The Survivors, reaches Episode 3 after the previous book had turned around the survivors’ view of the desolate, dangerous world they had crash-landed on. After encountering one… Read More ›
In Review: Dan Dare at The Atkinson, Southport
Dan Whitehead visited The Atkinson in Southport, Merseyside – the town where Eagle comic was first created by Frank Hampson and Marcus Morris – and offers his take on the permanent Dan Dare exhibition there… I have an almost lifelong affection… Read More ›
In Review: DTHRTL Issue 2
Silent comics are always a challenge to read, and to review given that there are no character or location names to be used, but Bob Turner’s DTHRTL (that is Death Rattle to the non-text savvy amongst us) is definitely worth… Read More ›
In Review: Tales Of WesterNoir – Issue 2
Tales Of WesterNoir, the short story anthology spin-off Accent UK’s ongoing old West demon hunting series WesterNoir, returns with a second issue as the two WesterNoir creators, writer Dave West and artist Gary Crutchley, both turn their hands to writing with… Read More ›
In Review: The Survivors – Episode 2
Cinebook continues their translation of the spin-off series from Leo’s Worlds Of Aldebaran books with The Survivors – Episode 2, a tale set during the initial colonisation of Aldebaran IV, 100 years before the main Aldebaran series begins. After the loss… Read More ›
In Review: SP4RX by Wren McDonald
Created by Wren McDonald 120 pages – Black and White and Purple 243mm x 170mm – Softback – £14.99 Published by NoBrow Press The Story: “SP4RX is the story of mankind clawing for survival. Set in a future where a… Read More ›
It’s Grand Up North: Two Comics Events For Your Calendar
Is the North of England leading the way in a new type of comics event? By Ian Wheeler There are many types of events for fans of comics. The large “Film and Comic Cons” which incorporate comics as part of… Read More ›
Crowdfunding Spotlight: “Red Range” by Joe R. Lansdale & Sam Glanzman
If you haven’t already, then please do check out Drew Ford‘s to get the positively stunning Western comic Red Range by Joe R. Lansdale (By Bizarre Hands) and by Sam Glanzman (A Sailor’s Story) back into print. Combining an unusual… Read More ›
In Review: The Moniaive Comic Festival 2016
Most comic conventions measure their success by either footfall, social media reach or economic success. Well, I am here to report that the Moniaive Comic Festival takes a different route to measuring success. The aim of Sue Grant and her… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Comics Letterer and Designer Derek Pierson
We’re sorry to report the passing of Derek Pierson, who once self deprecatingly described his comics career as “from Hulton’s to IPC Magazines with Fleetway, taking a chunk of the middle”. Aged 77, he had been ill for some time. A… Read More ›
WebFind: A Foreigner’s Guide to Polish Comics
While the Polish comics industry may not be as internationally recognised as that of the US or the Francophone countries, it certainly has its own share of writers and artists creating world-class comics. From the most famous albums and books… Read More ›