The Dunfermline Story, a new comic celebrating the history of Dunfermline, Scotland, will be released next month, a project spearheaded by Commando writer Colin Maxwell…

The birthplace of the richest man in the world. Home of the inventor of a “walking on water” machine. The royal residence for centuries. Home town of chart-topping rock and punk bands. Scotland’s ancient capital and newest city.

Long overlooked by locals and visitors alike, Dunfermline, with its new city status is reinventing itself, or perhaps regaining confidence in itself after playing second fiddle to the likes of Edinburgh and St Andrews for centuries.

2024 is also the 400th anniversary of the Great Fire that wiped out three quarters of the town, years before the same thing happened in London. On the anniversary of the fire, 25th May, a brand new comic will be launched to celebrate the city’s thousand years of history from the time of King Malcolm III to the granting of city status in 2022 for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

Written by Colin Maxwell (Commando, Blazer, Maximized Comics), The Dunfermline Story is described as “an illustrated history of the city”, and features the artwork of over thirty artists, each depicting the stories of people and events in the city’s history. Anna Morozova (2000AD, Commando) illustrates the story of King Malcolm III and his queen, Margaret of Wessex. Vicente Alcazar (Commando, Marvel) brings to life the story of the Victoria Cross awardee, David Hunter. Dan Cornwell (2000AD, Blazer) depicts one of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club’s most famous players, a certain Sir Alex Ferguson. Nigel Parkinson (Beano, The Dandy) illustrates songs by Dunfermline bands, Big Country and The Skids.

The book, written in Scots, (”If you can read ‘Oor Wullie’ and ‘The Broons’, you’ll be able to read this”, says Colin) was funded by a Scots Language Publication Grant and crams the city’s thousand years of history into 68 A4 pages.

Colin Maxwell says “It’s taken a year of research and writing to get us to this point. At first I expected the book to be about famous people and kings and queens, but as I researched the history of Dunfermline, where I live, I discovered fascinating stories of ordinary people that had almost been forgotten. There are stories of shopkeepers, musicians, witches, thieves and inventors, as well as all the famous folk who have come out of Dunfermline”.

As well as several well-known comic artists, The Dunfermline Story also contains artwork by several local artists, some of whom have worked in comics before, and others who are brand new to the medium. For example, Cara Shanley normally draws and paints local landscapes, while Grum Murtagh draws commissioned artwork and murals.

Grum said: “I read comics and doodle some of my own strips for fun, but I’ve never done a whole page for a publication like this. It’s quite daunting to be in a book alongside some of these other artists whose work I admire”.

A competition was run for local school children too, who have inundated Colin with hundreds of comic strips and drawings of local landmarks. “I can’t believe the response. It was very quiet at first, and then suddenly there were dozens and dozens of entries to sift through. There’s some real budding talent out there, and perhaps some of these kids will make comics of their own some day”, remarked Colin, who went on to say that some of the best artwork by the school children will be included in the book.

• The Dunfermline Story is available on launch day, Saturday 25th May 2024 from 11.00pm, from Dunfermline’s award-winning comic shop, Little Shop of Heroes, but for those who can’t make it to Dunfermline, the book will be available for mail order from Maximized Comics – maximized.co.uk

With thanks to Colin Maxwell

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: British Comics, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events

Tags: Anna Morozova, Colin Maxwell, Dan Cornwell, downthetubes News, Dunfermline, Little Shop of Heroes, Maximized Comics, Nigel Parkinson, The Dunfermline Story, Vicente Alcazar