The daughter-in-law of the late, much admired and much-missed comic artist Steve Dillon has launched a GoFundMe campaign to secure funds to further develop the popular exhibition created in his memory.
Since its launch in Northampton at the Panel Gallery last March, Tanya Celine has organised exhibitions of Steve’s work in Luton, at the Lawless comic convention in Bristol, and Bedford – and even put on two running the Steve Dillon Exhibition for over 18 months slightly different shows in Italy.
The exhibition consists of around 50 of Steve’s most iconic and loved original pages from 2000AD’s “Judge Dredd” and “Rogue Trooper”, Doctor Who, Preacher, Hellblazer, Punisher and others.
“For any Steve Dillon fan, it really is quite something to be in a room filled with this work,” Tanya, wife of Steve’s son Mark, enthuses. “We do try and add in pages when we can get them framed or change things slightly to vary it up.”
Tanya is hoping to raise funds to take the non-profit exhibition on tour around the UK and beyond in Steve’s memory, supplemented by monies raised from the sale of limited edition, fully authorised merchandise such as t-shirts featuring Steve’s work. A permanent storage space for the art between exhibitions is also being sought.
“We have big plans for next year,” says Tanya. “We’re hoping to make it to Glasgow, Enniskillin, Dublin, [NICE in] Luton, and Thought Bubble, if accepted.”
Despite working full time and raising a young family, Tanya and Mark have delighted Steve’s many fans with the exhibitions organised to date, keeping his legacy alive, “which is nice, as I think we can all agree that he was taken too soon.”
Steve passed in 2016, aged just 54.
The GoFundMe will fund the printing of limited edition t-shirts, framing, travel, insurance and, hopefully, enable securing a proper storage space for the exhibition.
“Currently, it’s very time consuming trying to dig frames out from under beds/sofas and from under loads of coats at the back of wardrobes,” Tanya says, “ and it’s a matter of time before something gets damaged.
“Hopefully this fundraiser will give us a good kickstart and the merchandise can help to continue to bring in money for us to keep putting back into the exhibition so we can continue to tour it.
“Eventually we would love to take it to both Australia and America before ending the tour in a few years time, which will also require shipping but I can’t think that far ahead right now.”
If you’re a fan of Steve Dillon’s work, have seen the exhibition, or would like to see it in future, then check out The Steve Dillon Exhibition GoFundMe here.
“If you can spare even £1 to help, that would be amazing,” says Tanya. “Every little helps and we absolutely understand that everyone is under financial pressure currently, so if you can’t donate then please share with anyone you think would like to know about us!”
• Steve Dillon Exhibition GoFundMe Page
• Follow the Steve Dillon exhibition on X for the latest news of new dates
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: 2000AD, British Comics, Comic Art, Comics, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions