Independent publisher GetMyComics has announced it will be publishing a special edition of Brian Bolland‘s The Actress and the Bishop, featuring previously unpublished material, on sale in October 2022.

This “SHIFT Presents” edition is produced with Brian, and features all of Brian’s amazing “The Actress and the Bishop” strips to date, in glorious black and white, in the standard big SHIFT size so you can see the masterful line work in all its detail.

The Actress and the Bishop is a whimsical rhyming strip by artist Brian Bolland, first featured as a three-page feature in the anthology title A1 (#1 and #3) in 1989. A full-length, 20-page story about the pair followed, seventeen years later, in Bolland Strips!, published by Knockabout Comics, back in 2005.

The strip features an anaemic actress (or ‘actress’) living with a bishop, who always dresses as though in the middle of celebrating a royal wedding.

All parts Brian has drawn to date will be included – “The Actress and the Bishop Go Boating” and “… Throw a Party”, from issues 1 and 3 of A1, respectively, and “.. and the Thing in the Shed” from Bolland Strips!

Also included will be the 14-page story, “… Go To The Seaside”, appearing in print in this special (and in colour in Shift Volume 2, issue 5) for the first time.

The collection will also include two previously unpublished prose stories with new spot illustrations from Brian – “.. Go Shopping” and “… Take Up Sport”, plus pin ups, covers and an interview.

• You can purchase Shift Presents… Brian Bolland’s The Actress and the Bishop on its own, or with a limited edition print, signed by Brian here direct from GetMyComics

• Pre-order Shift Volume Two – Issue 5, on sale from 28th September 2022 in newsagents here | Edition with print also offered

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. Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Explorer (previously known as Star Trek 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, British Comics - Collections, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News

Tags: Brian Bolland, downthetubes News, Humour Comics, The Actress and the Bishop