As one mixed year draws to a close and another, hopefully much better 2022 dawns, here’s a quick rundown of our most popular posts on downthetubes in 2021. Happy New Year!
This year saw many losses, and the British comics community was not immune to sadness. The deaths of Beano and The Dandy artist Duncan Scott and “Master of Cheekery”, comic artist Frank McDiarmid, both struck chords with our readers and both feature, rightly, in our Top Ten posts.
At Number Ten, our British Comic Characters Profiled feature on Dan Dare continues to indicate interest in the EAGLE character, even if it seems he’s not likely to make it to the big screen or TV any time soon. Look out, hopefully, for a further collection of early adventures sometime in 2022 from Titan Comics. It’s been a while since The Evil One was published in 2019, the releases another casualty of COVID.
downthetubes readers were clearly alarmed by news that stolen Brian Bolland “Judge Dredd” art had surfaced on a major comic auction site. The matter was raised with both site and the artist’s agent.
Comics That Might Have Been continue to intrigue, so it no surprise the second part of our two-part item on a BBC Worldwide’s abandoned “ROBOT” Project made it into this year’s Top Ten. The magazine would have included an all-new Doctor Who, featuring an incarnation of the Rebel Time Lord created specifically for comics.
Back in March, Panini Comics UK revealed its new Marvel launches, and a Batman title – and plans for a new Captain Britain Omnibus.
While some titles have not survived the year, the Omnibus was published as planned in October, available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link), and your local comic or bookshop.
Classic British Comics: Who Owns What? That seems to be a question many site visitors want the answer to.
Another feature, the UK and Ireland Local Comic Shop Map, continues to be a popular item on the site. Thank you to everyone who has provided information and updates.
Back in June, Anderson Entertainment announced a new publishing venture, plans to collect “UFO” strips across two volumes. This news was by far our most popular British comic collection feature of the year, taking the Number Two spot in our Top Ten. The first anthology is out now and it’s superb – read my initial review here.
Finally, if proof were needed of the lasting impact of Thunderbirds creators Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, then you won’t be surprised to learn that our most popular post of the year was the announcement of Anderson Entertainment’s plans for 2021 – what will they announce for 2022?
We don’t know, yet – but we do know what 2000AD and Treasury of British Collections and Specials are coming in 2022. Enjoy!
All the best to our readers for 2022! Thanks for read, and thank you to everyone on the downthetubes team for all their fantastic articles!
THE DOWNTHETUBES TOP 20 POSTS OF 2021 – A LIST
20 – UK and Irish Comic Conventions and Comic Exhibitions
19 – Day of the Triffids: A Graphic Novel Mystery – now solved! (and a guide to past “Triffids” comics)
18 – British Comics That Never Were – BBC Worldwide’s “ROBOT” Project – Part One
17 – 2000AD, Treasury of British Collections and Specials – 2022
16 – In Memoriam: Dan Dare and Thunderbirds comic artist Donald “Don” Harley
15 – UK’s first dedicated comic art gallery to open in Northampton
14 – The British Comic Industry Q&A
12 – In Memoriam: Comics Editior, Co-Publisher Artist and Letterer Dave Evans, aka Bolt-01
11 – 2000AD, Treasury of British Collections and Specials – 2021
10 – British Comic Characters Profiled | Dan Dare
9 – Stolen Brian Bolland “Judge Dredd” art surfaces on major comic auction site
8 – British Comics That Never Were – BBC Worldwide’s “ROBOT” Project – Part Two
6 – Classic British Comics: Who Owns What?
5 – In Memoriam: “Master of Cheekery”, comic artist Frank McDiarmid
4 – UK and Ireland Local Comic Shop Map
3 – Anderson Entertainment announces new publishing venture, “UFO” strips collected at last
2 – In Memoriam: Beano and The Dandy artist Duncan Scott
1 – Anderson Entertainment announces plans for a thrill-packed 2021
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, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds, Site Announcements
Somehow I’d missed the posts about the proposed Robot comic mag! What an amazing publication that would have been! Ah, if only!