Life and work of Misty artist John Armstrong celebrated

By John Freeman on January 28, 2019

A colour copy of John Armstrong's cover for a fan-published special dedicated to girls comic Misty, published in 2006 by

A new Facebook group dedicated to British girls comic artist John Armstrong has just gone public with the support of the artist’s family, who are keen to see a lasting memorial to his work.

John, who died last year aged 94, was a lifelong artist who will be best known to downthetubes readers as co-creator of “Bella at the Bar” for Tammy and “Moonchild” for Misty – but his work encompassed many styles and genres.

Much of the art featured in the new group is from John’s personal archive, kindly released by his family in an effort to celebrate his life as an artist and assembled for online viewing by the downthetubes team.

The images uploaded – which include art from World War Two, college art, stage show posters, book illustrations, portraits and some examples of John’s comic art are featured.

World War Two watercolour by John Armstrong – possibly featuring John as the book reader

A book cover for a Robin Hood book published by Nelson, art by John Armstrong

A stunning unmounted portrait on canvas by John Armstrong – date unknown

Sadly, very little, if any, original art from John’s work on titles such as Misty and Tammy is known to exist. Some was believed destroyed when then owners IPC moved to a new warehouse and more was destroyed at the direction of senior management during Robert Maxwell’s ownership of many Fleetway titles.

Any information on some of the work featured, if published, is welcome.

The new community is the latest of many dedicated to individual British comic artists on Facebook, which also features groups dedicated to 2000AD artist John Michael Burns, Commando artist Ian Kennedy and 2000AD artist Ron Smith.

• Visit The Art of John Armstrong Facebook group

• Read the downthetubes tribute to John Armstrong

• In His Own Words: John Armstrong on his life and career

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All imagery © respective creators/ publishers. Misty © Rebellion Publishing Ltd.

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.