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New Statues of Liverpool magazine reveals secrets of the city’s streets, revealed by some ace comic creators

By John Freeman on April 19, 2021

Have you ever wondered about the stories behind the statues that stand proudly on Liverpool’s busy streets? The team at Liverpool Heartbeat led by founder Robin Baynes certainly have, and so comics writer and editor Tim Quinn thought it would be a splendid idea to get their friends from the world of comics to tell the fascinating tales of many of the city’s most famous statues in Statues of Liverpool – a fabulous new comic strip magazine.

Statues of Liverpool offers a series of exciting illustrations, as tour guide Jayne Massey, leader of the FAB 4000, takes you on a trip round the city’s statuary landmarks.

The charity organisation Liverpool Heartbeat has been encouraging young people to pursue healthy and exciting lifestyles over the last 20 years with sporting events and professional comic books and magazines.

Just some of Liverpool's many states. Images courtesy Tim Quinn — *Just some of Liverpool’s many states. Images courtesy Tim Quinn*

Suitable for use in schools as part of a literacy campaign, Statues of Liverpool features the glorious work of some great cartoonists and illustrators, including Beano artist Nigel Parkinson, where he chronicles the weekly adventures of Dennis the Menace, and Doctor Who artist Russ Leach.

Russ, who provides the cover of this new title, recently published a new graphic novel, a superhero-styled adventure, Only Death Can Save Us, which is well worth tracking down)

Also on board are Beano, Dandy and current Doctor Who Magazine cartoonist Lew Stringer, Merseyside children’s book illustrator Holly Bushnell, ace American artist George Sears, whose credits over the past 40 years include illustrations and strips for The Saturday Evening Post Magazine and CBHI in the US, former Doctor Who Magazine and Marvel UK cartoonist Dicky Howett, who’s celebrating 60 years in cartooning with a page specially created for this magazine.

*Statues of Liverpool editor with a copy of the magazine. Image courtesy Tim Quinn*

Statues of Liverpool is edited by Tim Quinn, whose many credits span work for Marvel Comics on both sides of the Atlantic, to Liverpool Heartbeat.

“One of the best things about being the editor of a brand new comic magazine is that you can choose the illustrators to bring the story to life,” says Tim. “In the case of this particular publication, I thought I would try an experiment by pooling six of the great diverse talents I’ve been lucky enough to work with over the past 50 years to tell a single story.

“As I approached each artist in turn and set the book in motion, I suddenly had doubts that there would be no blurring of the lines,” he continues , “and that you would be able to see the join between each illustrator and that that join would be jarring. Happily, as soon as pages started coming in those fears were put to rest and it became obvious that we were creating a unique comic book in its own write and draw as John Lennon might have said.

“The illustrations are superb as we bring Liverpool and its history to life. This is one proud editor. And it’s all for a great cause as every penny made from the book goes back into projects that educate and entertain the young people of Merseyside via that fabulous charity organisation Liverpool Heartbeat.”

• Order your copy of Statues of Liverpool from the Liverpool Heartbeat web site

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.