This Remembrance Weekend the Imperial War Museum in London is opening a new permanent exhibition entitled Extraordinary Heroes which celebrates the courage of the many men and women who have received the two highest British and Commonwealth medals of honour, the Victoria Cross and the George Cross, throughout the years.
As part of this new exhibition, the museum has commissioned digital comics covering the actions of eight of these individuals – one double VC winner, four VC winners and three GC winners, from pilots to policemen, medics to spies.
When we think of digital comics we tend to think of comic panels customised for devices like the iPad and small mobile phone sized screens, but the Imperial War Museum will be screening their especially created comics on screens that are two metres long by one metre high.
These historically accurate comic biographies were created specifically for this exhibition by ISO Designs of Glasgow and for which the company used the talents of Commando writer Ferg Handley and The Boys artists John McCrea and Keith Burns along with colourist Andrew Elder.
Jeremy Briggs spoke to Ferg and John about their work for the Imperial War Museum and you can read about it here on the downthetubes main site.
• downthetubes Extraordinary Heroes feature
• There are more details of the Extraordinary Heroes exhibition at the Imperial War Museum’s Extraordinary Heroes website.
• You can donate to the Poppy appeal all year round via the Royal British Legion and Poppy Scotland websites.
- About the Author
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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: Digital Comics