Chinbeard Books are marking fifty years of ITV’s The Tomorrow People with new books and collections of Look-In magazine’s strips based in the SF series – and they’re still on the hunt for original art by artists such as John M. Burns for their second release.
2023 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the visionary television science-fiction series, The Tomorrow People, and series creator and writer, Roger Price teamed up with Chinbeard Books and Oak Tree Books to invite you all into another era of adventure with a brand-new novel series, which launched with The Tomorrow People: Changes, written by Roger himself, with co-writer Andy Davidson, and the publication of the first Look-In comic collection, available direct from Chinbeard here.
Now, Chinbeard Books has renewed its appeal for original art for its second collection of the strip, supported by Colin Brown, coordinator of the John M Burns Art Facebook Group, which celebrates the life and work of the hugely influential artist, who died in December.
Chinbeard Books publisher Barnaby Eaton-Jones paid tribute to John when the news broke, describing him as “a genuinely rare talent who oozed class and individuality.”
“Volume 1 of The Tomorrow People – The Complete Look-in Comics contained over two thirds of pages scanned from original art, Colin explains. “Robert Hammond and Barnaby Eaton-Jones of Chinbeard Books are still looking for original art pages for Volume Two, which is almost ready for publication.”
In addition to John, artists who worked on the series were Mike Noble, Leslie Branton and Bill Titcombe.
The show’s stars also featured on the comic’s covers, most painted by Arnaldo Putzu, an Italian artist working in London, he made his name creating cinema posters for Hammer Films (Creatures the World Forgot and The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires), the Carry On series and more. Although other artists sometimes contributed artwork (including Arthur Ranson), his cover reign ran from 1973 through to 1981.
If you have any original art for this series from Look-in, starting from Issue 36, cover dated 30th August 1975 onwards, and are able to help, please contact designer Robert Hammond at nestene1ATbtopenworld.com (replace “AT” with @).
In The Tomorrow People, regarded as ITV’s rival to Doctor Who when it made its debut in the 1970s, all over the world, young people undergo a startling transformation as the awkwardness and uncertainty of puberty unlocks superhuman abilities. They are becoming Tomorrow People – the next phase of human evolution, gifted with the powers of telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation. It is their responsibility to guide the inhabitants of Earth on their first faltering steps towards the stars and take their place among the civilisations of the galaxy.
Launched in 1973, the original The Tomorrow People thrilled young audiences, becoming an international hit and one of the UK’s most successful science-fiction series. A generation of children grew up knowing that no matter how different, strange, or isolated they may have felt, they were never alone. Like them, the Tomorrow People were growing into something new: the hope for humanity’s future.
• Volume One of The Tomorrow People – The Complete Look-in Comics is available direct from Chinbeard here and Volume Two here
• Chinbeard Books have created a small microsite to promote their Look-In “The Tomorrow People” collection project, showing how the scans from the magazines look against the original art they have been generously supplied by numerous collectors for the upcoming books. Please note, the site works best on desktops / laptops, or tablets / iPads
Thanks to Tony Foster at ComicScene for the news tip
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.
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