November is a particularly important month for all war veterans and this year will be even more significant, marking 90 years since the guns fell silent over the many battlefields of the First World War. To mark this moment in… Read More ›
DC Thomson
In Memoriam: Les Barton
(via Lew Stringer and Steve Bright): downthetubes is sorry to report the death of cartoonist Les Barton, the artist who originally drew DC Thomson’s Sparky comic’s brilliant I-Spy character. Les, who lived in Uxbridge, Middlesex, passed away in a nursing… Read More ›
Commando Webbing
A new interview with Commando and Dan Dare artist Keith Page has been posted on the official Commando website. In the interview Keith, who is currently working on his 144th Commando issue answers questions posed by Commando readers on his… Read More ›
The Forgotten Heroes Of Beanotown
Not much warning but if anyone is within travelling distance of Dundee on Wednesday 8 October then Dr Chris Murray will be giving a talk to the Abertay Historical Society on The Forgotten Heroes Of Beanotown. Dr Murray was the… Read More ›
Tube Surfing: DC Thomson Style
Ian Kennedy may be the pre-eminent Commando cover artist over the course of the title’s long history but it had been running for nine years by the time he did his first cover. Before that Ken Barr was the standout… Read More ›
In Review: Commando and Starblazer Calendars 2009
Two years ago I began the review of the last Art of Commando calendar with “You wait years for a Commando calendar to come along, and then two arrive at once!” After nothing last year save for the usual Beano… Read More ›
In Review: Classics From The Comics 149
It has been out for a while but it is still worth giving the latest issue DC Thomson’s monthly reprint magazine Classics From The Comics a hearty pat on the back. Issue 149 includes two sections that are new to… Read More ›
War of Words: Comic Writing Tips
In December 2007 Matt Badham was fortunate enough to interview DC Thomson editor Calum Laird, currently editing Commando, as research for an article about writing. The interview includes tips on pitching to various DC Thomson titles such as The Dandy,… Read More ›
Happy 70th Birthday, Beano!
As Britain’s top weekly humour comic The Beano celebrates its 70th birthday, downthetubes asked comic creators to offer their birthday wishes, and the first received have now been published in a special tribute section on the main downthetubes site, including… Read More ›
Les Starblazeurs
It has been eleven months since both downthetubes and Bear Alley mentioned the Starblazer Adventures role-playing game due out from Cubicle Seven. The Starblazer Adventures core rulebook is now scheduled to be in games stores in “Autumn/Winter 2008” according to… Read More ›