2014 saw the release of issue one of MULP: Sceptre Of The Sun, the first of a proposed five issue series from writer Matt Gibbs and artist Sara Dunkerton. There is a long standing tradition of anthropomorphic characters in British… Read More ›
Improper Books
Creators @ Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2015
The remarkably warm and dry weekend of 16-18 October 2015 saw the third Lakes International Comic Art Festival take place in the Lake District town of Kendal. LICAF, or more simply Lakes, has grown in stature and visitor numbers over the… Read More ›
First Impressions: A Beginner’s Guide to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival
As a newbie to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF) Norman Boyd wondered how he was supposed to tackle a big event like this. Some of you will think “what’s he on about?” but experience tells me Norman’s not the… Read More ›
Sneak Peek: MULP – Sceptre Of The Sun Issue 2
It is just over a year since the first issue of writer Matt Gibbs and artist Sara Dunkerton’s MULP: Sceptre Of The Sun appeared. This full colour anthropomorphic adventure comic was a mousey take on an Indiana Jones style story as… Read More ›
Sneak Preview: Night Post by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder
Improper Books will release Night Post by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder through comic shops in December, a picture book telling the story of the other mail service; the one you haven’t heard of, the one that starts work at midnight… Read More ›
Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale to be re-released in new edition
Improper Books is to publish a new edition of its truly stunning title Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale, which longtime downthetbes readers will recall I gushed about on its debut back in 2010. A much-anticpated sequel, Porcelain: Bone China, will debut at… Read More ›
Into the Briar: A Quick Chat with Comic Artist Chris Wildgoose (and a sneak preview!)
Independent publisher Improper Books have just confirmed that Briar, a new graphic novel by Benjamin Read and Chris Wildgoose, will be released this autumn (with copies on sale at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival), and I got a chance to… Read More ›
Incoming: Episode 4 of The Awesome Comics Podcast, featuring artist Christian Wildgoose
Episode four of the new UK small press Awesome Comics Podcast will be coming at you this Monday. The hosts Vince Hunt (The Red Mask from Mars), Dan Butcher (Vanguard) and downthetubes contributor Tony Esmond will be chatting to artist… Read More ›
Lakes International Comic Art Festival “Clock Tower” Line-Up revealed
Following up on our reports on the international and British guests attending this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival in October – which includes Steve Bell, Darwyn Cooke, Dave McKean, Kieron Gillen, Kathryn and Stuart Immonen and many more – the organisation… Read More ›
Cup of O – Small Press Reviews
Happy 2015 to all Down the Tubes readers! I’ve got a bumper crop of reviews for you – all of them are comics bought at the tail end of 2013 (this is how big my reading pile is!) at the… Read More ›
Sneak Preview: Bone China from Improper Books
Written by Benjamin Read Art by Chris Wildgoose Colour by Andre May Letters by Jim Campbell Published by Improper Books Bone China – out next year – is a book that I have personally been looking forward to since I heard… Read More ›
In Review: Butterfly Gate
How do you review an ‘unreviewable’ book? Be quick about it? Buy Butterfly Gate – you won’t regret it because it is remarkably good. Of course that is not the way we do reviews on downthetubes. We normally try to… Read More ›
Convention Report – Nottingham Comic Con 2014
Saturday the 4th October was the second Nottingham Comic Con. Previously known as ‘Nerdfest’, along with a name change there was also a change of venue, moving to a larger and much more convenient venue at the Nottingham Conference Centre. Still in… Read More ›
Looking back on 2013: A Good Year for British Comics?
Here at downthetubes.net we think it’s been a great year that’s included the 100th issue of The Phoenix and has been named one of the top comics of 2013 by TIME Magazine, and we’ve been able to enjoy a growing… Read More ›
Lost for Words: new titles from Improper Books set to stun
Limited UK independent editions of Improper Books stunning wordless graphic story Butterfly Gate by Benjamin Read and Chris Wildgoose, and children-friendly, highly enjoyable Knight & Dragon by Matt Gibbs and Bevis Musson, will be available from Wednesday 20th November from… Read More ›