Rarities from DC Thomson’s archives included in auction
Sparky
Rare British wraparound cover comics remembered
Wraparound comic covers recalled
Phil-Comics offers bumper auction of British comics and more to end 2023
600 items – British comics, some humour art, US comics and more – go under the virtual hammer this weekend
Latest Phil-Comics auction offers more British comic rarities – including a Girl comic carpet sweeper!
Sometimes even here at downthetubes we’re staggered by what comic rarities Phil-Comics uncovers for sale!
Comic Creator Spotlight: Beano and Dandy artist Ken H. Harrison
We salute Ken H. Harrison, a Beano and Dandy artist who has brought us much cheer for decades
In Memoriam: TV21 and Countdown Comic Artist Jon Davis MBE
We’re sorry to report of a veteran British comic artist
DC Thomson advertises “Heritage Brands” editor, could classic collections be in the works?
Dundee-based comics publisher, whose current titles include The Beano but has a massive comics archive encompassing boys and girls comics dating back to the 1920s, has re-advertised the role of a “Heritage Brands” editor, which includes editing Commando, a post has… Read More ›
ARGH! Comics Need You! Or Rather, Bay TV Liverpool Need You For a TV Show About Comics…
Can you laugh out loud while someone drones on for hours and hours about bloomin’ comic books? If so, Bay TV Liverpool want you to be part of the audience at Liverpool’s Central Library on Saturday 30th January 2016. You will witness the… Read More ›
Unexpected Delights from a British Comics Meme
So on Monday morning, Christopher Muscat, one of the team who run the highly-regarded Malta Comic Convention, involved me in a comics meme… Which led to some great artists drawing new versions of some wonderful, if obscure, British comic characters. As… Read More ›
DC Thomson’s “Invisible Dick” revived (no tittering at the back!)
Two of Scotland’s top comic creators have revived DC Thomson’s classic character “Invisible Dick” whose adventures, when a name like that was more innocent and not, perhaps, considered hilarious, appeared in a number of titles across several decades, including… Read More ›
In Memoriam: “Minnie the Minx” artist Jim Petrie
(Updated 29/8/14 to include tribute from Mike Stirling) We’re sorry to report the passing of artist Jim Petrie, an artist perhaps best known for his work on The Beano‘s “Minnie the Minx”, a strip he took over from… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Gordon Bell
We’re sorry to report the passing of another British comics great – comic artist Gordon Bell, whose work most recently appeared in DC Thomson’s Courier newspaper under the byline Fax, but who is fondly remembered by many for his work for… Read More ›
In Review: Classics from the Comics 172
There’s the usual great mix of strips from a variety of DC Thomson humour comics in the latest issue of Classics from the Comics, on sale in all good newsagents now. Favourites this time around have to be a 1977… Read More ›
Classics from the Comics plays Cops and Robbers
Issue 169 DC Thomson’s Classics from the Comics is now on sale in all good newsagents — another gem of a 68-page retro monthly, full of comic classics from the publisher of The Beano and The Dandy. Humour strips in… Read More ›
In Review: Classics from the Comics 167
DC Thomson’s Classics from the Comics title is a gem of a reprint title, combining a range of cracking humour and adventure strips from comics such as The Beano, The Dandy and other, no longer published titles, into one bumper… Read More ›
In Memoriam: William Ritchie
Willie Ritchie, sitting at DC Thomson editor Morris Heggie’s desk in DCT Meadowside, Dundee with his beloved “Baby Crockett” in October 2009. Photo courtesy Morris Heggie We’re sorry to report the passing of the popular comics artist William Ritchie, who… Read More ›
Tim Quinn on Tour
Comics writer Tim Quinn is back on the cartoon workshop and lecture circuit, appearing at The Brindley in Runcorn tonight and elsewhere in the UK (see current dates below). Tim, whose credits include The Beano, Doctor Who Magazine and The… Read More ›
Comic Christmas Covers
Over on his ever-wonderful Blimey! It’s Another Blog About Comics!, Lew Stringer has been running a series of features on British Christmas Comic Covers, offerings samples from a wide range of titles, from Film Fun and TV Express to the… Read More ›
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 ›
By Sea, By Land, By Air: An Interview with Calum Laird
This interview was first published on 9th April 2008 on downthetubes and was merged with this blog in 2013. First published in 1961 Commando is Britain’s last war comic. Indeed, of those British comics that many of us grew up with,… Read More ›