The new ComicScene UK magazine has launched a crowdfunder to get the magazine into over 600 shops across the UK on a monthly basis. They need to raise £5000 plus for the upfront cost to do this. Declaration of interest… Read More ›
WHSmith
British Comic Sales Figures, Winners and Losers (January – June 2018): Beano on the rise, Peppa Pig continues to party to high sales
Report by John Freeman and Jeremy Briggs The latest sales figures for some comics and children’s magazines available on the UK news stand for the first half of 2018 have been published by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). There are winners… Read More ›
Northern Ireland’s newsagents put some of England’s to shame when it comes to Comics Retailing
Back in 2015, Oink! Blog creator Phil Boyce wrote a post in the early days of December encouraging readers to go and explore the comics shelves of their local shops, whether they were newsagents, supermarkets, comic stores or local corner… Read More ›
Don’t Scream yet if you Misty-ed this Halloween Special from 2000AD… Here’s how to get you copy!
If you’ve missed out on a copy of the Scream & Misty Halloween Special 2017 – the first, we hope, of many such items from 2000AD publisher Rebellion (and the word is, there will be more!) – then there’s still plenty… Read More ›
British Comic Sales Figures, Winners and Losers (January – June 2017): Publishers bullish, MEGA and LEGO titles on the rise
The latest sales figures for comics available on the UK new stand might on first sight make for depressing reading for both publishers and readers alike (the latter fearing for the cancellation of their favourite titles). But closer inspection of… Read More ›
The Independent celebrates modern British comics, offers Phoenix subscriber deal, UK news stand distribution costs revealed
British newspaper The Indpendent has published an upbeat article on modern British comics such as The Phoenix, which includes comments from Lew Stringer, Jamie Smart and Phoenix editor Tom Fickling. Written by David Barnett, the article (“How classic comics gave way to garish… Read More ›
Creating Comics: Are There Better Ways to Reach Your Readers Than Through WHSmith?
I’m throwing this out there for discussion, because my article suggesting a Buster comic revival has stirred up some interesting comment yesterday. A lot of people, for example, suggested “Summer Specials” as an alternative to a new regular comic. The… Read More ›
downthetubes: Our Top Ten Stories for May 2016
Halfway into 2016 already and we had another upswing in visitor numbers on downthetubes in May – thank you for your continued support. We have lots of news and features and new projects yet to come! • In Memoriam: Stewart… Read More ›
Eagle Daze: The Life and Times of Leonard James Matthews – Part Ten
Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway and the Eagle Group of Comics, was a Creative Visionary… but that, Roger Perry argues in his extensive biography of the man which continues here on downthetubes, is only due to him having… Read More ›