What may be examples of some of the earliest illustration work by comic artist and illustrator John M. Burns, who died last month, for the weekly adventure comic, Lion, in the late 1950s, have been brought to the attention of downthetubes.

John was one of the last surviving British artists who began working in the 1950s through Link Studios, where he learned his craft under Harry Lindfield, before going freelance. His passing prompted comment from fellow Link Studios comic artist Barrie Mitchell, who started his apprenticeship at Link aged 17, in November 1957, following on John’s heels in the role, regarding him as a mentor and a good friend. “He was up there with the best, if not the best,” he says.

Back then, Burns, then 19, was nearly at the end of his apprenticeship, “but those couple of years left were worth so much,” Barrie recalled. “He would come and sit with me or Tony Harding, who came after me, helping with our artwork and the idea of telling the story without words. Obviously, some text is needed, but to see him draw and layout a page was something else, no sketching out, straight down on the page, it was as though he could see the artwork before the pencil went down.

“We had an older artist called Bill Mainwaring in the studio, he was drawing just one frame for a text story called, I think, “Iron Man” in maybe Lion. John was asked if he would like to do it, he said yes of course, he was 16/17. It was excellent, and he just went on from there. After his National Service, he came back to Link stayed for a few, then moved on.”

Barrie’s memories prompted fellow comic artist and downthetubes contributor David Slinn to get in touch as, for him, it brought back memories of Doris White, who owned Link Studios, and who Tony Harding, who passed in 2014, once recalled had illustrated some of the Noddy books in the 1940s/1950s.

“Barrie’s recollection of John taking over the ‘Iron Man’ text story from Bill Mainwaring [aka ‘Manwaring’, when first encountered in Express (Super Colour) Weekly], was more likely the Lion series ‘The Amazing Adventures of Mr. X’,” David suggests.

Featured here are two “The Voice from the Past!”, written by Edwin Dale, illustrations by Bill M, while, David suggested, John was responsible for “At the Mercy of the Fire-worshippers!”, also written by Dale, the other “Mr. X” story and illustrations for a new series, “Marooned Shipmates of Shark Island“, written by Ray Marr.

Although John himself didn’t mention “Mr. X” in a letter outlining his early career he sent to Ian Wheeler during preparation for an interview in the fanzine, Eagle Flies Again some years back, we’re reasonably certain he did work on the series, as David suggests.

Prompted by David’s information and sight of the art, Barrie Mitchell confirmed John did indeed take over art duties on “Mr. X”, not “Iron Man”.

“The first two illustrations [from “The Voice from the Past!”] are clearly Bill M,” Barrie notes.

“John admired Alex Raymond, who drew ‘Rip Kirby’ in the Daily Mail,”he added, “and if you compare his illustrations to Raymond’s, there are similarities. Bill had a certain way of drawing figures and a definite style, John’s had a more modern look, so I am 99 percent sure the second illustrations are John’s.”

Can anyone provide extra information about this possible early work by John M. Burns? Please let us know, by commenting below – thank you!

Web Links

A long-planned biography-art book about John’s life and work is currently being compiled by author and editor Paul Duncan.

• downthetubes: In Memoriam – John M. Burns

• International comic community pays tribute to 2000AD and Look-In artist John M. Burns

• Read our profile of John’s long career here, posted when his retirement was announced last October

• Read an extensive guide to John M. Burns work by Paul Duncan here on downthetubes

• Check out the John M Burns Art Facebook Group

Remembering Tony Harding

Tony Harding passed away in January, 2014.

Also on downthetubes…

• In Memoriam: “Look Out for Lefty” artist Anthony John “Tony” Harding

• “Does Your Dad Draw for Roy of the Rovers?”

Antony Harding pays tribute to his father, Tony Harding, artist on “Roy of the Rovers”, “Twisty”, “Look Out for Lefty” and many more classic British football strips…

• Victor and Hornet Comics: Tony Harding, Artist

A page devoted to the comic artwork of boys stories artist Tony Harding

Lion and “Mr. X” © Rebellion Publishing. With thanks to Colin Brown, Barrie Mitchell, David Slinn and Ian Wheeler

This article was last updated on Sunday 14th January 2024 to add more information from Barrie Mitchell

John Freeman

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.

Categories: British Comics, Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News

Tags: Adventure Comics, Barrie Mitchell, Bill Mainwaring, David Slinn, Doris White, downthetubes News, Edwin Dale, John M Burns, Link Studios, Lion, Ray Marr, The Adventures of Mr. X, Tony Harding