A quickfire round up of things that caught our eye across the interweb, including a Hammer Films anniversary and BEANO behind the scenes secrets
On This Day… on 25th September 1959, Hammer horror film The Mummy, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, was first released in the UK. Back in 1978, the film was commemorated in Halls of Horror Issue 22, published in 19778, which included an adaptation of the film by writer Steve Moore and artist David Jackson, with cover art by the legendary Brian Lewis. Hammer Films is at hammerfilms.com
There’s a great interview with Tiger Aspect Kids & Family MD Tom Beattie on the BEANO and Mr Bean crossover currently happening in the weekly humour comic, over on specialist licensing Brands Untapped. Mr Bean is currently the number one show across Europe with Warner Bros. Discovery, and also number one on ITVX, so the crossover will hopefully further boost the comic’s visibility.
The crossover began last week, and there will be four “Bean” issues in total, with got two Mr Bean special front covers. In the first issue, Mr Bean was also the guest editor and appeared in the “Beano All Stars” story, where he goes into a school to use the toilet, but gets mistaken for a school inspector. “So then he’s given a wad of cash by the dodgy mayor to give the place a bad inspection rating so he can knock the school down!,” Tom teases. “Well, you can imagine – Bean takes the money, but then really gets on really well with The Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx, Dennis the Menace… So over the four issues, we see how Bean gets entwined in this school and helps the kids out.”
Nestling inside a massive Vectis Kits & Aviation Auction taking place 9th October 2026 is a lot that includes a group of seven boxed Airfix and Aurora model kits comprising film and television subjects including a Doctor Who Daleks in Manhattan kit. Some of the James Bond Kits in the lot have been part or fully built, therefore other kits may be the same however most appear to have sealed internal packs.
Want to do school visits as an author? Or are you a school who wants authors to come and talk to your kids? The Society of Authors has a free resource, just for you. The School Visits Toolkit, brimming with good advice, can be downloaded right here. It features art by Hannah Berry.
Briefly…
• The Courier has reported the impending closure of two more TG Jones stores in Scotland, in Arbroath and St. Andrews, added to our growing “Casualty List”
• Artists Now have opened bursaries for UK artists to put towards their professional development. If you’re not already a member of Artists Now, you can sign up and apply for the bursary.
• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival Map dropped, the annual event landing in Kendal, Cumbria next weekend (2nd – 4th October 2026). Sadly, I won’t be there myself this year, the first I’ve missed since it began back in 2913, the dates clashing with a family occasion. I hope it’s as excellent as always!
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Film, Other Worlds
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