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downthetubes features material commissioned for this web site along with material originally published in the fanzine Eagle Flies Again.
• Comics
Writers Leah Moore and John Reppion
First published 7/2/07
In the first part of an extended feature marking the release of the Albion collection
from Titan
Books (hot on the heels of Wildstorm's
edition in December 2006), John Freeman talks to writers Leah Moore and
John Reppion about the story.
• Massimo
Belardinelli 1938 - 2007: A Tribute by Pat Mills
First published: 18/4/07
Massimo Bellardinelli was not
just a good comic artist, he had that extra something. 2000AD co-creator
Pat Mills pays tribute to a legdn with a divine spark.
• Steve
English
First published: 15/11/07
in 2007, cartoonist Steve English, creator
of Madd Science and Peter's
Cat, started contributing comics to mobile comics service ROK
Comics -- and won the $10,000 prize in the company's 2007 Humour Competition.
It's one more milestone in the career of the artist, as Jeremy Briggs discovered...
• Garen
Ewing
Published on Comic World News
Garen Ewing is a British illustrator and designer working in both digital
and print media whose award-winning comic strip, Rainbow Orchid has
earned this talented creator high praise and a huge following world-wide – last
October, the web site netted an incredible 60,000 hits in the just two
days. John Freeman caught up with this busy creator to find out more
about the strip and his plans for its future…
• Phil
Gascoine: Interview and Tributes
First published January 2006
This interview with Phil
by John Freeman, who sadly died in August 2007 after a short illness, was
first published in the the British comics fanzine Eagle
Flies Again. This page includes tributes
to Phil from creators and friends.
• Jon
Haward
First published March 2008
The Classcial Comics project to make literature contemporary
and relevant through comics is ambitious, but has received high praise
educators and actors, including Royal Shakespeare Company fellow and Star
Trek icon Patrick Stewart. On
the launch of the second Classical Comics project, Macbeth,
John Freeman caught up with accomplished British comics artist Jon Haward
(pictured here with Alan Grant) to talk to him about his work on the project
-- an adaptation which includes all the scenes featuring the witches and
their controlling goddess, Hecate -- and his varied career...
• Comics Artist David Lloyd
First published August 2006
David Lloyd talks about his gangster graphic novel
published by Dark Horse - Kickback
• Frank Quitely
First published 14 May 2008
When
top Scottish comics creator made an appearance at Scotland's National Library
in April 2008, Brian D Morgan was on hand to report what he had to say about
his approach to drawing comics for downtheubes...
• Artist
Shane Oakley
First published 23/2/07
Shane talks about his career, the Albion project
and future plans
• Artist
John Ridgway
An online version of a 2003 interview first published
in the fanzine Eagle Flies Again #8
John Ridgway has drawn some of Britain's most popular comic characters
including Dan Dare for Eagle, Doctor
Who for Marvel UK and, currently, the Commando comics
for DC Thomson, producing the colour and 3D models for Hal
Starr for Spaceship
Away with Sydney Jordan. He also worked on Head
Shot, an episode produced for the series Black
Museum for 2000AD.
• Cartoonist
Lew Stringer
Published on Comic World News, 5 April 2005
An interview with the Viz and TOXIC cartoonist Lew
Stringer, whose collection of superhero satire, "Brickman Begins",
is published by Active Images.
• Artist
in Sunderland: Bryan Talbot
30/3/07: In a special interview with one of Britain's
top creators, Bryan Talbot outlines
his new project, Alice in Sunderland to
his son, Robyn... Read
More...
• Mike
Western: Strip Samples
Examples of art by Mike Western
ROK Comic Creators
Short interviews with contributors to the UK-based comics
to mobile service, ROK Comics, run by downthetubes editor John Freeman.
Questions compiled by David Hailwood.
• Artist
Josh Alves
First Published 10/3/08
Josh Alves is a Graphic
Designer/ Cartoonist/ Stand-up Comedian residing in the very green and
mostly cold state of Maine, who's been adapting his one frame Tastes
Like Chicken cartoons into three frame ROK Comics for mobile. His
work has appeared on DC Comics Zuda service and in many other places,
with plenty more projects in the way...
• Writer Michael Colbert
First Published: 11/3/08
Los Angeles-based features and comics author Michael (Mike)
Colbert is the creator of the critically-acclaimed SF comic Crazy
Mary, one of several strips not only appearing on ROK Comcs but also being
translated into Chinese for ROK Comics China. He says his first memory is
seeing Star Wars and his writing influences
include Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, and Douglas Adams.
• Artist
Paul Harrison-Davies
First published 9/3/08
British indie artist, whose work
includes strips for the first Mammoth
Book of Best New Manga, AccentUK's Zombies and Robots (released
May 2008) anthologies and several small press titles
• Artist Rich Diesslin
First published 14 March 2008
Rich Diesslin is the creator and cartoonist of the
KNOTS or Not (or KNOTS) scouting cartoons and a cartoonist for the London's
Times Cartoons. He is the author and cartoonist of The
Cartoon Gospel of John and The
Cartoon Ten Commandments.
• Artist David Fletcher
First Published 11/3/08
New Zealand cartoonist David Fletcher claims that for the
last twenty years he's been pretending to work from home
as a comic strip, drawing a daily strip called The
Politician and several weekly strips including The TV
Kids which appears in the TV
Guide. His cartoons
are syndicated to Europe, Britain, Africa,Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
People still keep asking him when is he going to get a proper job...
• Artist Mychailo Kazybrid
First published 9/3/08
Mychailo draws The Do Do Man for ROK Comics, but his career began way back in
1975...
• Writer Ben Tinsley
First published 14/3/08
Ben Tinsley, publisher of Wham Bang Comics and president
of WBC Entertainment is a journalist with nearly 20 years of experience
Tinsley writes for, edits and publishes the comics in his small line. His
13-year-old son Jake is the creator and writer of the 12-year-old shaman superhero
Night Owl, Wham Bang Comics' flagship character, and the pair are in the process
of creating a children's book based on the character...
• Artist Dave Windett
First published 9/3/08
Dave Windett has
been with ROK Comics since its initial testing, providing character designs
for the Creator Tool and working on other ROK projects. He has worked for
a huge range of publishers during his varied career and is one of the few
British artists to have drawn for Bongo's Simpsons
Comics.
• Writer John Freeman
First published 9/3/08
John Freeman is Managing Editor of ROK Comics
 |
Bill Graham. Photo: Calum
Laird. |
• DC Thomson Editor Bill
Graham
First published 2 April 2008: Jeremy Briggs talks
to Bill Graham, editor of past titles such as Starblazer (profiled
here) and Spike (read the
companion feature) and many more, on his long and
varied career with D C Thomson and his current involvement with their
comic strips for Wendy.
• Ned
Hartley: Legends from Titan Towers
First published 8 April 2007: Who says British comics are dead? Certainly
not the staff of Titan Magazines and Panini UK,who are filling the newsagents
shelves with their publications. True, a lot of the material is reprinted from
US comics, but the strips are lovingly repackaged for a British audience in beautifully
printed collector's editions, in full colour with quality card covers. IAN
WHEELER reports...
• Commando Editor
Calum Laird
First published 8 April 2008: First published in
1961 Commando is Britain's last war comic. As the
title approaches issue 4100 in 2008, Jeremy Briggs talked to new editor Calum
Laird, who joined DC Thomson in 1979, on the recent changes he has made and
the growth in Commando related tie-ins...
 |
George Low. Photo: Calum
Laird. |
• Commando Editor George Low
13/9/07: September 2007 saw a major change at DC Thomson
with the retirement of long-serving but, perhaps, little-known editor
of Commando George Low, who joined the company from school and has
worked on the digest title ever since. downthetubes caught
up with George to ask him about himself, Commando and the
title's future...
• Comics
Publisher Dez Skinn
First published in Eagle Flies Again
• Publisher
Andrew Sumner
Published on Comic World News, 4 February 2005
Andrew Sumner at IPC Media has been instrumental in getting revivals of
some British comics characters via Wildstorm's Albionand Titan Books Spider
and Steel Claw colections off the ground. A huge comics fan, Andrew's worked
in magazine publishing for over 18 years.
• Albion
Man: Andrew Sumner
First Published 12/2/07
An interview with Andrew Sumner about the success of Wildstorm's
revival of many IPC characters.
• Writer, Editor and Publisher Richard Starkings
Published on Comic World News, 19 May 2005
With the imminent and eagerly-awaited arrival of a new issue of Active
Images' Hip Flask in comic stores, it seemed like as good a time as any to
talk to one of our most successful comics exports, letterer and publisher
Richard Starkings.
• Illustrator,
Writer and Editor Steve
White
Also published on Comic
World News, 13 December
2005
Titan launches its Wallace & Gromit
Comic on 29 September 2005, tying in with Aardman
Animations first Wallace & Gromit
feature film, Curse of the Were-rabbit,
which opens in October. John Freeman found out more about the new title
from editor Steve White, who also edits SpongeBob Squarepants for the
company, as well as other editorial duties.
DAN DARE
• Dan
Dare Recalled
First published 20/5/07
Ian Wheeler outlines the
history of one of Britain's most fondly-remembered space heroes...
• The Lost Dan Dare
First published in Eagle Flies Again #7
Revealed: ATV's attempt to bring Dan Dare to the small screen
• Yesterday's
Hero Returns
First Published 21/11/07
Yesterday's hero is back. Everyone's
favourite space adventurer, Dan Dare, returned in a new action-packed
series from Virgin Comics and top creative team Garth
Ennis and Gary Erskine in November 2007. Matthew Badham caught up with
the Ennis and Erskine to find out how they interpreted Dare for the new millennium
and what this very British hero means to them...
ROY OF THE ROVERS
• Roy
of the Rovers
Mike Gent charts the history of one of Britain's most
popular football comics characters...
• British
Comics: 2004AD
A guide to the state of British Comics in 2004, published on Comic World
News
Adventure Comics
• Falklands
25: Operation Corporate in Comics
9/4/07: 25 years ago, Britain was at war over islands
in the South Atlantic many Britons had never heard of – and some
at the time even thought were part of the Shetlands. Jeremy
Briggs examines the comics that featured the 1982 Falklands conflict
between Britain and Argentina...
BATTLER BRITTON
• Battler Britton Returns
First published on Comic
World News on Wednesday, April 12 2006
Garth Ennis and Colin Wilson talk about the Wildstorm updating of the classic
IPC air ace.
COMMANDO
• The
Ten Year Veteran
First posted 11/3/07: "He's in a hurry. Be careful here.” That
frankly unpromising utterance was writer Sean Blair's first line of dialogue
in what this year will be a decade's worth of anonymous work for that great
British institution, Commando Picture Library.
RED
DAGGER
• Graphic
Novels by Any Other Name
First posted 15 July 2007:
Jeremy Briggs
probes the mystery of DC Thomson's little known title Red
Dagger,
and wonders why the company isn't publishing something similar today...
SPIKE
• Comic Companion: Spike
By the earlier 1980s, when Spike was
launched, the number of boys weekly titles published by D C Thomson
was on the wane. Jeremy Briggs delivers
this overview of the title, and a guide to its stories...
• SPACESHIP
AWAY!
Information about the superb licensed Dan Dare Fanzine
STARBLAZER
• Blazing through the secrecy
First posted May 2006: Jeremy Briggs ponders
DC Thomson's secretive nature about its creators diown the years, and explores
the secrets of its science fiction title Starblazer, whose creators included
a young Grant Morrison and artist Ian Kennedy...
• Plus
a checklist of every issue, including known creator credits
• Behind
the Lines
First posted June 2006
Writer Ray Aspden reveals his approach to writing Starblazer
TRANSFORMERS
• Transformers:
Robots in Diguise
First published in Eagle Flies Again #7.
VICTOR
• Remembering
Heroes
7/5/08: There was a time not that long ago when British boy's comics celebrated
the heroism of British and Commonwealth servicemen. Jeremy Briggs takes a look
back at how British comics once celebrated them...
Humour Comics
• The
Story of Cor!!
Posted 15/2/07: Mike Gent takes a trip back to the 1970s and remembers
just one of many IPC humour titles...
• Toxic
Turns 50
Posted August 2005: Egmont's TOXIC comic,
which sells around 50,000 copies or more every issue every fortnight
in the UK, will be celebrating its 50th issue when it's released
on 31 August 2005. John Freeman caught up with editor Matt Yeo to
talk to him about the title's origins and future plans...
• 100 Not Out: TOXIC's latest milestone
Posted August 2007: Happy stinky birthday, TOXIC! On 29 August 2007, Egmont's TOXIC
Magazine celebrated its 100th issue, a milestone for any comic but even
more so for a newstand title in today's fraught and often unstable British
comics world. IAN WHEELER caught up with editor Matt Yeo to probe him about
the title...
FEATURES: CREATING COMICS
• Writing
Comics
A guide to writing comic strips by John Freeman
• British Comics on Film
9/3/06: American superheroes such as Hulk, Spider-Man,
Batman and others may well grab the headlines today, but British heroes
have proven no slouches when it comes to grabbing the celluloid. Jeremy
Briggs (with help from Steve Holland, Graeme Neil Reid, Richard Sheaf
and Lew Stringer and some additional research by John Freeman) delivers
a hopefully useful list...
• Up and Coming
2007
First posted 7/12/06: As 2006 drew to a close
and we look back on another inventive and successful year for British talent,
I wondered who British creatives thought were "up
and coming" for 2007.
An appeal on various comic boards including Comics International and
EFA Yahoo groups confirmed some of my thoughts and turned up several
talents I'd not heard of...
• Favourite
Science Fiction
Comics creators rate their favourite SF comic strips
EVENT REPORTS
• Click here for details of upcoming Comics Events
2002
• Bristol
Comics Festival May 2002
Includes pictures as well as a short report
2003
• Comic
Award Winnwers 2003
2006
• Comics
Expo Bristol 2006
First published 17/5/06: Alan Woollcombe reports on the
Comic Expo, feeling a little jaded by the experience...
2007
• Kidnapping
Edinburgh
First published 7/3/07:
Jeremy Briggs reports on how a new comics adaptation of Robert Louis Stevens
classic novel took Scotland's capital by storm in February 2007...
• Happy Birthday, 2000AD!
7/5/07: Matthew Badham and David Baillie went to
the 2000AD 30
year birthday bash last month. They're just beginning to remember what
the hell happened...
• Comics Expo Bristol 2007
First published 20/5/07: Every year, comic fans and
creators invade Bristol for three days as it plays host to the annual Comics
Expo. Down the Tubes asked Matthew Badham, David Baillie and Leon Hewitt
to report back on this year's event...
• Biff! Bam!! Crikey!!! Seeing New Worlds In Dundee
28/5/07: Jeremy Briggs reports on the Seeing New Worlds event in Dundee,
Scotland, part of the Six
Cities Design Festival
• The Aesthetics of Trash - Academic
Conference
On 28-29 August 2007, various academics and non-academics
gathered in Manchester to discuss animation and comics at an academic conference
held at the Manchester Metropolitan University. JENNI SCOTT of Caption was
one of those asked to present a paper. She shares her thoughts about the
event, below while MATTHEW
(That Small Press Guy) BADHAM also
offers his views on the occasion.
• Birmingham
International Comics Festival 2007 Report
October 2007: Report by Leon Hewitt
• Brodie's
Law Exhibition 2007
22/11/07: David Baillie reports on a special event marking another high point
for one of Britain's top independent comics...
2008
• Breaking into Comics, Leicester
First published 1/2/08 by John Freeman
2005:
•
Albion #1 • Picks
2005
2006:
•
Bristol
Expo Fanzine Round Up • Picks 2006
2007:
•
Alice in
Sunderland • Bulletproof
#1 • Transformers #1 (Titan)