Just in case any casual reader of this blog has not guessed, I am a big fan of British comics. I will and do read anything and everything I can find about British comics. This includes everything from social media posts to educational tomes that can feel like I am wading through the written equivalent of treacle. However, the “light the blue touch paper” moment … Continue reading Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Way back in September 1974, The Osmonds and Carl Douglas were topping the charts, but I was feeling sorry for myself as I was on my sixth week of being stuck at home as a 5 year old with little to do and I was so bored! This is in the days before we had all day TV let alone 24 hour! Now those reading … Continue reading Kung Fu Fighting
As we have now moved and we are unpacking boxes, one thing that was decided early on was that my comic reference library was either going to be in our bedroom or in our living room. As we have now been in the house for a month and we currently only have one bookcase upstairs, it was became clear very quickly that those reference books … Continue reading Got To Accentuate The Positive
I don’t remember reading this when it first came out, but I know that I must have as any reading material that came into our house was fair game for all five of us. I do remember seeing that lurid yellow and red cover and thinking “I don’t know what it is but I want it!” Warlord, in itself, was a departure from the norm … Continue reading Warlord 001 dated 28th September 1974
It’s almost been three weeks since my last post and I am surprised that it has taken so long for me to post anything else. But I have not been idle and I have been working on a couple of things for Down The Tubes. One was completing the Jeff Bevan article, which is paying tribute to a D C Thomson staff artist that worked … Continue reading All Kinds of Everything
I have really got to stop enjoying this research project to find as much of Ron Smith’s work for D C Thomson as possible. But I keep finding such diamonds such as my last article about The Spy In The Sputnik. As I am working through the Hotspur 200s, I find that Ron’s work is a bit thin on the ground. Thankfully Ian Kennedy’s work … Continue reading Chained To His Bat
Over the last few weeks, both fans of this blog may have felt that I have been neglecting it. But I have been deeply involved in some comic goodness as I am still researching the breadth of work that Ron Smith has done over the years. And as a major fan of Ron’s work, I have been blown away by some of the gems that … Continue reading The Spy In The Sputnik
Now, if anyone has been following my blog, you may have picked up a hint or three that I am a big fan of comics. And I have been lucky enough to meet several of my personal heroes. In some cases, I have gotten sketches or autographs from them. And in some cases, meeting artists, writers and fellow fans at some event has led me … Continue reading Dave Gibbons: The DCT Years
When I look around internet-land, it always disappoints me when I see so many great comics ignored. And two of the comics that seem to get constantly overlooked are D C Thomson’s Hotspur and Wizard. Which is a shame as both of those comics featured some amazing art. And for me, any comic that featured the debut of King Carlos for one of the major … Continue reading He Was Only A Private Soldier
nothingbutafan 