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6 September 2026

UPDATED: Comic Speculator News (1992-94)

I've now added in the cover for issue 14 for this update

Inspired by episode 342 of the Awesome Comics Podcast (check it out here) I thought I'd remind myself of the '90s speculator boom nonsense by pulling together my issues of the British answer to Wizard that was Comic speculator news. It lasted 13 issues in total, here's what you missed...

Comic Speculator News promo issue
not to hand - do you have a copy?

Comic Speculator News issue 0, December 1992
looks like it's been run off on a photocopier - single sided photocopying at its best!


Comic speculator news #1, February 1993

Comic speculator news #1, February 1993
All the issue have front & back covers that look like front covers - I'll include them here to avoid (?) confusion. A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #2, April 1993

Comic speculator news #2, April 1993
A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #3, May 1993

Comic speculator news #3, May 1993

I can't recall what this is referencing
A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #4, June 1993

Comic speculator news #4, June 1993
A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #5, July 1993

Comic speculator news #5, July 1993
A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #6, August 1993

Comic speculator news #6, August 1993
A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #7, September 1993

A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout (apart from the covers)

Comic speculator news #8, October 1993


A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #9, November 1993

A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #10, November 1993

A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #11, January 1994

A4 sized, 48 pages, black & white throughout

Comic speculator news #12, February 1994

it then seems to have undergone a name change to... 
Comic News #13, March 1994
it's now free (rather than 55p). It COULD have been an entirely separate title but I reckon that if issue #12 of CSN came out in Feb 1994 and this is issue #13 and is dated March 1994 then I reckon it's the same publication.

Comic News #14, April 1994

Comic News #15, May 1994

5 September 2026

UPDATED: Russell Mark Olson - work for Tharg

As a long-time fan of the work of Russell Mark Olson I realised recently that I hadn't, to my shame, ever started to log his work for 2000AD. There's been a bit so far, and hopefully more to come. These are the issues you're looking for...


2000AD prog 2300 Sinister Dexter - "Zed zone"

2000AD prog 2340, Tharg's future shocks - "A temp problem"

2000AD prog 2494, Tharg's future shocks - "A zombie apocalypse alphabet"


4 September 2026

Commando at the National Army Museum (2011) - part 2

Looking through some of photos the other day I came across a bunch from 2011 that had somehow never been recycled onto the blog. To make up for that here's my first batch of images from the 2011/12 Commando themed exhibition that ran at the National Army Museum (in London's Chelsea). My original review for it is here.

Part 1 of my photos were here









3 September 2026

UPDATED: Cartoon museum publications

I've long wanted to catalogue publications that the Cartoon Museum (here) (and its previous incarnation as Cartoon Art Trust) have published. I'm not sure how many there are out there but this is my way of starting to finding out!

UPDATE (03/09/26); now with more details of the 'Flotsam & Jensen' catalogue added in.

UPDATE (09/04/26); Calman catalogue added

Update - Now with some images added for the Phil May centenary catalogue from 2002. 

The art of Laughter - The Ashmolean museum (1992)

Giles - 50 years of work for Express Newspapers (dates unknown)

Lottery laughter - an anthology of Lottery cartoons (20th October - 18th November 1999)

The 100 British Cartoonists of the century (exhibition 26th Feb - 12th April 2000)


Flotsam and Jensen: Celebrating 55 Years of Cartooning, Illustration and Caricature (2002)
A description on abebooks said "...8vo. pp 24....Illustrated in b/w throughout"

The art of leaving out : Phil May 1864-1903, a centenary exhibition (2002)
Cartoon Art Trust Museum/University of Gloucestershire, 2002
24 pages


Mixture of Gin and Buttercups: a Retrospective Exhibition of the Cartoons and Caricatures of Michael Ffolkes at the Cartoon Art Trust Museum : 4 September - 1 November 2003



Thelwell country (exhibition 6th January - 6th February 2004)

Grin and Blair it! (exhibition 27th October - 18th December 2004)



Mars in their eyes (exhibition dates TBC but thought to be 2006)

"You're Not Art..." A collection of Calmans
believed to be a 2006 exhibition. 38 pages, softback, with dustjacket

A view of Dightons - the Dighton family, their time, caricatures and portraits (2007?)

Heath Robinson's helpful solutions (exhibition 5 July - 7 October 2007)

Eurobollocks! (exhibition 10 October 2007 - 20 January 2008) 

Pont - observing the British at home & abroad (exhibition 23 April - 27 July 2008)




A peep into clubland (exhibition 18th February - 3rd May 2009)

Maggie! Maggie! Maggie! (exhibition 6th May - 26th July 2009)

Ronald Searle - graphic master (exhibition 3rd March - 4th July 2010)


Bell époque - 30 years of Steve Bell (exhibition 25th May - 24th July 2011)


HM Bateman - the man who went mad on paper (exhibition 11th April - 22nd July 2012)


Steadman @ 77, (exhibition 1 May - 8 September 2013)

The Windsor tapestry (exhibition, 16th November 2024 - 30th March 2025

I have the following books...
Mars in their eyes
The art of leaving out
Ronald Searle - graphic master
The Windsor tapestry
Steadman @77
HM Bateman - the man who went mad on paper
Bell epoque
A peep into clubland
Pont
Heath Robinson's helpful solutions
A view of Dightons
Thelwell country
The 100 British Cartoonists of the century
Lottery laughter - an anthology of Lottery cartoons
Giles - 50 years of work for Express Newspapers
Eurobollocks
A taste of Honeysett
Cruikshank 200

Not got these books...
Maggie, Maggie, Maggie
"You're Not Art..." A collection of Calmans
Grin and Blair it!
Flotsam and Jensen
The art of Laughter