After huge sales results for the first two auctions, The Peter Hansen Collection of Comic Art, Vintage Toys and other collectables - Part 3 takes place next weekend, Saturday 20th June. Run by Excalibur Auctions, both toy and comic collectors will likely be bidding furiously on items on offer,…

I like to think that I've seen just about everything John M Burns had published so it's always a delight when someone surprises me with something I haven't seen. From Smash issue 150 cover date 14/12/68. Thanks to Robert Moubert.

A mention of the upcoming Eartha book in Dutch magazine Eppo.

If you want to see the full unexpurgated versions of the John M Burns' "audition" strips for Garth, Norman Boyd has added them to his Frank Bellamy blog, an essential visit for anyone interested in his work. www.frankbellamy.co.uk/2020/01/fran...

The second part of the auction of The Peter Hansen Collection takes place at Excalibur Auctions on 9th May. There are many rare old comics, comics related material and original comic art including these by John M Burns. www.excaliburauctions.com/auction/sear...

If you're ever in Cornwall and anywhere near the village of Boscastle, be sure to pop into the Napoleon Inn. They have art by John M Burns on the walls, probably from the 1980s when he helped produce the Boscastle Chronicle.

When Frank Bellamy died in 1976, artists were asked to submit samples if interested in taking over newspaper strip Garth. Martin Asbury got the job. Here are a couple of panels from the strips submitted by John M Burns. Can't show more than these due to nudity.

Coming to Kickstarter in April from Chinbeard Books. Eartha Hardback Collection! Written by Donne Avenell and illustrated by John M Burns. "Eartha" will be a unique, luxury, landscape hardback; containing over 90% of the original unlettered artboards, as well as the full strips alongside them.

A year ago today, the Zetari Kickstarter campaign was launched. Here's an illustration that couldn't be fitted in - an unpainted page from The Monastery of Dreams. I wish John had taken copies of all the pages from this book before painting them like he did for The Bright Face of Death.

Psycops was a daily newspaper strip appearing in The Sun 1996-99. Collection still available. Cover shown here not used. www.planetstriker.com/product-page...

Remembering John M Burns today on what would have been his 88th birthday.

Just a reminder for those of you who have not taken a punt on Lost Treasure 2 yet - there are about 80 copies left of this treasure trove of art. Full colour art by Don Lawrence, Ron Embleton and Jesús Blasco- only available here www.hiberniacomics.com Grab a copy while you can!

There's a rare chance to buy a piece of original art by John from Wrath of the Gods in this auction. There are many other great examples of vintage British comic art in the same auction. www.andersonandgarland.com/auction/lot/...

Before the Wuthering Heights adaptation for Classical Comics, John illustrated Jane Eyre for the same publishers in 2008. Here's a look at his process.

Book Palace Books has opened preorders for its Limited Edition collection of the Biggles strips published in TV Express Weekly, featuring stories credited to the character’s creator, W. E. Johns, with art by… https://downthetubes.net/book-palace-books-tv-express-biggles-collection-flying-your-way/

May 2026

While Wuthering Heights divides cinema audiences, here's a reminder that John M Burns illustrated two adaptations of the novel. In 1963, a 9 part version appeared in the weekly comic Diana. In 2011, a 144 page graphic novel was published by Classical Comics. www.classicalcomics.com/products/wut...

Here's one of the earliest sightings of George and Lynne drawn by John in the British tabloid The Sun from 1976 until 1984. He left it to work on Zetari and it continued for many years after drawn by Josep Gual.

Happy Valentine's Day!

One last look at Modesty Blaise for now. Between 1987 and 1986, John M Burns illustrated 13 book covers (11 novels and 2 short story collections) for the Swedish publishers Berghs. Presented here in no particular order. 6x Modesty plus cover rough plus similar pose 4/4

One last look at Modesty Blaise for now. Between 1987 and 1986, John M Burns illustrated 13 book covers (11 novels and 2 short story collections) for the Swedish publishers Berghs. Presented here in no particular order. 3/4

One last look at Modesty Blaise for now. Between 1987 and 1986, John M Burns illustrated 13 book covers (11 novels and 2 short story collections) for the Swedish publishers Berghs. Presented here in no particular order. 2/4

One last look at Modesty Blaise for now. Between 1987 and 1996, John M Burns illustrated 13 book covers (11 novels and 2 short story collections) for the Swedish publishers Berghs. Presented here in no particular order. 1/4

Bluesky can be quite limiting for showing images. For fans of John's work who also use Facebook, I run a group which lets me show a lot more including unpublished work, audio interviews, albums, photos from his studio, Q & A and even a rare video of him drawing. www.facebook.com/groups/57891...

In case you don't know, I love the work of John M. Burns. Sadly, I lost virtually all my research/writing/scans on a book I was making on his life. I found an old hard drive with some scans, and have just found a way to access it.

In 2011, John M Burns proposed illustrating Modesty Blaise in colour. He used existing strips from the story "Top Traitor" drawn by Jim Holdaway (whose work he admired - he had a Holdaway original framed in his studio) in lieu of a script. Here are his examples alongside the Holdaway strips.

Even though John M Burns was sacked from the Modesty Blaise newspaper strip, he was the go to guy for subsequent covers, commissions and sketches. These are the covers he did for the first Titan reprint series. 2/2

Even though John M Burns was sacked from the Modesty Blaise newspaper strip, he was the go to guy for subsequent covers, commissions and sketches. These are the covers he did for the first Titan reprint series. 1/2

There will be a birthday sale of my art @splashpageart.bsky.social from midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow, buy 3 get 1 free! Only sale we do all year!

Latest design work - novella and CD layout for ‘Sir Sherlock - The Red Letter Day’, starring Tom Baker & John Leeson as Holmes and Watson. Everything you need to know about it is on Kickstarter, where you can also back the project on a number of different tiers - rb.gy/2ij0b9

This edition of the 2000AD Thrill-Cast was a tribute to John M Burns featuring @kershed.bsky.social @seanphillips.bsky.social @robbiemorrison.bsky.social, Tim Quinn and was moderated by Michael Molcher. Youtube version www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Na... Audio version 2000ad.com/news/a-tribu...

Between 1975 and 1977, John M Burns drew many illustrations for Strangest Stories, a Saturday feature in the London Evening News. The Wild Man of the West was published on July 24th 1976. Original art and published page.

20% off everything birthday sale at seanphillips.bigcartel.com for all of January. Use code JAN2026 at checkout.

John M Burns. 11th March 1938 - 29th December 2023. Two years ago today. C'mon @mrbensmith.bsky.social , any chance of 2026 bringing us a collection / compilation of John's work?