29 September 2011

Commando raids University of Dundee - art exhibition celebrates 50th anniversary of comic

Photo opportunity: 5.30pm on Saturday, 1st October at the Tower Foyer Gallery, University of Dundee. Opening of exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the Commando comic.

The University of Dundee will this weekend celebrate the 50th year of DC Thomson's popular war comic Commando with the opening of an exhibition of original artwork and other rarely seen material.

Commando Editor Calum Laird, deputy editor Scott Montgomery, former editor George Low and artists Ian Kennedy and Gordon Livingstone will all be present at the opening, which takes place at the Tower Foyer Gallery from 5.30pm on Saturday, 1st October.

Curator Matthew Jarron said that this is the fourth year that the University’s Museum Services team had collaborated with DC Thomson to showcase the amazing artwork they have in their collections.

'After the Dandy and the Beano, Commando is now the oldest surviving comic in the UK and its popularity shows no sign of diminishing,' he said. 'We’re delighted to be showing work by some of the artists who have made the comic so popular over the years, including Ian Kennedy, Gordon Livingstone, Carlos Pino, John Ridgway and Cam Kennedy.'

Calum Laird, who has edited the comic since 2007, added, 'It's great that two such respected institutions as the University of Dundee and Commando Comic can get together to put on a show like this.

'The displays will give any visitor a behind-the-scenes glance at the day-to-day life of Britain’s longest-lived adventure comic. I hope loads of people will take advantage of the rare opportunity given to them by the University of Dundee.'

The exhibition opening co-incides with a prestigious one-day conference, ‘Battle-Lines: War & Conflict in Popular Text & Images’, organised by the Scottish Word & Image Group and the War & Representation Network, which is taking place at the University.

Conference delegates will join University staff and Commando representatives for the opening ceremony.

The University’s annual Comics Day will take place as part of the Dundee Literary Festival on Sunday, 30th October. Former Commando artist Cam Kennedy is among the special guests who will be speaking at the event.

The Commando exhibition runs until Saturday, 19th November. More information is available by visiting www.dundee.ac.uk/museum.

For more information on Commando, please contact John-Paul Murphy on jpmurphy@dcthomson.co.uk or 01382 575881.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277