The Really Heavy Greatcoat by Virtual-lancaster’s John Freeman and Lancaster-based artist Nick Miller was published fairly regularly for about 20 years in alternative Lancaster print titles such as On The Beat and Off the Beat and online on virtual-lancaster.net.

The strip’s last regular appearance in print was in the now defunct Comics International, but Nick has recently published a number of RHG-inspired strips on the web platform Tapastic alongside his The Worry Man pocket cartoon. Sadly, both Skid Avenue and The RHG are on hiatus, as is Worry Man – he’s a busy man doing stuff that pays (but always open to approaches for work).

John Freeman also works on comics by day – audio comics available on the ROK Comics app for iPad and iPhone and The Beatles Story – and reports on them in his spare time on downthetubes.net

When last seen in a regular strip, Kevin, the current owner of the Greatcoat – a talking garment with transcendentally dimensional pockets – was a student. He was clearly not postgraduate material so Nick and I reckon he’s in a bedsit in Skerton, Lancaster somewhere, eking out a life on benefits…

If anyone ever offered to pay us to write it, it might still be running today – but Nick still creates an annual Review of the Year, bless him!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


• John Freeman’s comic web site is at www.downthetubes.net

• More by Nick Miller at: http://teamsputnikblog.blogspot.com


• Greatcoat Review of the Year 2013

• Greatcoat Review of the Year 2012

• Greatcoat Review of the Year 2011

• Greatcoat Review of the Year 2010

• Greatcoat Review of the Year 2009 

• Greatcoat Review of the Year 2008


• The Really Heavy Greatcoat Archives