A golden Oldie

By John Freeman on February 23, 2008

In celebration of his 100th birthday Willaim Geoge Bunter, better known of course as Billy Bunter, features proudly on the cover of the Oldie magazine this week.

The Oldie promises “…Deliciously politically incorrect, the Bunter stories were nevertheless underpinned by the virtues of tolerance, decency and loyalty. Bill Hagerty celebrates the Fat Owl’s centenary”.

The fat owl of the Remove alos had radio programme dedicated to him this week. It was on Radio 4 on Tuesday (19th, at 11:30 am) and was entitled ‘Billy Bunter’s Birthday Bash’ and was presented by Gyles Brandreth. It’ll be on the radio 4 website for a bit I’m sure.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.