“On writing, I always put pen to lined paper first and always. The computer always comes last.
“I find when I write straight into the machine it results in ridiculous levels of verbosity, but if it’s all written long hand it hurts to waffle on and on…. I also find working longhand, I’m less precious about scrubbing out what I’ve just written…
“It always looks so finished on screen, so untouchable, which it shouldn’t be.
“When I started out (and although everyone’s forgotten, I was more a writer than an artist in them there distant early days) Steve Moore gave me the best bit of advice ever — write out your script and then cross out pretty much every second word. Hone the text to the minimum.
“The artist should be able to make the pictures dazzle and tell the story. On the odd Doctor Who’s I’ve written, I’ve given myself scope to do some insane dramatic no-BBC-budget-could-afford- this visuals.
“Too often as artists, we get scripts from writers who though fine and talented don’t think in pictures. That’s why writer/artists at their finest make the best comics… Gibbons, Miller, Eisner… all storytellers who make the medium all it can be.”
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.
Categories: Creating Comics