Author Archives
John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War" and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
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Alan Moore talks new League of Gentlemen project
(with thanks to Matthew Badham): Alan Moore has just been interviewed about his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier project over on World Famous Comics. “There’s an immense amount of stuff in the Dossier,” he outlines, revealing the book spans… Read More ›
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In Memoriam: Joe Gill
(Thanks to Shaqui): Joe Gill is probably not a name most of British comics fans will be familiar with, but Joe Gill was one of the most prolific US comic writers, mainly for Charlton, and contributed strips to their Space:1999… Read More ›
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Computer Woes
My laptop keeled over and died last Thursday, its logic board giving up the ghost. Although fixed thanks to some amazingly speedy service from Apple I now have to reinstall everything so if you’re looking for UK comics news from… Read More ›
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In Memoriam: Bryan Pearce
I was very sorry to hear about the passing of artist Bryan Pearce, who died 11 January. My late father was the vicar of St. Ives Parish Church in the 1970s and I recall meeting Bryan as a child on… Read More ›
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40 Years of Spider-Man in the UK
It’s an incredible 40 years this week since Spider-Man first made a regular appearance in a British comic, so cartoonist Lew Stringer has done a little tribute to that title, POW!, on his blog. There’s a few entries about the… Read More ›
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Comics designed in CBR format
Interesting development on the digital comics front: a group of creators including Pierre Villeneuve and Jim Shelley have begun releasing their comics in CBR format online at Flashback Universe. As I’m sure folk reading this know, CBR is the file… Read More ›
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London Calling
Spent yesterday in London meeting people about a variety of things. Some interesting developments happening soon regarding some classic comics being reprinted, but can’t say more than that at this point. Yes. I am a tease…
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Collected Hook Jaw Hardback Up For Auction
One of five special hardback versions of the upcoming Hook Jaw collection from Spitfire Comics is up for auction on ebay. The softcover is due for release soon through online and high street bookshops. Prior to the official release of Hook Jaw, Spitfire Comics… Read More ›
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Really Heavy Greatcoat – The Party 8
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One of the Most Beautiful Women in the World: Yvonne De Carlo
I was sorry to read about the death of actress Yvonne De Carlo, star of The Munsters, who died on Monday of natural causes aged 84. The Munsters, which ran for two seasons and enjoyed a couple of follow up… Read More ›
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Really Heavy Greatcoat – The Party 7
As part of this strip, I added the contents of a note using an image map in the version on the main part of the downthetubes site, but here it is in an easier to find display (plus I have… Read More ›
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New Comics Anthology, MC², Launches
(With thanks to Matthew Badham and Joe Gordon at FPI): MC², a new comics anthology, was launched in November and it’s something that was on my radar to plug but I’ve just been reminded about it thanks to number of related… Read More ›
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Free Classic Comic to Flood Edinburgh in February
(Updated 17/1/07 with thanks to Jeremy Briggs and Alan Grant): 25,000 free copies of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped – including a graphic novel version by Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy – are to be distributed throughout Edinburgh in February in a campaign to get… Read More ›
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Look and Learn Returns
(With thanks to Steve Holland): The first issue of the Look and Learn Company‘s limited run (48 issues) of a magazine made up of the best of the original Look and Learn has just been published and released to subscribers, printed to… Read More ›
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Really Heavy Greatcoat – The Party 6