Author Archives
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.
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Crunch Time for TinTin Fans
Fans of Tin Tin, be warned: if you run a a fan site devoted to the Belgian cartoon hero, you could end up receiving a cease and desist letter, similar to the kind of litigious heavy handedness meted out by… Read More ›
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Kick Ass Top 2009 Movie
Never mind Watchmen or Wolverine: 2000AD and Marvel Comics writer Mark Millar is convinced that the upoming movie Kick Ass, based on his Marvel comic series, which was drawn by John Romita Jr and is due for a hardcover colection… Read More ›
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In Review: The Prison
Reviewed by David Hailwood Recently made available to buy at Lulu.com is Adam Grose’ The Prison. As the description on the back of the collection states, ‘The Prison is an array of stories, prose, poetry and soapbox ramblings based on… Read More ›
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No Heroics Creator Interviewed
Top comics podcast service Geek Syndicate has just published its interview with Drew Pearce, the creator/writer of the upcoming ITV2 superhero comedy No Heroics, the first ever original sitcom for the channel. The six-part series is brand new for 2008… Read More ›
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Tube Surfing: 10 September 2008
• Catching up with comics news after a (very wet) short break, Bryan Talbot’s re-released The Tale of One Bad Rat has just had a rightfully glowing review in The Times, describing it as “an incontrovertible and blazing masterpiece.” There’s… Read More ›
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Masters Of Fun And Thrills
Here on downthetubes we regularly promote the articles by Norman Wright and David Ashford which appear in the monthly magazine Book and Magazine Collector. The longest running of the various series that the duo write for the magazine is The… Read More ›
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Tube Surfing: 5 September 2008
• There’s an excellent interview with David O’Connell, the writer and artist behind science fiction comic Tozo, over at Garen Ewing’s website. David’s art is very much in the tradition of ligne claire (clear line) artists such as Belgium’s Herge… Read More ›
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Northern Ireland’s Verbal Arts Centre Launches Comic Art Courses
The Verbal Arts Centre in Bishop St Within, Derry, has created a series of new, accredited Comic Art courses which will commence in September 2008. These short courses have been developed in response to the success of the various comic… Read More ›
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Elephantmen Joins Clickwheel
ipod comic publisher Clickwheel has announced a new addition to its premium roster with the arrival of top British creator Richard Starkings’ Elephantmen. True to its Sci-Fi themes, Elephantmen and Starkings are eager to help Clickwheel, which is owned by… Read More ›
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Complicated Chrome Comic from McCloud
(with thanks to Leon Hewitt): This comic by Understanding Comics author Scott McCloud certainly won’t be for everyone, but it’s great to see comics being used in a way to explain the workings of a new product — in this… Read More ›