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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Former DC staffer Bob Wayne keynote for 2019 ComicsPRO convention
ComicsPRO has announced former DC Entertainment executive, convention staple and comics retailer Bob Wayne as the keynote speaker for its 13th Annual Comic Industry Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States from 21st – 23rd February 2019. ComicsPRO… Read More ›
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Crikey! collection now available to pre-order from ComicScene UK
Before ComicSceneUK – available now in all good newsagents – there was a magazine which ran for 16 issues and covered all aspects of UK comic industry. Crikey! is remembered with much affection from comic fans and featured exceptional articles about UK comics during its run – and as previously reported, it’s risen from the ashes
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Laurel and Hardy, the stars of British comic Film Fun for almost 30 years
Laurel and Hardy may be enjoying renewed success at the box office thanks to the new film Stan & Ollie starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, but they were box office stars in comics here in the UK too, thanks to… Read More ›
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Upcoming Astons auction offers rare Pinocchio poster, Moonraker gun
Dudley-based auctioneers Astons have two sales of interest to downthetubes readers this month – a Toy and Railway Auction on Tuesday 15th January and an Entertainment & Memorabilia Auction including British and US comics, film posters, some James Bond film… Read More ›
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Awesome Comics Podcast Episode 183 – Looking forward to the Year Ahead
It’s the first show of 2019, and the Awesome Comics Podcast team – Dan Butcher, Tony Esmond and Vince Hunt – talk about what they and the listeners are looking forward to in indie comics in the coming months. There… Read More ›
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“Dan Dare” art and more in Chris Beetles Gallery 2019 Sale
A number of original Eagle comic “Dan Dare” artworks by Frank Hampson and the art team who worked on the earliest incarnation of the strip are currently being offered by the London-base Chris Beetles Gallery, as part of its “2019 Sale” of cartoons and illustrations.
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Time for an Aces (Weekly) New Year!
Publisher David Lloyd would like you to subscribe to Aces Weekly. The creators drawing strips for this digital publication would like you to subscribe, too. Check out some great teasers to tease you once more…
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Comic Creator Q&A: Indie Publisher David Robertson
downthetubes caught up with busy, enthusiastic experimental creator David Roberson of Fred Egg Comics just before Christmas to talk to him about his work…
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In Review: Combat Colin Issue 3 by Lew Stringer
A review of Combat Colin #3, the latest collection of madcap strips by Lew Stringer from the pages of Marvel UK’s Transformers comic first published in 1989 and early 1990
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Lakes Festival Podcast Looks back on 2018
We may already be enjoying a big Happy New Year already resplendent with inexplicable outrage over new pastry-based products from Greggs, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to look back at 2018, a great year in the world of… Read More ›
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Panel to Panel: Dan Slott talks Doctor Who, Freefall Warriors in the spotlight
Episode #107 of the excellent Doctor Who: Panel to Panel is live – and leads with Marvel Comics writer Dan Slott (Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four) chatting with podcast host Jeremy Bement about Doctor Who comics, history, the current season and… Read More ›
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Red Range returns in “Pirates of Fireworld”
Ace independent US publisher It’s Alive! has announced that Keith Lansdale, the writer who recently brought you The X-Files and Creepy stories, will unleash his imagination on the historical and somewhat Steampunk world his father, Joe R. Lansdale, created in… Read More ›
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New book lifts the lid on cream of Soviet satire
A new book delving into one of the best-known examples of Soviet satire has just been published by the University Press of Mississippi. Graphic Satire in the Soviet Union: Krokodil’s Political Cartoons by John Etty lifts the lid on Krokodil, which offered some extraordinary cartoon art within a hugely propagandistic publication
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Sneak Peek: Rad Erwank & Conspiracy Dog by Łukasz Kowalczuk, Kek-W and Jack Teagle
Rad Erwank & Conspiracy Dog is an utterly bonkers 48-page black and white comic available to pre-order now from Diamond or direct from US publisher Alternative Comics. It’s scripted by Łukasz Kowalczuk and 2000AD‘s Kek-W, with art by Jack Teagle… Read More ›
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Black Max soars again in New Year 2000AD
Legendary British comics villain Black Max returned to the news stand in 2000AD last year – with some of his early adventures in Thunder and Lion from the 1970s also collected – but this week, he’s the weekly title’s cover… Read More ›
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“Mansion of Madness” studio revived?
Last year, comic creators Lee Robson and Dan Hill, working with ace designer and writer Andi Ewington and others, released the horror anthology Mansion of Madness, featuring stories from some of the best and brightest creators in the comics world… Read More ›
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Latest Astonishing Spider-Man is … Carnage!
Astonishing Spider-Man Volume 7 #17 is still on sale in the UK from Panini, available from all good newsagents – or on subscription. Price £4.50 for 76 arachnid action-packed pages, this Issue, released last month includes: Venomverse continues! Carnage is… Read More ›
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Comic Art Auction Spotlight: Sam Glanzman’s “Haunted Tank”
Leave it to Sam Glanzman, championship realist among DC’s war-comics crew, to capture an essence of heroism-under-fire in the simplest of short-story vignettes for G.I. Combat #280. In this complete three-page Story, “Prize Shot”, published by DC Comics in 1985,… Read More ›
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WebFind: Look and Learn, Treasure illustrations galore from Holloway Fine Art
Quite by chance, I came across the eBay page Holloway Fine Art, which is offering hundreds of artworks from classic annuals, books magazines such as Look and Learn and Treasure, including 1980s Famous Five illustrations by Leslie Branton. Also on… Read More ›
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Dundee lecturer Chris Murray investigates “The British Superhero” (and a Marvelman book you should read, too)
We’re not entirely sure how The British Superhero by the University of Dundee’s Chris Murray slipped under our radar when the University of Mississippi Press published it back in 2017, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t plug it now,… Read More ›