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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Prison breaks and ghostly soldiers stalk new Commando comics!
Brand new Commando (Issues 5147-5150) are on sale this Thursday in all good newsagents and digital platforms from DC Thomson. Find the mole in the French Resistance, fight alongside the ghost of your lieutenant, escape from an American POW camp,… Read More ›
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Dinky Space: 1999 Eagles, Spider-Man cars, Stingray sweet cigarette cards and the Bionic Man, too – at auction next week
Next week, Aston’s Auctioneers are hosting a massive August Toy & Model Railway Auction that includes Doctor Who, Gerry Anderson and Star Wars toys and we’ve picked out some of the items that might interest downthetubes readers. The auction includes… Read More ›
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Robbie Morrison talks Nikolai Dante and more for latest Lakes International Comic Art Festival Podcast
Robbie Morrison, co-creator of 2000AD‘s “Nikolai Dante”, is the guest of the latest Lakes International Comic Art Festival Podcast – available now. Robbie discusses his work at 2000AD, starting with the Judge Dredd Megazine and the creation of Nikolai Dante and… Read More ›
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Book Palace announces updated, limited edition Modesty Blaise Companion
British specialist publisher Book Palace is to publish an update to its hugely-successful Modesty Blaise Companion later this year, with additional pages, as a limited edition. The first edition of their Companion published in 2005 sold out very quickly and… Read More ›
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Crowdfunding Spotlight: Gateway City Volume One by Russell Mark Olson
Regular readers of downthetubes will recall we’ve previously plugged the independent comic Gateway City created by Russell Mark Olson – and now the first four issues are to be collected into a new collection, accompanied by extra pages, new art… Read More ›
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Folk horror live at Orbital Comics, from 2000AD artists Boo Cook, Simon Davis and Frazer Irving!
Fans of forktail – the band comprising of 2000AD artists Boo Cook and Simon Davis – will be pleased to hear they’re doing a signing and live performance at London’s Orbital Comics on Saturday (11th August), accompanied by musical collaborator Frazer Irving. The instore signing runs… Read More ›
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Greg Goldstein, Publishing President at IDW, cautions over “soft” Direct Sales comic market
Greg Goldstein, Publishing President and COO at US comics publisher IDW (publishers of series such as Star Trek, Transformers, True Blood and many more) was interviewed by comics business site ICV2 at San Diego Comic-Con, and makes some interesting comments about… Read More ›
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Don’t miss out on this limited edition Captain Scarlet Blu-Ray, which includes Ron Embleton art prints, new comic!
There’s a new Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons Limited Edition Blu-Ray out now that is definitely an item comic fans will want to track down, featuring an all-new comic based on the show – and much more. One of Gerry… Read More ›
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Fantagraphics announces English language edition of Mort Cinder by Héctor Oesterheld and Alberto Breccia
There’s some great news for fans of the astonishingly brilliant South American comic artist Alberto Breccia. His stunning Mort Cinder strip, written by the equally talented author Héctor Germán Oesterheld, is to be published in English by Fantagraphics in October…. Read More ›
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A Slice of British Comics History – Fantasy Advertiser #1
Artist David Hathaway-Price, who runs the terrific Classic UK Comics Zines online archive, has unearthed a rare copy of one of Britain’s first fanzines, Fantasy Advertiser #1, published by Frank Dobson in 1965. Two years before Anthony Roche published his… Read More ›
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Shadow Girl set to roam the streets of Manchester this August, a new kind of superhero…
Manchester. Saturday 4th August 2018. A regular Saturday afternoon in the City Centre. Shoppers going about their business with the usual hustle and bustle. But something is a bit different. From the corner of your eye you catch sight of… Read More ›
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Out Today: 2000AD Prog 2092 – Mechastopheles on the rampage!
With a stunning cover from Clint Langley, 2000AD Prog 2092 is on sale now in all good newsgents, comic shops and bia various digital platforms. This Prog leads with Tharg’s pleasure at the Rogue Trooper film news, and sees the… Read More ›
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Beano artist Laura Howell joins ICE 2018 line up in Birmingham this September
Long time Beano artist Laura Howell has joined the guest list for ICE Birmingham in September, joining other Beano legends at the special celebratory retrospective panel for the long-running weekly British humour comic at the expo. Laura Howell likes drawing… Read More ›
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In Full: Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Winners 2018
The winers of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2018 were announced at San Diego Comic Con recently. The nominees were for works published between 1st January and 31st December 2017 and were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges…. Read More ›
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Beano launches new Fan Club
Beano Studios has launched a free-to-join Dennis and Gnasher Fan Club – a modern take on the fondly-remembered Dennis the Menace Fan Club. In addition to downloading a membership pack from the Beano.com web site enabling entry to a special area… Read More ›
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Food for Thought: a classic British Charity Comic that now commands a high collector price
Back in the 1980s, before the dawn of the internet, the British comics community celebrated the form in print. It was a vibrant scene, encompassing not only zines about comics such as Arkensword, Fantasy Advertiser and Speakeasy but fiction-based titles… Read More ›
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The Impossible Space Helmet: Why Frank Hampson’s “Dan Dare” drives engineers crazy, but delights us still
Commando artist Keith Page follows up his profile of French artist Hugo Pratt with a look at the work of “Dan Dare” creator Frank Hampson… Anyone can see that Dan Dare’s space helmet just wouldn’t work. How could you possibly… Read More ›
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Battle’s “Rat Pack” guest star in final issue of Rebellion’s Sniper Elite Resistance mini series!
Back in May, we reported 2000AD publisher Rebellion’s plans for Sniper Elite Resistance, a three-issue mini-series based on their games division’s bestselling World War Two game Sniper Elite, but for British war comic fans there’s now another reason to pick… Read More ›
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Sneak Peek: The new “Psycho Gran Versus…”, from David Leach, poor Howard!
This weekend at London Film and Comic Con, artist and writer David Leach will unleash a new collection of Psycho Gran Versus on an unsuspecting world… and it is very, very silly but well worth your hard-earned pounds. Just like… Read More ›
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Scream & Misty back for another Special scare feast this Halloween!
After the success of last year’s fright-filled outing, the Scream & Misty Special is back returns for Halloween 2018 from 2000AD publisher Rebellion. Two of Britain’s best-loved comics of the 1970s have reunited once again, offering an anthology of brand… Read More ›