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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Something For The Weekend: Time To Celebrate 40 years of 2000AD!
Squaxx dek Thargo will be out in force celebrating 40 Years of 2000AD in London this weekend – so how could we not mark this momentous event in this week’s British comic and creator-focused new comics round up with a… Read More ›
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New Iron Fist trailer from Netflix reveals more of series characters and plot
Netflix has just released another teaser for Iron Fist, its latest Marvel Comics-inspired series. If it’s as good as Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, the subscription service will have another great show to encourage comic fans to watch –… Read More ›
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Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula Issue #1 – Extended Art Preview Unearthed!
Titan Comics has just revealed the covers and an extended art preview from Anno Dracula #1 – an all-new comic mini-series based on the best selling Anno Dracula novels, written by creator Kim Newman with art by Paul McCaffrey, coloured by Kevin Enhart…. Read More ›
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One for 2000AD and Dan Dare fans: Let’s Go To Mars! Game Launched
A graphic adventure game focusing on the exploration of Mars has been launched by the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, which should appeal to fans of most SF comics or books – of all ages. The app, Let’s Go To… Read More ›
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“Jeff Hawke Junior” Collected At Last by Jeff Hawke Fan Club
Just published by the Jeff Hawke Fan Club and available to members is this collection of Jeff Hawke Jnr., containing all the Jeff Hawke strips from Junior Express weekly. The 128 page book is the same large format as the Club’s COSMOS magazine… Read More ›
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Exclusive Extract – Read Em and Weep Book One: Serial Killer by Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill
With the 40th Anniversary 2000AD celebration this weekend in London, we’re delighted to bring you this extract from Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill’s new novel, published by Millsverse Books, set in the wold of 1970s comics publishing… Be advised this extract is… Read More ›
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John Wagner to ‘revive’ the Dark Judges with new story ‘Dominion’ for Judge Dredd Megazine
Writer John Wagner (Judge Dredd, A History of Violence) and Nick Percival (Clive Barker’s Hellraiser) are to follow up 2015’s chilling Dark Justice with a new story featuring the infamous Dark Judges. An Alien-style race-against-time Dark Justice saw undead alien… Read More ›
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Britannia and The Mummy writer Peter Milligan signing at Forbidden Planet Newcastle opening day
As part of the launch day celebrations for Forbidden Planet‘s brand new Newcastle Megastore, writer Peter Milligan will be signing copies of Britannia, collecting Britannia #1 – 4, on Saturday 18th February 2017. In Peter Milligan’s Britannia, published by Valiant Entertainment,… Read More ›
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Andy Holden’s exhibition “As Speed Increases Objects Can Be In Several Places At Once” now at Lancaster University
The result of five years’ work, Andy Holden’s Laws of Motion in a Cartoon Landscape, now showing at Lancaster Univerity‘s Peter Scott Gallery, presents a fully realised animated theory proposing the world is now best understood as a cartoon. Part-lecture, part-documentary,… Read More ›
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From The Trenches: A Guest’s Eye View of True Believers Comic Festival 2017 by Jessica Martin
Comic creator Jessica Martin, one of many talents at the event, reveals how she’s now a “True Believer” after her trip to Cheltenham this weekend… On Saturday 5th February, I was a guest at the True Believers Comic Festival in… Read More ›
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October date for 2017 Nottingham Comic Convention announced
The team behind Nottingham Comic Convention have just announced this year’s event will take place on Saturday 14th October – and released their promotional poster by Roger Langridge, a previous guest. “We have begun the process that is the long,… Read More ›
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Marvel UK’s short-lived war comic “Fury” recalled
Here’s a small selection of some of the dramatic covers for British Marvel’s short-lived war comic Fury, which ran for 25 issues back in 1977. The Boys Adventure Blog is spotlighting the title as part of its celebration of the work… Read More ›
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Lakes International Comic Art Festival wins two culture awards
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival won two awards at the Cumbria Life Culture Awards 2017 this weekend. Core team members Aileen McEoy and Carole Tait were among those on hand to collect the awards for Festival of the Year and another… Read More ›
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Snapshots in Time: A Teddy Girl from 1955 – and more importantly, some very cheap comics!
Oxford’s North Wall Art Centre is currently hosting Ken Russell’s Teddy Girls & Boys – an exhibition of 50 photographs of teddy girls and boys, taken by ground-breaking film director, Ken Russell, brought together for the first time. One of… Read More ›
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New Vampirella series from Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton debuts
On sale now in all good comic shops from Dynamite Entertainment is Vampirella #0, beginning the new series from Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton. Priced at only 25 cents in the US, and 20p in the UK, it’s also available… Read More ›
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Web Finds: Essential Sequential, delivering the ABC Comics Project to long-term unemployed
Essential Sequential is a not-for-profit organisation created to provide creative workshops and activities for mainstream and hard-to-reach individuals of virtually all ages and abilities – and they’re working on a number of projects in the works, including the ABC Comic Project, which… Read More ›
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Hasbro awards Signature Publishing ‘Partner of the Year’
With over 60 Hasbro licensees, including some of the biggest toy, apparel, stationery and publishing companies across the UK and Europe in the running for the award, Signature Publishing says it is delighted to be awarded the honour of the toy… Read More ›
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Panel Borders: Medical Emergencies features interviews with Karen Berger and the Mad Robot Comics team
The monthly radio show about comics and graphic novels is back tonight. In Panel Borders: Medical Emergencies, Alex Fitch talks to two teams of creators who use knowledge of medical emergencies to inform sci-fi and fantasy titles. At Cartoon County, Brighton, Alex… Read More ›
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Captain America and Donald Trump cross swords (or shields) – in Oxford, courtesy of TORCH
Oxford’s TORCH Comics and Graphic Novels: The Politics of Form network are hosting an event on ‘Trump in the Age of Captain America/ Captain America in the Age of Trump‘ with Jason Dittmer from the University College London tomorrow night. Jason Dittmer is the… Read More ›
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Sneak Peek: Mike Mignola and Christoper Golden’s Baltimore: The Red Kingdom
Mike Mignola, the legendary creator of Hellboy and New York Times bestselling novelist Christopher Golden will reunite for the epic conclusion to their comic Baltimore with Baltimore: The Red Kingdom, a five part comic book series from Dark Horse Comics co-written by… Read More ›