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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Valerian: Official Trailer Debuts: A Cinebook Checklist to the Graphic Novel Series
A checklist of Valerian and Laureline albums
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Psycho Gran is back, putting the old skool into vigilante justice!
Titan Comics have just released the second issue of David Leach‘s hilarious comic, Psycho Gran, on digital platforms. (For some reason, they don’t yet want to get physical with her – I can’t think why!) Psycho Gran #2 features the… Read More ›
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New Spaceship Away features Dave Gibbons interview, highlights new audio adventures alongside new strips
The latest issues of the Dan Dare-inspired magazine Spaceship Away – Issue 40 – has just been released, the glossy A4 magazine featuring not one but two all-new “classic” Dan Dare comic strips from Tim Booth. Along with the final… Read More ›
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In Review: The Marionette Unit
Created by Azhur Saleem and James Boyle, illustrated by Warwick Johnson-Cadwell Out: Now The Book: How far would you go in search of a missing loved one? Could you infiltrate a hellish Victorian workhouse where steam-powered engines control your body? If so, then enter… Read More ›
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Something For the Weekend – Judge Dredd and a deadly Mummy in This Week’s New Comics in the UK (w/c 7th October 2016)
Here’s this week’s round up of new comics in British newsagents and comic shops skewed, as ever to highlighting British creators and publishers. After positive feedback to the plugs we included for some great indie titles last week ahead of… Read More ›
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Royal Wedding Gate Crashers and a Talking Horse? Yep, Doctor Who Adventures is back!
Trust Doctor Who Adventures to have a talking horse as the Doctor’s current companion… it’s surely the wackiest thing since Frobisher the Penguin arrived in sister title Doctor Who Magazine! But what else is lurking between the covers of the… Read More ›
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It’s Hammer Time for Titan Comics as “The Mummy” debuts, and it’s a scream!
Today sees the launch of The Mummy, the first of several Hammer Films-inspired comic series from Titan Comics, written by the legendary Peter Milligan and drawn by Ronilson Freire, coloured by Ming Sen and lettered by Simon Bowland. The line will see the publication of brand-new… Read More ›
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The Really Heavy Greatcoat Year in Review 2016 Part One
Nick Miller, co-creator of The Really Heavy Greatcoat cartoon with me, which we wrote on a regular basis for some years, delivers the first part of this year’s “Year in Review” early, in response to the US election results… Nick… Read More ›
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Oxford’s TORCH to host talk by Roger Sabin on the Origins of Comics Criticism
TORCH, Oxford’s Research Centre in the Humanities third seminar of the term will take place tomorrow, Thursday 10th November 2016, at 5.15pm and will feature a talk from Roger Sabin, Professor of Popular Culture at Central Saint Martins in London, on “The… Read More ›
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Comic Creators early Twitter reaction to the 2016 US Election Result
So, Donald Trump will be the next US President. I think A-Force and Hawkeye comic writer Kelly Thompson pretty much nailed the mood of many comic creators on my Twitter feed this morning with a retweet of a cartoon by David Rowe,… Read More ›
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Wartime Beano Bonanza, rare Captain America reprint, Mickey Mouse Weekly #1 and more in latest Compal comics auction
There’s plenty for the dedicated British comics collector to savour in the latest ComPal comic book auction, with bidding via the-saleroom.com running until 27th November 2016. While there aren’t many art items on offer this time around, there are some… Read More ›
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Planet Jimbot’s Wolf Country returns
Sandwiched between writer Jim Alexander’s “Calhab Justice” (featuring in the Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection Issue 47, out now) and Savant (an alien goes walkabout around the Universe accumulating the memories of the dead with art by Will Pickering, debuting… Read More ›
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Dave Gibbons signing this weekend for new “Brighton’s Graphic War” from QueenSpark Books
QueenSpark Books will be hosting an exclusive book signing event this coming weekend at Brighton’s Dave’s Comics with Comics Laureate Dave Gibbons to help launch their new graphic novel, Brighton’s Graphic War – and there will be a special auction the night before, for the book cover art, a… Read More ›
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Matthew Dooley’s Milkman tale wins him £1000 Graphic Short Story Prize
Matthew Dooley, whose previous works include the self-published comic Meanderings, is the 2016 winner of the Cape Observer Comica Graphic Short Story Prize. His four-page story, “Colin Turnbull: A Tall Story“, which you can read here, wins £1,000 cash and… Read More ›
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New Thelwell “Menagerie” Prints Released
Screen printer John Patrick Reynolds – perhaps best known to downthetubes readers for his Beano-inspired prints -has produced six new screenprints based on the drawings of cartoonist Norman Thelwell. These “Thelwell Menagerie” prints show the range of Thelwell’s interests, from… Read More ›
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London’s Orbital Comics showcases Graphic Short Story Prize Finalists
Were you short-listed? Here are the finalists’ names and the titles of their entries to this year’s Observer Jonathan Cape Graphic Novels Comica London Graphic Short Story Prize. There’s the opportunity to meet many of them and read their four-page… Read More ›
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Awesome Comics Podcast Catch-Up – Comic Cons, Horror Comics and More!
Oh dear! I’ve gotten behind on my Awesome Comics Podcast listening, and they’ve been doing some great stuff, too! Here’s a round up of the latest feisty thrills from Dan Butcher, Tony Esmond and Vince Hunt. I’d better hide under in… Read More ›
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Something For the Weekend – Thought Bubble and Dan Dare! – New Comics On Sale in the UK (w/c 31st October 2016)
It’s Thought Bubble in Leeds this weekend, so as something of a departure from our usual coverage of new comics on sale in newsgents and comic shops, I thought I’d spotlight just a few of the great comics (and I… Read More ›
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Career in Comics book in the works from attorney Gamal Hennessy
US attorney Gamal Hennessy of Creative Contract Consulting has announced he’s working on a new book Your Career in Comics: A Business, Creative and Legal Framework for Professional Sequential Artists (YCC for short!) that should be of interest to comic creators following downthetubes Gamal,… Read More ›
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New Wonder Woman UK Trailer Released
Here’s the latest official trailer for Wonder Woman – in UK cinemas from 2nd June 2017 – starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielson, Robin Wright, David Thewlis and directed by Patty Jenkins. Based on the DC Comics character created… Read More ›