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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In Memoriam: “Luck of the Legion” and Ladybird Books artist Martin Aitchison
We’re sorry to report the passing of Martin Aitchison, artist on Eagle‘s “Luck of the Legion“, “Danger Unlimited“, “The Lost World” and “Hornblower“, who died peacefully on 22nd October 2016, aged 96. Martin also illustrated a large number of Ladybird Books… Read More ›
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Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures Volume One Box Set Art Revealed
B7 Media has revealed further art from its Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures series, launching 5th December 2016 via Big Finish. This time out, it’s the new artwork for Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures Volume One box set, featuring art by Brian… Read More ›
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Who’s the toughest – US Marines or British Commandos? Find out in Commando comic “Yankee Buddy”,
Here’s your undercover intel on the latest issues of DC Thomson’s Commando (Issues 4963-4966), on sale now in all good newsagents (although you might have to ask for them in certain WHSmith stores, where they are kept behind the counter),… Read More ›
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In Review: The Artist by Anna Haifish
Created by Anna Haifish Published by Breakdown Press Published: 17th November 2016 (Available at Thought Bubble) The Book: Anna Haifsch’s idiosyncratic, episodic comic chronicles the experiences of a young artist in his formative years, satirising the exclusive, ephemeral and frequently absurd… Read More ›
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Create your own Commando comics!
Musomic – a free comic building app for iPad – is continuing to expand its assets to create new comics, including imagery from DC Thomson’s Commando comic. Launched in 2014, the Musomic app enables users to adapt and combine artwork, captions… Read More ›
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New 2000AD-inspired Zarjaz ‘zine, FutureQuake and more out in time for Thought Bubble
The latest issue of the 2000AD-inspired fanzine Zarjaz (Issue 27), FutureQuake and other great FutureQuake Press titles are now available online from the Future Quake web shop. Featuring a cover by Neil Roberts, the new Zarjaz, on sale at this weekend’s… Read More ›
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Avery Hill gains further bookstore distribution with Turnaround
Independent publishers Avery Hill – the South London with a strongly independent ethos whose titles we’ve regularly plugged here on downthetubes – has just agreed a distribution deal with Turnaround Distributors, who have been distributing books into the UK and overseas markets since… Read More ›
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Call For Papers: All about Cinderella – retellings in the cultural imagination
Three-hundred and nineteen years since the publication of Charles Perrault’s famous Histories du Temps Passé, the myth of Cinderella remains integral to many current facets of our cultures. Inspired by the University of Bedfordshire’s collection of scripts, books, theatrical memorabilia,… Read More ›
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From the Trenches: The Lakes International Comic Festival’s Academic Workshop
Mel Gibson reports on another aspect of this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival – its academic workshop, an aspect set to expand next year… The Lakes International Comic Art Festival‘s approach to developing links with the academy is distinctive. Their… Read More ›
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Tokyo reimagined in style by Shinji Tsuchimochi for “100 Views of Tokyo” project
(With thanks to Marcia Allass): Following in the footsteps of ukiyo-e artist Hiroshige, Shinji Tsuchimochi spent three years illustrating the city, bringing a modern sense of whimsy and, sometimes, surrealism to the Japanese city. First published online, 100 Views of Tokyo, published in… Read More ›
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When is the Beano not So Beano? When it isn’t promoted to its readers online, perhaps?
When is The Beano not The Beano? When it’s Beano – the official web site. Yes, it’s a terrible joke, but not as terrible as the bemusing lack of any obvious presence for the print edition of The Beano on the… Read More ›
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ICv2 delves into Digital Comic Subscriptions, asking if they’re gong “Netflix”
For a while in the late Aughts, the Apple iTunes Store model was the predominant way to buy digital content: individual items from an enormous catalog, priced to buy one at a time. Then along came Netflix, with unlimited access… Read More ›
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Sneak Peek: First ever complete collection of the early years of The Sun’s “Striker” comic
Pete Nash, creator of Striker, published by The Sun and online on Planet Striker, has given us a sneak peek at some of the pages of the first ever sequential collection of the hugely popular football strip, Striker: The Complete Collection… Read More ›
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Dan Dare Audio Adventures Theme by Imran Ahmad Released
B7 Media has just released its Dan Dare theme tune for the upcoming Dan Dare Audio Adventures, which launch from Big Finish next month, the music the work of British Indian film music composer and musician Imran Ahmad, who’s previously worked with… Read More ›
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Hallowe’en Comic Tales: The 13th Stone
It’s become something of a Hallowe’en tradition for comic creators Bryan Coyle and Lee Robson to create a short comic for the season, but this year (with the help of Bolt-01), they’ve gone one better and done a full blown 22-page one-shot, The… Read More ›
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Hallowe’en Comic Tales: A Wrong Turning by Dave Morris and Martin McKenna
A few years ago authors Roz and Dave Morris (the former, a fantastic source of advice on writing tips as well as a brilliant well-established writer, the latter currently promoting the marvellous graphic novel project Mirabilis via Patreon) spent a week… Read More ›
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Scream! in the spotlight: a wonderfully ghastly new Comic Archive from Hibernia Comics!
We’ll be running a fuller review of this cracking new title from Hibernia Comics soon, but I couldn’t not give an early plug to their latest brilliant ‘Comic Archive’, It’s Ghastly, the untimely demise of Scream!, on sale now. The third… Read More ›
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Gnasher and Gnipper – Bored Teenagers? New screenprint on sale now
John Patrick Reynolds has just released another of his fab limited edition Beano screenprints, this time featuring Dennis the Menace’s faithful dog Gnasher and his son, Gnipper. Both dogs are looking very bored, lying about like a couple of disaffected… Read More ›
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Doctor Who artist Richard Piers Rayner’s work on show in Middlesbrough
Comic artist Richard Piers Rayner, perhaps best known for his work on the crime noir story Road to Perdition but whose credits include Doctor Who, Hellblazer and Captain America: Red White and Blue, is the focus of a new exhibition at… Read More ›
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Exclusive! Titan Comics Hook Jaw Variant Cover by Brian Williamson Revealed!
Following up on our previous post featuring the covers of the first issue of Titan Comics Hook Jaw project, we have this exclusive for you – Brian Williamson‘s stunning retro-styled Diamond Comics UK variant, complete with Action comic-styled masthead! Launching… Read More ›