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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Disney showcases British fashion initiative for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Designers to have created outfits for the charity auction includes Agi & Sam, Bobby Abley, Christopher Raeburn, Claire Barrow and J.W. Anderson.Disney and Lucasfilm have unveiled a British fashion initiative celebrating the imminent arrival of Star Wars: The Force Awakens…. Read More ›
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Public Lending Right set to increase next year after library loans ‘fall’
Comic creators and authors whose work is offered through libraries will be pleased to hear that Public Lending Right (PLR) will increase next year after The British Library Board proposed that the current 6.66 pence per loan should increase to… Read More ›
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ICv2: Steve Jackson Games Gets ‘Simon’s Cat’
Steve Jackson Games will release a card game based on YouTube sensation Simon’s Cat, the company announced last week. The 47 animated Simon’s Cat shorts have a cumulative 680 million views and have spawned books and other merchandise. Source: ICv2:… Read More ›
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“Seth’s Dominion” screening part of of London International Animation Festival Line Up
Nestling in the line up for this year’s London International Animation Festival is a screening of Seth’s Dominon, an award-winning film highlighting the work of one of the recent Lakes International Comic Art Festival’s top Canadian guests, Seth, presented by its director Luc… Read More ›
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Awesome Comic Podcast Thought Bubble Special
Get the sherbets out and It’s the Awesome Comic Podcast‘s first convention special folks! Vince Hunt and Tony Esmond discuss their time at Thought Bubble Festival 2015 (unfortunately Dan couldn’t make it), give shout outs to the lovely people they met… Read More ›
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Awesome Comics Podcast Episode 21: Comics Writer Sam Read
Who better to join the Awesome Comics Podcast crew for a chin wag than the writer of Exit Generation, Sam Read? Sam talks about how his brilliant SF action book came to be, his route into the world of making comics, the… Read More ›
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New comic launches at Malta Comic Con include Dinoswords and S.T.E.AM. – Island Under Siege
Next month’s Malta Comic Con will see a number of independent comic launches, including guest Tim Perkins Retro-Collection of The Dinoswords – collecting the 12 issues previously printed in the UK, 1990’s anthology comic, Triffik, stories by Tim and James Hill… Read More ›
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Official Billy Whizz Screenprint Released
Top screen printer John Patrick Reynolds has just released his latest official Beano screenprint. Billy Whizz, Starts Today. The image is taken from Issue 1139 of The Beano, Billy’s first appearance in May 1964. “I love it,” enthuses John…. Read More ›
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Something for the Weekend: US Comics On Sale from 25th November 2015 – Asterix Found in Comic Shops!
It’s a fairly quiet week for new comics with a British connection, but don’t panic, because the latest 2000AD has a creepy “Terror Tale” from David Baillie, beautifully drawn by Joshua George for you to enjoy – especially if you’re… Read More ›
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Lancaster University Appoints Tintin Scholar Benoit Peeters As UK’s First Professor Of Graphic Fiction And Comic Art
Lancaster University has appointed renowned French graphic novelist and critic Benoit Peeters as its Visiting Professor in Graphic Fiction and Comic Art, the first ever such appointment in the UK. The news was announced by Professor Simon Guy, Dean of the University’s Faculty of… Read More ›
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IDW’s Judge Dredd Resumes Next Month with “Mega City Zero”, Dan McDaid on art
Dan McDaid takes on the art duties on IDW’s new Judge Dredd series next month, in a new ongoing series written by Ulises Fariñas and Erick Freitas. After a bit of a break from their take on Dredd, the US publisher is really pushing out… Read More ›
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Something For The Weekend: US Comics On Sale from 18th November 2015 – Sound the Klaxon!
Our weekly list of British creator-skewed new comic releases kicks off with this week’s wraparound cover for 2000AD by Jake Lynch. Dredd at his finest! But the thrills don’t stop there, because we also get a new issue of Judge Dredd Megazine… Read More ›
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Rob Williams heads up 2000AD’s “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Purgatory”
His name is Ichabod and he is a killer. But his death, for die he must, is only the beginning of his story… A bloody, romantic, supernatural meta-Western filtered through the language of Daniel Woodrell and the cinematic imagery of… Read More ›
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More For Malta Comic Con: Italian, British and Greek comic creators join the roster
Another wave of guests has been revealed for the seventh Malta Comic Con with the announcement by organisers Wicked Comics that creators Pasquale Qualano (Soulfire), Andreas Michaelides (Botch!), Christos Stamboulis (The Lords of Crimson Valley), Gianluca Maconi (Elfes) Luciano Regazzoni (Nathan Never), Grafimated Cartoon… Read More ›
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DC Thomson Bags Rights to “Twirlywoos”
DC Thomson has signed a deal with DHX Brands to publish a Twirlywoos next year, based on the hit CBeebies preschool show devised and produced by Ragdoll Productions’ Anne Wood, whose creator credits also include Rosie and Jim and Teletubbies, with… Read More ›
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Creating Nightmares: An interview with “Call of Duty” Lead Writer Craig Houston
A chat with Craig Houston, a Scottish writer, artist and musician with over 25 years experience in the video games and comic book industries…
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Try Your Hand at a “Fiendishly Clever” Alan Moore Quiz from SEQUENTIAL, Win an IPad Mini
Digital comics publisher SEQUENTIAL have released a fun (but fiendishly difficult) Alan Moore online quiz to celebrate the 62nd birthday of one of the world’s greatest comics writers. “It’s a 20-question quiz but is different each time you take it,… Read More ›
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In Review: Ron Turner’s “Space Ace” Volume 5
Out: NowPublisher: John LawrenceOriginally published by Atlas Publishing & Distributing Co. Ltd The Title: A 40 page full colour magazine reprinting two Space Ace stories from the mid 1950s: “The Nine-Bomb Menace” and “Magnetic Meteor”, plus an extensive interview with… Read More ›
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British Star Trek comics collected at last
Following up on their publication of the Star Trek: The Newspaper Comics in not one but two terrific volumes back in 2012, collecting all of the daily comic strips that ran in various newspapers between 1979 and 1983, we’re delighted to report… Read More ›
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Meet the Cover Girls: Liverpool girls comics event this weekend
As part of the UK Being Human festival of the humanities, Liverpool John Moores University Library Services are hosting a fun event in Liverpool Central Library from 11.00am to 3.00pm on Saturday 21st November. LJMU students are running a number… Read More ›