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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Panel Borders: My So-Called Secret Identity
Continuing a month of shows about comic book creators who have used crowd funding to launch various titles on Britain’s only regularly radio broadcast comics show, Alex Fitch, with the help of guest presenter Nicola Streeten, discusses the crowd-funding campaign for the… Read More ›
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Phoenix Comic now on sale in selected Waterstones
The Phoenix Comic – the brilliant children’s comic published by David Fickling Comics – has extended its distribution a step further and is now on sale in selected Waterstones bookshops. The Phoenix is a weekly story comic for children, packed… Read More ›
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TorsoBear – Back in the Game with new Kickstarter target
Brett Uren, the creator of the acclaimed Torsobear project, has re-launched his bid for funding a second volume of stories on Kickstarter, his enthusiasm undimmed after an ambitious bid to secure £13,500 earlier in the year fell short of target, despite… Read More ›
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British Comic Shop Releases (8th June 2015) – 2000AD, Tank Girl and a Death Sentence that’s a must!
Here’s our guide to new comics and graphic on sale in British comic shops today (Wednesday 8th June 2015), complementing our monthly list of new British graphic novels and comic collections (June 2015 list here). New Readers: Jump-on 2000AD this week! Three… Read More ›
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Blast from the Past: An Interview with Alan Class
I came across a lovely little item by Howard Fuller on his meeting with Alan Class at Putney’s 30th Century Comics, the now retired publisher of those black and white anthologies that many of us used to buy in the… Read More ›
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In Review: Doctor Who – Tenth Doctor #11
DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #11 Writer: Nick Abadzis Artist: Elena Casagrande Ink Assistant: Michelle Pasta Layout Assistant: Giorgia Sposito Colour: Arianna Florean Publisher: Titan Comics On Sale: Wednesday 10th June 2015 The Book: New Yorkers Cindy and Gabby have a falling… Read More ›
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Saltire Fan Art Competition Launched
The team behind the Scottish superhero story Saltire are running a Fan Art Competition – and the winners will see their artwork in print. Saltire , published by Diamond Steel Comics, is a series centring around a Scottish comic book superhero,… Read More ›
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Doctor Who: Four Doctors Trailer Released
Titan Comics has released the brand-new trailer for Doctor Who: Four Doctors five-part weekly summer event written by Paul Cornell and illustrated by Neil Edwards, which stars Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors and their comics companions. The weekly event, running… Read More ›
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New Doctor Who Adventures goes Ood Crazy!
Doctor Who Adventures Issue 3 is set to materialise on planet Earth on 18th June and the team behind the revamped comic are getting ready to go Ood Crazy! In this issue’s comic strip, “Doctor In A Bottle” drawn by… Read More ›
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Lew Stringer’s Combat Colin Returns in Aces Weekly
Aces Weekly – the multi-award-winning, exclusively digital comic art magazine published by David Lloyd – is out now, complete with an all-new Combat Colin story by Lew Stringer. The welcome return of the crazy gun-toting hero, first published by Marvel… Read More ›
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Sneak Preview: Doctor Who Nine #2 from Titan Comics
Wednesday 17th June sees the return of Titan Comics Ninth Doctor series, with the climactic second issue of Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor by co-author of bestselling Who-ology Cavan Scott and art by Blair Shedd, with main cover art by fan favourite Alice X Zhang… Read More ›
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‘Lost’ Marvel UK artist Leigh Baulch decloaks new art pages
Following up on our post about one of Marvel UK’s ’forgotten’ artists last week, we’re delighted to report that Leigh Baulch has now published more of his vintage and recent art on Facebook and Twitter. Our feature generated plenty of… Read More ›
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Simon Spurrier’s and Jeff Stokely’s “The Spire” launches in July
The top cop of a sprawling structure with over a million inhabitants has a triple homicide on her hands—and a new boss who can’t stand her. That’s the premise behind The Spire, launching next month, a new limited series from… Read More ›
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WarWorldz Origins Episode 8
On an alien world, RAF pilot Daniel Saunders has landed himself in big trouble in an ancient city. Meanwhile, back on Earth, things aren’t going well either… WarWorldz: Origins by John Freeman & Stephen Walsh, Script by Stephen Walsh, art… Read More ›
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Kendal Calling: Artists Wanted to Paint Windows for Lakes International Comic Art Festival
The Windows on Comic Art Trail is a unique element of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival and the team behind the event have just launched an appeal for artists to get involved in this year’s redecoration of local shop… Read More ›
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British Comic Web Sites: Trawling the Statistics
Intrigued by things statistical this morning, I thought I’d have a look at the documented audiences for various British comics-related web sites – both publishers and news sites – on Alexa.com, which details their world rankings. As you can see,… Read More ›
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Marvel’s Agent Carter heads to FOX UK, launches 12th July
FOX UK has acquired the rights to the ABC Studios action-packed post World War Two period drama Marvel’s Agent Carter from Disney UK and Ireland, and the series will begin airing on 12th July. As regular readers already know, the… Read More ›
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Publishers and book lovers urged to back Independent Bookshop Week 2015
Book lovers and publishers are being encouraged show their support for their local independent bookshops by contributing to some of the dynamic digital initiatives being announced for this year’s Independent Bookshop Week, which is organised by the Booksellers Association – and there’s… Read More ›
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IDW relaunches digital comics offering in partnership with Madefire
IDW Publishing, a pioneer in digital comics, has launched its next-generation of comic apps for Apple iOS. These new apps were produced in partnership with the premier iOS app developer, Madefire, the company established by a group of creatives that… Read More ›
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Basil Brush “Full Fox on Tour” prompts TV Comic memories
(Updated 5/6/15): Basil Brush – star of TV, stage and TV Comic – is out and about over the summer months in the UK with his “Full on Fox Tour”, taking in towns across the country from Newport on Saturday to Ipswich… Read More ›