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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Crucible: The Quest Episode 33
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Crucible: The Quest Episode 32
So… our party have been attacked by a mysterious and deadly creature, upset metal dwarves and now they seem to have attracted the attention of a god. Can anything else go wrong? By John Freeman & Smuzz, lettered by Jim… Read More ›
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Crucible: The Quest Episode 31
What horror has Beloc unearthed far below the surface of Shaarn (or wherever the party now are?) … And more to the point, what will It do, now discovered? By John Freeman & Smuzz, lettering by Jim Campbell. See also… Read More ›
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Dennis Publishing launches Minecraft World
Dennis Publishing, publishers of titles such as VIZ and The Week and owners of the Den of Geek website, has just launched Minecraft World, a non-licensed monthly print magazine based on the hugely popular cross-platform computer game. As downthetubes readers will know, Minecraft… Read More ›
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Sneak Peek: Doctor Who: Four Doctors #1
Titan Comics has released some preview pages from Issue One of their brand-new five-part weekly Doctor Who comics cross-over series – Doctor Who: Four Doctors , written by Paul Cornell with art by Neil Edwards. Due for to launch 12th August,… Read More ›
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British Star War figures, Action Man and Pippa doll collectibles sell for thousands in Vectis auction
Vectis Auctions held the first Palitoy Employees sale this week (see earlier news story), and it generated a lot of interest amongst the collecting fraternity – and some huge bids for childhood favourites. Some of the biggest collecting groups… Read More ›
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New Lakes Festival Guests: The Yanks Are Coming!
Two top US comics creators have joined the already impressive international line-up announced for this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival in October. From Bambi to Bart Simpson and Mowgli to Moe, Bill Morrison has drawn them all, and almost everything in between. For… Read More ›
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Lancaster Comics Day Launch Event on Saturday
A small event to launch Lancaster Comics Day will take place at First Age Comics, Lancaster on Saturday 30th May 2015 from 11.00am. Lancaster Comics Day, taking place Sunday 14th June 2015 in Lancaster Library, is a new event aimed at comic fans of all ages for the… Read More ›
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Egmont launches “World of Warriors” Magazine
Continuing its development of computer game-related titles, Egmont Publishing has launched Mind Candy’s World of Warriors in ‘Allabout’ Magazine. In November 2014 Mind Candy, the creators of the renowned online game Moshi Monsters, launched a new adventure and combat strategy game, World of Warriors…. Read More ›
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British Comic Shop Releases (27th May 2015) – Alan Moore’s Providence Launches, Surface Tension debuts
Here’s our guide to new comics and graphic on sale in British comic shops today (Wednesday 27th May 2015), complementing our monthly list of new British graphic novels and comic collections (May 2015 list here). This week sees the release… Read More ›
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In Review: Surface Tension #1 by Jay Gunn
WRITER/ARTIST: Jay Gunn PUBLISHER: Titan Comics ISSUES IN SERIES: 1 (OF 5) PAGE-COUNT: 40pp PRICE: $3.99 RELEASE DATE: 27th May 2015 ORDER CODE: MAR151531 “WE ARE ALL MADE OF WATER” Months after mysterious corals drew 99 per cent… Read More ›
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Rare “Banned” Action Comic reaches £1320 bid on eBay
An extremely rare copy of Action – a 1970s British comic whose controversial content provoked storms of protest and was eventually banned – is currently being auctioned on eBay and bidding on the adventure comic has reached £1320. (Updated… Read More ›
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New Doctor Who design book out later this year
Mike Tucker, one of the most dedicated and inventive visual effects artists to work on the Doctor Who TV series – and the author of several Who-related books – has co-authored a new title about the making of the show… Read More ›
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Dirty Rotten Comics Wants You! (For their next anthology, that is)
British indie publisher Dirty Rotten Comics are now taking submissions for their summer anthology. the final deadline is 30th June 2015. Regular readers will recall that downthetubes team member Antony Esmond enthused about their most recent edition, noting issue three of this anothology series was pretty… Read More ›
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Wallace Wood omitted from Netflix Daredevil credits, estate and US creators protest
Over on Bleeding Cool, an article about the brilliant US artist Wallace “Wally” Wood and his integral part in the creation of the Marvel superhero character Daredevil appears to have been mined from posts on the Wallace Wood Estate Facebook… Read More ›
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Tonight’s Gotham on Channel 5: All Happy Families Are Alike
The first season of Gotham comes to a close on Channel 5 tonight, as Gotham City’s gang war reaches its boiling point. Fish Mooney goes head-to-head with Maroni and Penguin in an attempt to re-stake her claim on the city…. Read More ›
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Rummages in the attic! Classic Marvel UK titles, Scream and other British comics up for sale
British comics collector Steven Holder dropped us a line at downthetubes to tell us he was “having a bit of a clear out” that we think will interest our readers, as it includes some fab Marvel UK goodies including… Read More ›
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First Age Comics Top Ten Titles This Week (w/e 22nd May 2015)
Diamond has its top selling US comic lists, and so do the big London comic shops and many others. So here at downthetubes, we thought it high time we had our own Top Ten Comics chart documenting top… Read More ›
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In Review: 24 By 7 – A Collection of 24 Hour Marathon Comics
Editor: Dan Berry Creators: Dan Berry, Sarah McIntyre, Joe Decie, Kristyna Baczynski, Fumio Obata, Jack Teagle, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell and Dan Berry Publisher: Fanfare Press/Lakes International Comic Art Festival ISBN: 0993211208 Out: Now (available at various comics events, online and in… Read More ›
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Brighton Illustration Fair debuts next weekend
The first Brighton Illustration Fair – for illustrators from Brighton and beyond – takes place at the end of this month (30th – 31st May 2015). The event, which features guests including comic artists Boo Cook, Jack Teagle, Donya Todd and Chris… Read More ›
