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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Titan’s “Arrow Comic” now on sale
Titan Magazines has launched an all-new Arrow Comic, based on the hit TV series that exploded on Sky1 last year. Coinciding with the second series launch in the UK, Arrow Comic hit stores last week, offering original stories written by… Read More ›
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Egmont UK launches All About Angry Birds magazine
The first issue of All About Angry Birds magazine goes on sale from Egmont UK tomorrow, both here and in Germany, Poland, Turkey and China. Targeting 6-9 year-old boys and girls, the magazine includes everything an Angry Birds fan could… Read More ›
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Grandville-inspired miniatures released by Ocelot Games
Grandville Miniatures are a range of 28mm scale figures from Ocelot Games based on Bryan Talbot‘s acclaimed Grandville graphic novels, featuring the intrepid Detective Inspector LeBrock and his loyal aide Detective Roderick Ratzi. Sculpted by top artists and cast in fine… Read More ›
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Death Sentence Issue 1 Sell Out success for Titan Comics
It’s a pandemic! Titan Comics tells us that the debut issue of Death Sentence by Jim Montynero and Mike Dowling has sold out at distributor level on its first day of release – and we gather this isn’t the only… Read More ›
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Call for Papers: Bad Signals – Collected Essays on the Work of Warren Ellis
Papers are invited for the first academic collection dedicated to the work of comics writer, novelist, and pop culture commentator Warren Ellis. Ellis’ renowned comics career stretches back to anthology comic Deadline, but he has also published two novels and… Read More ›
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Gatehouse and Windett launch “Kaci Bell Mysteries”
Ace creators John Gatehouse and Dave Windett have just launched a web strip, The Kaci Bell Mysteries, set in a Bluewater Cove, California – where life is never quite normal! When high school students turn into super-powered freaks and go on… Read More ›
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Lakes Comic Festival back next year
Buoyed by its undoubted success, the organisers of the first Lakes International Comic Art Festival have confirmed the event will return in October 2014, with some planning already being worked on for key threads to the event. Thousands of comics… Read More ›
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Numbercruncher ends with a bang!
The shock conclusion of the critically acclaimed temporal afterlife adventure Numbercruncher by Si Spurrier and PJ Holden is fast approaching with Issue 4 on sale in all good comic shops from Wednesday 23rd October. An epic battle of wits, wills… Read More ›
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Egmont scoops Sonic the Hedgehog publishing rights
Egmont UK will launch an All About Sonic the Hedgehog magazine next month and a range of books in May 2014, aimed at children 6-10 years olds, after securing publishing rights for SEGA’s top games character. The new title includes… Read More ›
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Lakes International Comic Art Festival kicks off in style
The weather is mixed but far from the howling storms some nay sayers feared when the Lakes International Comic Art Festival came up in conversations earlier in the year. And even despite some rain, the greeting to Kendal could not… Read More ›
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Who’s Coming to London Comic Con? Special Guest Round-Up
MCM London Comic Con, the biggest event of its kind in Europe, returns to ExCel London on 25-27th October. As well as hosting a galaxy of great sci-fi, movie, games, comics, anime and cosplay content, we’ve also got a brilliant… Read More ›
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From the DC Thomson archives: a tribute to Chick Checkley
Commando editor Calum Laird kindly sent us this tribute to the original editor of the war comic Chick Checkley, which he found in a 1971 edition of the DC Thomson staff magazine. The portrait of Chick above is by… Read More ›
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‘Crucible’ released for iPad
The first issue of a US-comic styled, digital edition of our Crucible comic by John Freeman and Smuzz is is now available for just 69p from Apple’s ‘Newsstand’ store. You can also subscribe to the title – our hope is… Read More ›
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Marvel’s first Revolutionary War titles in the spotlight
Marvel Comics has begun soliciting orders for its January 2014 titles, including the first Revolutionary War titles featuring characters first created by Marvel UK back in the 1990s. Here are the full details … REVOLUTIONARY WAR: ALPHA #1 ANDY LANNING… Read More ›
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“Neil Gaiman’s Lost Tales” arrives on SEQUENTIAL, raising money for Malaria No More UK
Neil Gaiman is a phenomenon, with an international fanbase, nearly two million Twitter followers and a string of best-selling books and graphic novels to his name. Today, Knockabout Comics, publishers of comics legends including Gilbert Shelton, Robert Crumb and Alan… Read More ›
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Creating Comics: Press Release Your Comic!
Here at downthetubes.net we get a lot of press materials from a wide range of comic creators and publishers. Some of it is very good (thank you, 2000AD, Commando, SelfMadeHero, Time Bomb Comics, Titan Comics and others). Some of it… Read More ›
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British superheroes heading for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?
With US network ABC announcing Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been given a full-season order this week, speculation is raging over which super heroes might appear on the show, following a cameo by Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson)… Read More ›
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There’s no stopping Zombies: US Walking Dead premiere delivers record ratings
The fourth season of The Walking Dead delivered the highest ratings of any episode in series history for US network AMC on its debut this week in the US. The season four premiere was watched by 16.1 million total viewers… Read More ›
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“Hello Kitty” goes super-powered…
It’s a crossover you perhaps never expected to see, but Warner Bros Consumer Products and DC Entertainment have just revealed the first full character creative artwork for the brand collaboration between Hello Kitty and DC Comics Super Heroes. The collaboration… Read More ›
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Eaglemoss launches Gerry Anderson Vintage Comic Collection
Great news for Gerry Anderson comic fans?