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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Pat Mills To Talk “Charley’s War” at University of Liverpool
Charley’s War co-creator Pat Mills will challenge the current revisionist “spin” of that century old conflict at a University of Liverpool talk later this month. Pat, who is a Visiting Professor in the Department of English, (he was given an honorary professorship by the University back in 2011)… Read More ›
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Pat Mills to challenges Great War revisionists with University of Liverpool lecture
Charley’s War co-creator Pat Mills will challenge the current revisionist “spin” of that century old conflict at a University of Liverpool talk this month. Pat, who is a Visiting Professor in the Department of English, (he was given an honorary professorship by the University… Read More ›
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In Review: Spaceship Away 34
The latest issue of the Eagle-inspired Spaceship Away, available now, comes with another great cover from veteran artist Don Harley inspired by the original “Dan Dare” tale “The Ship that Lived”, and includes a great bonus Christmas gift – a 24-page “Dan… Read More ›
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Nickelodeon widens its Writing Program to accept worldwide applications
Viacom-owned cable and satellite TV network Nickelodeon has announced an open call for its 2015 global Animated Shorts Program, open worldwide. They’ll be taking pitches between 1st February – 31st March 2015. They’ve also announced an expansion to their Writing Program,… Read More ›
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“Toy Hunter” returns to Quest in January, seeking Space: 1999 Eagle and collectibles for Stan Lee
Acclaimed toy dealer Jordan Hembrough is back on the hunt to find the holy grail of toys and collectibles with bigger price tags that earn bigger profits in the third season of Toy Hunter, which will premiere on QUEST… Read More ›
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British Comic Shop Releases (9th December 2014) – 2000AD clears the decks for all-new thrills!
Here’s this week’s list of comics – both US and UK releases – on sale in specialist UK comic shops tomorrow, Wednesday 10th December 2014, courtesy of First Age Comics, Lancaster. We’ve picked out the titles published by British publishers in… Read More ›
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Hibernia releases “Library of Death” and “Baker’s Half Dozen” strip collections, new Scream! Archive announced
Just in time for Christmas, Hibernia Comics , publishers of collections such as The Tower King and Thirteenth Floor, has released two terrific collections – one from the short-lived horror comic Scream! and the other from the perhaps lesser well-known… Read More ›
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Richard Piers Rayner, Will Sliney feature in When Saturday Comes
The latest issue of the “Half Decent Football Magazine” When Saturday Comes includes a feature on how artists turn their hands to football featuring Road to Perdition and Doctor Who artist Richard Piers Rayner and Marvel artist Will Sliney. Born in Middlesbrough,… Read More ›
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Tonight’s Gotham on Channel 5: Harvey Dent
Jim leaves Selina in Alfred’s safekeeping while ADA Harvey Dent (Nicholas D’Agosto) uses her potential testimony to rattle the man Dent believes is responsible for the Waynes’ murders. Meanwhile, Oswald finds Fish’s mole in the Falcone organization in Gotham – ‘Harvey Dent’ – which airs… Read More ›
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Capital Comic Con, The Edinburgh Comic Art Festival , announced for October 2015
After a long year and a half of searching for the right venue and the right dates, BHP Events – part of comics publisher BHP Comics – has finally been able to secure all the elements they want to produce their first event… Read More ›
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Barry Kitson, Andrew Wildman part of Dutch Comic Con Line-Up
British artists Barry Kitson and Andrew Wildman are part of a growing guest line up for next year’s Dutch Comic Con, which will be held 28th – 29th of March 2015 at the Jaarbeurs Exhibition Centre, Utrecht. Dutch Comic Con is an… Read More ›
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Sneak Peek: 2000AD Prog 2015 – Dark Judges, Dark Justice and Savage, too
2000AD Prog 2015, a 100-page bumper issue of Tharg-assembled thrill power that kicks off a number of new ongoing stories for the weekly SF comic, will arrive in newsagents, comic shops and on digital devices worldwide on 17th December – and… Read More ›
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Broken Frontier Awards 2014 launched, Warren Ellis, Darryl Cunningham, SelfMadeHero among the chosen
The top comics site Broken Frontier has announced the nominees for its 11th annual Broken Frontier Awards. The site’s staff has selected five nominees for each of the 13 categories that comprise the BF Awards, their way to honour the… Read More ›
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Wart Horror Comic team launch a “Cosmic” Kickstarter
Writer Chris Welsh and artist Ammar Al-Chalabi, the team behind the fun, long-running and much-praised “cosmic horror web comic” WART have just launched a Kickstarter to raise funds to publish a print edition. For those that need reminding, the crowd funding site Kickstarter is… Read More ›
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Crucible: The Quest – Episode Ten
Beyond the ‘safety’ of Pomorele, our Taskers meet with the Tanners Guild guides… but tough as they are, they’re about to encounter something much tougher…
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Crucible: The Quest – Episode Nine
Our first look at the world outside the gates of Pomorele, and no, the perspective is meant to look that odd…
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Crucible: The Quest: Episode Eight
Time to mount up and head out of Pomorele… but are there some things best left unsaid?
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Crucible: The Quest – Episode Seven
Fisticuffs on the streets of Pomorele! But no-one messes with Zingamy’s chosen few…
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New Commandos take you down “Doom River” and into a deadly desert!
Here’s the details of the latest issues of Commando (Issues 4763 – 4766) from DC Thomson, on sale now in all good newsagents across the UK and digitally for iPad and iPhone. Commando No 4763 – Ambush In The Ardennes… Read More ›
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First Ever British Comic sells at auction for over £2000
Potentially Britain’s first ever comic title, a rare offering of the Glasgow/Northern Looking Glass Issues 1-13 in the latest Comic Book Auctions in a bound volume have sold for £2,350 – well over the estimated sale price of of £400-500. “To… Read More ›