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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Taking the Widdershins route: An interview with web comic creator Kate Ashwin
Regular readers of downthetubes will recall that earlier this week we plugged an upcoming Laydeez do Comics event in Leeds, which prompted me to follow the links to the creator sites, just to check they were correct more than… Read More ›
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Digital Reading Network announces first Symposium in June, includes digital comics discussion
The Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Digital Reading Network will be hosting its first symposium on 19th June in the Executive Business Centre at Bournemouth University, and will include a number of comic-related panels.. All are welcome to attend this… Read More ›
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New exhibition celebrates 25 years of Wallace & Gromit
A new Wallace & Gromit exhibition to celebrate 25 years of two of Britain’s best loved animated characters comes to Bristol’s M Shed Museum from 24th May 2014. Wallace & Gromit From the Drawing Board will run throughout the summer, inviting W&G… Read More ›
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Titan teams with Lakes Festival for new comics Talent Search
Titan Comics has just announced it is teaming-up with the Lakes International Comics Art Festival to launch a competition for unpublished comics creations. The competition goes live today (Thursday 1st May) and is an exciting opportunity for fledgling comic creators to submit completed… Read More ›
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Superhero Competition aims to encourage Girls to “Be Bold, Be Brave, Be You”
As another male-led superhero movie (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) hits the big-screen, the dearth of female superheroes is all too apparent. A recent poll, conducted among parents on behalf of toy company on behalf of Arklu, demonstrates a severe lack of… Read More ›
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Paul Magrs celebrates the Doctor Who annuals in all their, erm… glory?
Out in June in hardback from Obverse Books, with cover art and internal illustrations by Adam Bullock, and commentary on every single story from Paul Magrs, author of Doctor Who fiction for Big Finish, the BBC and AudioGo, The… Read More ›
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Behind the Scenes: Creating Sally Heathcote: Suffragette
Out this week from publisher Jonathan Cape is is Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, marvellous historical graphic novel created by Mary and Bryan Talbot and Kate Charlesworth which I enthused about in our early review here. Sally Heathcote: Suffragette is a… Read More ›
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downthetubes Forum changes
Some important news for users of our discussion forum. The downthetubes forum has changed location on the web to http://downthetubesforum.ning.com, as part of changes to the way the host, Ning, delivers its services. To upgrade the site to take advantage of… Read More ›
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Eddie Campbell joins Lakes International Comic Art Festival Line-Up
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has just announced that the award-winning comic creator Eddie Campbell has joined the event’s line-up of guests, as one of the “extra” names for the weekend-long event in October that will be revealed across the next few months…. Read More ›
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Godzilla movie merchandise roll-out is almost as big as the monster
Paving the way for Godzilla’s return to the big screen on 16th May, Legendary Comics official graphic novel, Godzilla: Awakening is on sale in all good book and comic shops across Britain next week (7th May). The cover reveals the King of the Monsters in… Read More ›
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Shaun the Sheep Movie Trailer debuts
Aardman, the creators of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run have released the first trailer for the upcoming Shaun the Sheep the Movie, due for release in Spring 2015. This first teaser trailer to mark the start of Shaun’s… Read More ›
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Harlem Hellfighters reveals the story of America’s World War One black regiment
British war comic Charley’s War was, sadly. once a rare thing in comics – a powerful and emotive, if fictional account of real warfare. When the strip was first published in Battle, it was one of the first… Read More ›
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Imagining Scotland, 2043… a comic vision unfolds in brave new project
The Edinburgh International Book Festival and Freight Books have announced the six teams of major names in European comics and graphic novels who have collaborated on a new graphic novel which will be launched in August 2014. As part… Read More ›
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Call for Papers: Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women
The deadline for abstracts for “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” (Communities of Experience) is fast approaching (15th May), to be considered for presentation at a One Day Symposium to be held on 12th November 2014 at JW3, The… Read More ›
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ROK Comics Launches PULSE, new Digital Comics Anthology, and New ‘Marketplace’ for digital comics
Digital comics publisher ROK Comics has launched its new ROK Comics Ultra marketplace app on Apple’s iTunes store. The new app brings all ROK Comics amazing audio comics titles under one roof, including Team M.O.B.I.L.E. and The Beatles Story. The app also features “Comics Communique”, a comics… Read More ›
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Lakes Festival’s Cartoon Mascot springs to life!
The Felt Mistress (aka Louise Evans) has just released a “first look” at a real-world “Poblin”, one of the mascots for this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival designed by Jonathan Edwards. (See News story) Expect to see Poblin and chums… Read More ›
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Graphic Brighton celebrates the town’s many comic links
Graphic Brighton, which takes place on Saturday 24th May, will celebrate the comic community in Brighton with talks, one to one surgeries, Q and A’s, interactive presentations and hands-on workshops. Guests include local creators Hannah Berry, Paul Collicutt, Lawrence Elwick, John Higgins,… Read More ›
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Telos Publishing regenerates with new site, and new titles on way
After 14 years of business British independent publishers Telos have regenerated their website, a move coinciding with several new title announcements. “It was time for a change,” explains Publishing Director David J Howe. Telos Publishing specialises in horror and media… Read More ›
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Jason Cobley’s Captain Bulldog is back in latest Paragon anthology
Captain Winston Bulldog – the creation of writer Jason Cobley – is back in comic strip action in the new issue of the ace adventure anthology Paragon – and you can pre-order your copy now! 30 years after Jason first launched the… Read More ›
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Comics Unmasked: Call for short reviews and reports
As we’ve reported earlier, Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK is an exhibition opening at the British Library on 2nd May 2014 and it will remain open until 19th August 2014. It’s the UK’s largest ever exhibition of mainstream and underground comics, showcasing… Read More ›