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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New Space:1999 Eagle Kits on their way from MPC
Space:1999, which originally aired in 1975, featured the crew of Moon Base Alpha as they found themselves stranded on our moon as a nuclear disaster knocked it from Earth’s atmosphere. Gerry Anderson fans remember the outstanding special effects and production values of… Read More ›
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SelfMadeHero to publish Pixies frontman’s illustrated book, art by Steven Appleby
SelfMadeHero has just announced it has acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights to The Good Inn, a book penned by Black Francis from the alternative rock band Pixies and Josh Frank, with art by Steven Appleby. SelfMadeHero’s Managing Director Emma… Read More ›
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Panel Borders: Drawing and Painting Comics
Starting a month of shows about creators who use fine art in their work, guest presenter Richard Reynolds (FRSA) discusses art techniques used in strips and graphic novels with artists Al Davison, Hannah Eaton, James E Snelling and Vicky Stonebridge… Read More ›
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In Review: Marada the She-Wolf
by Chris Claremont and John Bolton Publisher: Titan Comics Out: Now The Book: From Chris Claremont, writer of The Uncanny X-Men, Excalibur, and Fantastic Four, and John Bolton, artist of Man-Bat, Shame: Conception and Books of Magic, comes a fantasy… Read More ›
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Adventure Time Signing at Forbidden Planet London announced
Actor Jeremy Shada will be at Forbidden Planet London for a special Adventure Time signing featuring the Adventure Time Encyclopaedia on Monday 30th December from 3 – 4pm. The voice of young adventurer Finn from Cartoon Network’s hugely popular, BAFTA-winning… Read More ›
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Cinebook’s November Titles: The Scorpion, Valerian and more
Mystery and adventure have been the bywords for Cinebook releases this month, with four titles on sale now, including the long-awaited conclusion to the epic tale of Long John Silver. Here’s a run down of the releases. The Scorpion Volume… Read More ›
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Dennis the Menace joins T-Shirt Booth “Digital Giving” project
Regular downthetubes readers will recall how we reported that Digital Giving, an organisation which develops engaging and innovative projects for the benefit of national and international causes, launched a unique way of raising funds through a free mobile and web… Read More ›
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Avengers UK Assemble! (Sort of…)
Avengers UK Assemble! Well, a fan version of the Avengers UK, anyway. The Avengers UK fan project is a not for profit, web-only comic from Darren Wilson, with a snappy script and enthusiastic artwork, now in its second volume and… Read More ›
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Poppy Cat Magazine to launch next year from Kennedy Enterprises
Coolabi, the creators of the Poppy Cat show (and the new Clangers series) has announced a deal with Bristol-based magazine publisher Kennedy Enterprises for a new stand-alone Poppy Cat magazine, which will launch next year. Poppy Cat, starring the voice… Read More ›
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Mister Maker, Tickety Toc magazines in the works
Immediate Media, publishers of Doctor Who Adventures and other BBC-related titles, has snagged the rights to publish magazines based on the pre-school TV series Mister Maker – while Signature Publishing has acquired rights to the Nick Jr and Channel 5-screened… Read More ›
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London’s Cartoon Museum ‘Big Give’ Funding Appeal – details released
Via Bloghorn: London’s Cartoon Museum is taking part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge next week, which means that for a limited period donations to support the museum’s valuable work will be matched by other funders, making all contributions go… Read More ›
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100% Biodegradable, new indie anthology comic launched
After over 15 years beavering away in the indie comics industry, comic creator Dave Hailwood decided it was probably about time that he put out his own comic anthology. With the aid of John Kirkham, Paul Harrison-Davies, Stuart Giddings, Simon… Read More ›
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Doctor Who Adventures goes interactive with celebration edition
Doctor Who Adventures, the biggest-selling UK pre-teen magazine for boys, has linked up with a new companion – the mobile-augmented reality and image recognition platform Blippar – to produce an edition that comes to life. Helping celebrate the 50th anniversary… Read More ›
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Egmont’s ‘All About Sonic the Hedgehog’ launches today
(Updated with comic credits): Egmont UK’s new All About Sonic the Hedgehog magazine lands in newsagents and other outlets today. The magazine, aimed at children aged between six and ten, is available for £3.99 and contains facts, games, puzzles, things… Read More ›
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London Christmas Zines Social announced
South West London and Surrey Zines, in association with London’s Housmans Bookshop, have announced a free event Christmas Zine Social on Saturday 7th December, where zine sellers can sell their wares in the run up to Christmas. Zine readers and… Read More ›
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British Comic Award Winners 2013 announced, Leo Baxendale honoured
The winners of this year’s British Comic Awards were announced at Thought Bubble at the weekend. We’re told the voting was very, very close this year as the Judges tangled with the decision to pick a winner amongst such superb… Read More ›
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Titan Comics A1 Annual on sale today in all good comic shops
Here are full details of the A1 Annual, on sale in all good comic shops from Titan Comics today (26th November)… Writer(s): Ron Marz, Matt Wagner, Dave Johnson, Tom Raney, Rufus Dayglo, Andy Kuhn, Dave Dorman, Mark A. Nelson, W.H…. Read More ›
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Daleks versus Dennis the Menace: Daleks triumphant
The Daleks proved the winners in the Professional Publisher Association‘s long-running Cover the the Century Poll (see news story), revealed at a Gala Dinner to mark its centenary at the Park Lane Hotel on 21st November, which was attended by… Read More ›
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Radio interviews with 2000AD alumni including Milligan and McCarthy(s)
On today’s Panel Borders radio show, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of 2000AD fanzine contributors and a quartet of acclaimed 1980s 2000AD alumni about their work. Dogbreath and Zarjaz contributors – Lee Robson and Bryan Coyle – discuss their… Read More ›
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Production, institution and sedition… the comic industry goes under the academic spotlight
After successful conferences in Bournemouth, Glasgow and Dundee, the 2014 Fifth International Graphic Novel and Comics Studies conference, to be held 23rd – 25th June next year in Manchester, has announced its theme – production, institution and sedition – and… Read More ›