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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Radio interviews with Russell Willis and Charles Kriel about webcomic apps
Panel Borders: Digitising comics Concluding a month of shows looking at web comics, Alex Fitch talks to two experts in web based technologies about their dissemination methods aimed at bringing comics to tablets and other devices. Russell Willis discusses his… Read More ›
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In Review: Laptop Guy Issue 2
Created by artist Sha Nasir, Laptop Guy is one of the comics titles published by Glasgow’s Black Hearted Press. The first issue was something of an oddity – a US-size, anthology humour comic that played with the somewhat nonsensical idea… Read More ›
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Doctor Who Adventures revamped as series returns to BBC
Coinciding with new episodes of Doctor Who hitting TV screens on Easter Saturday, Immediate Media Co is re-launching Doctor Who Adventures magazine and its website with a new logo, fresh design and brand-new features today, Thursday 28th March 2013. With… Read More ›
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D(undee)-Day For Commando
Commando raiding party at the Dundee exhibition in 2011. From left to right: Scott Montgomery (deputy editor), Calum Laird (editor), George Low (former editor), Ian Kennedy (artist) and Gordon Livingstone (artist). This Saturday, for the first time that we can… Read More ›
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London Film and Comic Con back in July
The London Film and Comic Con returns to Earl’s Court 2 this summer (Friday 5th – Sunday 7th July 2013). Along with a host film and TV guests such as Avery Brooks, Nicole deBoer, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and more,… Read More ›
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Charlie Adlard, Viz creators and more join Lakes Festival line up
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has revealed more of the writers and artists who will be taking part in the event later this year. The festival, which will run from 18-20th October 2013 in Kendal in Cumbria, has a… Read More ›
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UniVerse Titles Available From UK On Display
UniVerse is the imprint set up by the University Of Dundee to publish the work of the students on both the university’s MLitt in Comics Studies and the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) Animation, Graphic Design… Read More ›
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Thrill Power, 1957 Style, in the new Eagle Times (Volume 26 Number One)
The new issue of Eagle Times, Volume 26 Number One – the magazine published by the Eagle Society – features an interview article by downthetubes writer Jeremy Briggs entitled “A Thrill Of A Lifetime In 1957“. “The Thrill Of A… Read More ›
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DOJ-Con, Scotland’s largest free anime convention, unveils 2013 plans
Dundee will once again proudly nail its geeky colours to the mast when Scotland’s largest free anime, comics and video games convention returns to Dundee University Students Union this year. DOJ-CON will take place on Saturday 13th April when film… Read More ›
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Amazing & Fantastic Tales #1 out this week
Pulp gets a modern twist with comic strips and text stories combined in Amazing & Fantastic Tales #1, due to be released later this week by Planet Jimbot, the indie publisher set up by Jim Alexander and Jim Campbell. The… Read More ›
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Modesty Blaise Comic Challenge: The Winner
Davey Candlish, publisher of ace indie anthology Paragon, is the winner of our latest Comic Challenge to draw Modesty Blaise. Here’s his winning entry, which earns him a copy of Titan Books newest Modesty Blaise collection, Girl in the Iron… Read More ›
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Veteran comic artist Ron Smith focus of new podcasts
(With thanks to Graeme Neil Reid): Over on the Everything Comes Back to 2000AD site the team have produced two podcast interviews with artist Ron Smith which are pure gold. Ron talks about his whole career: obviously the podcasts centre… Read More ›
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Team Girl Comic Issue 7 Now Available
Scotland’s favourite all-female comix collective, Team Girl Comic, have just released their seventh issue. TGC 7 is a 28 page, A5 size, anthology featuring an eclectic mix of short comic strips by female writers and artists from a wide variety… Read More ›
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WebFind: New official Gerry Anderson web site preps for Go
A new official website is in the works for the late, great Gerry Anderson, with a launch page in place inviting interested fans to sign up. The Gerry Anderson Legacy site is simply described as “GerryAnderson.co.uk is the new home… Read More ›
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Anthology Three to be released at Dundee Comics Expo
An anthology of work from aspiring comic and graphic artists from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) will be launched on Saturday the 30th of March at the Dundee Comics Expo, wrapped in an all-new cover by… Read More ›
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Self Publisher Magazine interviews Spandex creator Martin Eden
The latest free issue of Self Publisher! Magazine is out now – a US based title devoted to the creation of independent comics but one that regularly features British creators talking about their craft . “Issue 63 has a lot… Read More ›
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Radio interviews with postmodern webcomic creators, including Paul O’Connell
Panel Borders: Collage and reappropriation Continuing a month of shows looking at webcomics, Panel Borders examines the work of a quartet of creators whose online strips and cartoons reinvent retro images and iconic characters from film and TV to beguiling… Read More ›
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‘Marshal Law: The Deluxe Edition’ Signing at Gosh announced
Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill will be signing copies of Marshal Law: The Deluxe Edition at London’s Gosh! Comics in London on Saturday 20th April, 2-4pm. This whopping 480-page collection been a long time coming. Since it began in 1987… Read More ›
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downthetubes Forum Maintenance Next Week
We need to perform some simple but necessary maintenance on the downthetubes British Ciomics forum, which is powered by Ning, on Thursday 28th March 2013 between around 0500-0800 GMT. During this time, all Ning Networks will be offline and will… Read More ›