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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British Comic Awards: The Winners
(Updated 19/11/12): The winners of the first British Comic Awards were announced at Thought Bubble last night. If you were at the Awards Ceremony, I hope you were pleased by the results. This was the first year of the BCAs… Read More ›
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Nich Angell Becomes First of Few on Kickstarter UK
Following a recent publishing deal with Zeta Comics, 27-year-old artist and writer Nich Angell has become one of the first British comic creators to launch a Kickstarter campaign, to fund the second installment of his book 7String. Aimed at a… Read More ›
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Pick up a Puffin comic?
Penguin Children’s Puffin Books have delighted children for decades, but now the imprint is set to make a major foray across multiple media with a new animated show for young children. Will it include comics, we wonder? Penguin recently announced… Read More ›
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Comics: Refreshing Parts Other Literature Can’t Reach!
Hot on the heels of Thought Bubble in Leeds this weekend, there’s an amazing event on Monday (19th November), brought to you by the Comica Festival with Book Trust at Free Word Centre in London. At Comics: Refreshing Parts Other… Read More ›
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Time Bomb heads for the West with latest release marking five years in business
The next release from Time Bomb Comics will be officially launching at this weekend’s Leeds Thoughtbubble Convention – along with at least 45 other new comics from other publishers and the first British Comic Awards. Written by Alex De-Gruchy with… Read More ›
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In Review: Dante’s Inferno by Hunt Emerson
Out: Now Publisher: Knockabout The Book: Hunt Emerson, the dazzlingly talented cartoonist, tackles the biggest literary name of them all: Dante. Emerson’s Inferno delights on many levels: as an ingenious translation of classic verse; an effortlessly readable introduction to a… Read More ›
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Judge Dredd-Batman Collection out soon
If you’re a fan of those once occasional cross-company comic crossovers, then you’ll be happy to hear that the epic Batman vs. Judge Dredd stories are still among the most brutal crossovers in comics, 20 years since it was first… Read More ›
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Keith Watson Dan Dare art up for auction, first Joe 90 and more
Art from Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence, Dan Dare by Keith Watson and Nellyphant by Leo Baxendale are just some of the lots in the current ComPal Auction, which closes soon. Also up for grabs are first issues of titles… Read More ›
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Improper Books announces Night Post, readies for Thought Bubble
Art from Night Post – art by Laura Trinder There will be plenty to see and do at Thought Bubble this coming weekend, not least of which will probably be attending the first British Comic Awards ceremony to find out… Read More ›
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Radio shows on Andi Ewington, Robert Rankin, Olvier Jeffers and more
Clear Spot: Graphic albums and picture books In advance of next week’s South Kensington Kids Festival which celebrates picture books and graphic novels for children, Alex Fitch talks to four creators whose work contains elements of each medium. Andi Ewington discusses his… Read More ›
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10 Questions: Wizards Keep Publisher Tim Perkins
With Christmas coming around I thought it would be a good idea to check out Wizards Keep Publishing’s Worlds End on downthetubes and find out how the next book is coming along. Creator and publisher Tim Perkins’ book is simply… Read More ›
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Afterlife creator after crowdfunding new collection
Jon Lock, writer and creator of a great-looking comic called Afterlife Inc. is among the first British comic creators using the UK arm of crowdfunding site Kickstarter to try to raise the finance to publish a third collection of the… Read More ›
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Egmont expands its digital collections with Misty, Battle and Scream stories
Egmont UK’s Classic Comics imprint was created to re-publish the wealth of classic comics in their archive. Four volumes of Roy the Rovers kicked off their e-comic publishing in June this year – and now they have announced the launch… Read More ›
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Egmont adds Charley’s War to its digital comic collections
Egmont UK’s Classic Comics imprint was created to re-publish the wealth of classic comics in their archive. Four volumes of Roy the Rovers kicked off their e-comic publishing in June this year – and now they have announced the launch… Read More ›
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30 Years of Knight Rider to be celebrated at Memorabilia
Break out your Look Ins! The 30th Anniversary of cult SF detective show Knight Rider will be marked at Memorabilia at Birmingham’s NEC later this month, with a rare signing event by its original star, David Hasselhoff. Memorabilia Birmingham, Britain’s… Read More ›
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Team Girl Comic Issue 6 Available At Thought Bubble
The Glasgow based collective Team Girl Comic will be appearing at Thought Bubble on the weekend of 17/18 November 2012 where they will be releasing their new Issue 6 complete with a colour cover by MJ Wallace. Earlier this year… Read More ›
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Radio shows featuring Min-Woo Hyung, Andy Diggle, Gail Simone, Al Ewing and more
I’m ready for my close-up: Manhwa and Metamorphosis Two events taking place this weekend are ideal places for fans of fantasy and SF to visit – SCI-FI-LONDON: EAST and Manhwa: Korean Story & Painting – each in venues not known… Read More ›
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Is online reading bad for you? Leading book store The Works argues it might be
Battling the ever increasing push toward digital reading that threatens its bottom line UK discount book chain The Works – responding to perhaps controversial claims about the dangers of online reading – has launched an investigation into why reading books… Read More ›
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ROK releases first Beatles audio comic in new eight-issue series
ROK Mobile Comics has released the first issue of its new audio comic The Beatles Story for iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices. The eight-issue digital series collects, for the first time in its entirety, the classic and highly-acclaimed Beatles… Read More ›