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.
-
Latest Issue Of Eagle Times Now Available (Volume 24, Number Three)
Leslie Ashwell Wood was Eagle’s premier cutaway artist providing over 600 different painted cutaways for the weekly comic between 1950 and 1969. While some of these paintings have been reused in the recent Eagle reprint books published by Orion to… Read More ›
-
Historic Event told in Comic Strip Form
A gigantic comic strip depiction of the Battle of Wakefield drawn and written by artist John Welding, previously shown at Wakefield Museum as part of their ‘Battle of Wakefield 1460’ Exhibition, can be seen at the University of Leeds until… Read More ›
-
Steve Moore’s Somnium novel out in November
Comic creator Steve Moore — creator of such wonderful characters as Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer and Axel Pressbutton — has an intriguing new novel on the way from Somnium Press, with Strange Attractor Press. A prominent inclusion in Iain Sinclair’s 2006… Read More ›
-
Striker site down – but no early bath for the strip, says creator
Football comics seem to be getting it in the neck this month – after the demise of the print edition of Comic Football (due to return online later this year), fans have alerted us to say that the official… Read More ›
-
WebFinds: Girls Comics of Yesterday and Bunty’s British “Supergirl”
Researching a question from a downthetubes reader about a fondly-remembered British ‘Supergirl‘, I came across Girls Comics of Yesterday, a relatively new fan site dedicated to British girl comics of the past, looking at three of the most long lasting… Read More ›
-
Larry Hama Rolls Out for Action Force Roll Call
All The Cool Stuff has just announced the third Roll Out/ Roll Call, the UK Fan Show Convention dedicated to Transformers, Action Force and GI Joe – and that one of its star guests will be top US writer Larry… Read More ›
-
Multiverse muses on DC makeover, Com.X and Valiant reboot
The latest issue of British comic news magazine Multiverse is on sale now in all good UK comic shops – and back issues are now also available digitally from graphic.ly. Edited by Mike Conroy, Issue 4 sports a DC Comics… Read More ›
-
Comic Football bounces back, looking for creators
We’ve got some good news about Comic Football, the national subscription-only comic that recently informed subscribers it had been cancelled. It seems that this is only part of the story – the comic will return later this year, but in… Read More ›
-
Starblazer Covered
Regular downthetubes readers will recall we published some features about DC Thomson’s much-missed SF digest comic Starblazer on downthetubes some time ago, including a checklist of the title. The section orginally kicked off with a feature by Jeremy Briggs called… Read More ›
-
Hoodie Horror from Smith and Bagwell!
The Ravenglade Estate is ‘broken Britain’ as its worse. Plagued by ASBO-wielding gangs, boarded-up shops stinking with human despair, scattered with piles of rubbish from a month-long binmen strike – this is the Daily Mail’s worst nightmare. But there are… Read More ›
-
Guest Post: Al Ewing Tells you why we should be reading 2000AD
Last month, comics writer Al Ewing (who’s writing a series of increasingly regular reviews and musings for the Travelling Man website) gave the thumbs up to 2000AD, urging readers past and present to give it a try. With Al’s permission,… Read More ›
-
Comic Football sent off
(Updated 13:24 4/10/11) We’re sorry to report the demise of Comic Football, the subscription-only title – after just three issues. Subscribers have just received a letter advising of the title’s “temporary suspension” and the return of any subscription money owed… Read More ›
-
In the Spotlight: Ron Embleton
One of our most popular and talented artists, Ron Embleton – whose work is getting major promotion this month over at the Book Palace web site’s Illustration Art Gallery – began drawing as a young boy, at 12 winning a… Read More ›
-
Comic workshops part of this year’s Bloomsbury Festival
Comic creators Steve Marchant and Sally Kindberg will be on hand to keep kids happy during this year’s Bloomsbury Festival in London. Five years after the first ever Bloomsbury Festival (Friday 21st – Sunday 23rd October, 2011), this annual celebration… Read More ›
-
London Super Comic Con ramps up impressive guest list
The London Super Comic Convention, announced for February next year (25-26th), is ramping up an impressive guest list, with the likes of US creators George Perez, Howard Chaykin, Bernie Wrightson, Mike Carey, Tony Moore, Bob Layton and more all confirmed… Read More ›
-
Panel Borders moves nights, interviews David B, Kid Koala
Concluding the Panel Borders radio show’s month of war comics coverage and four years of broadcasts on Thursday evenings, Alex Fitch talks to French graphic novelist David B about his new book Black Paths, published by SelfMadeHero, which depicts a… Read More ›
-
Comics @ Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival
The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival have been in touch to let us know about three comics related events taking place in Edinburgh and Glasgow in October 2011 as part of their festival. A Day in the Life:… Read More ›
-
Edinburgh-based online comic store launched
A group of comic fans has launched a new online comic shop which plans to include a specific section for British comics. The Comic Book Store (www.thecomicbookstore.co.uk) say they stock everything from 2000AD to The Walking Dead “and everything in-between”…. Read More ›
-
Dundee Comics Day And Commando Art Exhibition
The fifth annual Dundee Comics Day will be taking place in the Tower Building of Dundee University on Sunday 30 October 2011 as part of the Dundee Literary Festival. This will include the Commando Battlelines exhibition of artwork from DC… Read More ›
-
Signup Books Century 21: Menace from Space line-up revealed
Some great strips lined up for the next Century 21 collection