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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Planet of the Apes Zine Free Online
A new issue of the popular UK Planet of the Apes fanzine, Simian Scrolls, along with some of the previous issues, is available to download free online. Edited by John Roche, the summer 2012 issue (issue 17) is available here… Read More ›
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Panel Borders: Resident Aliens / Caption podcast with Brown and Duffield
Panel Borders: Resident Aliens In this week’s episode of Panel Borders on Resonance 104.4 FM (London), the last of our series of shows about comic book creators who collaborate together, Alex Fitch talks to Steve Parkhouse and Peter Hogan about… Read More ›
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Alphablocks, new Phonics pre-school title launched
Immediate Media, the company now publishing many former BBC Magazines along with new titles such as Rastamouse, has just launched another pre-school title. Alphablocks magazine aims to help the growing number of parents who want to support their child’s reading… Read More ›
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Titan launches augmented Awesome Animals app for new magazine
Titan Magazines has partnered with Aurasma – the world’s leading augmented reality platform – to launch the first kids augmented reality app for its new magazine, How To Draw #1… Awesome Animals. How To Draw… Awesome Animalsmagazine explains to kids… Read More ›
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Digitally Infinity! Panel Nine releases iPad-based comics magazine
Digital graphic novel publisher Panel Nine has launched a free preview issue of INFINITY — a new magazine devoted to digital graphic novels and comics. The magazine contains a roundup of digital comics news, features and reviews delivered via Apple’s… Read More ›
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Photographer Rich Hendry’s ‘Legends’ exhibition superhero inspired
The latest London exhibition by top photographer Rich Hendry takes its inspiration from superheroes and Greek gods. Titled ‘Legends’ the exhibtion opens at The Great Eastern Bear gallery next month, the photographs included the result of an intense three week… Read More ›
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Craig Collins’ Forever Foes assembles wicked Scottish talent
Everyone seems to be getting in on the children’s book market these days… Madonna, Katie Price, Idi Amin and many more. And, just as they stretched their respective talents beyond pop music, brutal repression and other accomplishments Glasgow-based comic creator… Read More ›
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Street press comic ‘Off Life’ preps for launch
OFF LIFE, described by its creators as the UK’s only street press comic magazine, is to launch this autumn. Editor Daniel Humphry says the magazine will feature the best new, undiscovered and underground comics artists taking aim on modern life… Read More ›
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Tom Humberstone savages warped Olympics ideals in new cartoon
Art © Tom Humberstone. Read the strip (Updated 30/7/12, quote added from Tom): Over on Cartoon Movement, a publishing platform for high quality political cartoons and comics journalism, Solipsistic Pop editor and ace artist Tom Humberstone‘s commentary on the London… Read More ›
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Dennis to Menace the Edinburgh Tattoo
© DC Thomson The 220,000 people who are expected to attend this year’s Edinburgh Tattoo (3rd-25th August) on the Castle Esplanade will witness one of the most unusual performance pieces in the event’s 60 year history. Sporting his famous red… Read More ›
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Artist Monty Nero offers online digital art class
Monty Nero’s cover for CLiNTVolume 2 Issue 3 Ace artist Jim Montynero, whose credits include Death Sentence for CLiNT Magazine, is teaching two weeks of live online digital painting classes from 6th August 2012. These courses, organised by the Computer… Read More ›
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Monty Nero offers online digital painting class
Monty Nero’s cover for CLiNTVolume 2 Issue 3 Ace artist Monty Nero, whose credits include Death Sentence for CLiNT Magazine, is teaching two weeks of live online digital painting classes from 6th August 2012. These courses, organised by the Computer… Read More ›
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Marshall Law Deluxe edition set for March 2013 release
The Marshal Law: Deluxe Edition, collecting all the character’s solo stories, has been confirmed for release next March from US publisher DC Comics. Marshal Law was one of the first major creator-owned characters for a major American publisher, first published… Read More ›
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Telos releases ‘Ape-Man’ an unofficial Tarzan guide
In October 1912, readers of The All-Story magazine were enthralled by Edgar Rice Burroughs’ tale of John Clayton, an orphaned English lord given a simian upbringing in the African jungle who went on to reclaim his birth-right in civilisation while… Read More ›
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Cinebook Titles On DVD
It has been a while since we reviewed any Cinebook titles here on downthetubes so this week we will be putting that right with a selection of reviews of various Cinebook releases from the last few months. Before that, and… Read More ›
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Megacon Comes To Carlisle In August
With just less than one month to go, the Carlisle Megacon comics, manga/anime and gaming event has finalised its guests, small press and dealers line-up. Organised by the Carlisle branch of Waterstones, this is an expansion of the shop based… Read More ›
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Diamond launch digital comics service, linked to comic shops
Diamond Comic Distributors and iVerse Media have partnered to create Diamond Digital, a unique initiative that lets your local comic book shop retailer sell digital comics and graphic novels for Apple and Android devices directly to you. Diamond and iVerse… Read More ›
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Dead Universe’s Late Launch today
Today sees the official launch of Dead Universe Comics in Aylesbury. Regular readers may recall we mentioned the opening of the shop last year. You may have already seen Aylesbury Dead, Little Terrors and Apes ‘n’ Capes, plus the Japan… Read More ›
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Panel Borders: Multimedia comics by Edgar Wright and others
Tommy Lee Edwards + Edgar Wright Panel Borders: Multimedia Comics In the third of our series on comic book collaborators, Alex Fitch talks to two pairs of creators who have created cross platform comics that exist as both as sequential… Read More ›