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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Councils Of The Galaxy Visit Scottish Schools
After last year’s comic adaptation of The First Men On Mercury, created by Metaphrog for the Association for Scottish Literary Studies, was given away free on National Poetry Day to Strathclyde’s school children, this year the charity Children in Scotland… Read More ›
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Zine Symposium this Saturday in London
The London Zine Symposium takes place this weekend at the Rag Factory in East London. An annual event where people interested in zines, small-press, comics and/ or radical culture can get together, buy or sell zines and share ideas with… Read More ›
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Britforce finally arrives in stores from Moonface Press
(Corrected credits, 27/5/10): Britannia! Bulldog! Lionheart! Stonehenge! Moonwitch! Helspawn! In the 1990s they were BritForce – the UK’s very own team of super-powered heroes. But driven appart by catastrophe, BritForce disbanded and haven’t seen each other in over a decade…… Read More ›
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Wallace & Gromit find a place in The Sun!
A new newspaper strip featuring Aardman Animations’ Wallace & Gromit, launched last week, is getting good feedback from the characters legion of fans. Replacing the long-running ‘strip-com’ George and Lynne, the new comic is being produced by Titan Comics and… Read More ›
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Tony Lee taks Zombies — and Jane Austen!
British comics creator Tony Lee is a busy man: popping up at the Bristol Comic Expo last weekend, writing a number of projects, with more in the pipeline. This week, he found time to talk to Mike Braff at the… Read More ›
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Pat Mills delight at Eagle Award Nomination for Charley’s War
2000AD co-creator Pat Mills has expressed his delight at learning that the latest collection of Charley War, written by Pat and drawn by Joe Colquhoun, has been nominated for an Eagle Award. Nominated in the category for Favourite Reprint Compilation,… Read More ›
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In Review: Classics from the Comics Issue 170
The latest issue of DC Thomson’s Classics from the Comics sports a new look, complete with revamped cover masthead reflecting it’s ‘retro’ appeal, but the line up of humour and adventure strips inside is the usual engaging mix of material… Read More ›
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Japanese publisher seeks colourists
Tokyo-based publisher EigoTown is looking to have around 600 black and white and greyscale illustrations coloured for use on the iPhone and iPad and has put out an appeal for samples to British creators. “We’re creating Apps based on Oxford… Read More ›
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Voting opens for Eagle Awards
Voting for this year’s Eagle Awards is now open on the official site. Introduced in 1976, the Eagles are the comics industry’s longest established awards. Acknowledged as the pre-eminent international prizes, they have been featured on the covers of leading… Read More ›
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Striker comic to go free-to-view online in July
The entire 25-year archive of the football strip Striker, first published in The Sun and now featuring in mens magazine Nuts, is to be available online as free to view comics on the Striker website when it relaunches in early… Read More ›
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Folk to watch out for at the Bristol Comic Expo
(with thanks to Bryan Talbot, who can’t be there due to deadlines – but Watch the Grandville trailer!): Here’s a list of just some of the comics creators at the Bristol Comic Expo this weekend to look out for if… Read More ›
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Clint: The Origin of Mark Millar’s new comic title
For those not already wondering, veteran publisher and editor Dez Skinn has just explained the origins of Mark Millar’s new comic title, CLINT, which Titan Magazines launch later this year. If you’re easily offended by bad language, don’t read on…. Read More ›
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Doctor Who Live: Tour Details
Tickets for the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who Live – The Monsters Are Coming! are now on sale. The show will be a spectacular audio-visual experience – think their successful stage show version of Walking with Dinosaurs but with Doctor Who… Read More ›
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Comics International publisher company dissolved
Cosmic Publications, previously publishers of Comics International (and, for a while, Dangerous Ink magazine), has been dissolved. News broke after fans of Comics International spotted the dissolution of the company on the Companies House web site spelling an end, perhaps,… Read More ›
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Time Bomb Comics explodes with new titles
Hot on the heels of a move from Leicester to Birmingham, Time Bomb Comics has announced a number of forthcoming one-shots and graphic novels currently in development, including work by DC Thomson stalwart Keith Page. The Last Ride of Henry… Read More ›
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Strip! Goes Manga, Mills talks French (comics, that is)
Continuing ‘cross cultural comics month’ on the show, the Strip! radio show this week is looking at the winners of last year’s Manga Jiman (Pride in Manga) competiton run by the Japanese Embassy in London to find the best new… Read More ›
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First Beano Book, Marvelman Cover Art up for auction
Over 200 items of British comics and art form the Summer 2010 auction at UK auction house Compalcomics, including a rare Beano book discovered in a charity shop and cover art for an early issue of Marvelman by creator Mick… Read More ›
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VE Day Anniversary marked in new Commandos
The first two stories of the latest Commandos from DC Thomson, on sale this week, continue the VE-Day series first issued for the 50th anniversary 15 years ago. Denis McLoughlin handles the tank story with Commando regular, Ibanez, take care… Read More ›
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Smuggling Vacation sequel Day of the Deal finally goes on sale
There will be plenty to look out for and buy at this weekend’s Comic Expo in Bristol this weekend (if you’re one of the lucky ones who have a ticket for this now sold out event) – but one title… Read More ›
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Get Wasted! Issue 4 hits the stands
Issue 4 of adult humour magazine Wasted is on sale now, featuring a sexy cover by the ever-brilliant Dave Taylor. This issue features more War On Drugs, Alan Kerr’s absolutely superb Lusi Sulfura (“She was sent to Earth to drag… Read More ›