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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Titan Books Announce Bond Omnibus
Titan Books has put together an omnibus collection of some of James Bond newspapers strips they originally released in shorter albums. On sale next month, The James Bond Omnibus Vol.1 collects the first time eleven of the Bond strips first… Read More ›
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London Alternative Press Festival Report
Comic creator Gareth Brookes reports on the Alternative Press Festival, which took place in London earlier this month… The Alternative Press Festival took place between the 29th of July and the 2nd of August. The idea was to try to… Read More ›
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FindComicApps Site Launched
(Crossposted from the downthetubes mobile comics blog): A new website, findcomicapps.com, offering a guide to the increasing number of digital comic applications for iPhone has been launched recently. It’s no secret that the App Store can be overwhelming and titles… Read More ›
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Comic Strip at The Fringe: Two Shows to Catch
With the Edinburgh Fringe on now, our readers may already be aware that the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, stars of BBC 3’s Comedy Shuffle and Upstaged, whose number includes comic creator Kev F. Sutherland, will be back at this… Read More ›
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In Review: Tripwire 2009 Annual… Simply Awesome!
Regular readers of downthetubes will recall that as a result of distributor Diamond’s recently-introduced minimum order levels, this latest edition of ace comics and genre magazine Tripwire is not being distributed in the US. (See news story). While not the… Read More ›
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Children’s Comics Fortnight for Resonance FM
Starting children’s comics fortnight on London-based radio station Resonance FM, Alex Fitch talks to writer Terry Deary and cartoonist Martin Brown for his Strip! radio show this week. It’s a chance to find out more about their hugely successful Horrible… Read More ›
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Sharp Advice on Breaking Into Comics
British comics artist Liam Sharp (publisher of MamTor, artist on Gears of War and, many moons ago, Death’s Head II) has just posted a revamped version of his excellent guide to breaking into comics over on DeviantArt. The post is… Read More ›
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Nexion Knuckles In
Nexion is a new anthology showcasing some of the fine underground comics talent of Glasgow and Edinburgh, full to the brim with Sci-Fi treats, Horror meats and myraid acts of unseemly behaviour! Featuring 68 pages of black and white madness,… Read More ›
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In Review: Tamara Drewe
The Plot: Tamara Drewe has transformed herself. Plastic surgery, a different wardrobe, a smouldering look, have given her confidence and a new and thrilling power to attract, which she uses recklessly. Often just for the fun of it. People are… Read More ›
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Sun Spikes Smith Story
Good news! Since downthetubes drew attention to British newspaper The Sun‘s out of date story about 2000AD artist Ron Smith’s trial, they have removed it from their web site. Ron’s fans over on the official 2000AD web site followed up… Read More ›
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Futurama Films Air as Episodics on Sky1 in UK
Futurama, the quick-witted animation from the mastermind behind The Simpsons, makes a much anticipated television return on Sunday 30th August at 6pm only on Sky1 in the UK, with the channel’s screening of the episodes originally released as direct-to-DVD films…. Read More ›
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New TOXIC On Sale Now, Complete With Bad Jokes!
The latest issue of Egmont’s TOXIC is in the shops now and comes with a free electronic handheld game that the publishers say is guaranteed to keep readers busy on boring car journeys or when they’re stuck round your nan’s!… Read More ›
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Blade Runner Tops "Greatest SciFi" Poll
Blade Runner has been named the greatest sci-fi movie of all time
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Campbell at ComICA 2009
Mark it in your calendar: Eddie Campbell is the first confirmed international guest for the Comica Festival ‘09. Over from Australia, Eddie will be in conversation with a special guest on Saturday 7th November, 7pm to 9.00pm in the Nash… Read More ›
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Tube Surfing: The Dark, Fat Man, Milk and Mirabilis
• Here’s the trailer for Chris Lynch’s new cyberpunk/superhero comic The Dark, which is being published by Markosia (see news story on the downthetubes mobile blog). Written by Chris and with art by Rick Lundeen, it will be released later… Read More ›
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Rainbow Orchid Unfurls at Foyles
Comic creator Garen Ewing was mixing with other British artists and writers at top London bookshop Foyles on Monday night to celebrate the launch of the first volume of his three-part adventure story, Rainbow Orchid. An original, award-winning 1920’s mystery… Read More ›
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Harker #6 Debuts, Collected Edition Delayed
Harker #6 from indie creators Roger Gibson and Vincent Danks has just been released and available from the comic’s online store now. The issue includes the news that the first collected edition of this intriguing fantasy detective series was supposed… Read More ›
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ScotchComp Launched: Win a Limited Edition Dragon Print
The Scottish Comics Creators blog Scotchblog, which features work by artists such as Jon Hodgson, Graeme Neil Reid, Gary Erskine and others, has a new competition for all followers of their humble site. Each month there will be a fantastic… Read More ›
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It’s Fantastic: Johnny Future Flies in from the Sixties
Never before reprinted, Bear Alley Books have just announced they are to reprint the complete adventures of Johnny Future, a stunning British superhero strip which first appeared in 1960s comic Fantastic. The stories, featuring art by Luis Bermejo, will be… Read More ›
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2000AD Covers Uncovered
Being a huge 2000AD fan and collector of its artwork, Pete Wells gets a thrill from seeing covers and artwork for the comic in their original state. Back in early July, he announced he’d decided to write a blog where… Read More ›