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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Sun, Sangria and San Diego…
• It’s the San Diego Comic Con this weekend and many British comic creators, including Grant Morrison, have headed to the sunshine state for the monstrous event, surrounded by thousands of sweating people and lovely ladies in very few clothes… Read More ›
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Tube Surfing: 25 July 2008
• Steve Winders has reviewed Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future Voyage to Venus Part 1 , Orion’s new audio version of the first half of Dan Dare’s first ever adventure from Eagle for Bear Alley, noting it sticks rigidly… Read More ›
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In Review: The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics
Editor: Paul GravettPublisher: Constance and Robinson Considering crime comics as featured in this collection span some 80 years of the medium’s history, I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must have been for Paul Gravett, editor of The Mammoth… Read More ›
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Weird Web Finds
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Turn your iphone into a light saber
Warning: video above includes swearing… If there was ever a reason to buy an iphone, surely the PhoneSaber app is it, now available free from the Apple “App Store”. This fun little app fires up a virtual lightsaber that uses… Read More ›
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Tube Surfing: 23 July 2008
Two DVD releases coming soon from the worlds of Gerry Anderson are worth a mention. The last of the major Anderson productions to reach UK DVD, the 1969 live action feature film Doppelganger, will be released under its American title… Read More ›
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More Halloween Comics on the way
Following the success of Halloween: Nightdance, the four issue mini-series based on the popular film franchise, more Halloween-inspired comics are on their way, after issues one and two of the mini series proved so popular publishers Devil’s Due have had… Read More ›
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Les Starblazeurs
It has been eleven months since both downthetubes and Bear Alley mentioned the Starblazer Adventures role-playing game due out from Cubicle Seven. The Starblazer Adventures core rulebook is now scheduled to be in games stores in “Autumn/Winter 2008” according to… Read More ›
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Comic Book Adventures in Time and Space!
A group of Manchester comic and Doctor Who fans have organised a special event on 18 October at the Lass O’Gowrie, Manchester featuring several top creator names including Paul Cornell (left) and Steve Dillon. Vworp Vworp! Comic Book Adventures in… Read More ›
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The Graphic Art of Comment
With the flurry of outrage over New Yorker‘s recent Barrack Obama cover, a new exhibition of cartoons commenting on politics and more published by Britain’s Guardian newspaper may well gain more attention than usual.The Graphic Art of Comment runs from… Read More ›
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Beano Mischief on Radio 4!
Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park and Beano editor Alan Digby were interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, part of the ongoing celebrations for the weekly comic as it fast approaches its 70th birthday. Park, who is… Read More ›
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Crikey’s DC Thomson Special
The next issue of British comics history magazine Crikey! (Number 6) on sale soon, with the editors promising that the “Summer Special” (remember those?) is a DC Thomson focused issue, apt given the upcoming 70th birthday celebrations for that company’s… Read More ›
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Tube Surfing: 20 July 2008
• Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett has been interviewed by The Guardian. “His is the pen behind Eighties comic-strip heroine Tank Girl, virtual band Gorillaz and the opera Monkey,” the article opens, “and soon you’ll be seeing his animated title… Read More ›
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How to Draw a Cartoon Cat
Esbjorn Jorsater, who runs the Comic Art School forum on Ning, has come up with a novel use for ROK Comics — as a way to deliver tutorials! Esbjorn has created this simple guide to creating a cartoon cat, which… Read More ›
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New British ebook service launches
Just launched in the past few weeks is Myebook.com (www.myebook.com), a new web-based ebook community from a British company, which aims to give people the tools to create book content and ‘get it out there’ for free. Every aspect of… Read More ›
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Classical Comics Video Interview
Comics artist Jon Haward and writer John McDonald, part of the creative team on Classicial Comics Macbeth, have been interviewed for the BookZone TV, an online video channel from the Borders bookshop. View the video here Classical Comics recently announced… Read More ›
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Comic Book Movies
Brian Bolland has provided the artwork for the “Comic Book Movies – Graphic novels on the big screen” festival at the BFI on London’s Southbank. Showing a non-identified spandex-wearing hero (is it Directorman? FirstGripman? Gafferman?) the season of movies is… Read More ›
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Celebrate 70 years of Comic Mayhem!
Ken Harrison has provided this great illustration for the forthcoming Beano and Dandy exhibition at the Cartoon Muesum in London. While some of the characters featured will be familar to today’s readers of The Beano and Dandy Ken has also… Read More ›
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Tube Surfing: 19 July 2008
Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter interviews British comic creator Daniel Merlin Goodbrey here. ‘What little I know about the writer and cartoonist Daniel Merlin Goodbrey intrigues in a way that it’s surprising I didn’t interview him a long time… Read More ›
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Cancertown Graphic Novel Planned
Cancertown (out at the end of the year from Insomnia Publications) is a new original graphic novel from British comic writer Cy (Starship Troopers) Dethan with art by Stephen Downey, colours by Melanie Cook and letters by Nic Wilkinson. It’s… Read More ›