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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Quite Frankly, Frank Quitely
When top Scottish comics creator made an appearance at Scotland’s National Library in April 2008, Brian D Morgan was on hand to report what he had to say about his approach to drawing comics for downtheubes. Read his full report… Read More ›
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In Review: The Swap
By Antony MooreFormat: NovelPublished: Already Available in Hardback. Paperback Released by Vintage Books on 5 June 2008 The Plot: Another school reunion looms for Harvey Briscow, and once again he agonises over whether to attend; as the owner of a… Read More ›
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Torchwood – drawn by Paul Grist
Torchwood Magazine Issue 5 is on sale in the UK and Ireland today. If you’re in the US, you’ll have to wait just that little bit longer – the mag will be available from June 10. Check out the magazine’s… Read More ›
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Dundee Literary Festival – Comics Day
Scotland’s love affair with comics continues in June in Dundee, the home of publishers D C Thomson. In January writer Alan Grant gave one of the Edinburgh Lectures, while February was the successful Hi-Ex comics convention in Inverness and the… Read More ›
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Adipose Copyright Battle Escalates
(First posted 9/4/08, updated, 15/5/08): The Adipose began to take over Britain just days after the screening of the opening episode of the fourth season of Doctor Who, Partners in Crime. The episode saw the Doctor and Donna (Catherine Tate)… Read More ›
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Gene Colan gravely ill
American writer Clifford Meth has put out an urgent plea to help raise money for the family of one of America’s greatest comic artists Gene Colan, who is gravely ill. The funds are needed to cover medical expenses, as they… Read More ›
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Comic Expo Reports Round Up
David Hailwood will be reporting on the Bristol Comic Expo specifically for downthetubes in due course, but in the meantime, here’s some links to just some of the reports on other comic sites: • Comic Book Resources has an article… Read More ›
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Eagle Award Wnners Announced
The winners of the 2008 Eagle Awards have been announced, and with the results comes news that this year was a record-breaking one, with well over 12,000 voters participating. Continuing to expand their worldwide penetration, organisers say the 2008 awards… Read More ›
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Cameron’s Crash Course Launches
The BBC has just published an 88-page full-colour online interactive comic called Crash Course drawn by top British comics artist Neill Cameron. Neill told downthetubes he spent “a good chunk of last year working on the comic for the BBC”… Read More ›
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Spoof: Thunderbirds hit by spiralling fuel costs
Satirical British website NewsBiscuit has jumped on the Thunderbirds bandwagon that seems to be rolling rather rapidly right now, with an article claiming International Rescue, commonly known as Thunderbirds, has announced that they have been forced to limit their world-saving… Read More ›
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2008 Eagle Annual – Cutaways
(With thanks to Will Grenham): Last September, Orion published the rather confusingly titled Eagle Annual: The Best of the 1950s Comic, which reprinted pages from the first decade of the weekly Eagle comic. It was a nice nostalgic book, but… Read More ›
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Slaine Slayed?
Last year, we reported how anti road campaigners in Eire had borrowed Pat Mills 2000AD character Slaine to promote protest over the building of the M3, much to Pat’s delight at the time. Sadly, it seems not even barbarian warriors… Read More ›
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Brains Works Best When Hydrated!
(with thanks to Jeremy Briggs): Hot on the heels of the Specsavers Thunderbirds-inspired ad for their Reaction glasses comes a new commercial from mineral water company Drench using a dancing Brains to promote their product. Brains dances his way through… Read More ›
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Nebulous Returns
The SF comedy series Nebulous returns to BBC Radio 4 at 11 pm on Thursday 15 May for the first in a new series of six episodes. Set in 2099, the comedy series involves the Key Environmental Non-Judgemental Taskforce (KENT)… Read More ›
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BBC’s Comedy Map Of Britain – Newcastle
The BBC2 programme The Comedy Map of Britain turned its attention to the North East of England for the third programme of the second series. Having previously been to the impressive century old headquarters of D C Thomson in Dundee… Read More ›
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Red Cross Charity Comic Launched
Available now from lulu.com is a downloadable book, Flood, created to raise funds for the Red Cross. Initiated by Adam R. Grose, publisher of Clown Press, and with the help of John Freeman, a wide selection of writers and artists… Read More ›
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Comic Art Now Goes On Sale
On sale now in a good book shop near you — or, very possibly, on stalls at this weekend’s Comic Expo in Bristol — is the much anticipated Comic Art Now from industry veteran Dez Skinn, a 200-page “comic art… Read More ›
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Dan Dare Exhibition Reviews
Several newspapers and web sites have reported on the new Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi Tech Britain exhibition at the Science Museum in London. • The Guardian has posted a gallery of images from the strip and images… Read More ›
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New Moon Queen Adventure on ROK Comics
Everyone loves superhero the Moon Queen – but she’s blissfully unaware of it! Her best friend is the Bee – the only one who doesn’t seem to want something from her. MQ’s real name is Agnes Bale, she can fly… Read More ›
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ROK buys Jalipo Media
ROK Entertainment Group Inc., the global mobile entertainment group and owners of ROK Comics (which is run by downthetubes’ John Freeman), has announced that it has acquired 100 per cent of the issued and to be issued share capital of… Read More ›