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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WebFinds: Andrew Orton’s Doctor Who wizardry
Comics writer David Bishop’s unearthed some groovy Doctor Who art: check out Vicious Imagery: Andrew Orton is a fecking genius – or visit Andrew’s web site here
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In Review: Kickback by David Lloyd
Kickback By David Lloyd Publisher: Dark Horse ISBN: 1 59307 659 2 Joe Canelli is a corrupt cop in a corrupt force in Franklin City, a mythical American metropolis dominated by powerful drug lords. He tries to ignore recurring dreams… Read More ›
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Is there such a thing as a free comic?
I’ve just been sent an email by wowio, an ad-based service offering downloadable e-books – including comics from UK publisher Markosia and others. It all sounds fine and dandy but the stumbling block came when I tried it out, only… Read More ›
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Stupid Cycle Lanes
Just been sent this great site (www.warringtoncyclecampaign.co.uk/facility-of-the-month) with a plethora of examples of silly cycle lanes. The one above is in York (pic credited to one Ian Bromsgrove). You can click on the left arrow at the top of the… Read More ›
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New SF: Infoquake by David Louis Edelman
My friend Lou Anders, who works over at science fiction & fantasy publisher Pyr (www.pyrsf.com), just sent me some info on a book that just came out which is very different from the usual SF novel, one he hopes will… Read More ›
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Mike Conroy on the BBC
Well, sort of… longtime Comics International contributor Mike Conroy has just done his first job for the BBC, providing research for Waiting for Superman. Broadcast on Radio One on Monday night, it includes input from Dan Jurgens, Denny O’Neil and… Read More ›
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Special Delivery Frog
Our champion hunter cat delivered this frog this morning: I’m sure she’s trying to persuade us not to keep messing up our house (we’re having our roof done) — and thinks gifts like this will persuade us… Still, at least… Read More ›
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Cat Presents take a new twist
One of the perils of working from home is that I never know what our hunter-killer cat will bring in as a ‘present’ (usually in the hope that she will be rewarded with biscuits, I suspect). Usually, thankfully, she has… Read More ›
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Down the Tubes Blog Launches
Okay… I think I’ve got the hang of this. Still having some problems adding pictures but I’ll sort that eventually. Welcome to my new blog, part of the wider downthetubes site. If I’m away from my computer, this is where… Read More ›
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They think it’s all over — well, yes it is now
World Cup 1 Avoiding It 0 So England lost the quarter final, came crashing out of the World Cup and the press inevitably cast around for someone to blame for the fact that despite valiant efforts by a 10-man team,… Read More ›
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Bonnie Scotland
… as in five days of being in Scotland, where the only sight of the World Cup was a brilliant cover for the Scottish Daily Mirror urging Trinidad and Tobago on. Ooh, and I will admit to checking the score… Read More ›
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Hollywood comes to Hornby
Well, not exactly: World’s End Television are to shoot a short film in Hornby next week. The cast list for the film, Last Night, is under wraps: apparently revealing who’s in it might warrant “unwanted attention”, so I can’t tell you… Read More ›
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Avoiding the World Cup – Day Six
Hmm. I find the wording of this press release from my local council highly suspicious… The England flag will be flying from the roof of Lancaster and Morecambe Town Halls on Thursday in support of our boys playing in the… Read More ›
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Meow Mix: Cat Big Brother
(Old post reinstated, ignore if RSS checking) Maybe they’ll use famous cats like Data’s Spot, from Star Trek, eliminating the opposition with a well-pawed phaser… ANIMAL PLANET TO LAUNCH CAT BIG BROTHER SHOW A US cable network is hoping to… Read More ›
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Official: Cats are harder than bears
Caught this pic in one of the tabloids while on a bacon bun run, of Jack, a 15-pound orange-and-white cat, who’s sitting under a treed black bear in a backyard in West Milford, New Jersey, Sunday, June 4, 2006. Jack,… Read More ›
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Avoiding the World Cup Day Four
World Cup 1, Avoiding It, 1 It should have been easy to avoid the World Cup yesterday; but I actually found myself filling in the scores on the free Broadcast-provided wallchart. It was just like being an 11-year-old kid all… Read More ›
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World Cup 1, Avoiding It, 1
I felt really sorry for the teenager on the checkout at Sainsbury’s by the time we’d trekked its near deserted isles yesterday afternoon. He was missing the first England game. He’d missed the first goal. And when my wife asked… Read More ›
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Avoiding the World Cup: Day Two
World Cup, 1, Avoiding it, nil. Wouldn’t you believe it, now it’s in my mailbox. I’ve just been sent a link to The Baarmy World Cup Sheep song, their version of “Land of Hope and Glory”. It’s bloody awful, frankly,… Read More ›
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Avoiding the World Cup: Day One
Well, actually, that’s a lie, I’ve been trying to avoid it for weeks. But really, what’s all the fuss about? If I hear any more about Wayne ‘Shrek’ Rooney’s bloody meta tarsel I swear I’ll put a brick through the… Read More ›
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Catching up with the past: how Igor Goldkind helped me get my break into the comic industry
Been busy this week — stuff for ROK Media (animation, mostly), Star Trek Magazine and some news items for downthetubes.net. One of these is mention for an interview on the 2000AD Review site with Igor Goldkind, who used to work… Read More ›