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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ROK Comics Launches
I’m very pleased to announce the launch of ROK Comics on Mobile, a new publishing solution enabling comics creators and publishers to syndicate their works to mobile phone users worldwide – and I’ve been given the task of being its… Read More ›
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Tank Girl’s welcome return
Over on blogcritics.org, Cameron Archer has posted a detailed review of the new Tank Girl from US publisher IDW. Those who remember Jamie “Gorillaz” Hewlett’s full on 1980s Deadline version of the character (Titan Books republished those strips some time… Read More ›
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Firefight in Iraq – Stunning animation
I’ve just been sent this link to this haunting depiction of firefight in Iraq, as seen through the eyes of U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzzell. This segment is from Buzzell’s story Men in Black, part of a longer PBS documentary,… Read More ›
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Flash! (Waa Aah!)
The US SciFi Channel has announced that Eric Johnson will play the lead role of Flash Gordon in SciFi’s 22-episode “modern day retelling of the classic comic strip franchise.” This unofficial fan site for the actor, whose past genre credits… Read More ›
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Spider-Man rules the world
It might have had mixed reviews (“Fun factor nil”, sniffs The Guardian), but after a record-breaking US opening, Spider-Man 3 has now demolished the international box office record with nearly £114 million at 16,700 playdates in 105 countries in six… Read More ›
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David Beckham is… Ant Man!
Rumours of a movie based on Marvel’s Ant Man have been circulating for years, but they took a hilarious new twist this weekend. Genre fan Michael Gage decided the placement of an ad for David Beckham’s new scent in the… Read More ›
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Early Captain Britain appearances for sale
Another eBay auction, this time Marvel Super-Heroes issues from way back in 1981 in 1982, when Paul Neary was editor in chief at Marvel UK the first time around. The issues include one issue of Captain Britain written by Alan… Read More ›
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Simpsons Comics on eBay
I’ve just added a small selection of UK Simpsons Comics to eBay. The lot includes #1, complete with poster. Talking of eBay, a lot of comics artwork recently sold by IPC is now being offered by former Nostalgia and Comics… Read More ›
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Wolverine on the BBC
UK digital TV channel CBBC has secured the UK rights to X-Men spin-off animation series Wolverine. First Serve Toonz, a joint venture company between India-based Toonz Animation and First Serve International, has sold the corporation the 26 x 30-minute series…. Read More ›
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The Madness of Corporate America
I imagine this doesn’t really need publicity here, but right after a revealing longer piece by comics creator Steven Grant which is more about the misery of being a comics creator trying to get a project off the ground, is… Read More ›
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Dan Dare on BBC7
Joe Gordon from Forbidden Planet International has just e-mailed me to point out that BBC7 is running a four part dramatisation of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, based on the Voyage to Venus storyline. It started Tuesday at 6… Read More ›
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Is Matt Groening one of the world’s Top 100?
There’s still a couple of days left to vote in TIME’s Top 100 Poll, an annual feature in the US weekly magazine which selects the world’s most influential – note, not necessarily the most popular – people. Along with the… Read More ›
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The Prying Eyes of Britain
Since I’m in a ranty and probably overly paranoid mood, did you know that here in Britain, government agents still have the right to enter your house to enter your house and search for materials used to produce “horror comics”?… Read More ›
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Slaine called in to prevent Cultural vandalism in Ireland…
Well, it’s the only way I can describe it. I know that much Irish historical record has been wiped out in the past, and this road plan sounds to me like a continuation of such destruction, but this time, not… Read More ›
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RSS Madness
Ah. My apologies to the people who have subscribed to the RSS feed on this site: I didn’t realise it would consider every entry I put up, including old diary entries I can now add in, as “new” posts. So… Read More ›
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Quick Switch
The traffic to this blog on my downthetubes.net site wasn’t growing that quickly, but uploading revisions etc. was, I think, adding to my bandwith quite considerably. So I’ve switched the blog to Google’s own host. There will be some hiccups… Read More ›
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Ringtones: The Ultimate Horror
Ring tones are a matter of personal choice (I will confess to currently having Shaun the Sheep on my mobile, much to my wife’s despair no matter how much she likes the show), but imagine the sheer horror of your… Read More ›
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Time Piece Trivia
Tipped off by SciFiTech over on scifi.com, I thought these rather nifty-looking Pixel Watches, available in white, brown or pink, reminiscent of Blake’s 7‘s teleport bands as featured in that inexplicably popular BBC show. Available from online store Red 5… Read More ›
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New Planet discovered
The European Space Agency’s discovery of a new planet five times the size of the Earth that just might have water and thus could support life is great news, although it probably means we’ll now start getting scare stories about… Read More ›
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Weird Crime Stories
It seems the bad year for Captain America just got that little bit worse. 6 News, a Florida TV station is reporting that a Central Florida doctor has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a costume party while… Read More ›