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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Doctor Who exterminated again?
Not the best of sources, but The Sun is reporting that Doctor Who will be exterminated next year after the end of the fourth series. The paper claims producer Russell T. Davies, exhausted by 16-hour days, has decided to axe… Read More ›
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Babylon 5: The Lost tales
Working on Babylon 5 Magazine for Titan was one of the best editorships I ever had, with terrific support from JMS and his team – and I wish them every success with their new venture, Babylon 5: The Lost Tales,… Read More ›
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Magic Moves
Warner Bros. has announced it is moving up by two days the release date of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the US and Canada, from Friday 13th July to 11th July. (It opens 12th July in… Read More ›
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Blog Notes
Matthew Badham just sent me this link to ‘Nemesis Fleet‘, which he feels is perfect reading for anyone into comics/self-publishing comics. It’s a blog for a comic in development by a cartoonist called Abigail Ryder, who describes herself as “a… Read More ›
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New Characters for ROK Comics Creator Tool
Been busy last week with ROK Comics – several new faces have joined the beta and behind these scenes there’s some revamping going on that looks fantastic. British creator Dave Windett (Simpsons Comics, Daffy Duck, The Dandy) has created another… Read More ›
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Stardust Competition
Forbidden Planet London has 20 pairs of tickets to be won for the special preview screening of the movie Stardust, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, on Monday 4th June at 6.00pm for a 6.30 start. The screening of… Read More ›
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Happy Birthday, Batman!
How old is Batman? Bruce Wayne varies in age between 15 and 50, depending on the retelling. But (and forgive me for not spotting this earlier, but you’ll have noticed by now the focus of down the tubes is generally… Read More ›
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McBride tribute in The Guardian
Following my news item on the sad death of illustrator Angus McBride recently, The Guardian published a full obituary to Angus yesterday 26 May, written by Steve Holland. In it, William Shepherd of Osprey, the Oxford-based publisher of military history… Read More ›
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Ellis has new novel on the way
Warren Ellis, who recently swept the boards in the 20007 Eagle Awards, the writer behind Transmetropolitan, Planetary, and Marvel’s hot new Thunderbolts, has put his uniquely deranged imagination to work on a brand-new series, Doktor Sleepless, from Avatar Press this… Read More ›
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The Aesthetics of Trash?
A major academic conference on comics and animation is to take place in Manchester in August, and a call has gone out for papers. Taking place from 28th – 29th August 2007 the event, titled The Aesthetics of Trash?: Reassessing… Read More ›
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Natural Born Thriller
You usually have to buy books, but not if it’s 2000AD creator Simon Spurrier’s debut novel Contract. The Times reported earlier this week that his tale of a morally repugnant yet charismatic hitman named Michael Point is being released free… Read More ›
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Yes to the Olympics – No to Arts cuts
Please forgive me. I’m having a rant. On the Number 10 Downing Street website there’s a petition up and running right now, which aims to stop the Chancellor using Arts and Heritage Lottery money to plug the funding gap in… Read More ›
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Life on Mars producers head for space
UK TV trade magazine Broadcast has reported that BBC1 aims to repeat the success of Life on Mars with a new high-concept series from Kudos set in space. In Outcasts, penned by Spooks writer Ben Richards (the series is known… Read More ›
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Fantastic Four, Spider-Man animation news
Cynopsis Kids! reports the first of 26 episodes of Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes, a new mixed 2D and 3D animated half hour series, will premiere on the US Cartoon Network’s Toonami block on Saturday, 9 June 2007 at 9:30pm…. Read More ›
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Dan Dare, Space… Horse?
Hmm… I’m no betting man, aside from the ill-advised persistent belief/affliction that my numbers will come up on the lottery, but as a comics fan I am tempted by the news that there’s a horse called Dan Dare running at… Read More ›