I’m John Freeman, publisher of the web site, downthetubes – and I’ll cut straight to the chase. I’m sorry to ask – but I need your help.

As you know, downthetubes is a comic site primarily promoting British comics, my work complemented by contributions from a fantastic team of volunteers. It’s been running for over 25 years now, and has a little bit of income from ads and affiliates, and we have a dedicated, loyal and appreciated audience. But what I don’t have is the capacity to cope well with a sudden bill, especially when it’s a hosting bill of just over £1500, up from £620 two years ago, a rise reflecting not only service cost rises we’re seeing in many areas of life, but, also, our increased popularity and the size of growing archive of news, interviews and features that I hope our many readers are still enjoying.

So if you can help me cover this bill, that would be fantastic. I’ve launched a GoFundMe where you can donate, here.

At a time when things are tight for everyone, I fully appreciate it’s a huge ask to come cap in hand and ask people if they can stretch to supporting downthetubes. I have reserves to cover some of this bill, but if you can help in any way, that would be much appreciated.

Even if you can’t make a donation, if you can simply let people know about this appeal that would be fantastic, or buy something from my eBay store, or use the affiliate links on the site to buy something.

Thank you for reading this.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “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.

Categories: British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Site Announcements

Tags: Announcements, downthetubes News, GoFundMe