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Comic Creatives UK Project Launched, inspired by Dave “Bolt-01” Evans

By John Freeman on January 8, 2022

Comic creator Owen Watts has just launched Comic Creatives UK, a place for new or established comic creators to get advice and support, “or just to chat” – a new community designed to pass on knowledge and advice to new and emerging comics talent in the UK.

“2021 was a tough one for many reasons, not least of which was the sudden loss of my mentor and friend, Dave ‘Bolt-01’ Evans“, says Owen, who has set up the new network across Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit, its ident designed by Jim Campbell. “It took me a long time to figure out how best to honour him and what he did for me.

“I finally hit upon the idea of a new community designed to pass on knowledge and advice to new and emerging comics talent in the UK. He was there for me and hundreds of other starry-eyed newbies who didn’t know how to make comics but desperately knew that they had to. He gave me endless guidance and support, and I want to pass that on.

“Now, we’re still in the early stages of this but ultimately I want it to grow into something useful,” Owen adds. “At the moment of our launch It’s very bare-bones but any of you reading this who make comics, give us a shout, lend us a hand and we can build something that will give the next generation of comic creators something to lean on.”

• The central platform for Comic Creatives UK is on Discord, but you can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit

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.