Ahead of heading up to Bowness-on-Windermere for this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival (tickets still available here – see you there?), regular downthetubes readers will have noticed an absence of new news items on the site, and in mail boxes if you subscribe to the site itself. Unfortunately, we’re again battling some underlying technical issues, so we’re posting items to this temporary blog, until the problem’s resolved – hopefully by early next month (October).
While our main site is still up and running, as you can see, we’re just unable to post much here, or update older items, or regularly updated items, such as our events and exhibitions guides, and Comic Map. Sorry!
Just in case you have missed recent news, here’s some of the items posted over the past week you might have missed thanks to server kerfuffle.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for your amazing support.
And thank you to everyone who nominated very kindly downthetubes for “Best Comics Media” in the ComicSceneAwards. Much appreciated. Voting closes next week.
John Freeman, Publisher
• British Comics News: downthetubes.net – online since 1998
• Follow us on BlueSky | Facebook | Substack | Tumblr
downthetubes news Round Up
Head to our downthetubes-2025 blog for latest news items…
• Tonight in Brighton! Birds of a Feather set to Flock Together at Cartoon County
Comic creator Lucy Sullivan and film writer and director Dylan Southern will be at the next Cartoon County event tonight (Monday 22nd September), in conversation with Alex Fitch.
• Deck the halls with BEANO jolly!
The Christmas adverts have started on the telly, so it’s no surprise to see DC Thomson’s BEANO Christmas Special is on sale, in shops from this Wednesday, 24th September, and available to order direct from the publisher web shop here, and online retailers including AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Zombies rise again in Commando Presents: Commandos Vs Zombies Volume 2!
Zombies return to harass wartime heroes, with Commando Presents: Commandos vs. Zombies Volume 2, arriving in TG Jones and other outlets from Wednesday 22nd October 2025…
• Coming Soon: SHIFT Volume Three, featuring the lost “Terminal Man”
SHIFT Volume Three Issue One will be in newsagents from Thursday 2nd October 2025, and if you haven’t picked up this comic anthology before this is a good jump on board point…
• Save The Date: Sequential Scotland returns in August 2026; new Small Press Scotland CIC formed
Get your diaries ready! The next Sequential Scotland will be happening on Saturday 8th August, again at the Doubletree by Hilton on Cambridge Street in Glasgow.
Other Media News
• New Star Trek Podcast Launch: Beyond the Final Frontier
A new Star Trek podcast launches, hosted by die-hard Trekkies Rich Matthews, Ian Spelling and Toby Weidmann…
• Former Blue Peter presenter Anthea Turner drafted for Thunderbirds duty – again!
Former Blue Peter presenter Anthea Turner was recently brought her iconic Tracy Island build out of retirement, as Corgi launches its Thunderbirds die-cast anniversary collection.
New Features…
• Exploring the Art of the Radio Times
The current Radio Times cover, trailing the new series of Apple TV’s spy drama, Slow Horses, is quite the eye catcher. It’s great to see the TV listings magazine still commissioning the occasional art cover, especially given its long tradition of utilising original art.
• RPG Nostalgia: FASA’s Doctor Who Role Playing Game
Who remembers FASA’s groundbreaking Doctor Who Role Playing Game? First released as a Boxed Set in 1985, it was written by Guy W. McLimore Jr. and William John Wheeler, the game featured art by a number of artists.
• On downthetubes: Do You Remember Tiffany Jones?
Exploring a the creation of the first all-female newspaper strip team
Head to our downthetubes-2025 blog for latest news items…
• British Comics News: downthetubes.net – online since 1998
• Follow us on BlueSky | Facebook | Substack | Tumblr
- About the Author
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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.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comic Previews, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds
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