He may not have been as influential as John Peel, but I was sorry to hear that DJ Alan Freeman (no relation) has died at 79. It was Freeman – and school friend Tony Corden – who introduced me to Yes and, consequently, those wonderful Roger Dean covers that you sometimes felt were the best thing about some prog rock.
Alan “Fluff” Freeman had a distinctive presenting style later lampooned by Harry Enfield, and both his Radio 1 Rock Show and Mary Nightingale’s Sunday afternoon show on the same station hold great memories.
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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: Obituaries
In Memoriam: Artist and Writer Ron Tiner 
In Memoriam: Drew Struzan, film poster artist exemplar 
In Memoriam: American comics writer, artist, editor, and publisher Mort Todd 
In Memoriam: Comic Artist Dave Taylor