The first issue of a US-comic styled, digital edition of our Crucible comic by John Freeman and Smuzz is is now available for just 69p from Apple’s ‘Newsstand’ store.
You can also subscribe to the title – our hope is to publish four issues per year, but this is dependent on sales.
Crucible, the co-creation of John Freeman and Smuzz, is a science fiction adventure set in world where the many workless are assigned ‘Tasks’ to earn money In the first story the Temple of Orlyth hires a rag tag gang – a thief, a mage and two mis-matched warriors – to retrieve a sacred artefact in an abandoned mine. But others are also after their prize – and they soon confirm what the adventurers suspected – most Tasks are deadly!
Described as ” Science fiction – with dwarves!” by co-creator John Freeman and “Comparable to Tolkien at his most ironic. Matches Dune for obsessive world-building ” by artist Smuzz, Crucible is a project the pair have been working on as a concept for several years. Currently published in print in Britain’s STRIP: The Adventure Comics Magazine, the co-creators decided to test the water for a full iPad edition of the comic, which will also include background features and short text stories along with the strip.
John Freeman is a comics writer and editor who cut his teeth in the comics industry at Marvel UK editing titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Death’s Head II and Overkill. He has written strips for companies such as Marvel, Judge Dredd Megazine, STRIP (creating Black Ops Extreme with PJ Holden for that title). Currently Managing Editor for digital comics publisher ROK Comics, in what spare time he has he runs the British Comics news site www.downthetubes.net.
Perhaps best known by comic fans for his work for 2000AD on ABC Warriors, Marvel and Games Workshop, Smuzz is a critically-acclaimed illustrator whose award-winning art has featured in the SF magazine Interzone. In addition to co-creating and drawing Crucible, he recently launched his own children’s book, If I Had a Dog, as a delightful digital edition. You can find him online at www.smuzz.org.uk
In If I had a Dog, a little boy imagines all the exciting things he could do if only he had a dog. In the end, it’s not the dog, but his imagination that makes the magic…
“We’re hoping the availability of Crucible on iPad will raise awareness of the title outside the UK,” said John Freeman.
• Buy Crucible from iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/crucible/id722198082?mt=8
• More about the world of Crucible at http://cruciblecomic.co.uk
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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, Digital Comics, Featured News