The usual format for a 24 hour comic is to disallow planning and preparation beforehand. Some variations include constraints announced at the commencement of the 24 hours to make planing ahead futile.

The Festival intends to do things a little differently. Planning and preparation is not only allowed, but encouraged because they want to be able to tell the very best stories with the short time the creators have.

“The quality and quantity of the applications was very high, making choosing a significantly difficult task,” say Festival Director Julie Tait and Marathon Co-ordinator Dan Berry in a joint statement on their final choice.  “While there was some very stiff competition from some incredibly talented and supremely capable artists, we felt that Joe and Warwick would not only rise to the challenge of the 24 hour comic, but would excel at it. Each of their distinctive styles and approaches to storytelling stood out from the applicants and we are thrilled to welcome them aboard.

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. Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Explorer (previously known as Star Trek 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.