London Visit

By John Freeman on 15 July 2004

It’s hot, it’s sweaty and it’s taking over the country. What is it about the place that draws so many to it? You end up with black snot if you walk its streets. I don’t actually think it’s that more expensive to live in (other than rent and house prices), a meal out costs about the same as it does in most places in the UK. It’s noisy and set to get worst — my local council has just proudly announced it has taken over local licensing so that means London will now be potentially exposed to round the clock bar opening and the resultant noise nuisance.

But I still enjoy coming here. There’s still an electricity to walking the streets, the thought that anything might happen, which it almost certainly won’t in sleepy Lancaster unless you do it yourself, which I’m these days unlikely to do.

London. There’s no escaping.

About the Author
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John Freeman

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.