New Planet discovered

By John Freeman on 25 April 2007

The European Space Agency’s discovery of a new planet five times the size of the Earth that just might have water and thus could support life is great news, although it probably means we’ll now start getting scare stories about alien terrorists from the wackier members of the House of Lords. The news has of course already provoked comic comment…

Talking of topical SF gags, this satirical item (“Star Trek Geeks Could Be Up In Arms Over Proposed New Phaser Laws“) will I am sure provoke howls of anger from the US where the terrible events in Virginia are still raw. I gather that a similar gag about Daleks over on Outpost Gallifrey forums has not gone down well, either…

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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.