DC Thomson editor Bill McLoughlin has kindly given downthetubes his account of the rise and fall of DC Thomson’s 1980s SF digest title Starblazer, which has recently spawned its own Role Playing Game (see our review).
Revealing the origins of the title – whose contributors included, among many others, a young comics creator called Grant Morrison, who back then was also drawing as well as writing – Bill talks about the origins of the comic and the reasons it finally headed to the Black Hole of cancellation.
The article has been added to several features on downthetubes about Starblazer, which include an article by writer Ray Aspden on wiritng for the title, and a complete checklist of creators over the comic’s 281 issue history.
• Read Bill McLoughlin’s Starblazer feature
• Read Ray Aspden’s article on writing Starblazer
• Read Jeremy Briggs’ interview with Bill McLoughlin
- About the Author
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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 - Current British Publishers