downthetubes has been alerted to comments by Frazer Brown of Red Cabin Comics that may lead some to consider we gave his never physically published Tales from the Quarantine project support, and, by implication, support for the company’s dubious activities.
This is not the case, and we stand with those creators whose trust he abused, and fans who supported his “charity comic”, borne during the COVID pandemic, which raised thousands of pounds on Kickstarter, but which, as far as we are aware, has never been published in print, despite ongoing questions about the project.
The Tales from the Quarantine project attracted support and contributions from both mainstream and small press creators, still unpublished; including Charlie Adlard, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Rachael Stott and Jim Zub, who all came together to tell their stories framed around the pandemic and their experiences of it.
Earlier this month, Frazer Brown gave downthetubes a glowing review on his YouTube, but any suggestion we actively assisted in the creation of TFTQ in some way are a misrepresentation at best, and, at worst, a lie.
We did not feature TFTQ on downthetubes during its crowdfunding period, although we did give the project a one mention on the downthetubes Facebook page, after the project successfully and quickly hit its target.
(For the record, we tend to push deserving crowdfunding projects requiring a boost to get them over the line; it appeared then TFTQ did not need any). Neither do my records show any support or correspondence with Frazer Brown to assist his project.
Early last year, finally responding to concerns about a lack of fulfilment that has never been explained, Kickstarter intervened in the long-running saga of by suspending its editor and supposed publisher Frazer Brown’s account with the following message:
“Kickstarter’s Trust & Safety team has investigated user reports associated with this project and/or its creator. We have reached out to the creator multiple times requesting project updates and communication with backers. As the creator has not responded or provided updates in over 90 days, we have restricted the creator’s account from launching future projects on Kickstarter. Thank you to everyone who sent in reports.”
“It should have been something extra special. It should have been something magical,” said Andy Oliver of Broken Frontier when the Kickstarter announcement was made. “It should have been an enduring social record in comics form of those dark days.
“Despite the hard work and commitment of so many it has been none of those things.”
As far as we are aware, to this day copies of Tales from the Quarantine, running to just over 200 pages, have only been distributed digitally to backers; some of whom, including Michael Nimmo of Three Million Years, also received a refund of their pledge money.
The comics community is a relatively small one, and the creators community smaller still, but one that, on occasion, is given cause to ponder its trust in aspiring publishers. Having had direct experience of being lied to by one such publisher, which not only left bills unpaid but whose deceit almost led to marital breakdown, I think you will have nothing but contempt for publishers – I use that description loosely here in the case of Red Cabin Comics – who employ similar tactics.
• Still unknown, to those who supported it, is what happened to the £37,185 Red Cabin Comics raised on Kickstarter
• Still unknown, to those who supported it, is what happened to the thousands of pounds that was promised would go to charity
Given the behaviour of Red Cabin Comics and its publisher it appears these questions that are unlikely to be answered, but we wish to be clear that downthetubes has no connection with them, despite Mr Brown’s effusive praise.
Thank you for reading.
John Freeman
Is any police authority investigating Red Cabin Comics for fraud and misrepresentation? Let us know, below!
• Broken Frontier has documented Red Cabin Comics betrayal of trust in their “Everybody Has a Tale to Tell” series, where creators talk about the impact on them, the eroded confidence in comics Kickstarters that followed, and how the community pulled together.
• Comics Printing UK has also voiced their concerns on many occasions
• Reuben Willmott has regularly highlighted claims and nonsense from Red Cabin Comics on BlueSky and X
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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.
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It always saddens me to hear of good writers and artists being abused in this way and stories like this seem to be coming up too often just lately but it’s equally sad that the good people who try to support these artists in a very positive way also sometimes get caught in the backlash when the abusers are exposed. Down the Tubes is a wonderful site and feels to me as much a part of the British Comics culture as all the content it has covered over the years and I never have and never will doubt it’s good intentions.
Thank you very much for your kind words