| John Freeman | |
|---|---|
 Freeman, photographed in 2005. | |
| Born | 18 January 1960 |
| Nationality | British |
| Area(s) | Writer, Editor |
Notable works | Doctor Who Magazine Crucible The Really Heavy Greatcoat |
| http://www.downthetubes.net | |
John Freeman (born 18 January 1960) is a British writer/editor/designer known for his work with Marvel UK, and on Doctor Who Magazine and The Really Heavy Greatcoat .
Freeman began his media career editing the Lancaster University student newspaper SCAN [1] in 1981.
Freeman's first professionally published comics work was The Science Service, drawn by Rian Hughes, which Knockabout reprinted in 2007 as part of a larger collection of work by Hughes titled Yesterday's Tomorrows.
After university Freeman launched On the Beat , a listings magazine for Lancaster, England, which eventually morphed into Off the Beat (not to be confused with the a cappella group at the University of Pennsylvania). After Freeman left Lancaster to work for Marvel UK in 1988, Off the Beat was run by a co-operative, until Freeman returned in 1993, where he took up the editorial reins of the title, turning it into a monthly free publication.
While working for Marvel UK between 1988 and 1993, Freeman designed and then edited Doctor Who Magazine , [2] and comics titles such as Death's Head II , [3] Warheads , [4] Overkill , [5] and others.
Freeman became group editor on Marvel UK's superhero range while Paul Neary was editor-in-chief at the company. The titles were set in the existing Marvel Universe — Marvel's U.S. editors were expected to approve submitted plotlines. The first of these, Death's Head II , written by Dan Abnett and initially drawn by Liam Sharp, was a recreation of Simon Furman's cyborg bounty hunter (who first appeared in the Transformers comic).
As well as editing some of the Marvel UK titles, Freeman also wrote issues of Warheads and Motormouth and Killpower . He also wrote Shadow Riders , with Brian Williamson, and Gene Dogs , drawn by Dave Taylor, and the mini-series G-Force (not to be confused with the animated series), as well as several Doctor Who comic stories.
Freeman left the company before the implosion in the comics market that effectively brought an end to Marvel UK.
After returning to Lancaster, Freeman worked as a freelance writer; then a publicity officer, and eventually, as director of the Lancaster Literature Festival, now known as Litfest.
In 1995, after five years' absence, London beckoned once more, and returning there, Freeman helped established Titan Magazines, as its first managing editor, as well as editing Star Trek Magazine , [6] Star Wars Magazine , and others.
After leaving Titan in 1999 to work for the UK arm of avaterra.com, establishing its avatar-based science fiction community, he is now again based in Lancaster, working there for ROK Global on their comics to mobile service, Rok Comics until 2016.
His recent freelance projects include editing the initial issues of Print Media Productions anthology comic magazine Strip Magazine (the UK edition), writing the science fiction comic strip Ex Astris for Spaceship Away magazine, and continued work for Titan, including book editing for Titan Books and reviews for Star Trek Magazine .
Apart from his Marvel UK work, Freeman's comic writing credits include Dan Dare for Spaceship Away, Ex Astris , The Really Heavy Greatcoat , The Science Service , The Real Ghostbusters , Galaxy Rangers , ThunderCats , Beyblade , Judge Dredd Megazine , and others.
An adventure set in the world of his comic project Crucible, has been published in the British anthology title SHIFT. Freeman has also contributed interviews to the magazine.
In 2021 B7 Media launch is comics imprint, beginning with a tie-in comic with its Pilgrim project. Freeman scripted the prequel comic and is working on the mini series, which will be published in 2022.
Freeman's website, Down The Tubes, and its associated blogs feature British comics news, interviews, and a comic writing guide. He is also part of the team working on The Lakes International Comic Art Festival.
Writer
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic magazine. As a comics anthology it serialises stories in each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. Since 2000 it has been published by Rebellion Developments.
A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper.
Dan Abnett is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, and also 2000 AD. He has also contributed to DC Comics titles, and his Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 novels and graphic novels for Games Workshop's Black Library now run to several dozen titles and have sold over two million copies. In 2009 he released his first original fiction novels through Angry Robot books.
Michael McMahon is a British comics artist best known for his work on 2000 AD characters such as Judge Dredd, Sláine and ABC Warriors, and the mini-series The Last American.
Simon "Si" Spurrier is a British comics writer and novelist, who has previously worked as a cook, a bookseller, and an art director for the BBC.
Judge Dredd: The Megazine is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in September 1990. It is a sister publication to 2000 AD. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Judge Dredd's locale Mega-City One.
Kevin Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. He is now working for Marvel Comics.
Cam Smith is a British comic book artist and inker known to British comic book readers for his work on 2000 AD and in the American comic book market for his collaborations with Gary Frank, inking that would earn him an Eisner Award nomination.
Geoff Senior is a British artist, best known for his work in the comic book field in the 1980s, mainly for Marvel UK. Senior is perhaps best remembered for his art for the Marvel Transformers series.
Roger Langridge is a New Zealand comics writer, artist and letterer, currently living in Britain.
John Tomlinson is a British comic book writer and editor known for his work on various 2000 AD strips. He has occasionally been credited as Sonny Steelgrave.
John Higgins is an English comic book artist and writer. He did significant work for 2000 AD, and he has frequently worked with writer Alan Moore, most notably as colourist for Watchmen.
Mike Collins is an English comic book artist and writer and has been working in comics since the mid-1980s.
John Ridgway is an English comic book artist. He is best known as the first artist of the comic book series Hellblazer, featuring John Constantine.
Simon Coleby is a British comic book artist who has worked mainly for British sci-fi comic 2000 AD and Marvel Comics.
Adrian Salmon is a comic book artist and illustrator from England.
Lee Sullivan is a comic artist who lives and works in the UK.
Nick Percival is a British graphic artist and graphic novelist primarily known for his published comic book, concept artwork and career in computer animation directing.
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