Support Downthetubes: Please can you help?
Earlier today, we reignited our occasional GoFundMe campaign to help support downthetubes running costs, which raised just over £3000 in 2024 to keep us operational. We would like to thank our readers for donating over £1000 in the last few hours towards server and operational costs, which have unfortunately risen again.
Your very kind donations will keep the site running and your support has considerably boosted morale in the downthetubes dungeon! Thank you!
As regular readers know, downthetubes is a comic site primarily promoting British comics, run by me, former Marvel UK and Titan editor John Freeman, my work complemented by contributions from a fantastic team of volunteers. It’s been running since 1998, and has a little bit of income from ads and affiliates, and we have a dedicated, loyal and appreciated audience. But what I don’t have is the capacity to cope well with a large bill, especially when it’s a hosting bill of just over £2100, up from £1500 two years ago, when I first ran a GoFundMe crowdfunder, up from £620 two years earlier.
The rises reflect not only service cost rises we’re seeing in many areas of life, but, also, our increased popularity and the size of growing archive of news, interviews and features that I hope our many readers are still enjoying.
I have been working since then behind the scenes to get the site on a different server, but the technical scale of moving such a large archive, and work schedules, has meant we haven’t quite achieved that aim, yet.
I reignited the crowdfunder in the hope readers can help cover this bill, conscious that times are, perhaps, hard for many, and aware how much so many of you kindly donated back in 2024. Thank you.
At a time when things are tight for everyone, I fully appreciate it’s a huge ask to come cap in hand, again, and ask people if they can stretch to supporting downthetubes. I have reserves to cover some of this bill, but if you can help in any way, that would be much appreciated.
Even if you can’t make a donation, if you can simply let people know about this appeal that would be fantastic, or buy something from my eBay store, or use the affiliate links on the site to buy something.
Thank you for reading this. Thank you for your support. It is very much appreciated.
John Freeman
• Support downthetubes here on GoFundMe – thank you
- About the Author
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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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