What-ho!

I’m Fred McNamara, an adventurer in the depths of popular culture. Well, perhaps more of a rambler… Where there’s a comic, film, TV show or book that needs to be torn apart, waxed lyrical about and stitched back together, I’m there. I have a particular love for writing about independent and small press comics, cult television and retro science fiction.

I’ve written for a variety of websites, blogs, magazines and fanzines as a reviewer, features writer and interviewer. You can find my work at We Are the Mutants, Your Chicken Enemy, We Are Cult, ComicScene UK, Starburst Magazine and Andersonic. My work has also appeared in anthologies published by Pencil Tip Publishing, Watching Books and Who Dares Publishing. I’ve previously written for the British Science Association, PopMatters, WhatCulture, ScreenRelish, Grovel, Flickering Myth and the Official Gerry Anderson blog. I’m also a Rotten Tomatoes certified film critic – I’ve contributed to the Tomatometer! I receive no royalties for such a privilege however, so it probably amounts to very little…

From 2014 to 2020, I also served as the Official Sidekick for A Place To Hang Your Cape. I can only assume my Editor-in-Cape had to deal with a rogues gallery of bootleg sidekicks before I came along. In this role, I acted as the website’s senior editor, making sure we produced some darn fine articles covering the superhero medium in TV/film and championing independent/small press comic books, liaising with comic creators and publishers in supporting their work via reviews, interviews and more. I also run Sequential 21 (formerly known as Operation Megaventures), a blog that celebrates comic strips from TV Century 21.

Because I’m a firm believer in having too much to do, I’ve also written a book. Spectrum is Indestructible is an unofficial celebration of the cult sci-fi Supermarionation TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Published in February 2020 by Chinbeard Books and Spiteful Puppet and packed with episode reviews, spin-off retrospectives, interviews with those who worked on the show and more, it’s a nerdy nirvana for Captain Scarlet fans.

March 2022 sees the publication of my next book – Andersons’ Supersonic Centuries: The Retrofuture Worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Published by Telos Publishing, this is an exhaustive critical analysis of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s creative output, from the early days of Supermarionation to the modern interpretations of their TV/film works.

When not overthinking retro science fiction puppet television shows, I also edit comic books, offering a range of services from general proofreading to project management. You can discover more about my comics editing here on my site.

You can check out a portfolio of my digital work here. I’m always on the lookout for writing projects to get involved with, so if you’re after a contributing writer for your website or magazine, feel free to get in touch via the contact page!