[4] In high school, Downs began to doodle single-panel comics, influenced by Charles Schultz's Peanuts, often drawing on paper towels at the can factory where he worked as an evening janitor.
[2] The main characters were the optimist Josh who lived in an off-campus apartment, his roommate John who spent his days sleeping or watching television, their friend Fred who was a sarcastic waiter, and Chuck Laylo who was a smooth lady's man and member of the imaginary Sigma Theta fraternity.
"[1] The Los Angeles Times called it "one of the few new comic strips offering original and relevant humor for the '80s…" along with Bloom County and The Far Side.
[10] Through syndication, Downstown appeared in more than a hundred major newspapers worldwide, including Chicago Sun-Times, Edmonton Journal, Miami News, Los Angeles Times, and New York Post.
[14] His series of satirical comic strips depicting a starving Ethiopian child alongside overfed and insensitive Americans were considered offensive by many readers.
I finally had to ask myself if it was the kind of strip I wanted to be drawing 10 years from now, and realized that it wasn’t.”[7] In short, Downs was living the married life with a son in San Bernardino, California, making it challenging to continue writing about characters based on his college roommate.
"[16] Downs ended Downstown with a week-long farewell party visited by characters from other comics, including Charlie Brown, Duke from Doonesbury, Cathy, Little Orphan Annie, Garfield, and Spider-Man.
[20] In 2003, Downs published Like Flies to a Corpse (later renamed Shoofly Pie), the first book in his Christian murder mystery series, Bug Man.
[21] The six-volume series features forensic entomologist Dr. Nick Polchak who uses the insects he finds on murder victims to solve crimes.
"[9] In a review for Chop Shop, Publishers Weekly wrote, "Downs keeps the pages turning with some excellent twists and first-rate humor.
"[28] Downs also wrote three stand-alone novels, all published by Thomas Nelson: Plague Maker (2006), Head Game (2007), and Wonders Never Cease (2010).
"[33] Downs also collaborated with Ted Dekker and Davis Bunn for The Christian Fiction Collection for Men (2003), also published by Thomas Nelson.
[20] With Vinh Chung, Downs wrote Where the Wind Leads: A Refugee Family's Miraculous Story of Loss, Rescue, and Redemption (2014), published by Thomas Nelson.
[21][6][3] In addition to lecturing on college campuses, he and his wife present A Weekend to Remember, a marriage and parenting conference held across the United States.