A Combat Classic

For some Friday fun here's a complete Combat Colin serial that ran in three issues of The Transformers back in 1990. (Specifically Nos.264 to 266, 7th to 21st April 1990.) As ever, click on the pages to see them much larger.

By this stage the strip had evolved from a half page gag to a full page format where I could do multi-part serials, introduce supporting characters and recurring villains and develop continuing sub plots. In short, it had become the sort of comedy-action strip that I always wanted to see in UK comics, influenced in part by the serial strips I read in the sixties such as Eagle Eye, The Cloak, and I-Spy.

Back then I was drawing the strips in pencil on thin paper, then tracing them in ink on a lightbox. I eventually gave up that technique as it's not easy on the eyes (plus you need to have the curtains drawn all day) but I recently found a few of those original pencil pages, still in great condition. 

I never sell my original finished art pages of Combat Colin but I am selling some of these pencil stage pages. I currently have all three parts of the pencils for this Deadly Duo serial on eBay if any of you are interested in purchasing them. Un-inked and with no dialogue, but they give you an insight into the construction of the strip, and it's still Combat Colin original art after all.

To see more photos of the pages (and other items I have listed this week) visit my eBay page by clicking here. This will be my last auction this year so I can avoid any delays with postage over Christmas. Bidding ends on Sunday (Dec.8th).

Celebs, Robots, and Pranks

It's Wednesday, so there's a new Beano in the shops today. This week Will.i.am becomes the latest of the Celebs on a Sledge, there's a new Rubbish Robots in town, and I also illustrated another prank in the You've Been Pranked series. There are also lots of other strips from many other artists of course. If you haven't read The Beano for a few years, you might be surprised. It features a variety of art styles these days, both traditional and more unconventional. Give it a try.

Next week sees the arrival of the bumper Christmas Beano, so I'm not sure if I have anything in that issue. (I didn't do anything specifically Christmassy, but I suppose a Celebs on a Sledge might fit, with its snowy scenes. We'll see.) However, there's still two Rubbish Robots mini-strips to go, and three more Celebs to face their fates on those sledges, so they'll probably conclude in the New Year. Just in time for my new strip to begin, - closely followed by another. More news soon!

The Beano is out today, price £2, or even cheaper if you buy the digital edition via the Beano App. 

New Team Toxic for 2014

The Christmas issue of Toxic is out today and it features a reprint of a Team Toxic strip I did several years ago. However, from the next issue I'll be doing all-new Team Toxic stories again for the mag. The usual format; two full colour pages of the Team up against bizarre villains and monsters. Here's a little preview of one of the panels above in a quiet moment before a brand new bad guy arrives on the scene!

Team Toxic began in Toxic issue 1, back in 2002. Originally I was only commissioned to write the strip (with John Rushby doing character designs and artwork). Then I was asked to take over the artwork as well from issue 15. The strip has appeared in every issue, although it's been reprint for the last 14 months or so. I'm very pleased to have been asked to return to the strip as Toxic embarks on its 12th year of publication. 

In the meantime, if you want to see one of my old Team Toxic strips, check out the Christmas issue of Toxic that's in the shops now! (See preview here). 

That's about the size of it

On various forums and blogs there's sometimes discussion about the size original comic art is drawn. Many years ago pages were usually drawn at least 'twice up' (twice as wide and high as the printed page) but over time editors asked for a reduction in size, usually to one-and-a-half larger than printed size (or 'half up' as it's called, being diagonally half larger than print size). 

These days, with art being supplied via e-mail, there's no hard and fast rule about it. Back in the days when I was contributing to comics such as Oink! and Transformers I'd draw my pages half up, but in recent years I often draw them about twice up.

Basically, the larger you draw the originals, the less restrictive it feels, and the better the art looks when reduced. Although this depends on the artist of course. The late Jack Edward Oliver drew his pages the same size as published and still managed to put a lot of detail and incidentals in them.

The mini-strips I do for The Beano are drawn twice-up, as you can see from the size comparison in the photo above. I just find it a comfortable way of working. As you can see, the original art is drawn in blue pencil, then inked. I then scan it into Photoshop as a line drawing (which doesn't pick up the blue pencils), tidy it up, convert it to CMYK and colour it on screen. Then it's simply a matter of e-mailing it to the editor, along with the script for them to letter it. The physical artwork doesn't even leave the room, - a far cry from the old days of a parcel of artwork being posted on a long journey to London or Dundee! 

Early Tom Thug on eBay

Yes, it's one of those posts where I plug my eBay sales again. Want to own some original comic art? This week I have one of my very early Tom Thug pages up for auction. It's from Oink! No.5, way back in the summer of '86. (There's a close up of some detail above.)

Also up for sale is a Pete and his Pimple strip in ink and wash from Oink!, and four One Cat and his Cod strips from Thundercats. You can see them for yourself by clicking here. 

Bidding ends on Sunday. All bids appreciated as always. Good luck!

In this week's Beano...

I'm pleased to say there are three items by me in the issue of The Beano that's out today. Firstly, there's a full page You've Been Pranked feature featuring Dennis the Menace. I just did illustrations for this, with the details of the 'prank' supplied by the Beano office. These are always fun pages to draw as every prank is different of course.

This issue also sees my two new mini-strips continue. We reach the halfway point for the Rubbish Robots series, and it's the second Celebs on a Sledge strip. There'll be two new series by me in the New Year, and I'll give info about those soon.

There's also a lot more in The Beano of course, including all the regular favourites. Here's the cover to look out for (drawn by Nigel Parkinson). Out now, priced £2. 

Cover by Nigel Parkinson

The Whovian Sharks

Part of the Sharks page. Click to enlarge.

The Christmas issue of Viz (published yesterday) sees the return of The Pathetic Sharks in a seasonal story I did for the comic. I thought I'd tie it in with all the Doctor Who mania at present and have the Sharks anticipating the Christmas Day episode of the long running TV series. (I could have themed it around the 50th anniversary episode, but as this issue is out for five weeks it'd be outdated after this weekend. Besides, it's always fun to draw a Christmas story. Yep, with snow on the logo too.)

So, it's The Pathetic Sharks meeting a bunch of Doctor Who fans... with hilarious results. (Hopefully!) 

This issue of Viz also sees Tom Paterson drawing his first strip for the comic, - and it's an instant classic as you might expect. (More info on my Blimey! blog here:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/tom-paterson-arrives-in-christmas-viz.html

The Christmas Viz, - on sale now in all good newsagents for £3.20.

Cover by Simon Thorp