Sunday 1 January 2017

Plans for the Future!

Happy New Year! After the successes of Brickman Returns! and Derek the Troll in the previous two years, one of my intentions this year is to self-publish more comics. Now, this is all dependent on whether I have time of course, as mainstream comics work must take priority as that's what pays the bills. However, 2017 is an anniversary year for two of my creator-owned properties so I really want to get them back in print. (And yes, that's print. Not digital.)

With that in mind I'll soon be starting work on Combat Colin No.1, the first in a series of comics I'll be publishing from time to time that will reprint all the old 1980s Combat Colin strips from Action Force and The Transformers right from the very start, in the right order. 2017 is the 30th anniversary of Combat Colin so it's time he had his own title. I don't have all the original art now so some pages will be scanned from the original art, some from the old comics, and will be reprinted in black and white with brand new full colour covers. There's the working logo design above, although that's not necessarily the final version.

The other property I'm considering reviving is Suburban Satanists, the adults-only humour strip I did for Norwegian and Swedish comics. It's been 20 years this year since their first strips appeared so what better time to release the first English-language collection? I have all the original art so the pages will be new scans and newly coloured and lettered. The plan is to publish them in five or six full colour comics over the next few years. 

Anyway, that's the plan! Life is unpredictable so whether I achieve that or not remains to be seen. Hopefully Combat Colin No.1 will be out by April (the character's 30th anniversary month) and Suburban Satanists No.1 later in the year. Fingers crossed! In the meantime I need to get back to work on The Beano, Epic, Toxic, and Doctor Who Magazine, but I'll keep you posted of developments right here as things progress!

If you're interested in my previous self-published comics and prints and you still haven't bought them you'll find my online store here:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm 



UPDATE: Just to clear up some confusion: With the very best intentions, The Birmingham Comics Festival plugged my forthcoming Combat Colin comic on Facebook this morning (Jan 2nd) but they used the cover of a Combat Colin Summer Special that I did 20 years ago. It's being shared around Facebook but that's not the cover of the new one so the price and info is incorrect. There's also some confusion over the date of the festival, which seems due to the April Birmingham Comic Con using the Birmingham Comics Festival web address (!). I'm a guest at the Birmingham Comics Festival in June, NOT the "Birmingham Comic Con" in April.

7 comments:

Dee Cunniffe said...

Hey Lew - big fan! If you need a hand with colors feel free to gimme a shout! I grew up with your comics and it would be a dream come true to color them :)

Lew Stringer said...

Thanks Dee. I enjoy colouring my work myself but good luck with your career!

Steve78 said...

Can I buy a signed copy from you at the Birmingham Comics Festival in April Lew?

Lew Stringer said...

I'm not on the guest list at that con, Steve, sorry. Looks like a post someone made on Facebook this morning has confused people.

Sandfan said...

No confusion it's announced on Facebook saying you're bringing the summer special to the festival in Birmingham this April.

Lew Stringer said...

That announcement on Facebook is misleading. Someone with the best intentions unfortunately used the cover of a comic I published 20 years ago instead of the image above. Their reference to me being a Comic Festival guest refers to last year, not this year. I won't be there, sorry.

Lew Stringer said...

To clarify: I'm a guest at the JUNE Birmingham Comics Festival, not the April Birmingham Comic Con.