Currently in print...!

It's been a while since I listed all the comics, mags, and books that my work currently appears in. These aren't all freshly published... Most of these have been out for quite some time but at the moment they're still currently available so if you wanted to check out my work, here's where to find it...

 

The77 Annual No.1:

Published in 2021, this brand new hardback book includes a variety of stories from creators such as Steve Pugh, Glenn Fabry, Andrew Sawyers and many more, plus The Origin of Doctor Plank, the villain from my Sgt.Shouty strip. You can buy it directly from the publisher at the following link, along with back issues of The77 comic in which Sgt.Shouty also appears...

https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/

 

This Comic Is Haunted No.1:

A new horror comic from The77 Publications which includes my newest strip, Short Sharp Shocks, complete comedy-horror one pagers. This great new comic is also available directly from the publisher at this link:

https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/

Doctor Who Magazine No.584

A great jumping-on point for new or lapsed readers with the start of Alan Barnes' and Lee Sullivan's exclusive 13-part 14th Doctor comic strip, continuing directly from the TV show! Plus my Daft Dimension mini-strip every month with a comedy spin on the Doctor Who universe. Available from Smiths, supermarkets, and comic shops.

https://doctorwhomagazine.com/doctor-who-magazine/doctor-who-magazine-584/

Animal Planet Kids No.23

Every now and then, I'm asked to contribute a Bad Pets mini strip to this magazine with Nigel Auchterlounie on scripts. The strip doesn't appear every issue as it alternates with mini strips by other creators but it's in the one that's currently on sale (until tomorrow) so it made the list. Available from newsagents and supermarkets.

Liverpool Heartbeat comics:

An occassional publication that has a different focus every issue. Fun, educational comic strips for children. So far I've contributed four pages each to Statues of Liverpool, The Queen, and Everest 2022, with scripts by the editor Tim Quinn. Available directly from the publisher at this link:

https://www.liverpoolheartbeat.co.uk/shop/

 

 

 

The Most Important Comic Book on Earth:

That's quite a grand title but it's justified as the whole intention of the book is to raise awareness and provide information about our changing climate. We all contibuted our work for free on this one and my page was a revival of Pedantic Stan the Comics Fan with writer and co-creator John Freeman. This mighty 350 page book is published by DK/Random House and is available from bookshops or from the places at this link...

https://linktr.ee/mostimportantcomic

The Dandy Annual 2023:

It's always a pleasure to contribute to this long-running annual and in this year's edition I've written and drawn several Postman Prat pages and eight Keyhole Kate mini-strips. Available from bookshops everywhere.

 

Beano Annual 2023:

I'm not a frequent contributor to this annual but I am in this current one, with eight Biffo the Bear mini-strips I've scripted and drawn. A privilege to work on such a classic character! Available from bookshops everywhere.

 

Cor!! Buster Bumper Fun Book:

Published by Rebellion in 2020, this 100 page softback book is still available. Collecting stories from the two Cor!! Buster Specials of recent times, I had great fun drawing brand new Buster strips (reviving the character for the first time in decades) and filling the pages with guest appearances by characters from the history of UK comics, - plus I also drew one of the Gums strips. Buster was written by John Freeman, whlst Gums was witten by Lizzie Boyle. Currently available at a discounted price from the publisher at this link:

https://shop.treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/RCA-H0018

 

Derek the Troll and Combat Colin comics:

My own self-published comics that I did a few years ago. Issues still available are the Derek the Troll special (which also includes the complete Rock Solid saga), and issues 2 and 3 of Combat Colin, reprinting my strips from over 30 years ago. You can buy them as brand new signed editions exclusively from me at my eBay store here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?item=203554298786

 

...and, yes, Combat Colin No.5 will finally be out next year, as will issue 6 hopefully! 

 

Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular 2021:

The first special from Rebellion that revived the old Monster Fun Comic. For this I drew a two page strip written by Kek-W that brought back the 1960s Pow! strip, Wiz War for a new one-off story. Enjoyed that. Sadly I'm not involved with the ongoing Monster Fun comic for unknown reasons. You can buy this special from Rebellion's online shop:

https://shop.treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/RCS2152P

 

The Kirknewton Story:

The history of the Scottish town of Kirknewton, edited by Tony Foster and written by Colin Maxwell with chapters illustrated by various artists. I had the pleasure of drawing the two pager entitled Close Encounters! The comic was distributed free to every home in Kirknewton but you can buy a copy from the Shift Store at this link:

https://theshift.store/products/the-kirknewton-story

 

EXTRA: I should include digital comics too, and you'll find brand new Combat Colin three-pagers in the following issues of the digital anthology Aces Weekly published by David Lloyd. All issues of which are still available to read online...

You'll find the first one in Aces Weekly Volume 1 No.1. Colin and Semi-Automatic Steve encounter a new menace in the form of the Zombie-Yeds!



The second new complete story appeared in Aces Weekly Vol.8 No.7, with a guest appearance by The Giggly Sisters leading to Colin and Steve encountering their old enemy Madprof!



The third new Combat Colin strip appeared in Aces Weekly Vol.16 No.6, with our heroes flying into space to avert the Ass-teroid!



The fourth new strip appeared in Aces Weekly Vol.21 No.7, and saw Colin and Semi-Automatic Steve battle each other!
 

...and the fifth one in Vol.50, No.7.

https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/ 

If you're a professional publisher / editor and you're interested in commissioning me to contribute to your comics, books, or magazines please contact me at lew.stringer@BTinternet.com

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Festive Fun for my Final Art Auction of the year!

My thanks to everyone who placed bids on my original art auctions this year. It really has been a big help in these times. I've just put two more items on eBay that I hope will be of interest. With Christmas approaching and more postal strikes looming, this will be my last art auction until sometime in January 2023.

Up for bids now are...

My original artwork for a Christmas Card I published to send to friends in December 1997. (Twenty five years ago! Blimey!) It features my versions of Rudolph, Santa, and a snowman, plus of course the traditional holly, and snow on the logo. (I hand lettered the logos myself so there's no fonts stuck on or anything like that.)

On another piece of art which was the reverse of the card is a small head shot of Tom Thug in a Christmas party hat.

You'll find the listing with more pics and info here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204166126134

 

The other item up for auction right now is a seasonal Robo-Capers mini-strip from way back in 1985! This was for the pre-Christmas issue of Marvel UK's The Transformers comic (issue No.39). I think this may be the first time I'd done a Christmas themed strip in a professional comic!

You'll find more images and more info at the listing at this link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204166118795

The auctions run for a week and end next Sunday evening on December 4th so winners should receive them well before Christmas. Good luck with your bids!

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Auction ends this Sunday

Apparently I posted the wrong link for this last weekend. Thanks to Steve Maslin for telling me yesterday. Explains why I'd had no bids! Anyway, auction ends on Sunday. Good luck!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?item=203554298786 

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Thoughts on storytelling

I wrote this three years ago but it's still relevant. Updated it a little today.

One of the things that was always stressed by one of my first editors (Richard Starkings) was to remember that every comic is someone's first issue. Therefore the plot should be clear enough to be understood by new readers, and the characters defined enough for people to know what part they play in the story.

In addition, I'd also say that art-wise, it should be clear what the characters look like and where the story takes place, so there should be at least one full figure shot if possible and enough background info to let readers know the location, even if the strip is only a page or less in length. (Classic newspaper strips were a masterclass in this kind of thing.)

Unfortunately, this isn't always the case these days, leading to confusing stories, which can fail to engage the reader and lead to them abandoning the comic. We often (quite legitimately) blame High Street retailers and their treatment of comics for falling sales but sometimes we as creatives have to shoulder some of the blame too. It's all about being aware... mindful, to use the modern term... of a clarity of storytelling that appeals to everyone, not just to the regular readers. 

I'm not advocating that comics should be overly simplistic, just easy to follow, like all the best comics have been throughout history. This is especially important for children's comics where new readers will be unfamilar with the characters. Dialogue should also be relevant to the plot, not veering off into irrelevant banter. Yes, character interaction can be fun but flippant exchanges between characters sometimes drown out the plot when they're overdone.

With a week, a month, or more between issues, there should also be enough info for everyone to catch up on the plot. Sometimes readers are just dropped into a continuing story with little or no resumé. People have busy lives and although the creative team will remember what happened in the previous issue, the average reader might have forgotten. Since some creators started writing for the inevitable book collection, episodic writing has been in danger of becoming a lost art.

Most importantly though, even with complete stories, it's essential that a reader can follow the story. Comics should be clearly told, exciting, funny, and engaging for everyone. I know comics evolve and styles change (they always have, for over a century) but the fundamentals that make comics work remain the same. We can learn a lot from comics of the past in terms of how they kept their readers up to speed on character and plot.

I hope that doesn't come across as preachy. I'm sure most people reading this will know it already anyway, but it's just something I wanted to put down. One of these days, if I ever get around to writing an autobiography / how to do comics/ history of comics book, I'll elaborate on it there.

When Doctor Who met The Beatles!

Did you know that Doctor Who had met The Beatles and his recorder inspired the song "The Fool On The Hill"? Well, at least that's how it happened in my comic strip The Daft Dimension back in 2016 in the official Doctor Who Magazine No.506! 

Now my original artwork for that comic strip is up for auction this week on eBay. Bidding runs until next Sunday, 26th November, and all bids are very much appreciated!

I'm also selling a few more issues of the scarce Scottish editions of IPC's Vulcan weekly from 1975. You'll find all my listings at this link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?item=203554298786

Good luck with your bids! 

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Social Media

If Twitter collapses, or becomes so extreme right that all the decent peoople abandon it, you can still find me at these places online...

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/lew.stringer 

Facebook:

https://en-gb.facebook.com/lewstringercartoonist/ 

...and (for now at least) on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/lewstringer 

...and of course on this very blog!

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Comics, comics, comics!

Trying to get some extra money together so I can afford to produce my own comics again so I'm selling off more comics from my collection. This week there are three first issues up for auction:

EC Comics' Crime Illustrated No.1 from 1955.

TV Tornado No.1 from 1967.

Roy of the Rovers No.1 from 1976 (which also has the free gift, unused and immaculate). 

Auction on those three collectable comics ends this Sunday evening (20th November). All bids appreciated! Good luck!

Here's the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?item=203554298786

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Meet SPUD, an unpublished strip from long ago

Click to enlarge.

 

In the early part of my career in the 1980s I was submitting comic strips on spec to numerous publications in the hope of them being used. Not just comics; I tried everywhere from Smash Hits to Celebrity magazine, from my local paper to video magazines. None of my submissions were successful but I didn't give up. (In the end I stuck with comics, which did appreciate my work.)

One area I tried was gardening magazines. I created a strip called Spud about an average gardener in suburbia, hoping editors of Gardeners World and the like would go for it. Not a chance. One editor refused it because he didn't like "silly bugger characters" as he called them. Apparently gardening was too serious a subject for levity. 

I'd forgotten all about the strip until I found my samples the other day. Here they are, published here for the very first time. As you can see, I'd started colouring one of them as I was noticing more mags were using full colour, but then decided not to bother submitting it again. It's not a great strip by any means. I was still developing my style, and I can appreciate they weren't what they were looking for back then. I hope you get some amusement out of them anyway.

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The77 Publications Calendar is coming!

If you're looking for a 2023 calendar that has a British comics theme you might be interested in The77 Publications Calendar! After a successful Kickstarter campaign the calendar will be off to the printers imminently and is available for pre-order from The77 website at the following link...

https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/product/the77-2023-calendar

The calendar will feature artwork from the various comics published by The77 Publications: Blazer, Pandora, This Comic Is Haunted, and of course The77. A fine item to hang on your wall throughout the coming year! 

My Sgt.Shouty character will be included too in the snow-covered scene from the variant cover of The77 No.4. (See the image above.) 

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Last chance to bid on this week's auction!

This week's art auction ends soon, - on Tuesday 15th November. (Tomorrow or today, depending on when you read this.) For those of you who have been asking me to sell Robo-Capers pieces from Marvel's Transformers comic there's an original from 1987 that has no bids yet so good luck! 

Here's the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204146618350

There's also the original art for the very first Specky Hector, Comics Collector, also from 1987. It appeared in Oink! comic, and a couple of years ago was reprinted in Rebellion's Battle special. One of my favourite strips but I thought I'd put it up for auction rather than it sitting in my house.

Here's the link for that one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204146611695

 All bids appreciated. Best of luck!

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"You couldn't get away with that nowadays".

I created, scripted, and drew Tom Thug for Oink! and Buster comics for 10 years and always enjoyed putting the brainless bully through the mill. The pain and punishment he suffered was always as a consequence of his bad intentions. The moral being that evil has consequences. (In comics anyway, even if sadly not always in reality.) I liked drawing his face in contorted expressions too, usually as a result of his stupidity. Here he is, having swallowed washing powder, thinking it was sherbet. As the woman in the laundrette says, what a pillock. 

I'm pretty sure I couldn't get away with anything like that in kids' comics today, even though they were cautionary tales of how not to behave. I grew up on the manic recklessness of strips in Wham!, Smash! and Pow! by people like Leo Baxendale and Ken Reid who had produced this kind of edgier humour for those comics. I always saw Oink! as following in that tradition. Not that I'm comparing myself to greats like Leo and Ken who will never be equalled, but the spirit of their work is what inspired me. 

I'm a firm believer that children know the difference between what they see in a comic and the real world around them. As a precaution though I always showed the consequences of Tom's stupidity and aggression; it always backfired on him. 

Liverpool Heartbeat Presents Everest 2022

There's a new Liverpool Heartbeat comic out for kids and this time the focus is on the various ascents to Mount Everest. I enjoyed drawing four pages for the comic, and other artists featured are Russ Leach, Nigel Parkinson, Holly Bushnell and George Sears, working from scripts by Tim Quinn. You can buy the comic from their website or read it online at this link:
https://www.liverpoolheartbeat.co.uk/everest-2022

Cover art by RUSS LEACH.

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Preview of the next Daft Dimension for the new era of Doctor Who Magazine

There's a new issue of the official Doctor Who Magazine out today and it's a belter! Before I get to explain why, here's a little preview above of my Daft Dimension strip that's in this issue. I don't want to give away the gag so you'll see the full version in the mag itself.

Why is this issue so special? For a start it features the return of the classic diamond shaped Doctor Who logo, spruced up and tweaked for the new era of the 14th Doctor. Yes, David Tennant is back, not as the 10th Doctor, but as the 14th! How? What's going on? We'll find out eventually. The new logo will also be back for the TV show when it returns next year.

Someone else who's back is my old pal Lee Sullivan, drawing the main Doctor Who strip again after 20 years from a script by Alan Barnes! A great job they've done of it too, and for the very first time, the comic strip is directly connected to the continuity of the TV show! Episode one picks up moments after the ending of The Power of the Doctor TV special. Want to see what happens next? Doctor Who Magazine is now the exclusive place to find out across the next 12 months until the next TV special takes over, continuing the story from the comic strip in November 2023! Synergy! It's a fantastic strip too, with a brilliant cliffhanger in Part One.

ART BY LEE SULLIVAN.

 

There are loads of other features in the issue too of course including an interview with returning showrunner Russell T Davies, and Lee Sullivan talking about his return to the strip. If you're a lapsed reader of the mag or have never read it, this is the perfect jumping on point. Doctor Who Magazine No.584, in newsagents, supermarkets, and comic shops today, priced £6.99 for 84 packed pages.

Official website:

https://doctorwhomagazine.com/doctor-who-magazine/doctor-who-magazine-584/

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ROBO-CAPERS and SPECKY HECTOR original artwork up for auction this week!

I'm selling another couple of pieces of my original artwork. These are both from 1987; a Robo-Capers from Marvel UK's Transformers comic, and the very first appearance of Specky Hector, Comics Collector from Oink! (which was more recently reprinted in Rebellion's Battle Special in 2020.) 

Auction runs until next Tuesday evening (15th Nov.). Good luck!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?item=203554298786

There are other items in my auctions too, including scarce Scottish editions of Vulcan from 1975, Giggle No.1 from 1967, and Doctor Who Weekly No.1 from 1979. (The comic auctions end on Sunday.)

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Kevin O'Neill

I'm very shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Kevin O'Neill at the far too young age of 69. I'd known Kev since the Westminster Comic Mart days of the 1980s and he was a good friend as well as being an excellent comics artist. He was best known of course for his superb work on Nemesis the Warlock for 2000AD with Pat Mills, and his mindbending artwork on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels with Alan Moore. He did far more than that though and his list of accomplishments would take more time than this short tribute.

Back in 1983 Kev produced a great cover for my Fantasy Express fanzine and we later collaborated a couple of times, firstly on my Brickman comic in 1986 and then on the Oink! Annual in 1987. 

We'd been in touch again in recent years, hoping to meet up but the pandemic got in the way. He'd been unwell this year so we'd put it on hold again. I hadn't heard from him for a few weeks and I was actually about to phone him this afternoon but then I saw the bad news. Totally stunned. Kev was always great company and I'll always remember the many laughs we had back in the day. Rest In Peace, Kev. You were one of the greatest.

The chapter of Brickman that Kev drew from my script in 1986.

Kevin's friends at London's Gosh Comics shop have written this tribute on their blog:

https://goshlondon.com/the-gosh-blog/rip-kevin-oneill-1953-2022/ 

A wonderful tribute on the 2000AD website too:

https://2000ad.com/news/kevin-oneill-1953-2022/ 

An in-depth interview with Kevin, conducted by Mike Molcher a few years ago...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlmG_dsPf4

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What was... MONOCOMIX? (1978)

What was Monocomix? The short answer is it was something of mine I'd totally forgotten about until I found this cover artwork yesterday. 

Monocomix was going to be the title of my first self-published comic way back in Autumn 1978. (Titled Monocomix because it was all black and white.) Yes, it was crudely drawn but I had a lot to learn (and still do). Apparently it was going to be a one-off according to the "First (and Last) Issue" cover blurb I put on it. For reasons that escape me now I had a rethink at the last minute and came up with a new cover, and a new title, publishing it as After Image in late 1978. The contents remained the same. Only the cover was changed. 

Perhaps I felt that the name After Image was more suited to its status as a fanzine, because from issue 2 it featured more articles so it was not longer "comix"? After 44 years I can't remember, and I can't go back and ask my 19 year old self so perhaps we'll never know. Pity, because I kind of prefer the title Monocomix now. Perhaps I'll use it on something new one day.

Anyway, if you'd like to see what After Image was all about you can check out this old blog post here:

https://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/2018/11/after-image-1978.html

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Have a safe November 5th!

When I was a kid, comics showed characters being reckless with fireworks, all in the name of fun and slapstick. Not that it inspired most of us to do likewise but it was inevitable things would turn the other way and now it's very rare to even see fireworks mentioned in strips. A few years ago I managed to use the theme for a Pup Parade strip though in a positive way. This is from the Beano in 2019.

If you're celebrating Bonfire Night have a safe one, and I hope your pets will be OK.

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Another BAD PETS strip this month

There's a new Bad Pets mini-strip by me and writer Nigel Auchterlounie in the latest issue of Animal Planet Kids (No.23) which is in shops today.

It's not a magazine I contribute to every month. I'm commissioned to draw a strip now and then but it's always a mag I enjoy being in. Animal Planet Kids is a fun educational mag about animals and their environment and is a more substantial read than some kids' mags around today. 

You'll find it in newsagents and supermarkets across the UK.  

https://www.animalplanetmagazine.com/subscribe/

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