London Comic Festival 2024

Photo by Nigel Wolfin.

 

My thanks to Tony Lee, Amy McGarry-Thickitt , Antony McGarry-Thickitt for the invite to the very enjoyable London Comic Festival at the weekend, part of the London Film and Comic Con at Olympia. As well as their hard work running the event, they always made sure guests were looked after and their thoughtfulness was much appreciated. 

Photo by Colin Maxwell.

 

The major highlight for me this year was being inducted into the London Comic Festival Hall of Fame. An award I'll treasure for the rest of my life. It came as a complete surprise when event organiser Tony Lee made the presentation at the end of a panel discussion on Saturday morning. 

Tony Lee, David Leach, Rachael Smith, me, and Irma Page.

 

The London Film and Comic Con has always invited comics creators from all genres of comics, and always treated humour comics with the same respect as the more "serious" comics so it felt very uplifting to receive an award for my 40 years in the business. Other award winners this year were editor Shelley Bond, artist Simon Bisley, and TV presenter Peter Purves.

 

With actor, artist, entertainer and good friend Jessica Martin. Photo by Nigel Wolfin.

It was a great three day event that may have been a bit smaller than previous summer shows but still filled a massive hall at Olympia with a good balance of comic creators, actors, and exhibitors. Everyone I spoke to at my table said they were enjoying the show. Thanks to all who bought a sketch, a comic, or just wanted to chat. 

Combat Colin No.5 was launched at the show on Friday morning and sold well over the weekend. For those who couldn't make it, it'll be available from my eBay store tonight from 7pm.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47 

 

The new all-ages comic LoLz was also launched at the show. The new comic from The77 Publications that includes an all new Derek the Troll page by me. You can order it from this link:

https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/product/lolz

With Ben Cullis, publisher of LoLz and other comocs from The77 stable.

 

A big part of any convention is catching up with friends and meeting new people. It was an absolute pleasure to spend time with Emma Vieceli , Jessica Martin and Nigel, David Leach , Petra Manley-leach, Mike Collins , Bernadette Vella, Aly Fell and Rosie, Ian Richardson, Rachael Smith, Peter Hogan and Ellie, Sonia Leong , Nigel Parkinson , Pau Scorpi , Robert Rankin, Rachel Rankin-Hayward , Kit Cox , Irma Page , Mark Buckingham , Steve Tanner , Dave West, Colin Maxwell, Gary Erskine , Yel Zamor , Lee Townsend , Kev Sutherland , Pye Parr , Rob Williams, Ben Cullis , Andrw Sawyers , Marc Laming , Leonard Sultana , Joel Meadows, Hamish Steele, Stephen Baskerville , and many more I've bound to have forgotten in my post-convention weariness. 

I've been going to comic cons for 45 years (40 as a guest) and the positivity, laughs, genuine friendship and mutual respect at the shows are always uplifting. The best of times. 

Here are a few photos taken over the weekend. As always I wish I'd taken more but we were busy and there wasn't always the right moment but I did manage to snap these...

Commando writer Colin Maxwell cosplaying as Combat Colin!

Super artist/writer and good pal Rachael Smith.

Writer Kit Cox

Legendary writer Roberty Rankin and his wife Rachel Rankin-Hayward.

 

It's Dennis the Menace artist Nigel Parkinson!

 

Superb artist Pau Scorpi.

 

Dave West and Steve Tanner of Time Bomb Comics

 

Joel Meadows, publisher of Tripwire magazine

Out for a meal with Peter Hogan and Ellie, David Leach and Petra Manley-Leach on Saturday night.

Early Sunday morning before the crowds arrived.

 

The amazing roof of the Olympia hall.

I've no definite plans for more shows this year as yet but I'll announce them on this blog if there are developments.

 

Ready for COMBAT COLIN No.5?

This Friday, COMBAT COLIN No.5 will debut at the London Comic Festival (London Film and Comic Con) at Olympia. Available *exclusively* from my table all weekend. (Not available in shops or from other traders.) I'm only bringing along 20 or 25 copies so first come, first served. (I'll also have copies of issues 3 and 4 and other stuff.)
Don't worry if you miss out, as more will be on sale on my eBay listings from Monday! (UPDATE: It'll be Tuesday evening now at 7pm.) - And if they sell out I'll have more soon!

This issue reprints all the Combat Colin strips from Marvel UK's Transformers comic Nos.284 to 311 (1990/91) and includes Megabrain invading the Earth, the Secret Origin of Combat Colin, RoboCol, The Bobble Hat of Doom, and more! 

See you at the London Comic Festival (part of the London Film and Comic Con) from Friday 5th July to Sunday 7th July! 

 

The LONDON COMIC FESTIVAL is coming this July!

I'm very pleased to announce that I'll be returning to Olympia again this summer as a guest at the London Comic Festival, part of the London Film and Comic Con! It's a three day event stretching from Friday 5th July to Sunday 7th July! 

There'll be more guests announced soon but so far there's Emma Vieceli, Rachael Smith, Mark Laming, Mike Collins, Nigel Parkinson, Paul Cornell, Simon Williams and many more! Plus loads of actors too of course including Marina Sirtis, David Boreanaz, Sophie Aldred, Colin Baker and numerous others!

I always enjoy this show and its energy, meeting readers and hanging out with my comics pals. Hope to see you there! 

More info:

https://londonfilmandcomiccon.com/guests-main/guests-comic-creators/

London in July

Very pleased to be returning to one of my all-time favourite conventions this summer! I'll be alongside this impressive assembly of top comics creators including some great friends of mine I haven't seen for a long time. (Even more guests to be added soon!)

LFCC (London Film and Comic Con) at Olympia over three days July 7th-9th. See you there?

https://londonfilmandcomiccon.com/ 

*****************

Con Cancellation

With deep regret I'm afraid I'm unable to attend the London Film and Comic Con this coming weekend. I have to meet deadlines and I'm running behind schedule. I often take pages with me to events, to draw between meeting readers, but with the best will in the world I still wouldn't get as much done as I would if I stayed at home. 

With juggling so many events and deadlines this year I suppose it was inevitable that it'd affect things eventually. Work has to take priority in these situations and I couldn't risk being away for four days at the moment. My apologies to everyone who was hoping to see me there.

The next event I'll be at will be the Bristol Comic Expo on Saturday 6th August. A one-day event. For more info, see here:

https://bicsevents.wordpress.com/

By the way, if you're at the Manchester MCM con this weekend, my Beano pals Nigel Parkinson and Nika Nartova will be selling copies of my Brickman Returns! comic for me. Drop by and say hello.

See you at the weekend!

It's the London Film and Comic Con at Olympia this weekend. I have several deadlines coming up over the next few days so it's looking likely that I'll only be there on Saturday all day and will be leaving before the event ends on Sunday. I hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone but, if you get there after I've left, get in touch and I'll see if we can arrange something by post.

For those of you attending, see you there!
http://www.londonfilmandcomicconspring.com/

Two weeks and counting...

Just under two weeks to go until the London Film and Comic Con at Olympia on Feb 27th/28th. I'm doing a lot of conventions this year and this is just the start of my 'road trip'. As you can see above, I'm in good company! I hope to see some of you there! 

Booking details etc:
http://www.londonfilmandcomicconspring.com/

Next stop: London

I had a very enjoyable day at the Collectormania event at Milton Keynes yesterday and you can read all about it over on my Blimey! blog here:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/cool-day-at-collectormania.html

The next show I'll be at will be the London Film and Comic Con at Olympia on 17th to 19th July. My name hasn't been added to the website yet but I can confirm I'm on the guest list. Having attended the London show in the previous two years I'm looking forward to that. 

You can find out more details and see the impressive guest list here:
http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/ 

Back from London

I had a great time at the London Film and Comic Con on Saturday. You can read a fuller report of my day over on my other blog here:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/aces-weekly-wins-award-for-best-digital.html

I really enjoyed meeting enthusiastic readers who had grown up on comics such as Oink! and Transformers and it was fun to sketch some of my old characters for them such as the Combat Colin one shown above. My thanks to all of you who stopped by for a chat, sketch, and/or book. It really makes it all worthwhile for a comic creator to know that the work is appreciated.

The event was incredibly busy. Certainly the most well attended show I've ever been to in over 30 years, with estimates of over 120,000 attendees. To see the huge scale of the event, Rich Johnston of the Bleeding Cool website filmed a short video as he walked from one end of the show to the other. It's quite a whirlwind tour. I appear as a blur sitting at my table around 5mins 55 seconds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph3ifiaZ_Go&feature=youtu.be

The next show I'll be at will be ICE, the International Comic Expo in Birmingham on August 2nd. This will be a smaller and more comics-focused event, so I hope to see you there!

See you in London?

It's the London Film and Comic Con this weekend so this is just a reminder that I'll be there on Saturday only. As usual I'm in a bit of a rush at the last minute with work still to complete before I go, so I'm not sure what I'll be bringing with me. Copies of my 2005 book Brickman Begins! most definitely, and possibly small pages of original artwork from Robo Capers and Team Toxic if I sort some out. 

I'll be available at my table for sketches of my characters on request of course, reasonably priced. If you just want your comics signed, that's free. 

Please drop by for a chat and a sketch if you're attending the show. It'll be good to see old friends or put faces to names. Below is a photo from last year, taken at a deliberately wonky angle by Debbie Tate. I might even be wearing the same shirt again (summer shirts don't get much wear in the UK) but the angle probably won't be as wonky. 

Here's the convention website with all the details. Tons of guests this year, including the legendary Stan Lee making his final UK convention appearance:
http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/

London in July

I'm listed for another convention date this summer: the London Film and Comic Con on 12th July 2014 at Earls Court 2. I'll be there as part of Aces Weekly's "caravan tour", - although I don't think it means we're arriving like a circus. 

There'll be a whole bunch of fellow Aces there too of course, as you can see from the flyer shown above. Come along for a chat, a sketch, and, if you're not a subscriber already, to subscribe to Aces Weekly! Oh, and a guy by the name of Stan Lee will be a guest too. You may have heard of him.

The event lasts the whole weekend although I'm there for Saturday only. Full details at the London Film & Comic Con website:
http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/news/247-aces-weekly-caravan-tour

For more info on Aces Weekly visit this site:
http://www.acesweekly.co.uk/

Good Show!

 I had a great time at the London Film and Comic Con yesterday at Earl's Court 2. Spent most of the day sketching and chatting to readers (good to put faces to names I'd only known on Facebook), and reacquainting with old pals, some of whom I hadn't seen for several years. Good to meet up with my Beano pal Nigel Parkinson, David Leach, Debbie Tate, Robbie Morrison, David Lloyd, Yel Zamor, Simon Williams, Roger Langridge, Rian Hughes and more. 

Thanks to Mike Conroy and his daughter Cassandra for the invite and to the friendly LFCC Crew. Also thanks to Huw J for hosting the humour comics panel. 

LFCC was the first big comics event I've attended for a few years and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Really nice to meet readers who had grown up on Tom Thug, Combat Colin and Sonic the Comic! Hope to do more in the future. 

I was hoping to feature more photos from the event but I don't think I had the right settings on my new camera so the pics didn't turn out too well. Here's a few shots anyway of the crowds who were there. Busy day, as you can see! And the show continues today. Enjoy yourselves!

UPDATE 11/7/2013: It was great to meet up with Deborah Tate and Robbie Morrison again after many years. Deb was my editor on Sonic the Comic back in the Nineties and we used to have a good laugh discussing the scripts as well as putting the world to rights. Here we are last Saturday at the event...

London!

All being well I'll be at the London Film and Comic Con this Saturday (July 6th). The event actually runs all weekend but I'll be only there one day, probably rubbing shoulders with Eve Myles and Katy Manning. Or more likely I'll be at the Aces Weekly table doing a few sketches. Apparently I'm on a humour comic panel at 11.30am with the mighty David Leach and the incredible Roger Langridge. Drop by for a chat!

http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/