Busy times

Things have become very busy around here lately with loads of work to do. I can't reveal all the strips I'm working on but I'm plowing through pencils, pens and paper at a fast rate. Current regular work includes The Beano, Toxic, Doctor Who Magazine, and Grindhouse, plus more.

Updates to my Blimey! blog are likely to be put on hold for a while but I'll still add a few quick updates to this blog as time allows. My apologies if I don't respond quickly to e-mails or comments, but please continue leaving comments on my blogs and I'll reply whenever I can. 

Deadlines loom! Back to the drawing board! 

The next Ivy the Terrible

Yesterday I showed a preview of the Ivy the Terrible strip that's in the current issue of The Beano. Now here's an advance preview of the next one, which will be out on Wednesday. Ivy gets hold of dad's new phone. It'll end in tears...

This week's Ivy the Terrible

Here's a quick preview of a panel from the Ivy the Terrible strip I drew that appears in the current Beano. Dad's struggling to get Ivy in her car seat but as usual she's giving him a terrible time. 

The latest issue sees a slight price rise to £2.20 but it's still the cheapest comic on the shelves. 36 pages of all-new funnies every Wednesday. Support the longest running British comic and Never Be Without A Beano! 

http://www.beano.com/

Zoony lives!

Here's a quick preview of the Zoony the Lazoon strip I did for the brand new issue of TV21. 

My original pencil roughs for the strip.

What!?! A new issue of TV21? B-but didn't that merge into Valiant in 1971? Yep, but for one issue only, Network have brought it back! Editor Martin Cater has professionally produced an all-new, 24 page full size paper edition of the comic as an exclusive part of Network's Supermarionation blu-ray box set, which is out now. More info on my other blog:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/tv21-no243-return-of-yesterdays.html

TV21 was my favourite comic of the sixties so to be asked to contribute to this one-shot revival was a dream come true! FAB!

Today's TOXIC preview

Here's a preview of panel one from the two page Team Toxic story I did for the latest Toxic magazine, out today. Doc Shock has a plan to tidy up his room, but it all backfires in A Small Problem. Buy the mag to see what happens next! Toxic No.245, available from newsagents and supermarkets. (And don't forget that the first Toxic Annual is also on sale now!)

New interview

John Freeman of Down the Tubes has interviewed me in advance of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival which I'll be attending this weekend. If you're interested in reading it you'll find it here:
http://downthetubes.net/?p=17702

Please excuse the huge close up photo! Hope it doesn't put you off your lunch. 

See you at the Lakes! Full details here:
http://www.comicartfestival.com/ 

Beano Halloween-o

Here's a quick preview of the Ivy the Terrible strip I drew for today's Beano! It's a special Halloween issue. A bit early, but that's the strangeness of modern publishing for you. I'm sure it all makes sense from a sales and marketing viewpoint. 

Here's the cover to look out for. A brilliant Minnie the Minx illustration by Nigel Parkinson and a logo dripping with red stuff! In the shops now!   

http://www.beano.com

History of Humour

This coming weekend I'll be at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival giving a talk on 100 years of British humour comics. (Actually, it'll be more like 130 years or more , but 100 was a rounder figure.) 

Researching the power point presentation I came to realize that it was more a case of what to leave out, than what to include, but I hope there'll be something in there for everyone. From Funny Folks to Funny Monsters, I'll be covering the history and development of UK funnies from over the years. Although I've done lots of panel discussions over the last 30 years this is my first solo presentation so I'm a bit apprehensive but I hope to see some of you there. Here's the details:
http://www.comicartfestival.com/2014/10/hundred-years-fun-lew-stringer/

There will also be many more guests at the festival over the weekend of course. A virtual who's who of comics, with many events taking place in Kendal. Here's the guest list:

You can find out all the info on events, ticket prices, venues etc at the festival website here:
http://www.comicartfestival.com/

These are the FACTS

Last week I was commissioned to write an article for an issue of Marvel Fact Files magazine, which I really enjoyed doing. I'll tell you more about it in January when the issue I contributed to is published! Meanwhile, here's a photo of some of the recent issues. It's published weekly at £2.99, although I think newsagents now only have it on standing order. (I think comic shops stock it though.) The best way of obtaining it regularly is by subscription from the Eaglemoss website:
http://marvel-factfiles.com/default.aspx

It's Daft week!

There's a few things I've worked on recently that I can't tell you about yet unfortunately but all will be revealed in the near future. Meanwhile, this coming Thursday (Oct.16th) , it's time for the next issue of Doctor Who Magazine to hit the stands. Above is a sneak preview of my Daft Dimension strip for that issue. Don't miss it! £4.99 for 84 pages of Doctor Who news, interviews, reviews, previews, and views! (Plus 12 pages of comic strip, not counting my own.)

Ivy on a trike!

Here's a preview of the Ivy the Terrible strip I drew for today's Beano, prior to it being lettered by the DC Thomson staff. The comic is the shops now for just £2. 

Anyway, it's 3.45 a.m. and I've just sent off a strip to one comic, now it's time to catch a few hours sleep before I set to work on an Ivy half pager for a future Beano. Then I have to write a feature for a magazine, and sort out images for my talk at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival on October 18th. More on that next week. Busy times!

Tom Thug on eBay

It's been a few weeks since I listed anything on eBay but I've sorted out a few items to sell. It's a bit of a Tom Thug special this week with three original pieces of artwork:

A complete half page Tom Thug strip that was drawn for Oink!, written by the late Mark Rodgers and drawn by me.

A full colour Tom Thug page for Buster from 1992. 

A pencilled Tom Thug page on layout paper. 

You can see all the items and more photos of them on my eBay page by clicking here. 

Auctions ends on Sunday 12th October. All bids appreciated. Good luck!

Latest convention news

I'm pleased to announce that I've been invited as a guest to The Birmingham Comics Festival which takes place on Saturday April 18th 2015 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground from 9am to 6pm. 

Birmingham has played host to comic conventions many times in the past (and it's where UK comic cons originated back in 1968) but I think this is the first to be held in this venue. Edgbaston Stadium has a capacity for 2,000 visitors, and 100 exhibitors are scheduled to attend, so I hope to see you there. All being well perhaps I'll even have time to publish my long-intended Derek the Troll collection by then!

For more details, visit the Festival website here:

http://www.thecomicfestival.com/

...and keep an eye on this page for more guests to be listed:

http://www.thecomicfestival.com/guests

One of the organisers is Steve Tanner, publisher of UK comics company Time Bomb Comics. Check out their website here:

http://www.timebombcomics.com/

Snooty drops by

When I did my recent run of Lord Snooty strips for The Beano there were a couple that were skipped from being published. There wasn't a problem with them. It's simply that these things happen sometimes when scheduling a comic and strips are paid for and go into the inventory pile. Anyway, this week's issue sees one of those strips published (drawn back in March) and the other unpublished one will appear in a week or two. 

It was great to work on such a classic character as Lord Snooty and I hope there'll be more in the future. 

Also in this week's issue, there's another Ivy the Terrible strip written by John Anderson and drawn by me. Dad wants to read Ivy a bedtime story but she has her own preference for books...

Loads of other all-new strips too of course, by some of Britain's best cartoonists. The Beano No.3752. Out now and still only £2.

Toxic preview

Here's a preview of part of the two-page Team Toxic strip I did for the latest Toxic that's out today. Stinkytown features 'gross humour' for kids, but I hope you'll get a chuckle out of it too. Click on the image to see it larger.

Toxic No.244, £2.99 from all good newsagents. Bagged with free cards, See-Behind-You-Sunglasses, and a sweet lolly. Look out for the golden bag shining out on the shelves...