Tomorrow (29th July) sees the publication of a Grindhouse graphic novel from Dark Horse. Amongst its contents are two of the pages I did for the comic; Kung-Fu Cheesecake and Snowmanic!
I'm proud to be part of such a fantastic collection and had a blast creating those one-off comic horror characters for the comic. If you haven't already read the stories in the monthly comic I hope you'll buy the book. Heck, buy it even if you already have the comics. It's such a great book.
You can find out more about it on my other blog here:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/grindhouse-graphic-novel-out-this-week.html
This week's Team Toxic adventure sees our heroes pursue bad guy Techno Troll to his underground lair, where they discover an entire town populated by trolls! However, the trolls are scared of something. Something big!
What dangers will Team Toxic encounter down there? Find out in Toxic No.258, on sale Wednesday 29th July in all good newsagents and supermarkets.
Last night I completed my page for the final issue of the limited series Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out, (No.8) which Dark Horse will be publishing in a couple of months. Once again it's a one-off comic-horror story for mature readers and I'll reveal more about it upon publication, but for now here's a section of one panel to (hopefully) whet your appetites.
I've thoroughly enjoyed doing these strips, as it was a good way to incorporate several of my influences into a story. (Imagine EC Comics mashed with The Beano, with the daftness turned up to 11.)
I had a great weekend at the London Film and Comic Con and you can read a bit more about it over on Blimey!, my other blog. When I arrived home on Sunday night there was a nice pile of parcels waiting including three new books I have material in....
The Dandy Annual 2016, for which I did several pages of The Smasher and Keyhole Kate.
The Beano Annual 2016, featuring three pages of Lord Snooty by me.
And all the way from the USA, the latest Grindhouse graphic novel which collects the first four issues of the current limited series, including the two humour pages I did: Kung-Fu Cheesecake and Snowmanic!
I'll be covering each book in a little more depth soon, but I currently have pressing deadlines for Doctor Who Magazine and the final issue of Grindhouse, so it's back to the drawing board for me right now!
Fifty years ago I was on holiday this week in Blackpool. There's a photo my mum took of me with my Aunt Joan and my Dad sitting outside the Ruskin guest house in Albert Road. Back then the comics I had regularly were Dandy, Beano, and TV21 (which is the comic I'm holding in the photograph).
Those early days inspired my love of comics and ignited my passion for creating my own comic strips. The six year old in that photo never knew he'd eventually contribute to those comics. Time flies? Not to me. Fifty years feels like fifty years. So many changes since then, few for the better. I remember the train journey to Blackpool that week, laughing at the Popeye strip in TV Comic, but I don't remember that photo being taken. I'm so glad my mum did capture that moment though, and many other photos of my childhood which are all priceless artifacts to me now that all the family is gone. They were happy days.
Several years ago on my other blog, I wrote about the comics that were on sale that week. You can see that post here:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/flashback-this-week-in-july-1965.html
Here's another advance preview of work I did for The Dandy Annual 2016. Yes, The Smasher is back again, in three brand new stories that I wrote, drew, coloured, and lettered. As you can see from the preview panel, in one story he's in trouble with his teacher for not doing his homework. What's his excuse? Find out when the annual is published very soon!
The annuals might not be in the shops yet but they're now available to order from The Book Depository (and perhaps other online sellers too by the time you read this). While we're waiting for them, here's a preview panel from one of the three Lord Snooty pages I have in The Beano Annual 2016. Never Be Without A Beano... Annual.
While we wait for the new Annuals to turn up in the shops, here's a panel from one of the Keyhole Kate stories I did for The Dandy Annual. I've reintroduced Kate's mad scientist Uncle, Black Hole Bert again, a character I created for last year's book. What's he up to this time? It's all to do with whatever he's hiding behind his back. Find out in The Dandy Annual 2016, on sale soon!
Here's a panel (before lettering was added) from The Nose of Doom, the latest Team Toxic story that appears in Toxic No.257, on sale in newsagents and supermarkets today. At least I think this strip will be in there. I'm too busy working on an upcoming issue to go into town to buy a copy at the moment. Anyway, that was the plan, so if you want to see how Team Toxic escape from that snot-bubble, check out the latest issue!
Remember, comics aren't just for adults. They're also for all-ages who enjoy daft plots and lunatic laughs. Support the British comics industry in all its forms.
The character of mine that most people ask to see again is Combat Colin, the bobble-hatted hero who appeared in Marvel UK's Action Force and Transformers comics in the late 1980s. This therefore is just a reminder that brand new three page Combat Colin stories appear from time to time in the award-winning digital comic Aces Weekly. All-new Combat, same old daftness!
You'll find the first one in Aces Weekly Volume 1 No.1. There's page one above. 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 meeting an old foe.
The most recent Combat Colin strip appeared in Aces Weekly Vol.16 No.6, with our heroes flying into space to avert the Ass-teroid!
Each issue of Aces Weekly also contains several other all-new strips by a variety of top comics creators. And the best bit is, each volume of seven issues will only cost you £6.99. Less than a pound a comic! It's multi-platform so you can access it on an iPad, Android tablet, PC, or Mac. If you haven't yet tried it, what's stopping you? Check it out:
http://www.acesweekly.co.uk/
