More from Dimension X

Here's a preview of a couple more panels I drew for Team Toxic in Dimension X that appears in Toxic No.261, out this week. 

Toxic has been in published since 2002 and I'm proud to say my work has appeared in every issue. Quite a few imitations of Toxic have come and gone over the years but it still remains the top selling boys magazine. I suppose the moral of that story is: Don't imitate, innovate!   

Toxic No.261, on sale 30th September from newsagents and supermarkets. 

Preview: Team Toxic in Dimension X

Here's an advance preview of next week's Team Toxic story in which the Team journey into Dimension X! Basically I gave myself the opportunity to draw various weird aliens like this one. I love creating weird and (hopefully) funny creatures like this. 

You can see what happens next in Toxic No.261, on sale in newsagents and supermarkets from Wednesday 30th September. 

Grindhouse-hunting

Copies of the controversial Grindhouse No.8 are banned in Canada but they're now getting into UK comic shops. I've no idea how well it's distributed though, but my nearest Forbidden Planet had one yesterday. It's published in a sealed plastic bag because of its sexually graphic story by Alex De Campi and John Lucas, but my back page strip (which isn't sexually graphic but does feature Satan) can be seen through the polybag. Milo Manara art on the front cover, comic strip by me on the back cover. What a team-up. :-)

Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out No.8. Published by Dark Horse. $3.99 (about £3.15 in UK comic shops). A digital edition is also available from the Dark Horse Comics app and Comixology.

Next event: Comic Con Leicester!

The next show I'll be attending will be Comic Con Leicester on Sunday 11th October at Athena, Queen Street, Leicester LE1 1QD. 

As Leicester was my grandad's birthplace I've always had a soft spot for the place so I'm looking forward to revisiting the city. Other guests include talented comics artist/writer Rachael Smith, Dark Pond Creations, and SFX makeup artist Stuart Conran amongst others.

The Comic Con Leicester webpage is here:
http://www.comicconleicester.co.uk/

You can find out more info at the convention Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/846357075452460/

Octobriana!

Here's an illustration of Octobriana that I did recently for a new book about the character which has been published by Kult Creations. Who is Octobriana? An underground character that has been around for years and, unusually, is in the public domain. Truly a woman of the people. 

John A. Short has researched the background of this fascinating character and has revealed all in his excellent book Octobriana: The Underground History, which I'll be reviewing on my other blog, Blimey!, as soon as I've had time to read it all.

For the moment though I thought I'd show you my contribution to the book, in its original black and white form. For the published version, John has added colour and some amusing text. Buy the book to see it! 

You can find out more about Octobriana: The Underground History, and other publications by Kult Creations, by visiting their website here:
http://kultcreations.blogspot.co.uk/   

Cover by Simon Breeze

Look Who's Back!

Doctor Who returns in a new 12 part series to BBC 1 this Saturday (19th September) and the Daleks are back for the first two episodes as well! To celebrate this I've done a special Dalek-centric episode of my strip The Daft Dimension for the next issue of the official Doctor Who Magazine. 

That issue will be in the shops this Thursday (Sept. 17th) and is a bumper 100 page issue with previews of the new series, plus the regular 12 page Doctor Who comic strip and lots more. It'll be bagged with a massive free poster. Here's the bag design to look out for. Don't miss it!

Rough and ready!

I thought that some of you might be interested in seeing the rough mock up of the Brickman Returns! cover compared to the finished version. 

On the left are my rough pencils which I scanned into Photoshop in two halves. This left a shadow across the join but that didn't matter as it was just for a quick mock up for my own use so that I could determine where to place the cover text. 

As you can see, I made a few alterations to both the drawing and the cover copy before the end result.

After I'd done this rough I then finalised the pencils, inked it, and scanned it into Photoshop again so I could colour it. You'll notice that I didn't complete the characters on the left. They'd be partially obscured by captions so there was no point in drawing them in full. Anyway, at this point it was time to add colour. Firstly the flats...

...then the finished, graduated colours. It took me a while to decide on the background colour. I didn't want to leave it white, and a plain colour didn't feel right either. At one point I was thinking of going with the version seen on the left (below) but I felt that the characters would stand out better with some yellow behind them, so the one on the right was my final choice.

I added a few more stars and gnats, rejigged the logo and cover text, and the cover was done. Then it was time to send the files of the entire issue off to the printer.

The finished result looks spectacular. Full marks to UK Comics Creative for doing such a fantastic printing job! 

If you'd like to buy a copy it's available now from my online shop:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm

The first review is in, and it's over on The Oink! Blog here:
http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/brickman-returns-as-does-lew-stringer.html

A Brick-tastic week!

My thanks to every one of you who bought a copy of Brickman Returns! It's been a week since the launch at ICE and what a great response every day! I've cleared half the print run already. Admittedly that includes the ten percent of the run that are on sale or return at Nostalgia and Comics, so we'll see how that goes, but the rest have been zooming to all corners of the UK with brisk sales by post. All orders I received up to 3.00pm today have been dispatched now, with a couple more to go in the morning. Next week I'll be sending out the free copies to a few people I promised them to, and for those of you overseas who enquired about prices I'll get back to you all soon.

The photo above is of the first box of comics just before I posted off the last three copies. Don't worry if you haven't bought one yet; I have another full box of issues. Naturally, sales will slow down now after the initial demand but if you want a copy it's better to order sooner rather than later. As there's been such a great interest in the comic I will be going to a second print, but as yet I don't know how long that will take.

I'll also be working on my next self-published comic in a few months. Suburban Satanists No.1 will reprint the strips I did for Egmont Norway and Sweden in the late 1990s, in English for the first time. I'm hoping to publish that early next year. 

Anyway, back to the present and, again, many thanks to all of you who bought a copy. Your support is really appreciated.

Brickman Returns! 32 pages, full colour, quality paper. Available to order from my online shop:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm

Brickman in Birmingham Again!

It's been a busy launch week for Brickman Returns! and I'm now happy to say that copies are available from Nostalgia and Comics in Birmingham!

I'm particularly pleased about this because, not only is Nostalgia and Comics one of the best comic speciality shops in the country, it was the first shop to stock my fanzines back when I did my original one, After Image, way back in 1979. They also stocked my Brickman mini-comics in the early 1980s, so I felt very proud to see my newest creation placed upon the shelves today. 

Nostalgia and Comics was one of the first comic speciality shops to open in the UK and it's still a fantastic place to visit. It has a wide range of comics, graphic novels, and related merchandise, the shop is nicely laid out, and the staff are friendly and helpful. 

For its launch week you'll find copies of Brickman Returns! on the shelves with all the other comics that were published this week. After that it'll be in the indie comics section along with It Girl, Newstreet, and other UK independent titles.   

Nostalgia and Comics is based at 14 to 16 Smallbrook Queensway, Birmingham B5 4EN just a few minutes walk from New Street Station.  

Their official Facebook page is here:
https://www.facebook.com/NostalgiaComics

So if you're in or around Birmingham, pick up a copy of Brickman Returns! 
If you can't make it to the shop, copies are also available to buy directly from me at my website:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm

TOXIC No.260 preview

Toxic magazine is published every three weeks... and this is one of those weeks. Issue No.260, in the shops now, features another Team Toxic two pager by me. This time the Team have to deal with a new threat from space in the form of a big metal thing with feet trying to smash up the town. Hey, it's comics! Anything can happen!

Toxic No.260 is £2.99 and is available from newsagents and supermarkets across the UK now!

http://www.toxicmag.co.uk

BRICKMAN RETURNS! now available to order by post

Here's a photo of the first batch of Brickman Returns! to be sent out by post today. These are just the orders I received before 7.00a.m. today. I'll be making another trip to the post office later with another stack.

My thanks to everyone who's bought a copy so far. Obviously interest will slow down after the initial surge of orders but I'm over the moon with the response so far, with both sales at ICE and orders by mail. 

If you want a copy for yourself, you'll find ordering info over on my online shop here:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm

If you live outside the UK, e-mail me at lew.stringer@BTopenworld.com for prices to your part of the world.

I didn't get around to taking any photos at ICE at the weekend but Jon Laight has written a great piece on the show for Down the Tubes, along with a good selection of photos that he took (such as the one of me below). Visit here to see the article:
http://downthetubes.net/?p=25365

Successful launch for Brickman Returns!

Just got back today from the International Comics Expo (ICE) which took place in Birmingham at the weekend. A fantastic event that went by far too quickly. Here's a photo taken just a few minutes before the show opened, where the launch of Brickman Returns! proved to be even better than I'd anticipated. I had to replenish the stack of comics on my table twice as they practically sold out. (Don't worry; I have plenty more at home.) Tomorrow I'll add details of how to buy the comic by post.

Thanks to Shane Chebsey and his team for an excellent show. It was great to meet up with friends old and new including Mike Collins, David Leach, Staz Johnson (next to me in the photo), Nigel Parkinson, Nika Narkova, Sarah Littlehales, Dan Harrison, Jatinder Ghataora, Laura Watton-Davies, Jessica Martin, Laura Howell, Deborah Tate, Robbie Morrison, Tim Pilcher, David Bailie, Dave Taylor, Dylan Teague, David Roach, Rachael Stott, Hunt Emerson, John McCrea, Paul H. Birch, Steve Tanner and his family, Steve Pugh, Steve Yeowell, John Ross, and many others, plus no doubt obvious ones I should have remembered. 

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by my table to buy comics and/or a sketch! I really appreciate it. 

ICE, and the following day's event, Comics Uncovered, had a really positive vibe to them and are genuinely beneficial for the UK comics community and industry. I hope they'll return next year!   

https://internationlcomicexpo.wordpress.com/

BRICKMAN IS BACK! New comic launches in Birmingham on Saturday

Here it is! Brickman Returns! is fresh from the printers and will be on sale at the International Comics Expo (ICE) in Birmingham on Saturday 5th September! My oldest character is back in print with stories never before published in the UK, and in full colour too!

Who is Brickman? He's zillionaire Loose Brayne, who was stuck for something to do one night when suddenly a brick was lobbed through his window! Naturally, as it's a comic strip it instantly inspired him to become... the Brickman! Yes, it's a Batman parody, but the daftest parody you'll ever see.

The 32 page comic features:

Brickman Returns! The 20 page saga that originally ran in the USA in Image Comics' Elephantmen comic in 2006 to 2009. Now collected into one comic for the first time, the full colour adventure kicks off by recounting Brickman's origin and early days in a new spin on the old stories, before bringing us up to the present to find out what happened to our hero after the events of Brickman Begins! Co-starring Brickman's partner Tina Trowel and special guest star Combat Colin! 

Speaking of the bobble-hatted buccaneer brings us to the back up strips:

Combat Colin! A three page classic from 1989 where Colin and loyal assistant Semi-Automatic Steve first encountered their deadliest nemesis, The Brain! 

Suburban Satanists! The long-running strip that originally appeared in Norway and Sweden finally comes to the UK! The De Ville family just like to bond over their hobby. It's just that their hobby involves devil worship! 

Plus: A feature on the history of Brickman over the last 36 years!

Brickman Returns! is a limited edition, full colour, one-off 32 page comic. If you're attending ICE you can buy it directly from me for £4.50. Support British comics!  

For those of you unable to attend ICE, when I get back I'll work out the postage rate for the comic and will update this post with the details of price and how to order copies.  Review copies will also go out next week.

My thanks to Stuart and Hal at UK Comics Creative for doing a fantastic job on the printing and getting the copies to me on time. I'm really over the moon with how it's turned out! If you need a printer for your comics I thoroughly recommend them: http://www.ukcomicscreative.co.uk/

ICE to see you!

If you're attending the International Comics Expo (ICE) this Saturday in Birmingham here's where you'll find me: on the third floor, sharing a table with the mighty Staz Johnson, and alongside such mega talents as Dave Taylor, John Wagner, and more!

Hopefully... hopefully copies of Brickman Returns! will have arrived for me to launch the comic at the event. At the moment it's a race against time and the comics should be delivered to me tomorrow (Friday) before I set off to Birmingham, so let's hope for the best! 

ICE website:
http://www.thecomicsshow.co.uk/