Dog detective

If my Pup Parade pages are running in the order I drew them, this week's Beano should feature a story about Sniffy finding a magnifying glass. Here's a preview of a panel above. 

Never Be Without A Beano! On sale Wednesday 1st June!

Don't miss out!

I'll be bringing along copies of Brickman Returns! to Lancaster Comics Day on Sunday but for those of you who aren't attending you can still buy copies from me by post! Brickman Returns! is a sequel to the previous collection, Brickman Begins! (also still available) but it's also a self contained story in its own right.

Brickman Returns! is a 32 page full colour comic on top quality paper featuring 20 pages of my Batman parody Brickman, a 3 page Combat Colin classic from the 1980s, and 3 pages of The Suburban Satanists, plus a two page feature on the history of the characters.

The first print has sold out but I still have copies of the second printing. Don't miss out! You can order Brickman Returns! (and the previous book, Brickman Begins!) directly from me from my online shop via PayPal:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm   

See you on June 5th!

Another quick reminder that it's the Lancaster Comics Day next Sunday, 5th June. If you're visiting the area or live near there, drop by and enjoy the day. I'm hoping to get at least another mini-print done by then but deadlines are looming on mainstream comics work so we'll see! Anyway, see you next Sunday!
https://lancastercomicsday.wordpress.com/

In print this week...

The Daft Dimension

Here's a rundown of the work I have in print this week. First off, as you've no doubt heard already, it's the record-breaking 500th issue of Doctor Who Magazine today. (I was at a function in London last night where it was awarded 'Longest running magazine based on a TV series' by the Guinness Book of Records.) This is a real bumper package, with the regular magazine boosted from 84 to 116 pages plus an additional 116 page souvenir mag, free stickers, and a giant poster. The strip content is increased too, with a new 20 page 12th Doctor strip (with art by Dave Gibbons, Mike Collins, Roger Langridge, John Ridgway and more), a new full pager by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett, a Doctor Whoa! strip by Baxter, and a full page Daft Dimension strip from me. Published by Panini at £9.99.

Also out now is Toxic No.172 from Egmont, featuring the return of the tree monster from the previous issue. Can Doc Shock and his Team Toxic hatch a plan to stop it? 

Team Toxic

Last but never least is The Beano No.3836 for £3.50 which comes bagged with two great gifts; a big map of Beanotown and specially made binoculars. (A cardboard gift, created just for this issue, like free gifts of old.) For this issue I did a full page Pup Parade and, sadly, the last in this series of Rasher mini-strips. Hopefully the ever-hungry pig will return again. I really enjoyed doing those strips. 

Pup Parade

Rasher

Doctor Who Magazine! Toxic! Beano! All available from a newsagent or supermarket near you now!

Programme of events for Lancaster Comics Day

I blummin' love comics conventions and always appreciate being invited to them. Let's face it, if it hadn't been for people organizing comics events (going back to Phil Clarke and Steve Moore organizing the first con in 1968) there wouldn't even be a comics community in the UK. It's great to meet the readers, see old friends in the industry, and make new contacts. This year I'm doing a mammoth 12 events and the seventh will be Lancaster Comics Day on Sunday 5th June. 

Organizer John Freeman has unveiled the day's programme of events and it promises to be an interesting show. Here we go...

Sunday 5th June 2016

Panels Programme

12:00 PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE: A Barrel of Laughs? Humour Comics with Tim Quinn, Lew Stringer, Joe Matthews, chaired by John Freeman

An affectionate look at British humour comics past and present, from The Beano and The Dandy to VIZ. Inevitably, we’ll be asking where next for humour comics and comics in general- expect some dangerous optimism!

13:30 Superheroes and the Unexpected with Andy Diggle, Alex Paknadel  Sean Phillips and Tom Ward, chaired by John Freeman

Discussing ‘adventure’ comics – from superheroes to thrillers. What’s the current state of play – are we well beyond the dominance of superheroes on the comic shop shelf or do they still command? With DC Rebirth in full swing this June, what’s the prognosis – and how important is the growing self publishing movement utilising new ways of creating comics through Kickstarter and other means?

14:30 Worlds Beyond: SF, Fantasy and Games with authors AS Chambers, J.S. Collyer, Eddie Robson and Ken Walton, chaired by AS Chambers

Local Lancaster author AS Chambers leads a panel discussing the state of SF and Fantasy, joined by SF author JS Collyer and games designer Ken Walton. What’s happening in the worlds of Publishing and self publishing? Which authors are shaking up the industry? Find out what these local creators have been working on on!

15:30 Celebrating Doctor Who Magazine with Adrian Salmon, Lew Stringer and Tim Quinn and John Freeman

With Doctor Who Magazine reaching its landmark 500th issue this year we look back – and forwards – to Doctor Who in print with contributors past and present to the much-loved title.

In the Main Library

Expect comic creators, publishers, comics for sale, comic cake (thanks to Katie White) and a lot  more – and the team from theLakes International Comic Art Festival on hand to reveal the latest news about our their event in October in Kendal (14th – 16th October 2016)

For Kids

Preston-based comics artist and publisher Graham Pearce will be back to run his popular workshops for kids, and we’ll also be offering some comic hero-inspired face painting!

Games Galore!

Don’t miss our dedicated gaming room run by Sam Phillips of House Lancaster Gaming Group!

Lancaster Comics Day – Small and imperfectly formed!

For more info on the event, visit the website:

https://lancastercomicsday.wordpress.com/

Manchester pix

Best cosplay of the weekend in my opinion. 

Here's a few photos from the Manchester Film and Comic Con that took place over the weekend at Event City. My thanks to Cassandra Conroy and the team for the organization and their hospitality and to everyone who stopped by my table. It was also good to catch up with fellow comics folk Lee Sullivan, Dave Windett and his brother Paul, John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, El Torres, Bambos Georgiou, Gary Whiltlock, John Royale, John Jackson, and Dan Whitehead and his family. 

The next comics event I'm attending is Lancaster Comics Day on Sunday 5th June. More info here:
https://lancastercomicsday.wordpress.com/

Brick-Manchester this weekend!

This weekend I'll be at the Manchester Film and Comic Con with copies of Brickman Begins, Brickman Returns and, my latest offering, a new Combat Colin mini-print.

The print is postcard-size and features a new illustration of Combat Colin and Semi-Automatic Steve done exclusively for this item. They'll also be available to buy from my online shop at a later date but for now the only place to get them will be from me at a convention. Other prints will follow soon! 

See you in Manchester on Saturday/Sunday:
http://www.filmandcomicconmanchester.com/ 

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Next week will see the publication of Doctor Who Magazine No.500. A fantastic bumper issue full of special items. I have a full page Daft Dimension strip in there and there's some brilliant stuff from other comics creators too. More info on this next week!

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

After Manchester, my next convention will be Lancaster Comics Day on Sunday June 5th! More details soon!

This week's Pup preview

It seems the Pup Parade strips are being published a little out of sequence, so the one I previewed the other day has yet to appear. No matter though, as there's no continuity between them. Here's a panel from the strip that I'm told actually appears in today's Beano. I haven't had chance to buy it yet. Too busy drawing a Pup Parade for a future issue! 

Pup Parade preview: Bin Gone!

Here's a preview of an upcoming Pup Parade page that hopefully will be in this week's Beano (on May 18th). The Pup's famous dustbin is missing! What happens next? Find out by buying The Beano! 

Arrival!

Photo © Paul Trimble.

Here's a great photo of our arrival in Belfast last week before boarding the bus behind us for the journey to Enniskillen for the Comic Fest. 
Left to right:
Jenika Ioffreda, Matt Brooker (AKA D'Israeli), Hunt Emerson, Steve Yeowell, Pete Doherty, Phil Winslade, Lew Stringer, Laura Howell, Alan Grant, Clint Langley, Sue Grant. 

A good time was had by all! Thanks again to the mighty Paul Trimble and his team for making us so welcome. 

Comics and music this July

Nice to see this ad in the current issue of SFX magazine for the Shrewsbury International Comic Art Festival. An interesting line up of guests from the comics industry plus some pop stars from the hit parade. (Showing my age there.) 

It takes place from Friday 15th July to Sunday 17th July. For more details and tickets, visit the website:
http://www.thecomicsshow.co.uk/Shrewsbury-Comic-Art-Festival.htm

Captain Hamerica

Deliberately planned to coincide with Captain America: Civil War being in the cinema, in this week's Beano I have Rasher dreaming of being Captain Hamerica!

There's no Pup Parade this week unfortunately for some reason, but they do have several episodes in stock (and I've just sent off another) so the series will run for a few weeks yet at least. Hopefully it'll be back next week. 

Back from the Comic Fest!

Batwoman (Joanne Alexander) and some bloke who looks like a darts player.

The Enniskillen Comic Fest was fantastic! My thanks to Paul Trimble and his dedicated team for their warm hospitality over the weekened. Myself and the other guests were well looked after from the moment we arrived in Northern Ireland to the time we left. 

With my traveling companions Laura Howell, Hunt Emerson, Steve Yeowel, Matt Brooker, and Phil Winslade we arrived at Belfast International airport on Thursday evening to be greeted by festival organizer Paul Trimble and his daughter Laura. Then we met up with other guests Jenika Ioffreda, Alan and Sue Grant, Clint Langley, Ryan Brown, and Pete Doherty, and were transported to Enniskillen in a hen night party bus. Which was a first for me I must say. thankfully we all resisted any urge to do some pole dancing. 

The Comic Fest was very much an event for the community and on Friday Laura Howell, Davy Francis, and myself were taken to a local primary school to give a talk and presentation about the basics of creating a comic page. Afterwards we did some fast sketching various Beano characters for the children. The class was very attentive and well behaved; a credit to their school. On Friday night all the guests were taken out for a slap-up feed and a few drinks at the nearby Wetherspoons.  

Saturday was the day of the festival and there was a busy number of attendees. My thanks to all who stopped by my table for a sketch, comic, or just to chat. It was great to finally meet Andy Boal (one of the admins of the Comics UK forum) and meet many others I'd only previously 'met' online. Nice to meet new friends too, including cosplayers who are genuine comics fans and homegrown creators such as Katie O'Kane. It was brilliant to meet up again with my old Oink! pal Davy Francis. A perfect way to end Oink's 30th anniversary week. (Yes, it's been 30 years since Oink! was launched. See my tribute here:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/oink-30-piggin-years.html )

On Saturday night, with the successful festival over, we were again all taken out for a meal, and ended the evening at a nearby hotel to relax with a few drinks.

On mid-day on Sunday it was back aboard the party bus for the trip to the airport and an early night when I arrived home. All in all, a truly memorable and enjoyable weekend. Thanks again to the organizers, fans, and fellow guests for making it such a blast. 

Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Enniskillen-Comic-Fest-1030761763641321/

My only regret is I didn't take more photos, but here are the few I did. You'll find other pics online by other guests, which I'll link to later. 

It's Davy Francis!

Beano / Regular Show comic artist Laura Howell!

Cosplayers!

Iron Man!

Movie blockbusters collide! Iron Man v Batman!

Cosplayer Joanne Alexander as Marshal Law!

In print this week...

A great thing about The Beano is that the characters can interact in different strips. For the readers this gives a greater sense of the characters existing in one town (Beanotown of course) and for the artists it gives us a chance to draw characters we wouldn't normally do. Therefore I thought I'd put Walter as a guest star in my Pup Parade strip in this week's issue. 

The Beano No.3833, out today, £2.50.

Over in Toxic, there's a new monster threat in the form of a tree creature with a bum-shaped fruit on its branch. Anything can happen in comics, and I try to make Team Toxic as daft as possible. 

Toxic No.271, bagged with some great gifts, out now, £3.99.

TOXIC No.271 preview

On sale this Wednesday, Toxic No.271 features another two-page Team Toxic adventure written and drawn by me. It's Alive! sees Team Toxic encounter a tree creature and the return of an old foe! 

Toxic No.271, on sale from newsagents and supermarkets on May 4th!

Comic Fest this weekend!

I'll be in Northern Ireland on Friday 6th May and Saturday 7th May for the Enniskillen Comic Fest! It's my first visit so I'm looking forward to meeting readers who may have been unable to get over for the shows in England. There'll be lots of other comic guests there too of course including Laura Howell, Phil Winslade, Glenn Fabry, Davy Francis and more! 

Check out the event's Facebook page for more details:
https://www.facebook.com/Enniskillen-Comic-Fest-1030761763641321/