Tom Thug's Halloween (1991)

Here's an old strip of mine from the 1991 Halloween edition of Buster. Happy Halloween, readers!

The Unseen Pimple

Here's something none of you will have seen before. My original Pete and His Pimple artwork for the cover to Oink! No.53, from back in 1988. To be more specific, this is my first version, which I abandoned unfinished (as you can see) before redrawing it as the published version seen below.

The reason I rejected my first version was because I didn't feel the captions looked right. The idea was that Pete's Pimple flared up so quickly that it knocked the captions and logo aside, but I felt that my original version made it look like the captions were stuck onto the pimple. 

Anyway, I thought you'd like to see it, as a curio of the past and a look at what my pencils and inks looked like back then. 

Into Combat

I've spent the day scanning my artwork from 1988 and designing pages for Combat Colin No.2. Managed to get 20 pages done, so that's half the comic ready for print. Pleased with that. 

It's back to mainstream comics work tomorrow though, writing the script for the January issue of Toxic, and I'll be drawing it over the next few days. Winter and snow on the menu...

Combat Colin No.2 preview....

Here's a sneak preview of the opening story page for Combat Colin No.2, which I hope to publish in late November. This issue will reprint most of the half page Combat Colin stories from The Transformers that appeared in 1988/89. As you can see, I'll be reprinting two half page strips to each page, so it'll be quite a packed issue! As with the first issue, No.2 will have 40 pages, including covers. 

I'm pleased to say that I still have most of the original artwork from this period so the strips will be scanned from those pages. For the ones I don't have the art to, I'll scan from the comics. 

I'm not taking pre-orders, but issue 2 will be available to buy directly from me as soon as it's printed. Keep an eye on this blog for more updates. 
(Issue 1 is available from my website:
http://lewstringer.com/page7.htm)

Anyway, I hope you like this little preview. Right, I'll get back to scanning that artwork...

Next event...

The next show I'll be at will be Reading Comic Con on 25th and 26th November, at Rivermead Leisure Complex, Reading. Other comics guests will include David Leach, Ian Richardson, Lee Townsend, Grant Perkins and more. 

Reading Comic Con will be the last convention I'll be attending this year, and I don't have any others scheduled until next Spring, so I hope you'll come along! 

More info at their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/readingcomiccon/

Comic orders

The rock and roll lifestyle of a cartoonist. I spent Friday night catching up with comics orders for Combat Colin, Derek the Troll, and Brickman, and packaging them up to post on Monday (with some others still to do across the week). My apologies for the delays in processing your orders. Some I'd posted went missing too, so I'll send you replacements. Hopefully, all outstanding orders will be delivered by the end of next week.

Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at the masthead for Combat Colin No.2, which I still hope to bring out sometime in November. Watch this space for future developments!

As previously noted, I'm one of the guests at Loughborough Comic-Con this Sunday (22nd October) so I hope to see some of you there!
https://en-gb.facebook.com/loughboroughcomiccon2017/

Next stop: Loughborough!

This coming Sunday (22nd October) you'll find me at Loughborough Comic-Con, at Loughborough Leisure Centre. It runs from 10AM to 5PM and I'll be bringing along my comics Combat Colin, Derek the Troll, Brickman Returns as well as doing sketches. Hope to see you there! 

Convention Facebook page:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/loughboroughcomiccon2017/

Buy tickets from here:
https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Leicester/Loughborough-Leisure-Centre/Loughborough-Comic-Con-presented-by-Creed-Conventions/12973375/

In newsagents this week...

If you want to see my latest work, I have stuff in three publications this week. Toxic No.296 sees the cheeky chappie Butt-Face return for another evil scheme in Team Toxic...

Hygiene High go on a bus trip in Epic No.139 (script by Niall Murray)...

...and the 10th Doctor is under the spotlight in The Daft Dimension in Doctor Who Magazine No.518.

Epic and Toxic are both out on Wednesday 18th October, with Doctor Who Magazine out on Thursday 19th October. You'll find them in newsagents, WH Smith, various supermarkets etc. 

Great weekend at LICAF

My thanks to those of you who attended my Comics Gold talk at the Lakes International Comic Art Expo yesterday (15th October). A whirlwind tour through a condensed history of British comics, then an interesting question and answer session. Many thanks to John Freeman for co-hosting it with me, and for his invaluable experience providing more background to modern publishing. 

The whole weekend was very enjoyable, with a diverse range of guests and a good, varied selection of panels. I'll post more about it on my Blimey! blog when I have time. 

Come and see COMICS GOLD next weekend!

This coming weekend (13th to 15th October) I'll be up in Kendal, Cumbria, for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. A friendly, well-organised event that's devoted to comics. 

On Sunday, 15th October, I'll be presenting Comics Gold, along with editor/writer John Freeman. This will be a powerpoint presentation covering the highlights of the history of British comics, from the 19th Century to the present day, from Ally Sloper to Aces Weekly! Hope to see some of you there! 

There'll be a lot of guests from all over the world coming to the Lakes, and it's an honour to be amongst them once more. For more info, see the festival website here:
https://www.comicartfestival.com

The slap-up feed!

The 'slap-up feed' has been a traditional image in British comics since the beginning, often as a reward for a good deed. It stems back to the days of poverty (and, later, rationing) when a big meal was considered to be a special treat. It's still used in comics for comedic purposes and here's a detail of a panel I drew for a future issue of Toxic, with Kid Zombie stuffing his face with Pie and Chip Sarnies. As he's already dead he doesn't need to worry about his health, but you can see what happens next in Toxic No.297 when it comes out later next month.

Combat Colin in 3-D!

Mighty Mel Horton, a fine comics fan I've known for a few years now, has just completed this brilliant sculpt of Combat Colin! He's based it on the Combat Colin postcard (shown below) and I think he's done a great job! 

This is a one-of-a-kind production so I feel honoured that Mel's taken the time to do it. Thanks, Mel! 

He also runs his own blog with some interesting stuff on it so zip over there now:
http://omnyymsworld.blogspot.co.uk


Again, apologies to those of you who ordered Combat Colin No.1 recently are are waiting for it. Snowed under with work and preparing images for my presentation at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival at the moment but will send them to you soon!
http://lewstringer.com/page7.htm