Schedule for STC25

Here's the schedule of the starting times of events for STC25, the celebration of 25 years since the debut of Sonic the Comic. It takes place at the Fab Cafe in Manchester on Sunday 3rd June. If you're interested, there are only a few tickets left, (strictly no admission on the door) so please enquire at the Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/stconline/

In print this week...

On Wednesday 30th May, Beano No.3937 arrives in the shops, full of the usual fun. There's a new Big Eggo story in there by me, with Terry Tuff hot on the trail of the escaped ostrich. 

Then, the next day, on Thursday 31st May, Doctor Who Magazine No.526 is published, packed with features includiung an interview with actor/singer/comics creator Jessica Martin, currently appearing in Shirleymander at the Playground Theatre, London. Plus there's another Daft Dimension strip from me, and it's one of the daftest yet...

Support British comics! Don't miss these two publications this week! 

Next destination: STC25 on June 3rd

It's a busy summer for conventions and the next event I'll be at will be this coming Sunday, 3rd June, at STC25, - a celebration of Sonic the Comic!

Back in the 1990s I was a regular writer on Sonic the Comic, scripting many of the stories featuring Tails, Amy, and Sonic the Hedgehog himself. I also created supporting characters such as Tekno the Canary and Shortfuse the Cybernik, and villains such as Commander Brutus and Metamorphia. 

STC25 will be my first Sonic-themed event, and other guests will include Richard Elson, Nigel Kitching, Carl Flint, Nigel Dobbyn and Feran Rodriguez Sanchez. It takes place at the Fab Cafe, Manchester, and tickets are very limited and must be purchased in advance. (No on-the-door ticket sales.) If you're interested in attending, contact the organiser via their Facebook page at this link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1996449803730588/

Back from Wigan!

Wigan Comic Con was a well organised event! I've posted a few photos and thoughts about the day over on my Blimey! blog at the following link...

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/photos-from-wigan-comic-con-2018.html

Reviving the Troll

I started work on drawing the new Derek the Troll series today. It's going to appear exclusively in the new digital comic Goof! that will be launched at this year's Macc-Pow! convention on Saturday 23rd June. From that day onwards you'll be able to access the new monthly comic online on your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. Goof! will be an anthology comic featuring lots of single page strips from various cartoonists. The Derek series will be an ongoing serial with self contained chapters under the story title of Derek the Troll and the Quest for the Magic Whatsit!

Sign up for Goof! here:
http://www.goofcomic.co.uk

It feels good to be working on new Derek the Troll stories. He was one of the first characters I created for professional publications, way back in the mid 1980s for Games Workshops' Warlock and White Dwarf magazines. Even though I only produced a dozen pages or so back then, the character has been fondly remembered by many over the years. 

A few years ago I published a compilation of all the Derek strips (along with the complete Rock Solid, Space Hero, another early character of mine) in Derek the Troll No.1. It recently went to a second printing and you can buy copies from my webshop:
http://lewstringer.com/page7.htm

Before Macc-Pow! I have a few other conventions coming up, and one of them is this Saturday, 26th May, when I'll be a guest at Wigan Comic Con! I'll be bringing along my comics and doing sketches on request so I hope you can join us! More details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/652224921633407

Timeless journey

As I said in my previous post, today is the fifth anniversary of my mum's passing. I know she wouldn't want me to wallow, so after drawing a Big Eggo strip this morning I set off on a good long walk this afternoon of about five miles.

I love the peaceful timelessness of areas like this, with just the enjoyable tweeting of birds breaking the silence. The acres of farmland around here have changed very little since the days when my granddad worked on the land 100 years ago, and it was comforting to think he would have gazed upon similar landscapes back then. 

Back to the drawing board tomorrow!

In remembrance of my Mam

It's been five years today since my mum passed away. Always in my thoughts. I'll always treasure her kindness and selflessness and the moral support she gave me. A good, gentle woman who deserved more happiness in her life than that which fate dealt her.

You can read more about her here if you're so inclined:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/my-mam-1925-2013.html

I'll be having a quiet day of reflection today.

Coming this Wednesday...

I have two strips in print this coming week. On Wednesday 23rd May, Toxic No.306 sees Team Toxic enter a gateway to another world. Unfortunately for them it's the world of the Eye-Bots! Yes, it's a sequel to the previous issue's story, with the Eye-Bot that Doc Shock tricked now out for revenge! 

That same day sees Beano No.3936, which includes another Big Eggo strip! This time, Big Eggo hides out in a school. What happens next? Find out on Wednesday!

Combat Colin No.3 news update

My thanks to everyone who's bought a copy of the first two issues of Combat Colin (which are still available here). My initial plan was to bring out No.3 in mid-May, but due to commitments on my other strips, and fighting off a virus, that won't be possible now. 

So... the new plan is to publish Combat Colin No.3 in late June to mid-July. I'll be starting on it soon, so that should be achievable. This issue may include one or two special back up features, which I'll keep under wraps for now. 

I will of course be posting exclusive updates about the comic on this blog and on my Facebook page: 
https://en-gb.facebook.com/lewstringercartoonist/

In the meantime, above is a preview of the first strip in issue 3, which introduces Headline Howard, ace reporter for the Wednesday Wart! Originally published in The Transformers No.226, back in July 1989.

Upcoming conventions

Here's the complete list of the rest of the conventions I'll be attending this year. Hope to see you at some of them!

WIGAN COMIC CON

Saturday 26th May 2018

https://www.facebook.com/WigancomicconNWCCEvents/

STC25

Sunday 3rd June 2018

Fab Café, Manchester

https://www.facebook.com/stconline/

WYTHENSHAWE COMIC CON,

South Manchester

9th June 2018

https://www.facebook.com/wythenshawecomiccon/

MACC-POW! No.3

Saturday 23rd June 2018

Macclesfield.

http://maccpow.co.uk

LONDON FILM AND COMIC CON

27th - 29th July 2018

Olympia, London

https://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com

TF NATION

17th, 18th, 19th August 2018.

Metropole Hotel,

NEC,

Birmingham

https://tfnation.com/2018/

NICE 2018

1st/2nd September 2018

Bedford Corn Exchange,

Bedford

https://nicecon.co.uk

ICE 2018

Saturday 15th September

Birmingham.

https://internationlcomicexpo.wordpress.com

TFNation for August!

As most of you know, Combat Colin originally appeared as a back-up strip in Marvel's Transformers comics of the 1980s. I'm pleased to say it's just been announced that I'll be one of the guests at TF Nation, a Transformers convention, that takes place over the weekend of August 17th to 19th at the Hilton Metropole hotel, Birmingham. 

You can find out more details, buy tickets, and see who the other guests are, at the wonderfully slick TFNation website:

https://tfnation.com/2018/

Preview: the next Big Eggo strip

As I mentioned over on my Blimey! blog, I'm resting that blog for a few weeks but I'll continue to post updates about my own work here. Above is a preview of the upcoming Big Eggo strip for the Beano. Terry Tuff has wheels now, so how can Big Eggo outrun a sports car? Find out this Wednesday when Beano No.3935 goes on sale!

Preview: This month's Hygiene High

I've just received my complimentary copy of Epic No.146 so here's a quick preview of the strip I drew for it. Hygiene High, written by Niall Murray with art by me, is about a classroom of stinky schoolkids, - and this month they bring their stinky pets to school. Chaos ensues as always and you can see the full story when the issue hits the shops on Wednesday 16th May. 

It's bagged with a bunch of gifts and here's the package to look out for in your local newsagents and supermarkets...

Oldham Comic Con 2 (UPDATED)

I regret to say I won't be able to attend Oldham Comic Con this Saturday. This flu bug has the better of me and between falling asleep and feeling yuk I've dropped behind schedule with work. 

I'm really sorry to let down the organisers and to miss meeting up with old (and new) friends. Sounds like it's going to be a brilliant event, so I hope you all have a great day there! See you soon at another show hopefully.

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/oldhamcomiccon/

Big Eggo on the run

Here's a tiny preview of this week's Big Eggo strip. To show any more would ruin the joke, but to find out what twists and turns the story takes, pick up the Beano No.3934, on sale Wednesday 9th May.

See you at a NICE convention in September!

I'm very pleased to reveal that I'll be one of the guests at NICE 2018, a comics convention in Bedford over the weekend of 1st and 2nd September. I've heard good things about this convention that's dedicated to comics so I'm looking forward to my first visit. Hope to see some of you there too!

Here's the link to find out more info and to see the impressive guest list so far...

https://nicecon.co.uk/#hero

Derek the Troll set to return

Next month we'll see the debut of a brand new online humour comic for all ages, and part of its line up of strips will be Derek the Troll, which I'm bringing back in a new series. 

The comic will be called Goof!, published by cartoonist Marc Jackson, and its release coincides with the Macc-Pow! convention in Macclesfield on Saturday 23rd June. 

As most of you know, Derek the Troll was a character I created over 30 years ago for Warlock and White Dwarf magazines, published by Games Workshop. In 2016 I published a complete collection of his adventures (and that comic has just gone to a second printing). You can buy copies from my shop here:
http://lewstringer.com/page7.htm

The all-new, all-colour Derek the Troll series in Goof! will see the affable but stinky troll embark on a quest. Each full page episode will be self contained but will advance the plot, with Derek getting closer to his destination, encountering dangers on the way. 

You can read more about Goof! and see previews of the other characters over on my Blimey! blog here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/get-ready-to-goof.html

Thanks again!

I'm just about to post another pile of comics orders. Thanks for your continued support of my work, folks! These should arrive at their destinations tomorrow morning.

If you're interested in my comics, you can buy them directly from me:
http://lewstringer.com/page7.htm

Tom Thug is 32

On this day in 1986, Oink! No.1 arrived in newsagents across the land. It had been preceded by a 'Preview Issue' (composed of material we'd done for the dummy issue) which was given away free with other IPC comics the week before. Now, on May 3rd 1986, it was time for Oink! to prove it could stand on its own four trotters.

IPC may have wanted a junior Viz type comic, but what we delivered was a cheeky comic inspired by Mad magazine, Wham! comic, and a general irreverence. It ran for two and a half years, which was longer than many comics that had preceded it, and wasn't considered a failure by IPC. 

I've previously shown in detail the origins of my Tom Thug character and his strip from the Oink! Preview Issue (click here) so this time I'm showing the first regular Tom Thug strip from Oink! No.1. 

The idea behind Tom Thug wasn't for him to be yet another Dennis the Menace anti-hero but to portray him as the thick bully he was. Tom was the villain, and readers could enjoy seeing his bullying backfire every issue. My hope was it'd be some sort of catharsis for any readers who were bullied at school... and give them a laugh at the same time. 

They were happy days, working for Oink!. I contributed to every issue, special and annual. Not just with Tom Thug, but later with Pete and his Pimple, Pigswilla, various one-offs, and writing scripts for others to draw (such as Ham Dare with Malcolm Douglas, and Hog of the Baskervilles with Ron Tiner). I was fortunate that Tom Thug proved popular enough to transfer over to Buster when Oink! ended, and continued there for many years. 

Does it feel like 32 years ago since I bought this comic from my local WH Smith? Yes, of course, considering all the things that happen in one's life it feels like a very long time ago. Happy memories though!  

You can find out more about Oink! by visiting Phil Boyce's fantastic Oink! and Beyond Blog right here:

http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/p/relive-oink.html