Published this week...

This week sees Big Eggo feeling the effects of the current hot weather in Beano No.3941, on sale Wednesday 27th June!

The following day, on Thursday 28th June, Doctor Who Magazine No.527 features another Daft Dimension strip by me. This time the focus is on fan-friction! (Not a typo.)

Remember that Goof! No.0 is now available and includes the start of an all-new Derek the Troll series! This online monthly comic costs just £1 an issue and you'll find out all the info here:
https://www.goofcomic.co.uk/about

Happy reading! 

Next stop: Macclesfield!

Next stop on the convention circuit this year will be Macc-Pow! this Saturday, 23rd June at Macclesfield Town Hall. This one's a bit special because the event will be launching Goof!, a brand new online anthology comic, and many of the contributors will be in attendance. 

Goof! will include the return of my Derek the Troll character in an all-new series, so jump on board when issue No.0 becomes available this weekend. 

Goof! is published by Marc Jackson, and here's what he had to say about the launch...

"This weekend sees the launch of GOOF! issue zero, it’s like issue one, but it comes just before it! Like a bonus issue! More comics, fantastic! Featuring a feast of funnies created by an international line-up of cartoonists, all coming together to create something unique. At just £12 for 12 30 page issues, you’d be crazy to not sign-up and if you sign-up in person at MACC-POW! this Saturday www.maccpow.co.uk then you get it for just £10!! Holy WOW! Only a GOOF! could come up with that idea! Don’t miss out, make yours GOOF! This Saturday!"

https://www.goofcomic.co.uk

Macc-Pow! will also see David Leach and myself being interviewed by Jessica Kemp on our careers in comics, so that'll be a laugh... hopefully! 

You can read more about Goof!, and see some preview images, on my Blimey! blog here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2018/06/goof-brand-new-comic-out-this-saturday.html

35 Years in Comics

This month marks 35 years since I had my first work published in a professional comic. The title was Marvel UK's The Daredevils and the job was a pocket cartoon entitled What If Iron Man Really Lived up to his Name?

Looking at it now, the style is crude and the gag very lame, but seeing it in print back in 1983 gave me a huge boost to my self esteem. At the time I was on the dole, having quit a dead-end office job, and had been trying to break into comics for a couple of years with no luck. (In retrospect it's understandable I made no initial headway because my work simply wasn't professional standard then.)

I'd been producing several fanzines and small press comics in order to gain experience and feedback, and Alan Moore (whom I knew from the Westminster Comic Marts and inevitable pub-meets) suggested I try Marvel UK with some ideas. He introduced me to Marvel editor Bernie Jaye in February 1983 and she asked me to submit some work. I soon came up with a variation on Marvel's "What If...?" series, sent in a bunch of cartoons, and at the April Westminster Comic Mart Bernie told me she'd be running them in The Daredevils from issue 7, published in June 1983. I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day!

The rate was very low; £5 a cartoon. Not enough to enable me to get off the dole at that point (and yes, I did declare it) but what it gave me was far more important, - the encouragement to carry on. Prior to that, I'd been on the verge of giving up my ambitions to be a cartoonist, but the euphoria of seeing my work in print gave me the confidence and incentive I needed. It's true what they say; once you've been published it gives other editors the assurance that you can do the job. After that, more work swiftly followed and I went full time self-employed in February 1984. I've been fortunate to work for many publications over the years; Oink!, Beano, Dandy, Sonic the Comic, Viz, Buster, Toxic, Doctor Who Magazine and many more. All thanks to Alan Moore and Bernie Jaye for having faith in me back in 1983.

Most importantly, I'd also like to thank all of you who have supported my work over the years, and I hope you continue to enjoy what I produce. 

Angry Eggo!

Who's annoyed Big Eggo? Find out in the Beano No.3940, on sale Wednesday 20th June!

Batteries recharged!

Photo © 2018 Lew Stringer

When you're self-employed it's very easy to forget to take a break. It's often difficult to find time anyway, when deadlines shift around, or something new crops up, and that week you thought was free suddenly isn't. Fortunately, this week I did manage to get away for a few days. 

One big advantage of being single and freelance is that when the opportunity for a break does come up, I've only myself to schedule for. A last-minute decision, I set off to Blackpool early on Monday morning and stayed there until Wednesday evening. The resort is well past its 20th Century heyday and looking shabby in places now, but I still have an affection for the town and being on the coast, watching the waves crash against the shore, is always worth seeing.

On Thursday I went down to London to see Jessica Martin starring in Shirleymander at the Playground Theatre. I've known Jessica as a friend for a few years now in her capacity as a comics creator, and knew her television work of course, but this was the first time I'd seen her perform live in a play. It's the story of the rise and fall of Shirley Porter and the gerrymandering scandal of the 1990s. Jessica and the cast were superb in this well-structured play and it was poignant to see it on the anniversary of the Grenfell tower disaster, which is relevant to the story. The theatre itself is only a few streets away from Grenfell, and there was a silent march yesterday, so the play felt very relevant indeed, and very moving. The final performances are tonight and tomorrow afternoon, so catch it if you can! 
https://theplaygroundtheatre.london

Check out Jessica Martin's website:
https://jessicamartinofficial.com

Anyway, that's enough gadding about for me this week. I'm back to work today, having just written a Team Toxic script for Toxic No.309, and now colouring Derek the Troll for Goof! No.1. This weekend I'll be drawing Team Toxic and Big Eggo, and scripting the final Big Eggo story. More info on those soon.

This week's funny business...

I have a few strips being published on Wednesday 13th June, so here's a quick preview of all of them.

First up, Team Toxic encounter a new foe when Skegpool beach is endangered! See Toxic No.307!

That same day, Beano No.3939 will also be out, and Terry Tuff has a new plan to capture Big Eggo! It's doomed to failure! 

Also out on Wednesday, Epic No.147 sees the stinky kids of Hygiene High get back to nature. Nature isn't happy about it! Script by Niall Murray, art by me.

...and still in the shops from two weeks ago (unless they'e sold out already) is Doctor Who Magazine No.526 featuring a new Daft Dimension strip of mine.

That's Toxic, Beano, Epic, and Doctor Who Magazine. All of these titles are available from newsagents and supermarkets across the UK!

A good day in Wythenshawe!

The Wythenshawe Comic Con was very enjoyable yesterday. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table for a comic or sketch. You can read more about it, and see more photos, over on my Blimey! blog here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2018/06/photos-from-wythenshawe-comic-con.html

Conventions to come...

I'm at Wythenshawe Comic Con today, so come and join us! After that, my next one will be Macc-Pow! on June 23rd, and several others afterwards at various locations around the UK. Here's the list...

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


To be announced:
Saturday 20th October 2018
More info soon.

Coming next week...

What's causing panic on the beach at Skegpool? Find out in the next Toxic when Team Toxic have to deal with a new threat! Toxic No.307, on sale from newsagents and supermarkets from Wednesday 13th June!

A new comic con for the North

I'll be up Manchester way again on Saturday 9th June for Wythenshawe Comic Con, the first such event for the town, at the Forum Centre, Simonsway, Wythenshawe, Manchester M22 5RX.

Other guests will include the Beano's Nigel Parkinson, artist of Dennis and Gnasher, plus Doctor Who storyboard artist Mike Collins, Psycho Gran creator David Leach, and the guys from indie comics company Accent UK! 

We'll have comics, and we'll be drawing sketches and chatting about our characters, so come along and join us!

Listen to the radio ad:
https://soundcloud.com/user-911266655/wythenshawe-comic-con-2018

Convention Facebook page:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/events/914677342036388/

Thanks for STC25!

I had a great weekend in Manchester for the STC25 con yesterday. It's the first time I've been in the city since the days of Oink! comic in the late 1980s, and it's changed a lot! I was very impressed. (Coincidentally, the FabCafe venue where the con was is just around the corner to where the Oink! office was way back when.)


STC25 was a celebration of Sonic the Comic, commemorating 25 years since the first issue was launched back in 1993. I was a regular writer on the comic for about seven years. Although Egmont's comic folded in 2002, an online continuation by fans has been running since 2003! This week saw the publication of issue 275, which was also published as an impressive print version. Many of the fan strips are of high quality, and I have no doubt that if the original comic had still been running they'd be contributing to it. 
More about the online version here:
https://www.facebook.com/stconline/

STC25 was a small but perfectly formed event that attracted around 90 people. With most comic cons, we know there'll only be a fraction of attendees who know our work, but as this event was dedicated to one comic, every attendee knew our stuff, - better than us in most cases! (Well, it has been over 20 years and I've forgotten the details of most scripts I wrote for it.)

My thanks to Michael Corker and his team for putting on the show and inviting me, and to the attendees for being such a great audience! (It's always heartwarming to meet readers who read your work back when they were kids.) It was also good to catch up with fellow comic creators Nigel Kitching, Carl Flint, Nigel Dobbyn and Ferran Rodriguez.

Nigel Kitching and I were interviewed for a Q and A session in the afternoon, and you can see that on YouTube here around 4.50 minutes in...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekqv1GTimgE

Here's a few photos from the great day....

 

 

 

Eggo Beach

Is Terry Tuff about to capture Big Eggo? He's tracked our octogenarian ostrich to the coast and there's nowhere left to hide. Find out what happens next in the Beano No.3938 on Wednesday 6th June!

In the papers

Mentioned twice in the papers this week. Firstly in the Macclesfield Express on Wednesday, as part of a report on Goof! the forthcoming online comic I'm a contributor for. The accompanying photo of Marc Jackson and myself was taken by Marc's wife Jane at Macc-Pow! a couple of years ago, and there'll be another Macc-Pow! convention this year on 23rd June. 

Then on Friday, a nice prominent advert appeared in Metro for the Wythenshawe Comic Con, which I'll be attending next Saturday, 9th June. More news about that soon!