MONSTER MASH featuring Pigswilla! (OINK!, 1986)

Posting again for Halloween, Monster Mash from Oink! No.13 back in 1986, featuring the first appearance of Pigswilla! Happy Halloween!

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Bury Comic Con was BUSY Comic Con!

 Big thanks to John Webster and his team at WOW Events for Bury Comic Con yesterday, and for looking after us guests over the weekend. I wasn't sure how this show would turn out as it was up against the huge MCM event the same day but Bury was busy! It was very well attended with a steady stream of people all day. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my table to buy a sketch and/or comics. 

 
Good to catch up with fellow guests Dan Whitehead, Colin Mathieson, John Jackson, Brian M. Clarke, Neil "Bhuna" Roche and more, and to meet Mickey Lewis, Colin Baker, and Hacker T Dog (with Phil Fletcher). The queue to see Colin was huge, snaking through and outside the building all day! Just shows how popular Doctor Who still is! 

It was also good to see Rob Sharp again after so many years! All in all, a nice event with a positive vibe to it.

You can read more about it on their Facebook page at this link:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071495297146 

With TV's Hacker T Dog and Phil Fletcher!

The impressive Bury Art Museum, venue for the show.

Busy day! Writer Dan Whitehead, foreground, right.

Sixth Doctor Colin Baker was busy signing all day!

Comics creator Colin Mathieson and his son.

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See you at BURY COMIC CON this Sunday!

For those of you living in or visiting the Manchester area this weekend you'll find me at Bury Comic Con on Sunday 29th October! The event takes place in various locations across the town and I'll be in Bury Art Museum, Moss Street with other comics creators such as Dan Whitehead and John Jackson. 

https://buryartmuseum.co.uk/Your-Visit 

I'll be doing sketches on request (£15 per character, A4 size) and selling my comics Combat Colin 3 and 4, Fanzine Funnies, and Pedantic Stan. Plus I'll bring along some of my old original art too (£50 each).  

If you just want comics signed, I don't charge for autographs.

More info at the Facebook page for the event:

https://www.facebook.com/p/Bury-Comic-Con-100071495297146/

Hope to see you there!

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Thank you buyers!

Another two pages of my old original art have been posted to collectors today. Protected by firm card both sides of course. A big thank you those of you who have placed bids and/or bought pages from me. It really has been a huge help, particularly this year.

I currently have a Tom Thug page from Oink! up for auction if you're interested...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204516111013?hash=item2f9e1c32a5:g:9-oAAOSwsINlOUcu

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Another opportunity to win ORIGINAL ART from OINK! comic (1988)!

I've put another page of my artwork up for sale. This time it's the original art for a Tom Thug page from Oink! No.64, July 1988. Black ink on Bristol Board. Jump over to my eBay listings if you're interested!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204516111013?hash=item2f9e1c32a5:g:9-oAAOSwsINlOUcu

By the way, after various requests I made my art listings available to overseas bidders too a while back. Those of you who asked me to do that may not have noticed? Anyway, if you're in Europe, America, Australia and some other territories you can now bid on my art. 

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It's coming soon!

The next issue of This Comic Is Haunted is now available to pre-order and should be out in a few weeks! This new British horror comic has proven to be popular and it's fun to contribute to it. I've written/drawn another complete full page Short Sharp Shocks for the comic. Here's a little preview above!

For mature readers only, you can pre-order This Comic Is Haunted No.3 at the folowing link. Remember, the comic will not be avaialable in newsagents! 

https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/product/this-comic-is-haunted 

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SLOB CITY ROVERS (Daily Star, 1995)

Back in the mid-1990s I was a regular contributor to the monthly humour comics Spit! and C'Mon Ref, created by Graham Hey and Chris Whitehead. The comics emerged as part of the popularity of Viz when many publishers tried to ride the same wave. Some titles were very poor, but I always felt that Spit! and C'Mon Ref! comics held their own and were genuinely funny. 

One of the strips I did was Whitley Baywatch for Spit! comic; a spoof of Baywatch but with two potbellied slobs who only signed up as lifeguards so they could look out for "fit birds". I drew it but Graham Hey provided the scripts and they were always amusing; a bit like On The Buses at the seaside. 

Then Graham and Chris started up the football mag/comic C'Mon Ref!, the characters from Whitley Baywatch became Whitley Baywatch Wanderers, the most unfit football players ever, with the club sponsored by Alf's Chippy. Later, the editors struck a deal with the Daily Star to produce a comedy football section every Tuesday for the paper entitled Bite Yer Legs. The four page section featured photos and text plus a few strips including one by me. Whitley Baywatch Wanderers was retitled Slob City Rovers.

I scripted and drew Slob City Rovers for the Star and really enjoyed it. For some reason it was dropped after four weeks or so. I don't think I ever knew why. Perhaps budget cuts? Anyway, for your entertainment (I hope) here's three of those Slob City Rovers strips. These were published in the Daily Star on 21st March, 28th March, and 4th April 1995. (Click on images to see them full size.)

You won't find any mention of Slob City Rovers in Paul Hudson's A to Z of British Newspaper Strips unfortunately, nor my Norma Snockers strip that ran in the Sunday Sport for 69 weeks in the '90s. (Yes, I chose to end Norma with that number of strips.) I guess they were just too obscure to be included, but for a short time it was fun to be published in newspapers (even ones with their reputations). 

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Original art at BUY IT NOW prices! Snap 'em up!

 

On my eBay listings this week I'd uploaded four pieces of original artwork. Two have sold very quickly and these two remain...

The original artwork for the cover of Yampy Tales No.1 (1995) featuring Combat Colin and The Brain in Portmeirion! (One to interest fans of The Prisoner perhaps?) "Yampy" is a Midlands term, meaning "crazy" or "daft" and way back when I published three issues of Yampy Tales featuring reprints of Combat Colin. The print run was very small so you may never have seen them. Anyway, the cover is up for sale if you want it! Here's the link...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204512183697?hash=item2f9de04591:g:g-EAAOSw7m9lNYH5 

The other item is an early Tom Thug page from Oink! No.12 which also features a Satan the Cat mini-strip. I drew this artwork back in 1986...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204512091085?hash=item2f9ddedbcd:g:we0AAOSw-AplNWyS

As ever, your support means a lot. I've held onto my artwork for many years and it's time to let it go and, as I don't have any family to inherit it, I'd rather it goes to collectors who will appreciate it.

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Top Secret!

I've written/drawn four two-page strips of a brand new character who will appear in The Dandy Annual 2025 - on sale in September 2024! 

I can't reveal who it is, or show any artwork as that'll be spoilery so, until next year, here's the only spolier-free bit I can show; a sound effect from one of the panels! (I always enjoy lettering sound effects.) No clues here, and, no, loud explosions are not normally part of her character.

More about that strip nearer the publication date, but for now don't forget that I have four new Kid Cops pages in the current book, The Dandy Annual 2024, on sale now!

https://shop.beano.com/the-dandy-annual

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Ivy the Terrible (2014)

Hard to believe it was nine years ago when I drew a series featuring Ivy the Terrible for The Beano. The character had originally been drawn by Robert Nixon in the 1980s of course, but she was revived a few times over the years and in 2014 I was assigned to draw her. 

I thoroughly enjoyed doing this series, helped immensely by good scripts from John Anderson (and, if memory serves me correctly, Iain McLaughlin and Stu Munro wrote good ones for me too). 

Here are a couple of examples from 2014, both written by John Anderson and drawn/coloured by me. (Click on images to see them full size.) The half page format really suited the character I think; setting the scene, a burst of energy, then the punchline. Timeless comic stuff.

I'll dig out some more examples of my work from over the past 40 years in future posts. What characters would you like to see? Please post a comment below and let me know.

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Original art sale! Buy 'em now! 1980s comic art (UPDATE: All sold!)

 I've added the Buy It Now option to my current listings of original art for (hopefully) a quick sale. Obviously if anyone chooses to bid as the auction option instead the 'Buy It Now' choice will vanish but either would be appreciated.

By popular request my art auctions are open to international bidders too (and have been for a while). Hope that helps!

If you choose the auction, it runs until Sunday. If you choose Buy It Now I'll post them to the buyer as soon as I receive payment.

Here's the link...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

Thanks for your time.

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Wallies, Thugs, and Daftness this week

I've listed more of my old original artwork on eBay so please bid / buy if you're interested. These are tough times, although I appreciate I'm not the only one with health / finance problems. Anyway, here's what's on offer...

There's a Captain Wally page from Marvel UK's Spider-Man comic from 1985...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204502025657?hash=item2f9d4545b9:g:QG8AAOSwLH9lLDjg

 

A Tom Thug page from Buster (1988) which is one of my favourite episodes...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204501849022?hash=item2f9d4293be:g:dAMAAOSwljhlLA60

 

...and a Daft Dimension strip (PLUS exclusive colour print) from Doctor Who Magazine (2015)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204502020779?hash=item2f9d4532ab:g:ofUAAOSwn2ZlLDcu 

 

 ...and if it's comics you want, I'm selling five Fleetway Super Libraries from 1967. Each one has 132 pages...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204501911989?hash=item2f9d4389b5:g:7k4AAOSw9F5lLBxH

 

All items run for a week (unless someone uses the Buy It Now option on the ones that have it.) Thanks for looking!

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Howard the Duck!

Only a few hours to go to bid on this exclusive Howard the Duck artwork I did for The Panel Gallery. A3 size, black ink and grey wash on Bristol Board. Grab it while you can! (UPDATE: Sold for £50.)

https://thepanelgallery.com/product/howard-the-duck-by-lew-stringer/ 

The auctions on the pieces by many other artists end today too. You can win original art by Mike Collins, Aneke, DaNi, Dylan Teage, Mark Buckingham and many more! The choice is yours!  Here's the link:

https://thepanelgallery.com/live-auctions/

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London Comic Con Winter on 11th/12th November!

After Bury Comic Con (Oct 29th) my final convention for this year will be London Comic Con Winter on 11th and 12th November. Hope to see you there!

https://londoncomicconwinter.com/

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Bury Comic Con on October 29th

Just two weeks to go until Bury Comic Con on Sunday 29th October. I hope to see some of you there. Who's going? Comment below!

https://www.facebook.com/p/Bury-Comic-Con-100071495297146/

https://discoverbury.co.uk/bury-comic-con/

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Latest Daft Preview!

I started my career back in 1983 doing a What If cartoon for Marvel so I couldn't resist doing a new one for my 40th year in comics. Here's a seak peek at part of my next Daft Dimension strip for Doctor Who Magazine, plus the cover of that issue. Issue 596, in shops this Thursday! https://doctorwhomagazine.com/

Doctor Who is back on TV in November.

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Back from Comic Expo Bristol!

The convention venue.

 

Many thanks to Mike Allwood, his daughter Susie and their team for a good weekend at Comic Expo Bristol! Attended by genuine comics fans, the show was very enjoyable with a steady number of people visting the tables. I didn't do many sketches at this one but I was happy that I sold all the original art I brought along, plus a bunch of comics. 

Always good to catch up with friends in the industry such as Ian Richardson, Jeff Chahal, Shane Chebsey, Sam Morgan, John Higgins, Sally Jane Hurst, Alexus Savage, Alan Davis, Simon Williams, Simon Freeman, Graham Bleathman, Ben Cullis, Jo Heeley, Dave Heeley, Steve Tanner, David Roach, Kek Wretchmond, Michael S Kane, Jordan Thomas, David Broughton, Sam Denham and many more!
Thank you to everyone who dropped by for a chat or to buy art and comics. 

 

Bristol itself is always buzzing at the weekends and a great place to visit, with lots of bars and places to eat near the river. An excellent city for a comic con!

 

I didn't take many photos of the show unfortunately but here's a handful I did take..

With Jo Heeley and Dave Heeley of The77 Publications.

Ben Cullis, Jo Heeley and Dave Heeley of The77 Publications.

Awesome art by Graham Bleathman.

My table at the con.

Artwork I took along to sell.

Frank Bellamy and Mike Noble art on display, thanks to Graham Bleathman.

Comic Expo Bristol! See you there!

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On the drawing board

It's not the best of times with health and finances but I'm cracking on with work today. 

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