Saturday, 30 December 2023

WHAT IF...?

Imagine if you will, an alternate Earth where instead of the public being mad keen on sport and reality shows, comics are the biggest form of entertainment in the world. In this wonky parallel history, kids grow out of an interest in football but they all love the arts, and are voracious readers of comics! The works of Tom Browne, Roy Wilson, Jack Kirby, Alan Moore, Leo Baxendale and all the greats are taught in schools alongside that of Shakespeare and Dickens. 

Every newsagent has half the shop devoted to comics, as they sell out within days of stocking them. Kids queue around the block for the latest collections of their favourite creators. Ice Cream Vans are converted into Comic Vans to tour suburban areas selling comics. Instead of vaping, teenagers gather on park benches to read the latest issues of Wham! or Comic Cuts (yes, they're still going, with sales in their millions). Hollywood is about to release the 140th movie in the popular Ally Sloper franchise. 

Amidst this time of plenty, Lew Stringer Comics has offices in London, Paris, and New York where I employ hundreds of comics artists and writers working on creator-owned projects. Combat Colin has just celebrated its 1,000th issue, published in numerous languages across the globe. There are plans for a Sgt.Shouty theme park on the Moon, and I live with my wife the enigmatic European comics artist Caramba Inkpot in a fully automated environmentally friendly sky mansion floating above Birmingham.

Ha! This is all a complete fantasy I've just made up of course, and a far cry from the grim reality, but it's simply a bit of fun. Hope it entertained you, because when it comes down to it, this business is all about entertainment. 

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5 comments:

  1. Elliesdad30 December 2023 at 20:00

    Lew - what do you envisage you’d do for the front cover of Combat Colin #1000? You’d presumably make an extra special effort for such a landmark issue.

    All the best for ‘24.

    Cheers,

    Geoff

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  2. Lew Stringer30 December 2023 at 20:24

    It'd be promoting the free gift; a Combat Colin Bobble Hat that included a mind-drive device so that when the reader put it on they could access all 1000 issues directly into their brain. Like Joe 90 but with a hat instead of specs. :)

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  3. Peter Gray30 December 2023 at 22:56

    Would of been interesting if all the UK comic creators were from France!! Or Belgium...probably a museum to Roy Wilson...etc.. statues everywhere... history of comics taught in school...

    ReplyDelete
  4. BenGMan31 December 2023 at 09:52

    That would be amazing! But that may never happen sadly.

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  5. Lew Stringer31 December 2023 at 13:33

    It'll definitely never happen, Ben, but it's a nice fantasy anyway. :)

    ReplyDelete