Doctor Who Magazine celebrates 600 ISSUES this Thursday!

I remember Dez Skinn at the 1979 comic con in Birmingham announcing that Marvel were about to publish Doctor Who Weekly, (which later became a monthly), and here we are 45 years later with issue 600! I'm proud to be one of its contributors these days with my Daft Dimension strip and this celebratory issue will be in shops on Thursday! Don't miss this landmark edition! (And in case you were wondering, that cover isn't Photoshopped. The editorial team actually visited the TARDIS set and placed all 599 issues around the console by hand!)

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TOUGH GUY Digital Comic still available!

Still available to download! The 32 page Tough Guy and Scruffy comic, collecting one of my vintage comic strips. 

Here's the info...

Way back in 1992 I'd created a superhero humour strip called Tough Guy and Scruffy for a new weekly anthology comic entitled Triffik! Sadly, traditional weeklies were on their way out and the comic folded after just 12 issues. Now I've collected my stories into a new digital comic and you can download it anywhere in the world today!

It's fair to say that most of you have probably never seen or heard of this strip before as Triffik's existence was so brief. Or perhaps you were amongst the readers who managed to catch it over those few weeks? Either way, I hope you enjoy the strips, which are intended for an all-ages audience.

Tough Guy and Scruffy No.1 is a 32 page digital comic including all 12 strips from 1992 plus extra features and a new festive back cover strip bringing our heroes into the present day. I have no plans to produce a print version so this comic is exclusively digital. 

You can view and download it from the following link and although the cover price is voluntary, times are very tough (pun intended) at present so may I ask you to please be kind enough to donate £3 to me by PayPal at lew.stringer@BTopenworld.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xOty4Q1HLooI6KVk9kmoVmodf5Pa7QTn/view?usp=sharing 

When you get to that site, click the download icon (shown on this screenshot below) to download the comic to your desktop or device.

I hope you enjoy Tough Guy and Scruffy and will donate the £3 cover price after you've downloaded it. Let me know what you think of the comic by posting a comment below.   

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Latest auction of original art ends soon!

My latest auction of my original comic artwork ends this Sunday, 28th January. There are some of my earliest published pages in this one, such as Captain Wally (1985), a Combat Colin strip co-starring Loose (Brickman) Brayne (1987), and a Pete and his Pimple (1987) - plus a Daft Dimension strip featuring the first Doctor and Susan.

You can find the listings with more photos and details at this link...

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

Good luck with your bids! 

MACC-POW! 2024 is coming!

It's always a pleasure to attend the comics festival known as Macc Pow! and I'm pleased to say I'll be a guest there again this year! Macc Pow! 2024 takes place at Macclesfield Town Hall on Saturday 22nd June. 

More details as the develop but for now you can check out their Facebook page at this link...

https://www.facebook.com/maccpow 

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Thursday auction of original comic art ends soon!

 

This week's eBay auction of my original comic artwork ends soon! You have until the evening of Thursday 25th January (UK time) to bid on pages from Oink!, Buster, plus the cover artwork of Brickman Begins! 

Click on the link below to see more images and details! Good luck!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&_ssn=graphite47&_sop=1

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MORE original comic art up for sale including a very early COMBAT COLIN page

I'm selling another batch of my original comic artwork and this listing includes the second episode of Combat Colin! I want to hold onto the first episode so this will be the earliest one I'm making available. It was published in Action Force No.6 back in 1987 and, yes, that's Loose Brayne (Brickman) making an unnamed guest appearance as the stall owner! (The story took place after he went walkabout at the end of the 1986 Brickman comic.) 

 You can see more detailed photos at this link...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204625625171?hash=item2fa4a34053:g:jrwAAOSw~y9lrWe1

I'm also selling an even earlier strip of mine. A page of Captain Wally that was done for Marvel UK's Spider-Man Comic way back in 1985. One of my first professional comic strips...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204625620606?hash=item2fa4a32e7e:g:v7oAAOSwN6plrWZY 

 

Another vintage strip is this Pete and His Pimple page from Oink! No.22 (1987) drawn in black ink and grey wash...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204625614068?hash=item2fa4a314f4:g:PEUAAOSwLQJlrWQx  

 

Finally, a more recent strip. The Daft Dimension original art from Doctor Who Magazine No.552 (2020) featuring a spoof of the first Doctor's farewell to his grand-daughter Susan...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204625616249?hash=item2fa4a31d79:g:QVkAAOSwsM5lrWVw

Bidding on these four items ends on Sunday 28th January. However, don't forget that there are five other pieces of my original art currently in an auction that ends this Thursday, 25th January. If you missed my post about those you'll find it at this link...

http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/2024/01/more-original-art-for-sale-including.html

Good luck with your bids!

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40 years of Fun

I thought it might be time to post this list again to document most of the work I've had published over the past 40 years. It's not entirely complete as I'm sure I've forgotten some but it gives you an idea of the range of professional publications I've freelanced for.

I've created comic strips for all ages from pre-school (CiTV Tellytots), juvenile (Buster, Beano, Dandy) through to adult (Viz). 

If you're an editor in the comics industry and would like to talk to me about a commission, please contact me at:

lew.stringer@BTopenworld.com

I'm busy right now but will be free sometime in February/March for work. Thanks for reading!

The Daredevils (What If cartoons)


The Mighty World of Marvel (What If cartoons)


Spider-Man Comic (Captain Wally, Snailman)

Learn With Moonbird (children books, ghosting Mike Higgs' art)


Swiftsure (Rock Solid, Brickman)


Brickman (Harrier Comics one-shot, 1986)


Transformers (Robo-Capers, Combat Colin)


Action Force (Combat Colin)


The Real Ghostbusters (Early episodes of Blimey! It’s Slimer)


Secret Wars (Macho Man)


Thundercats (Early episodes of One Cat and His Cod)


Jackpot Annual 1986 (Scooper)


Whoopee Annual 1987 (Bookworm)


2000AD Annual 1985 (article on old comic heroes)


Warlock (Derek the Troll)


White Dwarf (Derek the Troll)


Oink! (Tom Thug, Pete and his Pimple, Pigswilla, lots of others)


Buster (Tom Thug, Pete and his Pimple, Vampire Brats, Specky Hector)


Viz (Pathetic Sharks, Felix and his Amazing Underpants, Norman the Doorman, various others)


UT (various)


Sweet FA (various)


C’Mon Ref! (Whitley Baywatch)


Sunday Sport (Norma Snockers)


Daily Star (short run of Whitley Baywatch Wanderers)


Speakeasy (Pedantic Stan the Comics Fan)

Triffik! (Tough Guy)


2000AD Action Special (article on old UK comics)


Sonic the Comic (scripts on Sonic, Amy and Tekno, Tails, etc)


CiTV Tellytots (Scripts on Sooty, Mopatop’s Shop, Dog and Duck, etc)


Lego Adventures (Scripts)


The Seven Deadly Sins graphic novel (art on The Glut, written by Dave Gibbons)


Toxic magazine (Team Toxic)


Rampage (Mini-Marvels)


Marvel Heroes (Mini-Marvels)


Spectacular Spider-Man (Mini-Marvels)


Lucky Bag Comic (Horror Bags, Cheeky Monkeys)

Geek (Norway) (Suburban Satanists)


Herman Hedning (Sweden/Norway) (Suburban Satanists)


Beano (Super School, Rasher, Pup Parade, Big Eggo, various others)


Dandy (Postman Prat, Kid Cops, Keyhole Kate, a few others)


Beano Max (Super School)


Know How! (Various artwork)

Forstads Satanistine (Norway, 2003. Collection of Suburban Satanists strips)

Fun-Tastic Comic (Cover only) 

Jokes and Magic (various strips)

Brickman Begins! (USA) (book reprinting Brickman strips)


Epic (Hygiene High, Eric Fail, Zombie Sports)


Aces Weekly (digital) (Combat Colin)


Doctor Who Magazine (The Daft Dimension)


Elephantmen (USA) (Brickman Returns)


Grindhouse (USA) (Li’l House of Grind) 


Comic Heroes magazine (articles on old comics) 


Comic Scene magazine (articles on old comics)

You Are The Hero (book. New Derek the Troll page)


Stikkums (art for digital app)


TV21 (Network edition for Gerry Anderson boxset. Zoony the Lagoon)


The77 (Sgt.Shouty)


Liverpool Heartbeat magazines (various)


Cor!! Buster Specials 2019/2020 (Buster)


Battle Special 2020 (Specky Hector the Comics Collector)


Monster Fun Halloween Special 2021 (Wiz War)


Animal Planet (Bad Pets)


The Kirknewton Story (Close Encounters)


Stingray Comic Special (Network edition for Stingray box set) (Oink the Seal)

This Comic Is Haunted (Short Sharp Shocks)



 

Extra: Before I turned professional I also contributed to a lot of fanzines. I can't remember all of them but here's a short list...

BEM (article on Power Comics)

The Owl's Effort (Fandumb At Large illustrations) 

Chain Reaction (Fandumb at Large comic strip)

Camera Obscura (Prisoner fanzine for which I did Rogue Rover and Alistair Sadgitt) 


 

Self published comics:


After Image (1979, various strips and articles)


Metamorph/Fantasy Express (1981 articles and strips)


Blimey! It's Brickman (1983)


Brickman on Toast

The Early Brickman

Combat Colin Summer Special 1967 (in reality published in the 1990s)

Combat Colin Special (c.2000)

Yampy Tales (Combat Colin and Brickman)

Rogue Rover (collecting the strips from Camera Obscura)

The Microlife of Alistair Sadgitt (collecting the strips from Camera Obscura)

Brickman Returns! (collecting the Brickman strips from Elephantmen)


Combat Colin (reprinting strips from Action Force and Transformers)

Derek the Troll (reprinting Derek strips from Warlock and White Dwarf plus Rock Solid strips from Swiftsure)

Pedantic Stan the Comics Fan (collecting all the strips from Speakeasy)

Barmy Comix (digital, reprinting selected Brickman, Combat Colin, Derek the Troll, Pedantic Stan  strips)

Tough Guy and Scruffy (Digital. Collecting the strips from Triffik!)

Obviously some strips I've worked on lasted ran for longer than others. 16 years on Team Toxic, 10 years on Tom Thug, 4 years on Combat Colin, and so on but all in all it's a lot of ink and a lot of typing! Thanks to everyone for being there for part of the journey if not all of it.

More original art for sale including BRICKMAN and the final Pete's Pimple page!

I've put more pages of my original artwork up for sale and this time it includes some special items! 

Illustrations for the cover of the 2005 book Brickman Begins plus the book itself...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204622240879?hash=item2fa46f9c6f:g:Mt8AAOSww3ZlqZC9 

 

The very last episode of Pete and his Pimple (by then renamed Pete's Pimple) from a 1989 issue of Buster...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204622233503?hash=item2fa46f7f9f:g:frUAAOSwFFRlqY7s 

 

The first Dice Maniac strip from Oink! No.22 (1987)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204622229199?hash=item2fa46f6ecf:g:OTAAAOSw4wVlqY0T 

 

A Tom Thug on 'Oliday page from Buster (1993)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204622216051?hash=item2fa46f3b73:g:wy8AAOSwI4llqYlm

 

 ...and Tom Thug on Halloween from Buster (1994)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204622220732?hash=item2fa46f4dbc:g:WkgAAOSwiR1lqYq~ 

 

Please click on the links to see more photos and details about each page, or to see the full listings click this link:

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

The auctions on these five pieces end on Thursday 25th January. All bids verey much appreciated! Good luck!

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Original art from BUSTER comic. Buy 'Em Now!

I've just put another couple of pages of original art on eBay. These two are at Buy It Now prices, so if you want some art from Buster comic that's 30 years old here's the link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

UPDATE: SOLD! - But I'll be listing more original art soon. 

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Keeping Busy

Having had recent discussions with an independent UK publisher I'm pleased to say I'll soon be working on a creator-owned three-panel strip for a brand new British comic. I can't say anymore than that about it at present! 

This is a busy month as I'm also working on other material I can't talk about yet, plus some private commissions. I'll also be putting some more of my old pages up for auction shortly to pay the bills while I wait for income from the new stuff to come in.

Things are still very tight though, and sadly life isn't like Hollywood where a character can suddenly have a windfall and things improve overnight! The struggle is real.

As some have asked, I still feel fine despite the CLL (see here for info on that if you missed it) but that's how this form of cancer is in the early stages. My next hospital appointment is in mid-February, where they'll determine from my white blood cell count if I need to start chemo. Thank you to everyone who sent me good wishes on social media.

So... life's never been more uncertain but creating daft comics is all I know so I'd better get on with it.

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Happy Birthday to Mike Higgs!

Happy 80th birthday to my good pal Mike Higgs! Mike created The Cloak for Pow! comic in 1967 and went on to create Space School for Whizzer and Chips, the Moonbird syndicated newspaper strip, and the Baz and Co strip in the Daily Mirror. He also drew Thundercap for Buster comic, plus loads of childrens books such as Dopey Dinosaur as well as compiling and designing lots of books for Hawk Books and others such as the Dan Dare volumes. 

Forty years ago I was working for Mike briefly as his assistant on various children's books and we've been friends ever since. He'll be celebrating with his family today but if you want to leave a birthday message for him below I'll be sure to forward it on to him.

 

  

Announcing LONDON COMIC CON SPRING!

The first convention for me in 2024 will be London Comic Con Spring over the first weekend in March at Olympia in Kensington. See you there! 

More info at this link:

https://www.londoncomicconspring.com/ 

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Last chance to bid on these original pages!

Last few hours for this auction of three pages of my original comic art from the late 1980s! Bidding ends tonight (Wednesday 10th). All bids appreciated!

Click on the link below for more pictures and information about each page... 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

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On the drawing board today

Today I'm drawing the Daft Dimension strip for Doctor Who Magazine No.600! Doesn't seem long since I was working on issue 500. 

I have a busy month but if any editors are reading this I should emphasize that I am still available for work. With 40 years professional experience I hope I can fit your criteria. Yes, there should always be room for new and diverse talent too of course, but let's not allow ageism to affect those decisions. 

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First art auction of the New Year. Your chance to own comic art from the 1980s!

I'm selling off more of my original art pages from the 1980s this week. All original pages that I drew over 30 years ago. Here we go...

There's a Tom Thug page from Oink! No.50 (1988). This still has the plastic overlays attached to indicate to the printers where to put the spot colour...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204602600425?hash=item2fa343ebe9:g:D5kAAOSwfLpllabI

A Pete and his Pimple page from the 1988 Christmas issue of Buster, complete with festive decorated border and snow on the logo. (This was the last Christmas Pete story.)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204602593699?hash=item2fa343d1a3:g:xSkAAOSwNW5llaVR

...and a Vampire Brats page from Buster from October 1989...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204602587691?hash=item2fa343ba2b:g:HLMAAOSwXt9llaPV

Auctions end on Wednesday 10th January. Your bids would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. 

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ROBO-CAPERS Part 2

Robo-Capers was one of my first strips for a professional comic. It ran in Marvel UK's Transformers comic from 1985 to 1988 (when it was replaced by my Combat Colin series, which had moved over from Action Force). 

Marvel still own the rights to Robo-Capers so I can't publish a collection of the strips but I thought I'd post some here on my blog. I showed the first ten a few years ago, which you'll find at this link...

https://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/2019/07/robo-capers-early-strips.html

...so now here are a few more, taking us from Transformers No.25 (24th August 1985 to issue 42 (4th January 1986). With issue 26 the strip went to full colour, and all of them were coloured by the Marvel staff using the old method of flat colour overlays. Click on each strip to open it to full readable size.

I'll post more another time!

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