Meet the NEW Dinah Mo in The Dandy Summer Special!

The forthcoming Dandy Summer Special will feature some new characters alongside selected classic reprints and one of the newbies is an all-new version of Dinah Mo!

The original Dinah Mo (initially called Dinah Mite in her early strips in the 1970s) was a boisterous girl who always landed in trouble but the new version is an inventive eco warrior who tries to put things right. Her name is Dinah Modose and she was created by the D.C. Thomson staff who then assigned me to write and draw the stories. 

Obviously the key is to be entertaining rather than preachy about environmental issues so the usual Dandy fun will still be to the forefront!

The new Dinah Mo makes her debut in a two page story in The Dandy Summer Special 2024, published next month, and she'll also appear in four new stories in The Dandy Annual 2025, out in August. I'm currently plotting three Dinah Mo stories for The Dandy Annual 2026 to be published in Autumn 2025!

The Dandy Summer Special 2024 should be available in WH Smiths in mid-May. You can see a preview of page one of the first Dinah Mo story at the D.C. Thomson online shop, where you can pre-order the upcoming special, at this link...

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/dandy-summer-special-comic 

Cover art by NIGEL PARKINSON.

 

DWM 603 - Out this week!

Just a quick sneak preview of my Daft Dimension comic strip that you'll find in Doctor Who Magazine No.603. (Dialogue removed to avoid spoilers.) 

On sale from Thursday 25th April!  

https://doctorwhomagazine.com/doctor-who-magazine/doctor-who-magazine-603/

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Coming soon...

Another sneak preview of a bit of my page for The Dunfermline Story. More info:

https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/24226425.comic-book-writer-prepares-tell-dunfermlines-story/

Thanks again!

A big thank you again for all of you who placed bids on my art auction that just ended. It really is appreciated in these times. 

I'll be sending the pages out this week to those who purchased them.  

Art Auction ends this Sunday!

Just a reminder that my latest art auction ends this Sunday (21st April). Here's your chance to own original artwork from Viz, Buster, Sonic the Comic, and Doctor Who Magazine! 

Here's the link. Good luck!

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

The LONDON COMIC FESTIVAL is coming this July!

I'm very pleased to announce that I'll be returning to Olympia again this summer as a guest at the London Comic Festival, part of the London Film and Comic Con! It's a three day event stretching from Friday 5th July to Sunday 7th July! 

There'll be more guests announced soon but so far there's Emma Vieceli, Rachael Smith, Mark Laming, Mike Collins, Nigel Parkinson, Paul Cornell, Simon Williams and many more! Plus loads of actors too of course including Marina Sirtis, David Boreanaz, Sophie Aldred, Colin Baker and numerous others!

I always enjoy this show and its energy, meeting readers and hanging out with my comics pals. Hope to see you there! 

More info:

https://londonfilmandcomiccon.com/guests-main/guests-comic-creators/

More news about SALE COMIC CON

More info has just been revealed about Sale Comic Con, the event I'll be attending in Greater Manchester along with other guests on Saturday 8th June. Here's the press release...

Sale Comic Con is coming to Stanley Square.

This June, Wow Comics, is bringing us Sale's first-ever Comic Con event.

This is your chance to come together with other superhero fans and get involved with cosplay, and superhero memorabilia as well as to get the opportunity to meet some of your favourite stars of TV series and films which include:

 

- BBCs Phil Fletcher and Hacker T. Dog

- Actor Clem So

- Star Wars actor Willie Coppen and his film star son George Coppen

- British Comics Legend Lew Stringer

- Beano artist Laura Howell

- Writer and artist Barry Renshaw

- Writer Dan Whitehead

- Cartoonist Marc Jackson

- Award-winning artist Rachael Smith.

AND SO MANY MORE!

 

It's going to be an epic day of FREE family fun and obviously, we'd love to see you in your fave superhero costumes.

We will be announcing MORE details over the next few weeks so keep your eyes on our socials

And if you'd like to have a trader's table at Sale Comic Con please email Wow Comics at contactus@wowenterprises.co.uk

 

Sale Comic Con

Saturday, 8th June

Stanley Square

FREE

 

VIZ, SONIC THE COMIC and more original art for sale

I've put some original artwork on eBay this week that some of you have been asking for. For several years in the 1990s I was a writer on Sonic the Comic and one of my creations was the evil Commander Brutus. His initial appearance was drawn by Richard Elson (Amazing Spider-Man, 2000AD) and I've put one of those pages we worked on from Sonic the Comic No.65 in 1995 up for sale. 

You'll find it here: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204743480653?itmmeta=01HVHCADPZFCQPARYXYDR1FMSB&hash=item2faba9954d:g:WvcAAOSwV6BmHBzO 

 

Next up, another request was a page from Viz. I freelanced for Viz for many years but I don't have many pages of original art left now. Here's one I found. A Suicidal Syd page from 2008. Mature readers only!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204743488911?itmmeta=01HVHCADPZZP6ZYHAN42GET2Q2&hash=item2faba9b58f:g:2JQAAOSwIWxmHCAy 

Next, one of the old favourites. Tom Thug from Buster comic in 1993. It's one of the Tom Thug On 'Oliday episodes and takes place in Blackpool...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204743443411?itmmeta=01HVHCADPZ4DZTTNETHDV5GR2B&hash=item2faba903d3:g:Qq0AAOSwN4dmHBpP

 

Finally, the original art of the first 13th Doctor's appearance when I put her in my Daft Dimension strip in Doctor Who Magazine No.516 in 2017...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204743447795?itmmeta=01HVHCADPZ3RWCF8GNYD3MAQ8P&hash=item2faba914f3:g:ToYAAOSwu3BmHBuL

Auctions end on Sunday 21st April. All bids appreciated! Good luck!

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

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Dead Famous

Dead Famous is the title of a page I drew recently for for THE DUNFERMLINE STORY, a new book written by Colin Maxwell telling the story of the city in comics form. Colin commissioned me to draw three cartoons for the book and you can see a snippet of part of one of them above. The Dunfermline Story will be published on 25th May and I'll post more info nearer the time.
https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/24226425.comic-book-writer-prepares-tell-dunfermlines-story

 

The GOOF SUMMER SPECIAL is coming!

Cover by MARC JACKSON.

 

How's about a brand new Summer Special this year? Marc Jackson, cartoonist and organiser of the Macc-Pow! comic art festival is editing the Goof Summer Special to launch at the event on Saturday June 22nd, and it will also be available to buy via mail order for those who can't attend. 

I'm happy to say that I've been chosen as one of the contributors, where I'll be creating a one off page: School of the Future! I've written the script. Now I need to draw it as soon as I've completed this week's commitments. 

Marc has gathered together a host of modern day humourists including Tor Freeman, David Leach, Rachael Smith and many more.

You can find out more, and pre-order the comic, at this link:

https://ko-fi.com/s/d7475af5fd 

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Pigswilla and The Snowman of Doom!

 

I recently sold the original artwork of this story but as it was one of my favourite strips I thought I'd scan the pages before I posted them so I could show them here.

The pages were huge so as I only have an A4 scanner I had to do several scans and stitch them together in Photoshop. Subsequently there are shadows evident between panels, which are not of the original art. Nevertheless, this is as close as I could get to showing what the original art looked like. 

Pigswilla and The Snowman of Doom was published in The Oink! Book 1988. As I said, it's one of my favourites; a mixture of comedy adventure and daft humour. The sort of stuff I enjoy doing most. Script, art, lettering by me. The grey effect was done using diluted ink and, in a few places, Caran D'Ache pencil.

So why am I selling pages that mean a lot to me? Well, needs must, but also I'd rather they went to collectors who appreciate them rather than remaining stored in my archives. I'll be putting more pages up for sale soon.

As always, click on the images to englarge them to full size. As with all images on this blog, they're intended to be seen on a desktop rather than a tiny phone screen, although I know that these days more people are relying on smartphones than computers. (Change doesn't always benefit the user.)

A short update

Firstly a big thank you to those of you who placed bids on my art auctions, and congratulations to those who won the pages. It really is a big help these days. I've posted some today and will post the others in the morning.

I'll put some more pages up soon, so if you missed out, good luck next time!

Workwise, I have a few things to get on with right now. Mostly bits and bobs of various lengths rather than ongoing stories. None of which I can really talk about yet apart from the next Daft Dimension which I need to finish by tomorrow's deadline. (All of us work very close to deadline on Doctor Who Magazine to try and keep the material topical or relevant to other items in the issue.)

After that I'll be cracking on with the rest of the private commissions I need to post. Thanks for your patience.

Health wise: I have another appointment in a few weeks regarding my CLL. I'm still not feeling too bad, although my white blood cell count is rising. For those of you who asked about the condition the most reliable sources are sites like this one:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-lymphocytic-leukaemia/

In addition to that I have tendonitis again so I'm limping around at present and not going long walks like I enjoy. Aagh!

However... I'm looking forward to doing more conventions this year. I'm still waiting for the July one to be announced and I'll update my listings then. 

Conventions lined up so far for 2024:

 

TFUKcon

11th May

Cobden Hotal, Birmingham.

https://www.primetimetoyz.co.uk/tfukcon

 

SALE COMIC CON

8th June

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100024049312263

 

MACC-POW!

June 22nd

Macclesfield Town Hall.

https://www.facebook.com/maccpow

 

Then a big one in early July to be announced.

Happy Easter!

From 33 years ago, Tom Thug's Easter Adventure from Buster (1991).

 

 

End of this week's art auction fast approaching

 The auction on my original artwork ends on Easter Sunday (31st March)! Some key items up for sale this time which I hope will attract interest. 

The covers for the first Brickman solo comic, Blimey! It's Brickman, the original art for a two page Pigswilla story from Oink!, and a New Year Tom Thug story from Buster. 

Don't miss your chance to bid! Best of luck! Here's the link...

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

Doctor Who Magazine No.602 - Out this week!

A preview of one of the panels from my next Daft Dimension comic strip (with dialogue removed to avoid spoilers) and the cover of Doctor Who Magazine No.602 in which it appears. In shops this Thursday!
https://www.panini.co.uk/shp_gbr_en/doctor-who-magazine-602-gbdrw602-uk02.html

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Brickman! Pigswilla! Tom Thug! Original comic art from the 1980s and 1990s up for sale

This week's art auctions of my original comic art include vintage pages from many years ago.

There's the wraparound cover art for Blmey! It's Brickman, the very first Brickman solo comic that folloed on from his appearances in fanzines. I drew this 'way back in 1983. Here's the link...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204710261292

There's a two page Pigswilla story from Oink! Book 1988 illustrated in black ink and grey wash. A festive story with the giant robot pig encountering the Snowman of Doom! 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204710267267

...and there's the original full colour artwork for Tom Thug on New Year's Day that I drew for the 1995 New Year edition of Buster...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204710253221

 

All three auctions end on Sunday 31st March. Good luck!

*************************************************

Read all about it!

Here's some of the feedback I've received about my Comic Sampler comic, a 20 page selection of a few of my strips from over the years...

 

Have you bought one yet? Only available directly from me at my eBay page. Click on this link to find out more!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204678429935 

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Brickman Returns... again!

This year marks 45 years since I created Brickman for my fanzine After Image. (He was called Brick-Person in his first few appearances.) The character has cropped up in various places over the years, such as in a one-off Brickman special for Harrier Comics in 1986, new adventures in Yampy Tales in the mid-'90s and a series of single page strips as a back up in Image Comics' Elephantmen 20 years ago. 

Now I'm working on new Brickman and Trowel mini-strips for a new British anthology comic. More news soon! 

Meanwhile, a couple of his older appearances are reprinted in my Comic Sampler. out now from my eBay listings...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204678429935?itmmeta=01HS3ZKXGWZBWN1X7QMV89ZR8Q&hash=item2fa7c8fcef:g:Mj8AAOSw~fBl4P3C

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Back The77!

The Kickstarter for the 10th issue of The77 has begun! The award-winning UK anthology comic will contain numerous strips and one of them will be the conclusion of Sgt.Shouty's current story arc, written and drawn by me.

You can back the comic at this link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/the77comic/the77-issue-10

Support UK comics!

Cover art by Rupert Lewis-Jones

 *********

 

MACC POW! 2024 Details revealed

Poster design by Marc Jackson.

The website for the Macc Pow! Comic Art Festival is now live and contains information about the event. More guest, more rooms, more to do! 

The main event takes place on Saturday 22nd June and I'll be there along with loads of other comics creators. Come and join us! 

Here's the link to find out more:

http://maccpow.co.uk/

Snail-Man, Macho Man, Dice Maniac, Tom Thug and Doctor Who!

Just a reminder that I have six items of my original comic artwork up for sale this week. Pages from 1985 to the present! All bids appreciated. Here's the link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&_ssn=graphite47&_sop=1

Meanwhile, in 1986...

Here's a blast from the past from 38 years ago. The advert for UKCAC '86, the United Kingdom Comic Art Convention that took place in September 1986.

I remember this very well. It was only my third time as a guest. I've lost count of the number of conventions I've been to since. Back then, the annual UKCAC event was pretty much the only comic con in the UK so practically everyone in the industry would be there. 

1986 was a great year for comics. Watchmen and The Dark Knight were released, and Oink! had been launched. There was a positive vibe in the air and, as most of us were still relatively young, we were full of fresh ideas and optimism. 

Although comic cons were few and far between back then, many of us would regularly meet up at the Westminster Comic Marts which I think took place every 6 or 8 weeks. They were very happy times and I'm glad I was part of that.

Sadly, several of the names listed in the ad are no longer with us, but they're fondly remembered. The best of times.

************

More ORIGINAL COMIC ART for sale this week

I've listed six items of my original comic artwork on eBay and the auction runs until Sunday 17th March. 

All of these pages were produced for comics ranging from 1985 to more recent times. In chronological order they are...

SNAIL MAN from Marvel UK's Spider-Man comic No.645 (1985). One of my earliest professional comic strips...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204687967571

 

MACHO MAN from Marvel UK's Secret Wars comic (1986). A character that only appeared ocassionally. I only did 11 episodes and this is episode three. Bid on this rarity at this link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204688163723

 

Even rarer is DICE MANIC from IPC's OINK! comic (1987). A very short lived character I created who only appeared twice. This is his second and last appearance and the only one in colour. The plastic overlay with the dialogue balloons is also included:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204687984181

 

A TOM THUG page I did for the April Fool issue of Buster in 1992. An unusual 'meta' episode:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204687971761

 

A DAFT DIMENSION strip. This one from Doctor Who Magazine No.589 featuring the First Doctor and Susan (2023)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204687974344

Another DAFT DIMENSION strip from Doctor Who Magazine No.599 featuring various Doctor Who 'monsters' (2024)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204687977885

All bids very much appreciated! Good luck!

 

 

 

 

Updated convention list

Here are the dates of the comics-related shows you'll find me over the next few months. More info will follow.

Updated convention list:

 

11th May: TFUKcon (Birmingham)

https://www.primetimetoyz.co.uk/tfukcon

 

8th June: SALE COMIC CON (Sale, Manchester)

https://www.facebook.com/wowcomix

 

22nd June: MACC-POW (Macclesfield)

https://www.facebook.com/maccpow

 

Early July: To be announced.

 

 

 

 

Comic Sampler still available!

Just a reminder that there are still copies left in stock of my latest publication; a 20 page selection of various strips I've created over the years. Lew Stringer's Comic Sampler is just £6 including postage and packing and is only available directly from me at this link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204678429935

Full line up for MACC POW! 2024

Marc Jackson has revealed the full guest line up for Macc-Pow! 2024 that takes place at Macclesfield Town Hall on Saturday 22nd June. A long list of comics creators with a variety of styles. Something for everyone! I hope you can join us!

https://www.facebook.com/maccpow

Tor Freeman

Sheena Dempsey

Kev F Sutherland

Lew Stringer

Daps Draws

David Leach

Rachael Smith

Mr Hope

Asimina Hollinsworth

Blakemore comics

Charlie Adlard

Jacob Phillips

Sean Phillips

Nick Brokenshire

Emmeline Pidgen

Roger Langridge

Monty Nero

John Allison

Laura Howell

Peter Hogan

Hunt Emerson

Emma Reynolds

Eleanor Dixon

Paul McCaffrey

Little LICAF

Katie and Phil‘s MARVEL D&D

Tripwire magazine

Felt Mistress and Jonathan Edwards

Emma Vieceli

Tallewellyn Comics

Chris Askham

Will Chesters

Quantum comic

Comics Youth

Dawn Wilson (slightly ghosts)

Dan Whitehead

Roz Hague

Toria scribbles

Markus Pattern

Ellen Stubbings

FOX HAT

Rebecca Burke

Lily Blakey

Bo&Boon

Jim Medway & Broken Cross Primary

Froggy Froo

Corey Brotherson

Yomi

Laura Hole

Imogen Mangle

Alex Potts

Noel Hannan

Neil Roche

WOW comix

Shanefaced

Sam Hardacre

James Chapman

Colin Mattheison

 

Lots of returning creators, and thanks to this year’s additional support from Macclesfield Town Council we’ve been able to attract so many new faces from the world of comics!

 

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Next event: TFUKcon

The next event where you'll find me will be TFUKcon on 11th May 2024, celebrating 40 years of The Transformers. As my Robo-Capers and Combat Colin strips appeared in that comic I've been invited as a guest for this show. See you there? 

Only a few tickets left apparently! More info at:

https://www.primetimetoyz.co.uk/tfukcon 

*******************

Back from London

I had a nice weekend at London Comic Con. On a smaller scale than the July show but a friendly event all the same. Thanks to Tony Lee, Michael Mastakin, and the team for organising it and looking after the guests. Great to catch up with friends David Leach, Mike Collins, Bernadette Vella, Mike Perkins, Nigel Parkinson, Pau Scorpi, Chris Geary, Kit Cox, Robert Rankin, Rachel Rankin-Hayward, Lee Townsend, Sonia Leong, Gary Erskine, Yel Zamor, Stephen Baskerville, Jenika Loffreda, Geoff Senior and more, some too briefly.

Thanks to those who dropped by for a sketch or a comic. Comic Sampler sold out but I've listed more on eBay: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204678429935 

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COMIC SAMPLER published today!

I thought I'd do something new for the London Comic Con this weekend. Here's Lew Stringer's Comic Sampler, a slim 20 page selection of a few of my highlights from over my 40 year career. You may have seen the strips before but now they're in a variety package featuring Brickman, Combat Colin, Derek the Troll, Sgt.Shouty and a few other examples of my comics work. 

Why is the cover monochrome? Mostly to keep the costs down for this one-off special, but also I wanted to go "back to basics" and do an entirely black and white comic like I used to many years ago. I've only had 100 printed. I'll do more if it sells out but it's likely to be a limited edition. Not available in shops or from any other seller, only from me.

I'll be bringing copies along to sell at the convention, but if you're not in London this weekend you can order it directly from my eBay listings at the following link and I'll post them off to you next week...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204678429935

For those of you who are going to the con, see you there! 

https://www.londoncomicconspring.com/