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The next show you'll find me at will be the High Vis Kings Heath Comic Con on Saturday 19th September, which will be my final convention for the foreseeable future. (Although health permitting I hope to attend Thought Bubble in November as a visitor, but sadly not as a guest.)
I'll be bringing along a few of my comics, plus I'll be doing A4 character sketches on request for £20 each. Hope to see you there!
Here's the website:
If it wasn't for Mike Higgs' creation The Cloak, there'd be no Brickman, no Combat Colin, and possibly no comics career for me. Simple as that. The Cloak was the most influential comic strip of my childhood, where I learned that humour comics didn't need to be formularised stories about naughty schoolkids, but that they could contain action adventure plots including monsters, aliens, mad robots and even demons, all with a good dollop of daftness!
Now, The Collected Cloak is to be published, a large size hardback including all of Mike Higgs' Cloak serials from Pow! and Smash! from 1967 to 1969, plus those he did that followed for other publications such as the 1986 Brickman special and Crikey magazine. Running to over 230 pages, the book also includes a new introduction written by Alan Moore, enthusing over his genuine affection for the character and its creator. There's also an interview with Mike Higgs about his career, conducted by the book's publisher Nat Karmichael, showing how The Cloak developed from the character's original incarnation as The Shudder in early 1960s fanzines.
Although The Cloak wasn't the first humourous spy strip serial (preceded by Leo Baxendale's Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy and others for example) there was something fresh and modern, and very much in tune with Sixties pop culture about the mysterious black garbed bulgy-eyed hero. I think it also helped that The Cloak and his co-stars (including the unforgettable Lady Shady) were adult characters, not kids plunged into the situations like Eagle-Eye. Readers didn't need to "relate" to the character; we wanted to look up to The Cloak because he was so cool.
Anyway, the main point of this rambling but affectionate post is to say that The Collected Cloak is now available to order from your nearest comic speciality shop. Give them the order code AUG262180 as it's being solicited by Diamond UK. You'll need to order it this month (August) so that the shops can place their orders with the distributors. (I think it'll be published in October / November but you need to order it in advance because comic shops are less likely to stock humour books unless they know there's demand for them.) I believe the price is £29.95 which is very reasonable for a book like this. I ordered mine yesterday with no problems.
This isn't a book that you'll find in TG Jones or Asda. It's a limited print run for a niché audience, so comic shops are the place to order it from.
The Collected Cloak is published by Australian publisher Comic OZ, via an official licence with Rebellion. I know some of you have chosen to order it directly from Australia, although that will be very expensive due to postage. However, here's the link should you wish to do that:
https://www.comicoz.com/store/p61/The_Collected_Cloak.html
Once again, to order The Collected Cloak from a comic shop, give them the code AUG262180 which will now be on their system.
As I've mentioned before, these stories are my last work for DC Thomson (and mainstream kids' comics in general) so I dunno if that adds to the book's collectability or not.
Just to clarify; this does not mean I've given up drawing yet! I'm focusing my energies on my Doctor Who Magazine strip and working on my self-published comics. I still have lots of ideas for my own comics but whether or not health and finances will allow me to reach those goals remains to be seen.
Anyway, The Dandy Annual 2027 is a smashing book that I'm privileged to be part of. In fact I felt privileged to work for all the comics I've been in over the years.
Other creators involved in the annual include Laura Howell, Wayne Thompson, Nigel Parkinson, Andy Fanton, Steve Bright, Iain McLaughlin, Mychalio Kazybrid, Nigel Auchterlounie and more!
https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-dandy-annual-2027
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| COVER ART BY THE SHARP BROS. |
This is Volume Three of a series (and the final volume) that was begun by the late Ed Fordham, and has been concluded by Prisoner expert Rick Davy. It contains submissions by many writers, giving their observations, theories and knowledge about the show, and is an intriguing and entertaining read. The book also includes many new black and white photographs of Portmeirion, the village that served for location filming of The Prisoner.
Why am I plugging this book on my business blog? Well, because I'm pleased to say there's a cartoon by me in the back, that I drew in 2007. This one didn't appear in my Fanzine Funnies Prisoner cartoon collection ('cos I forgot to include it) so it's the first time it's been in print since the PM2007 convention booklet way back when.
If you enjoyed The Prisoner, Half A Dozen of the Other: It Means What It Says is a great read. Profits from the book will go to the charities MIND and Ty Gobaith Children's Hospice so it's all in a good cause. You can buy the book at this link:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Half-Dozen-Other-Means-Three/dp/B0HCGNVBGS/
Auction ends tomorrow, Sunday 9th August. Good luck if you're bidding!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206460003831?itmmeta=01KZGKAE399F7JPE5TD7V7EY3D&hash=item3011f9a5f7:g:0JAAAeSwc5lqb1DZ
I really enjoyed my few years creating new Keyhole Kate stories for The Dandy Annual. A classic character who originated in The Dandy No.1 way back in 1937, so it was a privilege to put my spin on the legend.
I haven't worked on the character for a while, and doubt I ever will again unfortunately but here's one of my pages that I did seven years ago for The Dandy Annual 2020. Hope you enjoy it! (I also designed the title banner.)
Usually I'm asked to tie in the strip with the main theme of the issue or the latest episode, or sometimes I just wing it and come up with whatever I think will work. Since I semi retired last year, it's the only ongoing strip I still do for a mainstream publication and I'm grateful to my editors at Panini UK that it's still running.
Anyway, I thought I'd post a small selection of past Daft Dimension strips on my blog today. All of these are from 2018. Hope you enjoy their daftness! Click on the strips to expand them to full size.
...and here's the very first Daft Dimension I did, as published in Doctor Who Magazine No.477 back in August 2014...
I'm surprised that as it stands right now there have only been two bids on the Viz page, as many of you have been asking me to list Viz artwork. I haven't found any other complete pages so don't miss out on this.
The Combat Colin page is another rarity. It's very unlikely I'll be selling any more Combat Colin pages in the foreseeable future but I listed this one as there had been demands for it. Usually I prefer to hold onto my Combat Colin pages as I own the rights.
Remember, the auctions end very soon! All bids appreciated. Here's the link where you'll find close up photos of the artwork and will be able to place your bid:
Your bids are very much appreciated at the moment so I hope some of you out there will be interested. Both auctions end next Sunday, 26th July. Good luck!
Here's the link...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=graphite47
There doesn't appear to be a market for digital editions of my comics. I have three on my KoFi shop that readers from anywhere in the world can buy for just £3 each and download full PDF comics but none of them have even reached double figures in sales.
You can never take anything for granted in this business (or any business I suppose). You can be powering along successfully for years, enjoying the process of creating and receiving good feedback from readers and then suddenly the work drops off and no one tells you why. Not just in one instance, but as a pattern, and when you see those signs you realise that maybe it's time to read the room and accept that something has changed. Not just in business but in life in general. It isn't just me, but this happens to almost every comics creator in the end except for the real superstars (and even some of them too).
For now though, before the point comes when I feel it's time to wrap everything up completely, my comics are still up for sale on my shop. Physical editions that will be posted securely, and the three digital comics that you can buy and download to read right away.
https://ko-fi.com/lewstringer/shop
Sorry it's a downbeat post, but eventually you have to face reality about life.
If you're a exhibitor with comics to sell, there are still a few tables left so here are the details...
See you there? https://comicsassemble.net/
I thought you might like to see another sneak peek at one of my four Dinah Mo stories I did for the book. Here are a couple of panels before they were lettered, as Dinah and her Mum encounter pollution in the woods! Just the sort of thing that will spur environmentally-conscious Dinah into action to find out the culprits!
As I've mentioned before these stories will be my final contributions to D.C. Thomson publications now I'm semi-retired and have scaled down my output. I've contributed to every Dandy Annual from the 2012 to 2025 editions (missed the 2026 one) and now the 2027 annual, so it's been a good run.
The Dandy Annual 2027 is available to pre-order now from various online sellers.
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| COVER ART BY THE SHARP BROS. |
The Swots and Blots is published under official licence from Rebellion and in very limited quantities, - so order quickly if you want one. The hardback edition is limited to 150 numbered copies (and comes with a free colour print) while the softback edition is limited to just 50 copies. The printing and reproduction is excellent. My photos here don't do it justice. The inks are solid black.
The book is only available directly by post from the publisher in Lithuania at this link:
https://www.kazoop-comics-shop.com/
...and if you don't have the other books that Irmantas has published, you can purchase those there too.
This year marked 11 years since the Macc Pow Comic Art Festival began and it was the best yet! Each year, organisers Marc Jackson and his wife Jane manage to improve on the previous one, and this time it was packed with goodness!
Although there were small connected workshops and the like taking place on days either side of the main event, most of the guests were there for Saturday 27th June, so it was an early start for me that morning, up at 4.30am and on the train to Macclesfield at 6.30.
Arriving at Macclesfield 90 minutes later, I was met by Tristan Maddocks, friend of the organisers, who drove me to the Town Hall well in time to set up for the show. Greeted by Marc and Jane at the venue, I was one of the first to arrive and soon set up my table.
By the time everyone else had arrived it was time for the traditional group shot of guests as we gathered on the stairs. The Mayor of Macclesfield gave a postive speech about comics to open the show and we were ready for the day to begin.
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| Group shot photo by Tristan Maddocks. |
My table was situated between those of Rachael Smith and Sean Phillips, both good friends of mine and very successful comics creators in their chosen fields. Not too far away were other longtime friends such as David Leach, Laura Howell, Roger Langridge, Kev Sutherland, Gary Northfield, Sonia Leong and many more. As ever there was a friendly, upbeat vibe to the proceedings as we chatted to each other and to the visitors, some of whom were also familiar faces.
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| Cartoonist Dicky Howett and writer Tim Quinn. |
It was very nice to see the great Dicky Howett again after several years, reuinited with his good pal and colleague Tim Quinn. You'll remember that Tim and Dicky worked together on many comic strips over the years at IPC, Marvel UK, and beyond.
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| Dicky's wife, with Tim Quinn, Dicky Howett, me, Rachael Smith, and David Leach. |
Macc-Pow is a very family friendly event, totally dedicated to comics, with more of an emphasis on humour strips than other shows. Not that our friends of the more realistic comics are forgotten, with people such as Charlie Adlard, Michael Lark, and the aforementioned Sean Phillips in attendance.
For the third year running, Macc-Pow launched another issue of Goof, the 24 page full colour humour comic edited and published by Marc Jackson with all new content by Tor Freeman, Hilary Barta, David Leach, Rachael Smith, Jim Medway and many more (including a spoof Dracula strip from me). You can buy a copy from this link:
https://ko-fi.com/marcmakescomics/shop
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| GOOF No.3, cover by Marc Jackson. |
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| Part of my page for GOOF No.3 |
The festival concluded with a musical number about how cool comics are, written by star guest James Kochalka and performed by him and a group of children on banjos! Not something you see every day! The kids did really well.
Usually, I'm only at Macc-Pow for a day, but this year had a special event scheduled in the evening so Marc had generously booked a b&b for a few of us to stay over. This went down well with us as it gave us time to relax, wind down and have something to eat before...
...we set off to the local cinema for the world premire of the Oink! film Pigs, Puns, and Plops! Running to 25 minutes, this great documentary by Claire Bend and Rob Reed of Bread and Butter Films, featured some interviews that Claire and Rob conducted at last year's Macc-Pow, plus other interviewees that have been added since. Telling the story of the cult comic that celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, the documentary included interviews with contributors Patrick Gallagher, David Leach, Charlie Brooker, Jeremy Banx, and myself, plus those the comic inspired such as Laura Howell, Jamie Smart, Marc Jackson, and Oink! blogger and historian Phil Boyce.
After the screening, Alex Fitch of the radio show Panel Borders conducted a brief Q&A session with Claire, Rob, Patrick, David, and myself. The film was well received by those in attendance and it's hoped that some TV company will pick it up at some point in the future. Claire and Rob have done a great job. It was a pleasant surprise to meet Patrick Gallagher again after 40 years, the surviving editor and one of the key people behind Oink! (he designed the distinctive Oink! logo, to mention just one of his many accomplishments).
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| Me, David Leach, Laura Howell, Marc Jackson, and Ché Michaels in the pub. |
After the cinema it was back to the pub for several of us to relax and chat for a while. Then Marc Jackson took Laura Howell, David Leach, and myself for a tour of his town centre art studio Room for Comics, which often hosts drawing classes for local children. we were very impressed with the studio and Marc's enthusiasm. He does a hell of a lot for Macclesfield promoting comics to a new generation and spreading the word about the artform.
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| Room For Comics, the studio interior. |
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| Marc Jackson, David Leach, Laura Howell in Room for Comics. |
In fact, I was impressed by Macclesfield in general, with its many independent businesses. This isn't a town that's followed the usual spiral into having nothing but identical High Streets and corporate brands. It has its own identity.
After such a busy day it was time to turn in, but it had been a very pleasant experience and had cheered me up no end. The next morning was the monthly Treacle Market full of independent stallholders but the previous day was telling on me by then due to having a chronic illness (the usual crash after a hectic day) so unfortunately I skipped the market and caught a direct train home. Although tired, I felt content and happy that Macc-Pow had been another success, filled with positivity of friendship and like minds. My thanks to Marc and Jane for the invite, to Claire and Rob for the movie, and to friends too numerous to mention for the company. Long may it continue!
- Lew Stringer, July 2026.
