Summertime Daftness

Here's an advance preview of part of my next Daft Dimension comic strip. Yes, every year I try to feature Blackpool in one of my strips and this is the latest one. ('Cos when I was a kid, summertime comic strips often featured Blackpool so I'm carrying on the tradition). 

 

See the full version in the bumper edition of Doctor Who Magazine No.632, in shops from Thursday July 23rd.

 

 

Update

I'm not doing a lot at the moment. I needed a break last week so I went to Blackpool for a few days. All was well until I was about to set off home and tripped and fell on the hotel steps, badly bruising my leg and elbow. Big thanks to Barbara the landlady who looked after me and gave me a lift to the station. It could have been a lot worse frankly.

Still feeling a bit shook up from the fall I foolishly forgot to wear my mask on the journey home and have caught some chesty bug that's laid me low ever since. 

Subsequently I haven't done any work this past week but I did manage to package up and post the artwork today from my eBay sales. Those of you who won the items should receive them tomorrow (Friday) as I always use Special Delivery for sales of over £50. 

So, with feeling achey from the fall and groggy from the virus I've mostly slept this week but hopefully will be back at the drawing board next week. Meanwhile (above) here's a photo I took from the top of Blackpool Tower on Monday 22nd September. At least I didn't fall off that!

No Blackpool for me unfortunately

I'm very sorry to say that I won't be able to make it to Blackpool this weekend for the Blackpool Comic Con at the Winter Gardens. I was looking forward to combining work with a little holiday but I've had problems with the tendon in my ankle for weeks and it's still painful to walk. (I've tried all the usual; ice pack, elevation, rest, massage, exercise, heel lifts in shoes, makes no difference.) Tendonitis or something similar I think. Really gutted to miss it.

 
My apologies to those of you I was hoping to catch up with this weekend. Hopefully I'll get this sorted and will be active again this summer. I hope that those of you who are attending the Blackpool con will have a great weekend. Sonia Leong, Tim Quinn and Adrian Salmon will be there so check out their tables and say hello to them.

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Meanwhile, Three Years Ago...

Facebook reminded me today that three years ago it was blazing hot and I was sitting on Blackpool promenade roughing out the script for a Team Toxic story. 

Holidays! Clear blue skies! Working for Toxic! How times have changed in just a few years. 

I made a few revisions when I wrote the finished script and drew it so the opening scene was different to how I'd first envisioned it in my notes. Here's the published pages next to my original art...

I enjoyed working on Toxic for 16 years but those days are gone now sadly. The mag now uses U.S. reprints of Teen Titans Go and suchlike as it's cheaper than giving work to UK artists. 

As for holidays.... maybe next year. 

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Batteries recharged!

Photo © 2018 Lew Stringer

When you're self-employed it's very easy to forget to take a break. It's often difficult to find time anyway, when deadlines shift around, or something new crops up, and that week you thought was free suddenly isn't. Fortunately, this week I did manage to get away for a few days. 

One big advantage of being single and freelance is that when the opportunity for a break does come up, I've only myself to schedule for. A last-minute decision, I set off to Blackpool early on Monday morning and stayed there until Wednesday evening. The resort is well past its 20th Century heyday and looking shabby in places now, but I still have an affection for the town and being on the coast, watching the waves crash against the shore, is always worth seeing.

On Thursday I went down to London to see Jessica Martin starring in Shirleymander at the Playground Theatre. I've known Jessica as a friend for a few years now in her capacity as a comics creator, and knew her television work of course, but this was the first time I'd seen her perform live in a play. It's the story of the rise and fall of Shirley Porter and the gerrymandering scandal of the 1990s. Jessica and the cast were superb in this well-structured play and it was poignant to see it on the anniversary of the Grenfell tower disaster, which is relevant to the story. The theatre itself is only a few streets away from Grenfell, and there was a silent march yesterday, so the play felt very relevant indeed, and very moving. The final performances are tonight and tomorrow afternoon, so catch it if you can! 
https://theplaygroundtheatre.london

Check out Jessica Martin's website:
https://jessicamartinofficial.com

Anyway, that's enough gadding about for me this week. I'm back to work today, having just written a Team Toxic script for Toxic No.309, and now colouring Derek the Troll for Goof! No.1. This weekend I'll be drawing Team Toxic and Big Eggo, and scripting the final Big Eggo story. More info on those soon.