Nor-Con report

Check out my main blog where I've written a report (with photos) of the enjoyable Nor-Con I attended at the weekend:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/2019/09/back-from-nor-con.html

Omagh Comic Fest report

I'm back from the Omagh Comic Fest and a good time was had by all. You can read my brief report on the show and see a few photos over on my other blog here:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/2019/09/back-from-omagh.html

ICE postponed!

I've just heard tonight that this year's ICE2019 (International Comic Expo) which was set to take place on August 31st has been cancelled... or rather postponed... until 2020. 

A shame, as ICE is one of my favourite conventions, but hopefully I'll see you there when it returns in September 2020! 

Here's the full explanation that appeared as an announcement on Facebook, from event organiser Shane Chebsey...

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
Due to health reasons of the Director ICE BIRMINGHAM 2019 is being postponed until 19th September 2020.
The venue has not changed and all tickets and tables purchased for the old date will be valid for the new date.
All exhibitors and advanced ticket holders have been contacted via email already.
Please do not purchase any more tickets however until the new dates are published on the website.
New tickets and tables going live again will be announced here soon along with some exciting new guest announcements.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and hope that the long notice period will ensure everyone can join us on 19th September 2020 for what promises to be an amazing event.
Thank you to everyone for their continued support of the convention. We can't make it happen without you and thank you to our wonderful new venue for being so understanding.
https://www.facebook.com/ICECOMICON/

It's MACC-POW! this Saturday!

I hope you'll be joining us at Macclesfield Town Hall this Saturday, 22nd June, for Macc-Pow!, the town's annual celebration of comics!

As well as myself, guests this year include Nigel Parkinson, Rachael Smith, Hunt Emerson, David Leach, Jessica Lucas, Gary Northfield, Roger Langridge, Nick Brokenshire and many more! Always a friendly, comics-focused event and it's free admission!

To find out more, visit the website here:
http://maccpow.co.uk

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

NOTE:
On to other matters, I won't have time to write the reviews I'd intended to do this week as I suddenly have a lot of work on with tight deadlines over the next few weeks. That means that, apart from a scheduled comics preview that will go live this weekend, this blog will be inactive for a short while. Normal service will resume sometime in July. 

You can keep up with my latest work over at my other blog here:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com

It's COMICS SALOPIA this weekend!

What does "Salopia" mean? Well, it's an old French word, Salop, for Shropshire, so a comics convention set in Shrewsbury has adopted the name for its premiere event this weekend, 1st and 2nd June, as Comics Salopia takes place in various venues over town.

With guests from the UK and overseas, Comics Salopia sounds like it'll be an exciting show as readers meet comics creators such as Charlie Adlard, Sean Phillips, Aneke Murillenem, Chip Kidd, Yanick Paquette and many more! 

As I said, we're in various locations across town, and you'll find me in the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle alongside fellow Beano artists Nigel Parkinson, Laura Howell, Hunt Emerson, and Beano editor John Anderson! 

Then, between 12 and 1p.m. on Saturday we'll be trekking over the river to the Guild Hall (room 021) for a Beano panel to talk to the audience and answer questions about Britain's longest running comic. 
https://comicssalopia.com/event/an_audience-with-the-beano/

After that we'll be back at our stalls in the Castle grounds. 

This is the first event of its kind in Shrewsbury, and the weather forecast is good, so I hope you'll join us! More info here:
https://comicssalopia.com

Next Saturday: OLDHAM COMIC CON!

Saturday 11th May is the date for your diary as Oldham Comic Con returns for its third outing. Taking place at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham, the event has FREE ADMISSION so come along and see us!

I'm pleased to say that I'll be one of the guests and there's some great creators coming along from the UK and beyond! Here's the full guest list:

Kevin Enhart

James Peaty

Kev Hopgood

Steve Yeowell

Michael Carroll

Phil Winslade

Nick Brokenshire

Martin Griffiths

Keith Williams

Amy Chu

Richard Piers Rayner

Steve Austin

Dave Taylor

Al Ewing

David Millgate

Ellen Stubbings

Mike Collins

John Davis-Hunt

Simon Myers

Ian Richardson

Aneke

Laura Howell

Lew Stringer

Lee Townsend

John Royle

Neil Edwards

Paul McCaffrey

Alan Cowsill

Joe Matthews

Dave Kendell

Tim Perkins

Nigel Dobbyn
Dan Cornwell

...and even more guests and exhibitors...

Alan Byrom

Tom Ward
Markosia

Aly Fell
Neil Bhuna Roche
Sarah Elliot
Frisson Comics
Matt Soffe
Jenika
Art Ninetwo Studio
Dan Whitehead
Chris Sides
Carolyn Edwards
C L Raven
Austin Chambers
Reckless Hero
Chris Imber
Umar Ditta
Jon Laight
Dan Charnley
Neil McClements
Baden James Mellonie
Chris Askham
Paul PJ Johnson
Jay Martin
Owen Edmonds
Asa Wheatley
Sammy Ward
Foxhat
Mewa-chu
Nigel Twumasi

Find out more at the convention Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/325271371350982/

See you there!

MANCHESTER COMIC FEST this Saturday!

The next stop in my convention tour this year will be Manchester Comic Fest at Wythenshawe Forum on Saturday 27th April. I'll be joining other guests that include Rachael Smith, Nigel Parkinson, Mike Collins, David Leach, Dan Whitehead and more! Come along for a chat and to purchase comics and sketches directly from us. 

More info:
https://manchestercomicfest.co.uk

See you there!

Have a cuppa with the Seven Ages of Fan

I'd never treat fans as mugs, but now you can buy a ceramic mug featuring my 1998 cartoon The Seven Ages of Fan!

It's the latest item I've added to my webshop on Redbubble, and as you no doubt know, it was inspired by the old illustration 'The Seven Ages of Man' regarding evolution. 

I drew it originally for the UKCAC98 convention booklet 31 years ago as an affectionate look of how our attitudes towards comics change as we get older. (Or towards any genre really; TV, movies, sport... anything that one can be a fan of.)  A lot of people have told me they liked it, so I thought I'd make a nice item for your morning cuppa, evening Horlicks, etc. 

If you're interested, please visit my Redbubble store. They handle all orders, production, and dispatch:

https://www.redbubble.com/people/LewStringer

STOKE-CON-TRENT 10 is coming this April!

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be reuniting with my old comics pals David Leach and Lee Sullivan for Stoke-Con-Trent 10 on Sunday 14th April, my first convention for 2019. Looking forward to meeting up with readers old and new! Come along and join us! The venue is Staffordshire University, Stoke-On-Trent, a couple of minutes walk from the railway station. More guests to be announced soon!
http://stokecontrent.co.uk/cartoon-and-comic-arts/

The second issue of FANSCENE is now available!

Issue 2 of Fanscene is now available to download for free, - and it's a mammoth 212 page edition!

Published by David Hathaway-Price and featuring articles by an array of writers, Fanscene No.2 celebrates 50 years of UK comic cons with articles on various events from the past half decade. The magazine is very nicely designed and features numerous photos and images from over the years. 

It's well worth your time, and even if you've been involved in fandom or the comics industry for years you'll still learn something new from all the personal recollections and history contained within. 

Visit this link to find out more and to download your copy:
https://davidprice5.wixsite.com/classicukcomicszines

See you at HI VIS FESTIVAL this Saturday!

It's something totally different from the comic cons we're used to. Hi Vis is a street culture festival including music, dance, graffiti, and comics (and more!) and it takes place at the Custard Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham, on Saturday 8th September.

I'll be one of the guests, along with comics creator Sammy Borras, Simon Myers (artist of many covers for Titan's Doctor Who comics) and Steve Tanner (publisher/owner of Time Bomb Comics) and more, so come along and join us! 

I don't know what to expect. Sounds wild! Sounds fun! Let's find out!

More info:
https://twitter.com/highvisfest

Update: Here's a map so you'll know where to find us, in (2) the Market Hall... along with the Dance Battles!?! It's going to be memorable!

Sketch Roulette at NICE Con

If you're attending NICE Comic Con 2018 this weekend and you have a ticket for something called 'Sketch Roulette' you might win one of the 5 A4 sketches shown above that I've drawn. It's not just my sketches that are part of it of course; there are loads of others by the other guest artists and what I've seen so far have been superb! 

The bigger illustration on the far left is the original artwork for my convention banner, and that'll be in an auction at the con, so good luck if you're bidding!

See you in Bedford this weekend!
https://nicecon.co.uk

UK Comic Cons are 50 today!

This almost slipped my notice, and sadly I don't have time to post anything but this brief mention, but comics conventions in the UK are 50 years old TODAY! 

The very first one was held in the Midland Hotel, Birmingham, from 30th August to 2nd September 1968. Organised by Phil Clarke and the late Steve Moore it was a small event but it had guests including Mike Higgs. The image above shows how it was announced in the pages of top comics Fantastic, Pow! and Smash! back then.

From small acorns, great oaks grow, and these days there are numerous conventions virtually every weekend of the year! In fact I'm off to one this weekend. Join us at NICE 2018 at Bedford Corn Exchange on Sept 1st and 2nd!
https://nicecon.co.uk

TF Nation 2018: a fantastic event!

Photo by Stuart Webb.

It's been my good fortune and privilege to be a guest at many great conventions over the years, and TF Nation 2018 was exceptionally brilliant! 

One of the best events it's been my pleasure to attend, TF Nation 2018 took place over the last weekend at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, near Birmingham International Airport. The last time I was at that hotel was in 1979, which was the very first comics convention I went to as a fan. Returning there 39 years later as a guest brought back a lot of happy memories, and certainly provided new experiences that I'll always remember with fondness. 

The organisation of the show by Billy Edwards and his team was top class, and they looked after the guests very well. The show was incredibly busy, with people asking for autographs and sketches as soon as we entered the hall.

Photograph by Simon Vincent.

I knew the show would be good, but I wasn't sure how many would remember (or care about) my contributions to Transformers history. After all, Robo-Capers and Combat Colin were a separate entity to the Hasbro universe, as comic relief in the old Marvel UK comics, but I need not have worried. I was amazed and quite touched by how many remembered my strips from the 1980s and how much they had meant to them. It was a pleasure to talk with the readers and to sketch for such a nice friendly crowd. I'd taken along a couple of stacks of Combat Colin comics, and a few of my other comics too. By the end of the show I'd completely sold out! That has never happened before. 

It was also great to catch up with some fellow creators too of course, and hang out with John-Paul Bove, Jessica Bradley-Bove, Jack Lawrence, Simon Williams, Jason Cardy, Abigail Bulmer, Paul Goodenough, Mike Collins, Bernadette, and not forgetting Barry the Dog! 

My thanks to Billy, Kathryn, and the whole team for an unforgettable weekend! 
https://tfnation.com/2018/

Here's a bunch of photos from the weekend. Some I took, some are screen grabs from Twitter etc. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWH5mR9bwjY

Actor André Sogliuzzo being interviewed.

Shortfuse the Cybernik (a character I created for Sonic the Comic).

A highlight was meeting Thew Adams, as I was friends with his late father in the 1990s.

The next convention I'll be at will be NICE CON 2018, on September 1st and 2nd in Bedford. More info here:
https://nicecon.co.uk

LFCC 2018, - another triumph!

Just one of the busy halls at LFCC2018.

The London Film and Comic Con that took place at Olympia last weekend was another winner! A convention that ran for three days (with Saturday having the longest hours of 9am to 7pm), it was very busy, albeit tiring (especially at my age). I enjoyed it immensely though, and the event had a nice friendly, upbeat atmosphere throughout. 

My thanks to Tony Lee and his team for the invitation and for their hospitality over the three days, ensuring the show ran very smoothly. It can't be easy organising over 100 comics guests, so respect to them for making it look less stressful than it surely was. 

I was hobbling about all weekend due to a strained Achilles tendon (that's what exercise does for you, kids!) so if any of you were wondering why I was limping, now you know. It was even more painful by the time I left on Sunday, but I don't regret going to the show. It was a superb event and I met a lot of really nice readers, plus it's always good to catch up with fellow creators and establish new friendships too. The comics community is great, and always has been.

Anyway, without further ado, here's a few photos from the weekend...

It was great to meet EMILY McGORMAN-BRUCE, who draws RUBI for THE BEANO.

Mighty MIKE COLLINS, comics creator and Doctor Who storyboard artist!

Fantastic rising talent VALENTINA SENNAIS and STARFALL comic, which she illustrated.

Fellow contributors to DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE, CRISTEL DEE, BETH AXFORD, and friends with their excellent 13th Doctor cosplay outfits.

Never mind Beatlemania, it was NIGELMANIA when NIGEL PARKINSON came to that London!

Best Cyberman cosplay ever!

Convention pics are a surefire way of finding out what the top of your head looks like! Doing a sketch for LaptopGeek92 and Dracorum Order (who took the photo of me). 

My comics did really well over the weekend. COMBAT COLIN sold out, and the launch of PEDANTIC STAN proved popular too!

One of the sketches I was commissioned to draw.

Everyone posts photos of their "convention haul" so here's mine. Reviews of these comics and books will appear on this blog over the next few weeks.