Epilogue: The Last Round-Up

When, in my previous post, I announced that I was ending this blog it took a few people by surprise. Reaction from readers has been very heartening and much appreciated. Although I still don't have the time or inclination to continue with Blimey I've been sufficiently encouraged to return for one last round-up of items that have been published recently, some of which I'd promised to promote a while ago. There's a lot to cover here so relax, have a cuppa, and here we go...

Above is the cover to a brand new comics magazine, Scraps, published by Blasé Books. Edited and designed by my old mentor Mike Higgs (I know, "Not so much of the old", - sorry Mike) who also contributes two strips Kevin and his Comics and The Yesterfiles. The 16 page A4 full colour mag also features two very informative articles by Peter Hansen on British comics and annuals, a Comic ODDments feature, and promotions for books by Blasé and Ugly Duckling Press.

A copy of Scraps No.1 will appear as a free insert in Multiverse magazine soon, or can be picked up in its single magazine format at various comic marts around the country (especially the Birmingham and London ones). However, if you'd like a copy posted to you, you can send a pound coin to cover postage to Blasé Books, Hazelwood, Birchfield Road, Reddich B97 6PU. Alternatively you can pay £1 via PayPal, to blasebooks@aol.com

Another recent debut is Hairy Steve, an all-new 32 page comic book by Jamie Smart and Steve Bright. If you thought you knew what they could accomplish from their contributions to children's comics over the years think again. With Hairy Steve the creators give us a darkly funny adult comic that pulls no punches. A lupine hero! A mad scientist! Zombies! Violence! And more. 

Both creators are highly talented writer/artists in their own right but with Jamie Smart on script and Steve Bright on artwork it's a winning combination that's a must-buy. Hairy Steve was made possible via Indiegogo crowdfunding so those of us who funded it have already received our copies. However if you weren't part of that and you'd still like a copy, a few are still available at a reasonable price. E-mail Jamie at jamiesmart78@gmail.com and he'll sort out a signed copy for you.

Fans of classic British comics will be pleased to hear that Steve Holland has revised and expanded his index for Lion comic into an impressive 262 page A4 softback book. Lion, King of Picture Story Papers is published by Bear Alley Books for £25.99 plus £4 postage. Well worth it for fans of the fondly-remembered weekly, as the book features a 100 page history of the comic, profusely illustrated with sharp, clear samples of strips, behind the scenes photographs of the editorial staff, and the index section itself runs to around 160 pages with details of all the strips in the weekly, annuals, and specials. 

Even if Lion was before your time this is still an absorbing book for anyone with a genuine interest in the history of British comics. It's a great showcase of the outstanding artistic talent that was working in comics back then, with many full page examples of artwork from Joe Colquhoun, Reg Bunn, Leo Baxendale, Don Lawrence and many more. (Many pages are also reproduced smaller than published size, but the reproduction is still clear and legible.) Available here from Bear Alley Books website: 
http://bearalleybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/lion-king-of-picture-story-papers_3.html

Speaking of classic British comic talent, Terry Bave has published his autobiography as a chunky 298 page volume. Cartoons and Comic Strips takes us on a journey from Terry's early days right up to the present, with many examples of his artwork from over the decades.

Terry's work has always had a gentle fun aspect that has appealed to children over the years. He understands the essentials of comic storytelling, with strips that are always clear to follow, and characters that are engaging. Credit must also go to Shiela Bave of course, Terry's wife, who has worked with Terry on the scripts for practically his entire career.

Copies of Cartoons and Comic Strips can be ordered from Terry's new blog at http://terrybave.blogspot.co.uk or directly from the Lulu website here:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-bave/cartoons-and-comic-strips/paperback/product-20625272.html 

An excellent graphic novel from a mainstream British publisher is The Complete Rainbow Orchid by Gavin Ewing, published by Egmont. This previously appeared as three separate comic albums but now they're collected into this sumptuous 136 page book. 

 
The Rainbow Orchid is a real epic. An old-school quest type of adventure with the heroes traversing the globe. Garen Ewing's artwork is incredibly detailed. He draws in the fine line style inspired by Hergé and Edgar P. Jacobs but brings his own approach to it. The standard is phenomenal. 

There are also bonus features at the back of the book (character designs and suchlike) and nicely designed endpapers showing specially created ephemera that perfectly mimics the early 20th Century era of the story. Let's hear no more complaints about Britain no longer doing all-ages adventure strips. This is one. Right here. And the quality is as high as anything that preceded it. The Complete Rainbow Orchid is a real treat, and a bargain at only £14.99. (ISBN: 978 14052 6385 6)

The third issue of indie comic Savage! Jungle Princess was published by Kult Creations recently. It's another full colour adventure by John Short and Gabrielle Noble featuring dinosaurs, Nazis, and 'saucy' fun. 

You can order the latest issue of Savage, plus back issues and other good stuff from the Kult Creations blog here: http://kultcreations.blogspot.co.uk/

There's a new event for fans of British comics in the shape of Comic Empire coming to the Royal National Hotel on March 3rd, June 2nd, and October 5th. This replaces the dormant ABC Shows at that venue but will feature items to appeal to collectors of British comics, pulps, magazines and ephemera. See the flyer below for more details and keep an eye on the website http://www.londoncomicmart.co.uk/

Jim Alexander has been a professional comics writer for quite a few years now, and he's recently produced his own comics such as Scout One, Gabriel, Good Cop, Bad Cop, and Amongst the Stars. (The latter with artwork by Mike Perkins in issue 1.) Check out Jim's blog for details on how to order your copies:
http://jimalwriter.blogspot.co.uk/

Comic Heroes, the bi-monthly magazine about comics is on its 17th issue now (and some said it wouldn't last). Available from WH Smith, Tesco and other retailers this current edition features a load of excellent features. The history of Iron Man in comics, interviews with Mark Waid, Ramona Fradon, Roy Thomas, Liam Sharp, Andy Diggle, plus Paul Gravett writing about the work of François Schuiten, with reviews and much more. A very solid issue. £7.99.

PS Publishing have released a new batch of books recently in their line of pre-code American comics reprints. There's Phantom Lady, The Heap, Witches Tales Vol.2, and Chamber of Chills Volume 4 (which concludes that particular title, having now reprinted every issue). It's great to see these classic horror comics back in print for those of us who weren't around when they were originally published. 

The nice thing about these 'Harvey Horrors' is that PS reprint the entire comic, adverts and all, which adds to the experience of capturing the times. Five to seven comics appear in each volume, and there's bonus pages of features and scans of original artwork. You can order the books directly from the publisher here:
http://www.pspublishing.co.uk/ps-art-books-24-c.asp

Fans of horror comics may also be interested in The Best of From the Tomb, a softback book from Twomorrows Publishing reprinting articles from the UK From the Tomb fanzine, which also includes unseen pages that were scheduled for the unpublished 29th issue. A fascinating look back at the era of pre-code horror and crime comics, plus interviews with Joe Sinnott, Shane Oakley and others.

There's a new issue of CLiNT in newsagents and comic shops right now, with another 100 page helping of over the top action and breakneck entertainment. This issue (No.6 in the second series) features the latest chapters of Hit Girl, The Secret Service, Death Sentence and more. 

Look out for another British adventure comic hitting the shelves of newsagents on March 28th! That's the day when Strip Magazine is scheduled for a relaunch with its second series (numbered 1.2). The line-up of stories looks fantastic, and the big news for fans of classic British comics is that it features the return of 1970s Hotspur superhero King Cobra, revamped for the modern age. More info here: http://stripcomicmagazineuk.blogspot.co.uk/

So, plenty happening print-wise in the UK but if you want to support a digital British comic as well, hop over to Aces Weekly which is now in its third volume. A mere £6.99 ($9.99) gets you access to each seven-issue volume. Yes, only a pound an issue, cheaper than any print comic. I created an all-new Combat Colin strip for issue 1, and will be doing another one soon, exclusive to Aces Weekly. Find out more about the comic and its creators here and subscribe!:
http://www.acesweekly.co.uk

And finally... news about my new blog! Yes, Blimey! is still ending (for the reasons I gave in my previous post) but I'm launching a new blog lewstringercomics. As the name suggests, this one will only focus on my own material. (Which won't take me so long to research for one thing.) It won't be updated as often as this blog was, and the commentary will be shorter, concentrating on showing you samples of my artwork from the past, present and, hopefully, future. I hope you'll all give it a visit and bookmark it. You'll find it here:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks again for visiting Blimey! over the last six years and for your kind comments after my previous post. See you over on my new blog!


 

Desperate Times

Today's Daily Mirror, The Sun, and The Dandy

Yesterday's explosion of media interest in The Dandy online, and today in the national press, has been astounding. The rumours of the world's oldest comic facing its possible demise due to falling sales brought forth a ton of support and encouragement for The Dandy's survival. (Except for someone crowing "I told you so" and claiming he should be the new editor. There's always one.)

Even some bloggers who don't particularly like the modern version of the comic were hoping The Dandy will survive, and such optimism is very much appreciated by all involved with the comic. 

A spokesperson for DC Thomson said that they were currently carrying out a review of their magazines and that no firm decision had yet been taken.

The story broke on Monday night, initially it seems by The Guardian. Other online press sites swiftly picked up on it, basically repeating and re-wording the original news item. During Tuesday, the rumours were all across the Internet and were being reported on radio and TV in interviews with people such as Paul Gravett, Gary Northfield, Simon Donald, Rich Johnston, and Dr Chris Murray. The story spread abroad, with even The Washington Post covering it

So widespread is this story that it's too time consuming to follow every post, every thread, every comment. However from what I have read there's one thing that most of the media seems to have ignored: the work lost to artists. Comic fans appreciate this of course but the general press does not. They'll mention everything from cover prices to nostalgic whimsy for long-gone characters but what seems to have been overlooked is that cutbacks in the comics industry affect the livelihoods of cartoonists and writers, and freelancers receive no redundancy payments. The British comics industry still survives, but cutbacks are suddenly happening all over and everyone's swimming towards the same lifeboat.

Imagine a similar rumour going around about, say, the closure of an engineering firm, or cutbacks in schools, or shops closing some branches etc. Quite rightly, the paramount focus would be on people losing their jobs. Yet when the comics industry is threatened with cutbacks the media totally ignore the fact that the main people losing out are the ones crafting the stories that entertain readers or help teach children to read. (Although as we cartoonists are often told "It's not a proper job". In that case perhaps we should be exempt from paying proper tax.)

Interestingly, one newspaper reporting the rumour has mentioned the effect it has on creators and surprisingly it's today's edition of The Sun. It's cartoonist Steve Bright who makes the astute observation and at the end of his comments he says:

"Its publishers assure us that there is still an exciting future for The Dandy via new media opportunities. Whether that embraces the dwindling army of comic artists remains to be seen.

Drawing funny comics has always been a serious business for us. Today, it is also a very sad and worrying one." 

Well said, Steve. If the public stop to consider that comics are produced by people doing a job of work then it'll have been worthwhile.

See also Jamie Smart's excellent and passionate article for The Guardian: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/aug/14/why-the-dandy-still-matters?INTCMP=SRCH

The increased interest in The Dandy has led to many people saying they're going to start buying the comic again. That is indeed wonderful news, although as many newsagents no longer stock the comic those potential new readers might face considerable difficulty. My suggestion would be to try your local newsagents first, and if they don't have it try the bigger retailers such as WH Smith, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, etc.

Good luck! And as the old saying goes, Always Keep A Dandy Handy.

It's arrived! The Dandy Annual 2013

  
Here it is! The Dandy Annual 2013 with a great cover by Nigel Parkinson. Time was when comic annuals came out in early September, but now they have a longer shelf life to hopefully maximise sales. (It's certainly worked for The Beano Annual, which has been the top selling annual for the past couple of years.) 

Traditionally, annuals were given as Christmas presents, and I know some of you won't be receiving yours until Christmas Day so I'll only show a brief glimpse of some of its pages here to avoid too many spoilers. 

This edition of The Dandy Annual is somewhat special as it celebrates the comic's landmark 75th birthday (coming up in December). To mark the event the book brings back a load of classic characters in brand new stories, - Brassneck, Winker Watson, Greedy Pigg, Owen Goal, The Jocks and the Geordies... and even a new adventure with Black Bob! 

The Black Bob story is drawn by Steve Bright and he does a fantastic job of ghosting the style of Jack Prout, the original artist. The story is in four single page chapters scattered throughout the book, so each chapter ends on a cliffhanger as the original series often did. 

Another classic character making her return is Keyhole Kate, in a nifty modern style by Laura Howell whist retaining the classic character design...

...and I've done a couple of characters too, - The Smasher and Julius Sneezer.

All in all it's a very good annual. Packed with strips that often have around 10 panels a page, which gives a bit better value for money than the average 6 panels a page that many annuals used to offer. 


Despite the plan to get it in the shops early, I haven't actually seen it on shelves yet, but it is available to buy from online booksellers Amazon, Speedy Hen Ltd. and The Book Depository (and hopefully others soon). Follow this link to buy your copies (and The Beano Annual, which I believe is also out now):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dandy-Annual-2013-Annuals/dp/1845354877/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342643880&sr=8-1

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Today also saw the beginning of my new six-part strip in The Dandy weekly. The Dark Newt tells the saga of the Protector of the Pond and this week's issue features his origin. That's in The Dandy No.3590, on sale now!

Classic characters return to The Dandy

Cover by Jamie Smart. Good innit?

This week's issue of The Dandy (out now) sees the return of two classic strips given a modern makeover. Heralded with a topline on the cover, Beryl the Peril makes her triumphant comeback drawn by the brilliant Steve Bright. 

Beryl was originally a star of The Topper of course, but joined The Dandy after The Topper folded years ago. Now she's back again, with a redesign to her outfit (no outdated gymslip anymore) but retaining the familiar Peril face. Steve Bright even applies a style to the strip similar to that of the great Davy Law (Beryl's original artist) which should please even the grumpiest critics. 

Printed off-register in my copy but STILL looks great!

Another old Dandy strip making its return this week is Bully Beef and Chips. The original debuted on the back page of the comic in 1967 drawn by James Hughes, and the new version is by Wayne Thompson who has given the characters a modern revamp. Beefy's fringe and their outfits remain the same but the characters are more exaggerated. It works for me, and hopefully today's readers will take to it too. 

You know he's gonna pay for that. It's comic Karma.

What this proves I think is that The Dandy has such a rich history of characters that most of them could be revamped to some extent or other for a modern audience. However it's good to see the comic still generates brand new characters as well, and strips such as Jamie Smart's Mega-Lo Maniacs (seen on the cover of this week's issue) and Alexander Matthews' Nuke Noodle are excellent. I'm currently drawing a brand new character too, who will hopefully debut in the summer. More on that at a later date.

The Dandy No.3582, £1.99 from newsagents, supermarkets, airports etc.  

Hairy Steve wants YOU!

Imagine two of the UK's top humour talents teaming up to bring you top class entertainment. No, not Lennie Bennett and Jerry Stevens. I'm talking about two of the top talents in comics - Jamie Smart and Steve Bright!

Yes, Jamie and Steve are teaming up, but unlike Spider-Man and whatever other superhero he chanced upon in Marvel Team-Up every month, these two won't be fighting on the rooftops of New York before combining their forces. Smart and Bright are teaming up to work on a brand new British comic, - Hairy Steve, with Jamie on script and Steve on artwork.

Jamie explained all on his blog:
"Some people reading this may remember Hairy Steve, a tooth-and-fur comic about blood, swearing and nazis that I was writing about five years ago with the superb artist Steve Bright illustrating. I wrote about it on my journal and we showed a lot of the development art. Well it kinda fell by the wayside, both me and Steve had to get on with rent-paying work and leave Hairy Steve as a whim, a nice idea we’d one day like to return to."

"This year, the idea of internet funding occurred. Comic artists asking for contributions to help them finish their comic, in return offering incentives to everyone who contributes, seems to me like a really organic way of producing art (and, more than that, free art). Being someone who puts most of his work online for free (and by god there’s a lot of it on here now), I find this idea intriguing and want to see if it works."

"So far it has, in the first half an hour we had a flurry of very generous contributions. All the money earned will go towards printing a limited-run of this comic (only available to contributors), the rest going to pay Steve a wage. I take no profits. In return for contributing, you can get everything from signed comics to original sketches, even a zombie drawing of yourself."

"And even if you can’t contribute, we would appreciate any help in promoting this. Share it around, spread the word! Because when we hit a quarter of our total, Hairy Steve will come online as a webcomic. So you get to read it anyway! EVERYONE WINS!"

Sounds fantastic! This is a comic that just has to be published. If you want to be part of this venture to make Hairy Steve a reality go to this website to find out how:

http://hairysteve.com/