| Lew Stringer | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1959-03-22)22 March 1959 (age 66) |
| Area(s) | Artist, writer |
| https://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/ | |
Lew Stringer (born 22 March 1959) is a British comic artist and scriptwriter.
Stringer began his career from the late 1970s with a series of fanzines, many featuring his popularBrickman character; these were read by several professional creators (includingKevin O'Neill,Alan Moore andDave Gibbons) who encouraged Stringer to try comics as a profession[1] and Stringer recalls that "Alan Moore actually introduced me to one of the editors atMarvel UK –Bernie Jaye who was editor onThe Daredevils".[2]
He sold his first professional cartoon toMarvel UK (the British branch ofMarvel Comics) in 1983 where it appeared inThe Daredevils comic, after which he worked for a short time as art assistant to the cartoonistMike Higgs (creator ofMoonbird andThe Cloak). Since then Stringer has freelanced for numerous British comics for various companies and audiences.
His best remembered creations areTom Thug andPete and His Pimple forOink! comic (1986), which outlasted that comic and continued intoBuster comic, andCombat Colin the halfwit hero who featured inAction Force andThe Transformers comics. Prior to Colin joining Transformers, Stringer had written another, similarly slapstick, stripRobo-Capers for that title.Robo-Capers was replaced byCombat Colin when the reprints of American G.I. Joe strips were added to the Transformers comic.Robo-Capers returned for a single story, which featured Colin and his sidekick, in Issue No. 200. After a change of editorial direction in 1991, Marvel UK handed the rights ofCombat Colin to Stringer and he has used him in small-press titles, such as the Combat Colin Special andYampy Tales.[3] On 30 September 2012, Combat Colin returned in an all-new story for the launch of new David Lloyd's new online comicAces Weekly and two other new stories featuring the character have appeared there since.
Stringer has also worked as a writer onCiTV Tellytots; was one of the main writers onSonic the Comic, where he created several fan-favourite characters and stories; and has been a long time artist/writer forViz and many other publications. He has writtenToxic!'sTeam TOXIC! strip since the first issue (and drawn it since issue 15); this proved popular enough with the readers to gain two pages an issue and lead to other comic strips being brought in.[4] In October 2012 reprints of Team Toxic began to appear in the magazine but brand new stories resumed in January 2014, concluding in February 2019.
He broke into the international market in 1997 creating theSuburban Satanists for the Norwegian comicGeek. From 1999 to 2007 those characters appeared in the Swedish comic bookHerman Hedning.
In April 2005,Active Images published a collection –Brickman Begins – of all of Stringer'sBrickman strips since 1979. In 2006, a brand new Brickman series began in the American comic bookElephantmen, published byImage Comics, and in 2007, Combat Colin became a guest star in the strip. The series concluded in Elephantmen No.24 in 2009. In September 2015 Stringer reprinted all 20 episodes in a self-published comic entitledBrickman Returns.[5] Stringer has since self-published other comics that reprint his older material, such as aDerek the Troll / Rock Solid special and aCombat Colin mini-series.
He began freelancing forThe Beano in 2007, drawing aFred's Bed story for the Christmas issue and a one-offIvy the Terrible strip for an issue in 2008. In October 2008 Stringer became the artist on a new strip,Super School which is about five superhero children and their non-superpowered teacher. He started drawing forThe Dandy after its revamp in October 2010, providing the illustrations forPostman Prat andKid Cops and writing and drawingThe Dark Newt.
In 2014 Lew announced that he would be contributing a regular new cartoon strip toDoctor Who Magazine.[6]
In recent years Lew has scripted and illustratedRasher andJoe King forThe Beano and in 2018 began work on a revival ofBig Eggo for that comic. He also createdSgt.Shouty of the Moon Force for independent comicThe77, andShort Sharp Shocks for horror comicThis Comic Is Haunted.
In late March 2025 Stringer announced he was semi-retiring from comics to spend time on his own publishing projects.
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