“Sonic the Comic”original art up for sale

By John Freeman on May 12, 2025

Comic creator and archivist Lew Stringer is selling a varied selection of original British comic art on eBay this week, not only by him, a treat in itself, but also by Albert Pease, Richard Elson and Jimmy Hansen, too.

On offer this week from this much appreciated supporter of downthetubes (full listings here):

Lew’s Original Artwork for a “Snail-Man” story he created for Marvel UK’s Spider-Man comic No. 648, back in 1985, one of his first published hand drawn strips in a professional comic. This is likely to be the last “Snail-Man” original to be sold, as most have now sold. Lew’s keeping the first and last originals.

Sonic the Hedgehog Original Art drawn and coloured by Richard Elson, story written by Lew Stringer, for Sonic the Comic No. 64 (1995)

Not a print! Not a facsimile! This is the actual hand drawn artwork for a page of a “Sonic the Hedgehog” story, featuring the popular villain, Commander Brutus. The art includes the clear plastic overlay that the word balloons are on.

“Ricky Rainbow” art by James Hansen (aka Jimmy Hansen) for Buster comic, cover dated 24th March 1990

A complete story in full colour, displaying Jimmy’s fantastic cartooning skills. “Ricky Rainbow” was one of the most popular characters in Buster throughout the 1990s.

“Billy Bunter” original art by Albert Pease, drawn in 1960, for the original Knockout comic.

The actual artwork of part of a “Billy Bunter” story, a stunning example of the work of the great Albert Pease, one of the most popular and prolific humour artists in vintage British comics.

It’s not often you see British humour art of this vintage or calibre up for sale, a half page from longer tale, originally drawn for the original Knockout comic, cover dated April 2nd 1960.

• Take a look at Lew’s eBay art listings here – and save his profile on eBay for future reference

Lew Stringer, who is a guest at MACC-POW soon, is a writer and artist of humour comics freelancing in the UK comics industry for over 40 years. His credits involve work for a range of age groups including “Combat Colin”, a character he now owns, for Marvel UK, “Tom Thug” for Fleetway, “The Pathetic Sharks” for VIZ, “Team Toxic” for Toxic Magazine and many more. He’s been published in The Dandy, Oink!, Buster, Sonic the Comic, and numerous other titles.

Recent work has been for The Dandy Annual, “The Daft Dimension” for Doctor Who Magazine, and “Sgt Shouty” for The77.

He’s currently working the next issue of Combat Colin (No.6) and working out the full contents. It will reprint the remaining stories from Marvel UK’s The Transformers from the early 1990s plus some strips that followed.

“It’ll have at least 44 pages including covers,” Lew teased recently , “possibly 48 depending on the length of back up features. It’s still early days so, as yet, there’s no firm publication date. Hopefully sometime this summer.”

Lew’s also had a lifelong interest in the history of British comics and has written articles for the BBC website, Comics World magazine and others.

• Check out Lew Stringer’s blog at lewstringercomics.blogspot.com

• Buy copies of Lew’s brilliant Combat Colin and more ko-fi.com/lewstringer/shop

• Take a look at Lew’s eBay art listings here – and save his profile on eBay for future reference

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.