small press – Page 3 – Comix Ireland

Review: Project Crossroads

November 3, 2016November 3, 2016 Paul Carroll

Seán Hogan, the mastermind behind Project Crossroads, sent me a copy of the book for review. For reasons I’ll describe at the end of this post, I lost so many proverbials when I read it. Combining the talents of eight of Ireland’s up-and-coming creators, this is a book I’ve been looking forward to ever since I was told about it at Dublin Comic Con. (Also, usual stuff for my reviews: I like to point out what I like, and whether you agree or not is entirely up to you. I’m completely conscious of any bias I might have towards projects, and you should be too.)

Those Lost at the Crossroads

Project Crossroads is an anthology of three stories, all illustrated by Seán Hogan, with colouring by Stef Reville and Dearbhla Kelly, assisted by Louise Fitzpatrick, and with letters by Kerrie Smith. The stories were written by Adlai McCook (Retired), JP Jordan (Shift), and Hugo Boylan (Ducksworth’s Last Stand).

Retired

Do you like Men in Black? Do you like cool alien designs? Retired tells the story of Britain’s only Man in Black, in a post-alien-attack world. It’s fast-paced, begins with a sense of dread, and makes a clear point about the successes and failures of heroes. There’s not much else one can say about the story without spoiling it, but you can expect: some amazing looking aliens, colours that pop off the page (you’ll love the aliens; not all at how Hollywood makes aliens look, and in the best way possible), spaceships, and a wicked shot of London.

Shift

For the fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer out there (that’s a lot of people, right?), Shift is the story of a house-party in Ireland, and its immediate aftermath. It has everything you can want in a YA Horror story: humour, believable characters, a twist (every story needs a twist), and something I’d only have to redact from this review before publishing it. Jordan’s print-comic debut sets a high bar for his future in the industry. With no disrespect to McCook and Boylan, Shift was my favourite story (of three awesome tales!) from the book. (I grew up with Buffy, even when I was probably too young for it, so there’s definitely a good genre fit.) Shout-out to Reville for the tonal change in colours to match the turning point in the story. (Also, look out for a few Easter Eggs in this one!)

Ducksworth’s Last Stand

Every tale has a twist, and I don’t want to spoil Ducksworth’s. What I can say is that, while there’s a big jump in the story, Boylan manages to maintain a continued narrative about the titular character. It’s clever and a little bit distressing (if you’ve read my other reviews of his books, or anything else he’s written, you know to expect that) and it caught me completely off guard. A little bird also told me that artist Hogan may have had some input into some of the more vile aspects of the story, with their combined efforts in writing and illustrating the tale making this a disturbing conclusion to the anthology. (Which, of course, is what we expect.)

Bonus concept art!

I’m a sucker for concept art, and Hogan has provided. All manner of monster are covered in the back of the book, part of the preparations for illustrating the stories as they exist now. From the aliens and the humans to a redaction and a furious Ducksworth, the concept art provides an interesting insight into the creation of Project Crossroads.

Project Crossroads will launch at Thought Bubble this weekend. For those of us unfortunate enough to not be able to attend the Leeds convention, there’s an Irish launch of the book in The Big Bang in Dundrum on November 9th. Somehow, all eight creators of the book will fit behind a table for a signing.

One More Thing

At the start of last month, I sent Seán a wee message of Facebook. I’ve been holding off talking about it in too much detail since then, but here we go: in a first for Comix Ireland, I’m working with the creative team of Project Crossroads to make a short documentary about the creation of the book. Production is still underway, but here’s a sample screenshot I sent to Seán as an idea of what he can expect visually:

I may have captured him talking while making that. Anyway, the documentary will be released later this year. (I am acutely aware that it is November already.) As well as exploring the creation process of Project Crossroads, interviews with the creators have so far provided a few gems for those interested in the comics industry in Ireland as a whole. With a bit of luck, a fair amount of effort, all the tea, and probably some weeping, I’ll be backed up when I say that you won’t want to miss it. Watch this space, and the ol’ social media. My excitement for this project knows no bounds.

Reviews

Review: 100 Times (+More Times)

November 2, 2016 Paul Carroll

Katie Fleming sent me a review copy of 100 More Times – the sequel to 100 Times. I didn’t get to review the first book, so consider this a look at the series so far. As with many of my reviews, this comes with friendship-bias. To avoid unfairly weighting things in their favour, I tend not to be the Big Review Guy, and instead focus on the things that make the books awesome. Thankfully, my catch-line for these books does the job:

Gay Werewolves

100 Times (by Katie Fleming and E. Kerr) introduces us to two characters: Myran and Quill. Myran is a human. Quill is a werewolf. They’re kinda gay for each other. (They’re really gay for each other, and it’s a glorious celebration of same-sex relationships.)

Let’s be clear early on: Quill’s werewolf nature is mostly a plot device. He doesn’t eat people throughout the book. (Spoiler? I mean, these aren’t horror comics.) Instead, Fleming and Kerr use other aspects of being a werewolf as elements of the story – most notably in the first book, the pack. Every werewolf has a pack, and it’s this introduction of Myran to Quill’s pack that becomes the centre of the first story.

Much as one would meet their partner’s family for the first time, and the usual struggles of worrying if the relationship would be accepted, Quill struggles with the notion of introducing his human partner to his werewolf family.

It’s an incredibly endearing story, and it doesn’t end with the pack.

More Times

When we reach book two, we’re faced with another dilemma between the couple: a disconnect about the meaning of family, how one (Quill) avoids talking to/about his, and how the other (Myran) values his.

We won’t get super spoilerific about it, but it’s a similar sort of story to the first book, building upon the relationship between our protagonists.

The books aren’t dialogue heavy, relying on a few key words each way, and a guided narrative with charming artwork to tell the story instead.

A big part of me just wants to celebrate the everything that has to do with the gay werewolf aspect of the books. The English graduate in me wants to celebrate the analogy between homosexuality and lycanthropy, or the parallels between human-werewolf relationships and white-and-black relationships in the early twentieth century. You can choose to appreciate those nods to romantic difficulties in history, if it so pleases you. Otherwise, I’d just pick the books up to enjoy the exploration of a relationship across the varying struggles of romance.

100 More Times is launching at Thought Bubble this weekend. Be sure to check it out, and tell Katie I said hi!

Article

Dublin Comic Con 2016

August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 Paul Carroll

Dublin Comic Con opened its doors on a sunny Saturday morning to the general public; those of us near the front of the line had some refuge from the blistering morning sun – we’re still suspicious of that, given the history of Irish weather – and waited a good two hours to get in.

And it was worth it.

DCC was filled to the brim, with attendees in plain dress and costume, vendors with all manner of geeky wares, and artists – writers and illustrators both – manning the tables in the Artists Alley.

Photos were posed for, money exchanged hands, people were heard screaming with delight – and occasionally telling a Jon Snow cosplayer that he knew nothing, or informing a Wally that he had been found – at the various items around the room, and marvelling at the cosplay outfits.

And me? I was making my rounds. Several times a day. I eyed up the tables, I ignored my shopping list altogether, and I earned the title I would later be given: the Patron Saint of Small Press. Below are my comic purchases from Day 1.

100 Times, Helion #2, The Circle, Flare One-Shot, Malevolence, Finn & Fish The Rinse Cycle #2, Finn & Fish The Wash Cycle, Rubenette Preview, The Guards

Day Job, Big Bastard #1-5, Wren Vol.1 (colour edition), Stoat #1, "3" — Day Job, Big Bastard #1-5, Wren Vol.1 (colour edition), Stoat #1, “3”

Hound 2, Con Jobs, Something in the Tae, Schlock, An Bruid on the Moors Part One, Oh No Comics!, The Warrior Maidens, Sakura #1

Innocent Tales #1-3, Pulp Stories, Paul J Bolger Inktober Sketchbook, Sleep Tight, Rover Was Here

A Clockwork Universe, Phantom 80th Anniversary, Speakeasy, The Fantastical Sombrero, None Shall Pass (Preview), Double Dead

On Sunday, I also managed to pick up Girls Like You and issues 1-3 of High Fantasy from Hugo Boylan. He was quite convincing. (But not enough to make me get even more books, because I figured 43 comics was a decent cut-out point.) Over the weekend, my stock of prints also got bigger, with a couple of Seán Hogan (Rabbit and Paul), as well as a healthy dose of nerdy merchandise (including a Spider-Man slate coaster, a wooden box with the Flash emblem on it, and a Bulbasaur plushie, because starter Pokémon are important.

Sunday also provided an opportunity to learn more about the Small Press process, from a panel of experts.

Small Press Panel. L-R: Seamus Kavanagh, Eoin McAuley, Leann Hamilton, Kinga Korska, Keith Keane, Hugo Boylan, Paul Bolger, Charan Marcantonio — Small Press Panel. L-R: Seamus Kavanagh, Eoin McAuley, Leeann Hamilton, Kinga Korska, Keith Keane, Hugo Boylan, Paul Bolger, Charan Marcantonio

The lessons learned were invaluable; from a writer’s perspective, the most important tip was to respect the artist, and do all of the other work for the comic so that they don’t have to.

Comics are such collaborative works – evident by the title pages of many of the con’s debuts – and the community in Ireland so close-knit, that this vital lesson is one worth remembering and repeating frequently. The atmosphere at DCC was all about the community that has formed around these little (and sometimes not so little) books, and encouragement is never far away.

Everyone who participated in the weekend’s affairs are likely experiencing the same double-edged side-effects of a major convention: excitement for comics, and exhaustion from a weekend of talking about them. Needless to say, there’ll be even more amazing work at next year’s event, and from more creators. A guided tour of the Artists Alley (from me – Paul Carroll) for a friend, Tracy Sayers, showed just how welcoming the community can be, and I know that we’ll each be exciting to join their ranks in the near future.