The State of the Industry

Beyond any shadow of a doubt, 2002 was the year that Ireland finally found itself with a comic industry.

Certainly there had been comics in Ireland before then, of varying kinds, qualities and lifetimes. Most of these were, to be honest, bad photocopies of even worse artwork, and don’t really fit into my mental picture of what I mean when I refer to comics, which is based more on the American model than the British, I suppose. Before I get on to what we got in 2002, I want to make a few honourable mentions of people who helped to point the way: Big Comic, particularly for the now legendary Peter & Irene Get Drunk; The Big Fellow, for being a noble attempt at presenting a science fiction short story in a graphic format and Goatee Productions Surge, for lasting an astonishing 15 issues.

Toenail Clippings #4 was the first thing to reach the shelves, early in 2002 (although I’m not sure of the exact date). Toenail Clippings is an A4 magazine format anthology title produced by Big If Publications, whose most public face is Brendan Byrne, who also appears to produce much of the content. Ironically, in a way, Big If seem to have decided to concentrate on web comics, and #4 was the last paper issue of Toenail Clippings to appear, and there doesn’t seem to be any likelihood of it reappearing in the near future. The magazine consisted of a number of ongoing storylines, as well as a number of one-off pieces, cartoon strips and spoof ads. If I was to put my hand on my heart, I’d have to say that this is not my favourite of the recent Irish offerings, but they certainly proved that it was possible to produce something over here that had the same kind of production values as anything comparable elsewhere. Big If Publications can be found online at www.bigifpublications.com.

The first real glimmerings that there was something going on over here came with the arrival of Bob Byrne’s MBLEH! #1 in May. I managed to walk into SubCity within an hour of Bob having brought in copies of this, and, to the best of my knowledge, was the first person in Ireland to buy a copy, certainly off the shelves in a comic shop. Bob Byrne is in his mid-twenties, and, on the two occasions I’ve met him since, is both friendly and likable. He produced a second issue of MBLEH! in November, and seems set to continue with this. The comic is a sometimes disturbing exploration of the darker and odder side of existence, as well as having some moments of just plain silliness. Even between the first two issues, you can see a growth in his confidence in his work, and I predict that we will be seeing and hearing a lot more from this unique and idiosyncratic talent. Bob Byrne also has a website for his comic company, Clamnut Comix, which can be found at www.clamnuts.com, and where you can find a lot of his work. Well worth a visit, although, like the comic itself, you should check to see if you’re over 18 first, really.

June 2002 saw the publication of An Sclábhaí, an Irish-language graphic novel from Cló Mhaigh Eo, which was followed in November by An Tóraíocht. The first of these, the title of which translates as The Slave, is the story of Saint Patrick, while the second is a retelling of Tóraíocht Dhiarmuid agus Gráinne, or The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, an old Irish legend. In both cases the writing was by Colmán Ó Raghallaigh, with Tomm Moore doing the art in the first, and Paul Young doing the second. These are both truly beautiful pieces of work, with good, clear, full-colour artwork in both cases. My only quibble with these is that they tend to exclude completely non-Irish-speakers, which is, unfortunately, most of the population, and all of the rest of the comic-reading world. On the good side, however, is the fact that these are ideal for using in schools as part of the Irish language curriculum, and anything that teaches people a little about the Irish language, a little about Irish myth and legend, and an appreciation of graphic storytelling can’t be all bad! Also, there is a full translation of both An Sclábhaí and An Tóraíocht on the Cló Mhaigh Eo website at www.leabhar.com. Nor are these the only titles we’re going to see; there is at least one other volume due, which is An Táin, or The Cattle Raid of Cooley, an epic tale of greed and battle, as well as love and friendship. But then again, aren’t they all?

Both chronology and my own personal choice have kept the best til last, though. September saw the publication of Naked Lunch #1, an occasional anthology title that is the first offering from Robert Curley’s Atomic Diner comic company. This consists of three stand-alone stories: Beating the Rap by James A Mason and Stephen Mooney; Cookie Corral by Dave Smith; and Duplicitous by Murra Mac Rory and Stephen Thompson. All good stories, especially the middle one, which is as good as any eight-pager I’ve seen in over thirty years of comic reading. The art in all cases is superb, too, and stands up to anything to be seen in similar publication elsewhere, and is substantially better than a lot of it. This is good old-fashioned anthology comic stuff, a thing that the industry in general seems to have largely given up on, to the detriment of us all. I look forward to further issues of this, as there’s nothing like it for helping to showcase new talent, of which there is ample in this country, from what I can see. I understand the next issue is due sometime in the summer, although there is likely to be more specific information on that elsewhere in this publication. Atomic Diner is due to publish other titles in the forthcoming year, too, with Rob Curley’s own Freak Show being the one I’m keenest to see. I’ve read the scripts for the first two issues, and I’m intrigued…

The best comic of last year, though, has got to be, without any shadow of a doubt, Gerry Hunt’s In Dublin City. Again, I managed to come into a comic shop within hours of this being dropped off, and thereby became one of a very small handful of people to actually own a copy of this. Gerry is a retired architect with a life-long love of comics, and decided to spend some of his spare time doing this, a graphic version of a poem about a card game in the Belfry Pub in Smithfield. The result is nothing less than astonishing, and I quickly run out of superlatives in trying to talk about this. The art is partly the result of a lifetime of architectural drawing, and partly the influence of Robert Crumb. An obvious love of Dublin City itself is evident in the meticulous rendering of various well-known Dublin buildings, from the Unitarian Church on Stephen’s Green to The Bad Ass Café in Crown Alley, and everything from an interest in Irish ballads to old cowboy movies make their mark on this comic somewhere. On the down side, it was costing Gerry so much to have these printed that he was losing money on them, so there are only a handful of copies in existence. Fear not, however, as the aforementioned Robert Curley has offered to reprint this through his Atomic Diner imprint, and copies of it should start appearing in the shops this spring. If you buy no other Irish-produced comic this year, then buy this one. It’s a virtually flawless masterpiece, and is probably the one thing that will finally focus the eyes of the world on us. Not only that, but all the proceeds are going to Simon Community. So there you have it. A handful of comics, a pair of graphic novels, and the stirrings of an industry. I just can’t wait to see what 2003 brings our way.

At the time I wrote it, that was as far as I had intended to go with this article. However, I decided to send a copy of it to the various people mentioned in it, to see if they had anything to add. I also asked a few of them if they had any plans for the future. They did.

Colmán Ó Raghallaigh of Cló Mhaigh Eo, who have already produced two beautiful graphic novels in the Irish language, tells me there are quite a few more in the offing. Firstly, I asked him whether or not it was true that he was doing a version of the Táin, otherwise know as The Cattle Raid of Cooley. He said:

I had also heard rumours that he had managed to sell An Sclábhaí, and a forthcoming sequel, to the American market. He said,

So, more lovely GNs for us all, and a chance for those of you who have managed to forget your Irish to read them in English, too, hopefully.

I’d heard another tantalising rumour about a small Irish comic. After a little digging around, I tracked it down… Colometers Davis started off as a small A5 comic produced by two brothers, Jack and Michael Kelly, from Donnybrook here in Dublin. I heard that they’d been offered lots of money by Hollywood to turn it into a film, so I went looking for some more information. I wrote to them at their website, www.colometersdavis.com, and this is what they told me

I have a copy of the first issue of Colometers Davis, and even at the time I thought it was interesting stuff, being about a jazz-obsessed leprechaun private eye who lives with his mother. I’ll be keeping an eye on this, and will let you know how it progresses.

There are other plans for the future, a number of which are reported on elsewhere in this fine publication. I’m particularly keen to see anything else by Bob Byrne. I know there’s another issue of MBLEH! due this year, as well as a mini-comic. I’m a big fan of Bob’s, as much because he simply got out there and did it, as anything. His work is idiosyncratic and odd, and I really like it. I’ve met him a few times since the comics came out, and he’s a good guy, too.

Atomic Diner has a number of projects reaching varying degrees of fruition, but Robert Curley is going to fill you in on all of those at length. Robert’s commitment to his long-term vision with AD is a credit to him, and I have great faith and confidence in his ability to see these plans through. I’ve already seen parts of Naked Lunch issue 2, and parts of his forthcoming ongoing title, Freak Show. It’s very good indeed.

Probably what I’m really looking forward to, though, more than anything else, is to see Atomic Diner’s publication of In Dublin City by Gerry Hunt. You’ll all see what I mean then, and I’m going to be buying lots of copies, to send to everyone I know who’s in any way involved with the business. Gerry is already working on something else, too, and there are vague plans afoot to have an exhibition of the original art of In Dublin City. It’s that good…

So, as I said at the end of the original article, there you have it. More comics, more graphic novels, at least one ongoing series, and hope for the future. I love it.

Regards,
Pádraig Ó Méalóid