Cork comic book artist hosts new TV show for kids

CORK comic book artist Will Sliney is a man whose star has been on the rise for a while.

As well as his day job drawing for Marvel, he became something of a social media sensation during lockdown, as he taught bored kids stuck at home how to draw.

Now Will, from Ballycotton, is hosting a new TV show for kids starting next week.

Will Sliney’s Storytellers, which starts on RTÉ Jnr on Saturday October 23 and on RTÉ2 on Monday, October 25 at 12.05pm, is a new art series for kids which will include an all-star cast of characters.

Part drawing show and part animated adventure, it sees Will teaching budding young artists using the most powerful weapon in the world - a pencil.

The series will tell the epic tale of a fearless young Viking mapmaker Freya ( Laura Whitmore) and the wise-cracking floating sentient stone Ogham (Aisling Bea) as they recruit a team of young artists to embark on a time travelling quest to stop the world’s most famous art works from falling into the hands of the Chronicle (Dermot Whelan) and his evil henchmen.

The series also features inspirational animated versions of presenter and writer Dawn O’Porter, WWE Superstar wrestler Stephen Farrelly, and actresses Demi Isaac Oviawe (from The Young Offenders) and Suzie Seweify, all of whom voice their own characters.

The series was produced for RTÉ by Will’s company Pioneertown Productions and Dublin company Fastnet Films.

Will said: “Storytellers is a show I hope will inspire the next generation of young Irish artists, writers, comic book artists and animators. I want to both teach kids how to draw and tell a story, and to emphasise that there are real careers out there for artists.

“If a kid from a small fishing village in Cork can become a Marvel comic book artist, anyone can.”