Cork man teams up with duo to make a graphic novel set in mystical past

Emmet O’Brien is well known on the Cork filmmaking scene, but he has another love: comics.

His latest work, Heirgloom, an 80-page graphic novel, is his most ambitious yet, and he will be launching the novel at the upcoming Cork iteration of Comic Con Ireland, which takes place on October 4-5 at Marina Market.

The story is written by O’Brien, illustrated by Cork artist Coireall Kent, and produced by Cork-based Norwegian artist C.A. Aabo, who also did the lettering, which essentially means presenting the dialogue in a way that fits with the overall design and concept of the comic.

O’Brien says that while film is a big part of his life, he has been a comic fan since he was a child, and that comics allow him to take his imagination to places where film budgets don’t yet allow.

“As much as I love film, with comics, the budgets are less of a problem for what you want to do,” he said.

“I’ve worked with Charlie in the past on a science fiction story, and I kept asking him to draw more spaceships. It is a lot to ask an artist, but it is so much easier than trying to put spaceships in a small budget film.”

Heirgloom follows the story of the Granville family, who are the keepers of a mystical sword. It is a great responsibility and not one that is easy to carry. O’Brien says he loves writing stories set in the past.

“I love writing historical characters. I was thinking about what if your family had a curse and the generational responsibilities that come with that.

“You could be a good person who’s going to fight the good fight, but how do you know that your descendants will have the same values? What does that look like for a family? And what does it mean for descendants taking on the responsibility that has been handed down to them?”

Aabo, who has lived in Cork for 13 years, says he wanted to work on Heirgloom when he saw O’Brien’s passion.

“We had discussed several potential projects, Emmett kept coming back to Heirgloom,” said Aabo.

“He was so passionate about it, and then I started seeing Coireall’s art, and the passion of working with them was something I wanted to be a part of.

“In the case of Emmet and me, we both grew up with European comic books, which are larger in size than the American comics many people are familiar with, so it was exciting to do Heirgloom in the European style.”

Aabo says that he, O’Brien, and Kent formed a strong partnership during their collaboration.

“There was a lot of writing that Emmet wanted, but because of the size of the panels and the artwork, the lettering could be a challenge.

“Early on, the three of us checked our egos at the door. The only thing that mattered was the result.

“When we made a change, we made it for the better, and so it was a discussion between the three of us every time we made a change.”

Kent, who is currently working as an artist in Finland, says that working on the graphic novel was an opportunity to refine their craft and acquire new skills.

“It was a wonderful experience working with Emmet and Charlie. The project brought me from knowing the foundations of comic-making to achieving what feels like a kind of fluency, or at least the beginnings of it,” said Kent.

“Charlie has become a mentor of mine throughout this process, guiding me into understanding the subtler parts of the craft, from building a page to guide the eye through its imagery, to bringing dynamism to every moment by pushing the characters’ anatomy and posing.

“I’ve learned a lot, and Heirgloom stands as a milestone for all of us.”

O’Brien says the experience was also a chance to learn.

“When I write a film, I can have a character walk into a room and deliver a monologue. I can show that in footage, but when it comes to comic panels, you can only choose one moment to represent the whole scene.

“A growing pain for me was learning which moment to isolate to show the whole scene.

“Charlie has an extensive history in comics, so he was very good at isolating moments and helping me through that process.”

O’Brien says that Cork has a strong community of comic book artists and notes that having a large convention come to Cork is an opportunity to meet and share ideas.

“Cork has a strong comic scene. There’s a monthly meeting of Cork Comic Creators. Sadly, there isn’t a comic shop in Cork since the last closed down, so it’s even more important that something like this convention comes along because there is an audience here of both artists and people who like to read comics.”

Aabo says that conventions bring together like-minded people.

“As an artist, you’re sitting by yourself for hours, living in your own little world, not seeing other people. When you go to a convention, you get an instant reaction from people.

“People come on the first day, buy one book and then come back the next day and say ‘that was fantastic, where’s book two’?

“These comics can be something we’ve spent years creating, and we’re finally getting to share them with people and hear their response.

“Conventions bring writers, artists, and fans together.”