It was during the great bleakness of 2020, that first abysmal lockdown, that my old pal Alfie Gallagher texted to suggest that we work on a new comic together. Gentlemen Ghouls, our long running serial in the pages of Aces Weekly, had reached a state of natural (although possibly not permanent) conclusion and I’d been hoping we would work together again at some point, on something else.

Alfie suggested we both work in a looser style, something more free-flowing, more organic, and over the next few weeks EarthWorks began to take shape.

Gentlemen Ghouls had run over three volumes (four really, as Vol 3 had been split into a part one/part two format) so we wanted to do something quick this time, a one-shot, in and out, no flab, greyscale, 40 pages all in, and cram it full of good story, with an essay at the back about the origin of it all.

EarthWorks is set in rural Ireland, a strange place familiar to both Alfie and myself. Odd things happen out in those hills, birds plot and beetles whisper, and sometimes the earth itself can no longer contain the weight of secrets that it holds.

We funded it through Kickstarter and were both surprised and delighted when it hit its funding goal in just over three hours. 

We were also lucky enough to get James Doherty onboard, who kindly allowed us to use some of his amazing photographs. They brought a strange and intensely unsettling atmosphere to the book and really helped to tie the whole thing together. 

If you missed out on the Kickstarter you can grab a copy over on Alfie’s Etsy store or if you’re in Dublin just head to Big Bang Comics in Dundrum to pick up a copy.