Roisin Dubh 1

After a delay on the Róisin Dubh comic book we’re getting close to a release of the first issue.

It’s a three-issue mini-series, and this is the cover of the first chapter of the story, drawn by Stephen Byrne. Stephen Byrne is doing all the lettering and covers, as well as the interior art for issue 2 and 3.

We’re at the stage of adjusting the niggling little details of the first issue before it gets signed off and sent to the printers. All going well the first issue should be on the shelves by the end of the month.

I finished the last draft of the last script on Róisín Dubh nearly a year ago, so it’s been fun to revisit the story. It’s also made me pay a great deal more attention to the conventions of dialogue lettering in comic books, which is an art-form in itself.

From the writing point of view it’s often difficult to visualise what needs to be emphasised until the action and balloons are laid out. Sometimes dialogue needs to be broken up, or shifted onto a different panel. The requirement for extra sound SFX and dialogue stress becomes apparent at this point too. The artist (or letterer) is pivotal at offering guidance for these subtle changes. Stephen Byrne has been doing a bang-up job at making wise suggestions. Of course, I’ve been asking for tweaks too!

Working with a Small Press means that everyone pitches in. While it results in more work for me, it also allows for a more intense collaboration and probably a better degree of control over the finished comic book.

Ultimately, I’m always happy when changes result in a better narrative flow, and more cohesion between the art and the captions/dialogue.

There’s a fan page for the project on Facebook if you want to keep closer tabs on updates about Róisín Dubh‘s publication and other associated information about the series.