We’re back with the LB Bulletin, the newsletter for Limit Break Comics. This past month, we’ve been up and down the country for conventions, editing some video, preparing a book for publication, and landing a pretty sweet gig.

If you need a reminder of who we are:

Paul Carroll - one of the writers
Gareth Luby - artist, cover designs and comic interiors
Gary Moloney - writer, law-talking guy, resident Cork Comic Creator
Seamus Kavanagh - writer, runs panels on making comics

In this issue of the LB Bulletin, we’ll look at some upcoming events, take a look back at two from earlier this year, and show off something shiny and chrome (well, black nickel…)

Upcoming Events

We’re once again doing two events in October - this time with two local conventions.

First up is Octocon, the National Irish Science Fiction Convention, in the Gibson Hotel on October 7th and 8th. With Paul as Chair, he’ll be busy for the weekend keeping everything going, and speaking on a number of panels across the two days. Here’s his schedule for programming, in case you fancy popping along.

Saturday
- Opening Ceremony* (10am)
- Culturally Irish Stories (12pm)
- The Barbie Movie: From Plastic to Celluloid (7.30pm)
Sunday
- Irish Comics vs. the World: Working for the (Super)Man or Making Your Own* (3pm)
- How Do We Solve a Problem Like YA? (6pm)
- Closing Ceremony* (7pm)

Items with a * beside them will also be streamed. Timetable subject to change.

While Paul is con-running and talking on panels, his twin brother will be manning the table in the trade hall. There’ll be a mix of LB titles, Paul’s novels, Conor’s RPG work, and, of course, enamel pins.

At the end of the month, Paul will be taking the LB books to Gaelcon, one of Ireland’s longest running events. Set up in a new home in the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport in Northwood (Santry, Dublin 9), we’ve only previously taken part as programme participants. (Gary helps out in some of the finding-people-for-programme stuff, and recruited Paul to speak on some panels!) The convention takes place from October 27th to 30th - we’ll be there from the 28th onwards.

We’ll have a similar setup to other events, and we’re generally looking forward to the long weekend to wrap up the month. This will be our last double-convention month until the new year.

Some advance notice, we’ll be at Thought Bubble in Harrogate on November 11th and 12th. This will see the launch of Fractured Realms as we return to one of our favourite events. It’s also a great chance for us to see some familiar faces, so we’re looking forward to catching up with some friends from the UK comic scene.

You can find us in the Redshirt Hall, at table B33. Our good friend Colin Craker is making his Thought Bubble debut at the table next us.

Watch Online - Our DCC Panel with Triona Farrell and Declan Shalvey

If you didn’t get to see our interview panel with Triona Farrell and Declan Shalvey at Dublin Comic Con in August, the recording is now live on YouTube. (Next time we record, we’ll have use of a proper camcorder, not a DSLR with a time limit on recordings!)

Thanks again to Triona and Declan for taking part in the panel for us!

Cork Comic Expo

Gary Moloney, our very own Cork Comic Creator, is here with a right-up on the Cork Comic Expo from earlier this month.

On 16th September, the Limit Break Crew travelled down to Ireland’s real capital to take part in the third edition of the Cork Comic Expo. This free event was a collaboration between Big Bang Comics and artist superstar, Will Sliney (of Hell to Pay, Star Wars, and Storytellers fame) which served to showcase Ireland’s professional and indie comics talent. Affectionately known as “Sliney Con”, the first CCE took place back in 2015 as Sliney’s way of giving back to the scene and inspiring the new generation of creators. Inclusiveness and openness are at the heart of what makes CCE great. Its success was founded on the sheer accessibility of it all. Often the biggest problem that comics faces as a medium is getting books into the hands of new readers, both young and old. Sliney and Co. offered an event that is free to the public and took place in one of the largest shopping centres in Ireland: Mahon Point. In this way, they bring comics directly to the people and create an incredibly inviting atmosphere by running free art classes, competitions, and workshops. accessible by its nature. The result is a family day out more appealing than your average convention.

Make no mistake, CCE is comics as outreach. You need only have taken one look at the seemingly never-ending line of kids waiting to meet Sliney, who in the years since has gone on to become TV’s favourite art teacher, to see that in action. Hundreds of kids had seen the likes of Storytellers or Draw with Will and realised they could tell their own stories through art. Most creators can only hope to have that kind of impact on their audience.

CCE is an event that’s near and dear to our hearts being something that was instrumental in the creation of Limit Break Comics. Back in 2018, the three founders all attended CCE together. Paul and Gareth were tabling with their first wave of Meouch books while Gary was ever the social butterfly and took the opportunity to show pages from his then forthcoming anthology. At that point in time the idea of Limit Break had been simmering in the background as a way for the lads to promote each other’s work and pool our resources to be create small-press books that would sit well on the shelves with any mainstream comic. There wasn’t even a name yet, that wouldn’t come for another few weeks, just this shared sense that we wanted to take small-press comics in Ireland to the next level. It was on that train back from Cork, reinvigorated after a weekend of shop talk, that a lot of the finer points of Limit Break came into focus. We discussed the anthology model we wanted to pursue in the short-term, the kinds of stories we wanted to tell, and our plan to launch the collective at Small Press Day. We also talked about how much we were looking to the next CCE in 2020 or 2021 when our collective could show the people of Cork everything we were capable of. Then the pandemic happened and five years would pass before we got the opportunity to do so.

So, this third edition of CCE presented Limit Break with our first opportunity to return to Cork with the culmination of half a decade’s worth of work. Our lives had changed so much in that time. We’d gone from create small single-issue stories to hugely successful crowdfunded anthologies. We had gone from self-publishing our work to getting the backing of the Arts Council and having our books picked up by Direct Market publishers. As a Corkonian, it was particularly special for Gary who got to table in his hometown after all those years and finally meet his frequent collaborator, Colin Craker.

Thankfully the People’s Republic did not disappoint and welcomed us with open arms. It was a spectacular day for everyone involved. We returned to Dublin with a far fewer books than we thought we would (and ours were not conservative estimates). The energy in Mahon Point and the enthusiasm of the attendees was something we’ve not seen in a long, long time. We were surprised at the number of kids who came up to our table to show us their own drawings and comics. Sliney has a lot to answer for because at this rate his protégés are going to put the rest of us out of work.

We want to thank the organisers and the people of Cork for having us. Something like this doesn’t come together overnight and we know that Bruno of Big Bang Comics put in serious overtime to make it possible. We hope it isn’t another five years before we can all reassemble at Mahon Point. Whenever it happens rest assured we’ll be there.

Project News!

The Official LB Pin

As part of our 5th Birthday celebrations, we decided to make an enamel pin. We’ve always loved having something to give away, launching the label with a set of multicoloured badges (one of which has lived on Paul’s backpack since 2018!)

The official LB pins are a gift from us to the creators who we’ve worked with since our earliest titles (Mixtape and Life & Death). Earlier this month, at the Cork Comic Expo, we began to gift the pins to some creators who’ve contributed to multiple books over the past few years, from James Killian and Colin Craker (frequent collaborators with Paul and Gary) to folks like Mari Rolin, Tríona Farrell, and JP Jordan who’ve graced us with their work at different points since our founding.

As Paul said to JP when he was giving him his pin at the end of the Expo, this is our way of saying thank you to the people who made us who we are today. It’s a sign of gratitude, from one of the scene’s biggest pin fans.* We don’t expect folks to wear them - or even display them anywhere - but they’re a small step above a thank you card and mean quite a bit more.

(*Paul has several hundred pins. Weirdly, the LB pin was not his idea.)

It's Evolution

Irish comics exist on the periphery of the literary scene, but that doesn’t stop us chancing our arms when opportunities present themselves. With that said, we’re delighted to announce that Paul Carroll was selected to partake in the Evolution Programme at the Irish Writers Centre.

Now in its third year, the Evolution Programme offers professional development and networking opportunities to ten Irish writers each year. Paul is the first comic writer to be awarded a place on the Evolution Programme, and one of only a few to have worked on genre fiction.

As part of the programme, Paul was selected to take part in a teaching internship in the University of Galway’s Creative Writing classes. Over 10 weeks between October and January, he’ll be teaching first year BA students once per week.

Intro to Comics Tip

We’ve been publishing comics since July 2018, and now find ourselves in the position of offering advice to new creators at conventions. Each month, one of the team will be giving an insight into the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Last month, Paul shared some advice on keeping a story short. This time, Seamus Kavanagh joins us with a brief word on progress.

I’ll keep the tip basic and short for this month, focusing simply on progress. Small steps lead the way to complete projects, much more than waiting for a fabled afternoon off or evening to oneself.

A notepad and pen or a notes app on your phone can really help progressing a creative project. If it’s a new short 4 page story, adding one element a day at a cost of perhaps 5 minutes can really help you plan the project along:

Day 1 – story in a sentence

Day 2 – setting

Day 3 – how many characters

Day 4 – style and vibe for the story (think about who you’ll ask to be your illustration collaborator)

Day 5 – what happens on page 1

Day 6 – what happens on page 2

Day 7- review your progress and plan your tasks for the week ahead. One task per day. Keep it achievable.

The real trick here isn’t the progress, it’s the decision making. With these elements set and decided upon, it’s easier to throw work toward a focused task rather than starting something without clear boundaries and a set target.

Now, if someone could provide a tip for eliminating distractions…

Art Drop

Our collective is made up of writers and artists. Each month, we want to show you some of the artwork that the team are working on to give you an insight into the people behind the comics.

Gareth Luby’s Childhood Favourites

Some oldies from Gareth this month include some childhood favourites.

What We’re Reading

Every month, we’ll give you an insight into what we’re reading in the great big world of comics. This month, Paul tells us about The Me You Love in the Dark, from Image Comics.

I fell in love with Skottie Young's work back when he was writing (and drawing) I Hate Fairyland. His pacing, his style and his sense of humour quickly made him one of my favourites. So when he made the switch from comedy to gothic horror romance, I was sold. (I am more than a little bit horror obsessed.)

The Me You Love In The Dark has Young team up with Jorge Corona to tell the tale of a blocked artist - Ro - attempting to find her voice again ahead of gallery show. The house she's moved into inspires more horror vibes than confidence, and Ro compensates with wine. A lot of wine. So when things begin to get… we'll politely say weird… she doesn't immediately notice. When she finally does realise that there's something else living in the house with her, the story takes a turn towards a strange invisible romance, with an undercurrent of terror lurking in the shadows.

After all of Hollywood's franchises around haunted houses and the things therein, it's nice to give the Gothic Manor Hauntings a face lift. Check out The Me You Love in the Dark if you like The Haunting of Bly Manor or Crimson Peak.

For more haunted comic fun, try The Closet (James Tynion IV and Gavin Fullerton) or A Guest in the House (Emily Carroll.)