• Triona Farrell – Colouring Outside the Lines

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Growing up, I was enamoured by nerd culture. From video-games to comic books, my hobbies were diverse and engaging. This culture was primarily a male dominated space however. From the comic book fan that sneered at me for wanting to get into Batman, to the many micro-aggressions down through the years, I learned that my gender was on the fringes, a minority in a larger ‘boy’s club’. In Ireland, the nerd culture was sparse, but I still felt it from young men who hid behind social awkwardness, or sleazily attempted to get uncomfortably close. I was closely involved in this…

  • Never Judge a Book by its Cover: A Conversation with Maura McHugh

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Maura McHugh is a writer based in the West of Ireland, predominantly working in comic books, prose (fiction and non-fiction) and works for the stage and screen. She recently made history by signing on as one of the first official writers of the upcoming all female special of 2000AD, the renowned British comic book series and dwelling of the indomitable Judge Dredd. She talks to Loreana Rushe about her work, female heroes and diversity in the comic book industry. What do you enjoy most about writing comics and how did you get into the industry? I love working with artists. That collaborative process, when…

  • DIY Dublin: The Big Bang

    April 20, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of DIY Dublin, Loreana Rushe chats to John Hendrick, the owner and proprietor of The Big Bang in Dundrum shopping centre about what it’s like to run a successful comic book store. Hi John! First off, can you tell us about how you got into comic books? What appeals to you so much about them? That was actually my Mom’s fault. She used to get them for all of us growing up as kids to encourage us to read, from there it sort of, kind of escalated to being my favourite thing ever. I still read books,…