Colm continued: “That certainly seems to be where my humour mostly stems from, and four panels is just enough time to quickly set up an expectation in the reader and turn it on its head in the fourth panel. I don’t always do it, because if I did it every time then you would subconsciously suspect a twist, which defeats the whole purpose. As for my Witch Beth comic, it’s more a lighthearted horror story with dark humour sprinkled throughout, heavily inspired by the Discworld novels, which I love.”
We wanted to learn more about Colm’s background. He kindly shared:
“As you can probably tell from the quality of my work, I did not go to art school. Rather, I was just someone who always really enjoyed art and was more self-taught. Despite studying it through GCSE and A-levels (I’m from Northern Ireland, so high school for anyone reading from across the pond). And sadly, there weren’t many art jobs going on at the art factory, so I decided to give up on it as a career, but always kept it as a hobby.
Then I started noticing more and more webcomics online, like Randowis and Adamtots, and thought it would be really fun if I could contribute to that community. I would have a reason to draw, get better at art, and flex my comedy muscles while I’m at it. Funnily enough, growing up, as much as I loved comics, the idea of drawing them was always so sickeningly exhausting to me. The idea of drawing the same images over multiple panels sounded tiring and stressful. Now look at me, drawing comics every week after getting home from my full-time job and already exhausted before I begin, haha.”
Colm also wrote about his creative process when it comes to comics.
“Have you ever seen a cartoon character going about its day until a metaphorical light bulb turns on above its head as it has its eureka moment? Well, it’s like that except my lightbulb flickers quite a bit like a sad fluorescent light in an old office, sound and all.
“The joke and scenario will just pop up in my head out of nowhere, especially if I’m doing something that doesn’t require a lot of my attention like driving or listening to someone as they speak. Other times it’s when I’m talking to a group of friends, and in the moment I tell an offhand joke that doesn’t get a laugh. So I think the best way to deal with this level of rejection is to spend time to draw it out and post it online, so even more people can tell me it bombed, and why, in soul-destroying detail.”
Regarding the audience’s takeaway, Colm commented: “Honestly, if they read my comics and get a little chuckle, even just internally, then I would be happy. Life can be hard and depressing, especially now. And I know the importance of the small laughs we can have that help us get through the day and make everything seem a little less bleak.
“Also, if people walked away thinking I was really funny and talented, then that’s also nice. In fact, I might prefer that over the chuckle thing.”
Lastly, the artist added: “Keep an eye out for the other work I do, like the Witch Beth series I’m working on, by checking out my socials like Instagram or Reddit. I also do a YouTube show with two other comic creators Pizzacakecomics and HolleringElk called ‘Pen-Pals.’ We compete against each other by drawing a lot of dumb challenges while talking to each other podcast-style. So if you want a laugh or just want to see our drawing process as we speed draw our prompts, then check us out!”
