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We wanted to learn more about this wholesome series, and its author kindly answered our questions. We discussed how he first got inspired to start creating his comics: “One of my happiest memories as a kid was waking up on Christmas morning and having a new comic book to read, before spending my afternoon on the stairs drawing my own wee strips. These comics I drew made me laugh and that’s all I needed. Then one day at my local library I found Calvin and Hobbes.”
The artist shared how Calvin and Hobbes changed his perspective on what comics are capable of. He continued: “I spent hours reading and rereading this book collection. That Christmas, my parents gifted me one of the bigger books, I think it was the Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Collection. It blew me away.
Reading Bill Waterstone’s commentary and his reflections on his strips in that book was a revelation. He took comics seriously, which I really respected. You can then imagine how I felt many years later when Andrews McMeel, the publisher of Calvin and Hobbes, reached out to me to offer Twistwood Tales a book deal. The day I saw it on the shelves of Barnes and Noble was a dream come true.”
When asked how he comes up with ideas for new comics, AC Macdonald responded: “I like to go on long walks in nature and daydream. Twistwood Forest is full of characters that I’ve had bouncing about my head for years and years. Sometimes when they bump into one another something I don’t expect happens, so I try to write it down as soon as I can.”
The Twistwood Tales author also told us more about his biggest influences in the world of comics and humor: “When it comes to comics and humour (other than Calvin and Hobbes), Bone by Jeff Smith, and the Far Side by Gary Larson played big roles in developing my taste. There are many influences beyond them though - The Moomins, for example, by Tove Jansson and Aardman too. I’ve always dreamed of working with Aardman on a stop-motion version of Twistwood Tales. Years ago I commissioned a model version of Elpie the record player that sits proudly on my shelf at home.”
Macdonald shared with us that the longer tale featured at the end of the Twistwood Tales book collection is one of the comics he’s most proud of. Here’s what we learned about it: “It’s called Bucket Boy and the Goblin Queen’s Riddle. I liked how it helped tie together a few of the overarching themes of the series so far and helped me introduce some of the deeper lore of the Twistwood world. I’ve appreciated readers who’ve told me it’s prompted them to recognise there’s more to the comic than might first meet the eye…”
Lastly, AC Macdonald revealed to us that he will be attending his very first Comic Con this week: “This Saturday 16th November and Sunday 17th, I’ll be attending the Thought Bubble festival in England - it’s my first ever Comic Convention with a stand for Twistwood Tales! If you’re there, come find me signing books at table C23 in the Redshirt Hall and say hi!”
If you can’t make it to the festival but still want to explore more of the series, you can check out the artist’s Instagram. And for those who love printed editions of their favorite comics, the hardback collection of Twistwood Tales is available on Amazon—don’t miss it!"
