Do you want to know… Who Killed Nessie? A cryptozoology comedy mystery that could well prove a monster smash is hopefully coming your way, crowdfunding success via Zoop permitting, thanks to the award-winning team of writer Paul Cornell and artist Rachael Smith.
If you’d like to be alerted when the crowdfunder launches, and get first go at early bird offers and exclusives, you can sign up here.
Paul and Rachael describe Who Killed Nessie?, the crowdfunding campaign launching soon, as a comedy whodunnit about finding confidence through rationality and accepting a world of mysteries… by solving one.
“It’s going to be loads of fun,” Rachael enthuses.
Lindsay Grockle, a sceptical, rational young woman, agreed to be the manager of an isolated hotel in the Great Lakes to get over a terrible break-up that left her with zero self-confidence. Her partner was romantic, whimsical, a believer. And she kept telling him there were no such things as fairies. She arrives to find the former manager on his way out of the door, as if he’d been freed from a terrible burden. The rest of the staff have all elected to go on leave this weekend. Because this weekend is… the convention.
Lindsay doesn’t know what that is, but is pleasantly surprised when some charming, but eccentric patrons arrive, patrons who want to hide their faces or shelter under huge coats or all walk together in single file, as if they’re one long creature pretending to be several people. And there’s a just slightly too big cat that’s started to hang around. And the lake outside seems to have suddenly become both deserted of wildlife and weirdly choppy.
But still, Lindsay goes to bed in the hotel that night sure that her weird guests are having the best time she can provide.
She’s woken in the early hours by the cat, who tells her she has to come quickly. There’s been a murder.
Lindsay can’t quite decide which part of that to deal with first, the murder or the talking cat, but she’s quickly hustled to the ballroom, where, on the floor, lies the enormous corpse of… the Loch Ness Monster.
And around Nessie are gathered the convention attendees, now revealed as who they really are: legendary creatures from all over the world. There’s Bigfoot and the Jersey Devil and a Unicorn and a Succubus and a minibus-load of Yokai from Japan… and outside in the lake there’s the Kraken and many more water-based monsters. And the cat is actually the Beast of Bodmin. Or Bob for short. And oh dear, there really are Fairies.
Every year, Lindsay is told, the cryptids gather here for their annual convention. But never has there been a murder. Suddenly, they can’t trust each other. They’ve locked the doors and prevented all external communication. The only person they can agree on to solve this mystery is – Lindsay!
Paul Cornell has written episodes of Elementary, Doctor Who (‘Father’s Day’ and ‘Human Nature’), Primeval, Robin Hood and many other TV series, including his own children’s show, Wavelength. He’s worked for every major comics company, including his creator-owned series I Walk With Monsters for The Vault, The Modern Frankenstein for Magma, Saucer Country for Vertigo and This Damned Band for Dark Horse, and runs for Marvel and DC on Batman and Robin, Wolverine and Young Avengers. He’s also the writer of the Lychford rural fantasy novellas from Tor.com Publishing, and won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, an Eagle Award for his comics, a Hugo Award for his podcast and shares in a Writer’s Guild Award for his Doctor Who.
The co-host of Hammer House of Podcast, his latest book is the SF novella Rosebud, and his latest graphic novel is The Witches of World War II for TKO and his latest comic series include Con and On for Ahoy, and the upcoming three part strip “The English Astronaut” for 2000AD, arriving in Prog 2367, with art by Laura Helsby, colours by Matt Soffe and letters by Jim Campbell.
“It’s my homage to Moorcock,” says Paul, “and I had an absolute hoot with this punky outburst. Laura’s art is fabulous.”
Rachael Smith’s debut graphic novel House Party came out in 2014 with Great Beast Comics to critical acclaim. The Rabbit, released by Avery Hill Publishing in 2015, was her second graphic novel and was nominated for Best Book in the British Comic Awards 2014/15.
Rachael is also the creator of Flimsy the Kitten and One Good Thing, has worked on Doctor Who for Titan Comics, and earned much deserved praise for Wired Up Wrong, Quarantine Comix: A Memoir of Life in Lockdown, and her most recent webcomic, Nap Comix, which you can read for free on Webtoon and Instagram.
• Sign up here to get early bird offers and be told when the Who Killed Nessie? campaign starts
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Graphic Novels, Comic Previews, Comics, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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