Enter Burke and Hare…

By John Freeman on June 9, 2009 • ( 1 )

After critical acclaim for Cancertown, Burke and Hare by writer Martin Conaghan, artist Will Pickering and letterer Paul McClaren is the next book from Insomnia Publications, which will be launched at the British International Comic Show) in early October.

The book, which features a cover by Rian Hughes, also marks the launch of the company’s Vigil imprint, Insomnia’s line of “bio-graphic novels“.

Over a 12 month period from 1827-1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland, two Irishmen, William Burke and William Hare, murdered 16 people and disposed of their bodies to the eminent dissectionist Dr Robert Knox at 10 Surgeon’s Square. This new book delves into the murky, misquoted history of Scotland’s most notorious serial killers, offering a research-based graphic novel that unravels a ghoulish story of medicine, murder and money.

“We got to stare into the face of William Burke himself,” reveals Martin of their background work for the book, “when the medical faculty at Edinburgh University granted us permission to view his skeleton.” Creepy…

Burke and Hare also features a foreword by Alan Grant and its picture gallery will be graced by contributions from Gary Erksine, Frank Quitely and Colin MacNeil, among others.

• Managing Director Crawford Coutts joins the line up of comic creators at this year’s Dundee Literary Festival (see previous news story) on the 27th- 28th of June and Insomnia will have a stall, offering the first previews of the new book.

• Catch some internal art images here on the Insomnia blog

• Martin Conaghan on SciFiPulse.net radio, talking about the book

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.