ROMO 2, Week 11
Retail Launch of Book One + First Reviews in!
Hello
Slight delay to this week’s posting (from, uh, last week), because this last week was taken up with the Retail Launch event for ROMO Book One. Available from all Good Retailers now (at least here in the UK) - starting HERE at GOSH! Comics in Soho, Central London, last Thursday (February 19th):
Here it is, DEEP in stock - a happiness only marred by FedEx managing to damage 12 out of a further 20 copies couriered in on the Wednesday (worth £300 in shop sales and so £180 to me, a loss that is quite crippling for any small business venture). (:<)
I sat for more than a bit behind the table signing:
… later climbing on it to make a speech, Carny Barker style:
Appropriate Ringmaster moustaches were handed out to all and sundry (some of them more sundry than others):
L to R: Comics expert Paul Gravett, Publisher Emma Hayley, and publicist Paul Smith (no, not that one: nor that other one to do with the shirts) of SelfMadeHero. Auditioning to be the new Thomson and Thompson and Tomson Triplets, I think.
Another satisfied customer (and this one is GENUINELY French), Le Mirage:
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivee - THE FIRST REVIEWS are IN!
https://theslingsandarrows.com/romo-the-wolfboy/:
“A feral child called Romo and an androgynous roustabout named Francis enter each other’s orbit exactly where you would expect, at Blimey O’Riley’s Travelling Circus. […] When a series of freak accidents befall circus performers, Romo and Francis become an unconventional pair of amateur sleuths. Through the duo’s investigation into these mysterious circumstances, Ilya reveals a culture on the margins of society and the rules they live by, the Carny Code.
“Under the big top, Ilya parades performer after performer around the ring, with action and page layouts worthy of the real life spectacle. For every death-defying or farcical feat, panels show the audience’s reaction, like that of a man mid-spit take or another with mouth agape losing his dentures.”
And: https://www.buzzmag.co.uk/romo-wolfboy-ilya-book-review-graphic-novel/
“Written for a broad audience – author and veteran illustrator Ilya notes, in an appendix, a very deliberate intention to appeal to children growing out of Dog Man and The Phoenix, but also that he is a believer in all-ages marketing – the fast-paced storyline is matched by illustrations that whirr with energy, sketchy and full of vigour.
“For all that he might have created a punchily visual context for this tale, the story itself is lacking in wit, the dialogue at times basic and the writing short on subtext.”
Ouchie.
While it may be true my questionable witticisms did not agree with that very particular reviewer (come on down, Hugh Russell of Buzzkill, I’m sorry, Buzzmag - not to be confused with Buzzfeed either, I should expect), wit’s at least one thing my story most assuredly does not lack. Agree? Disagree? Salve or scorch my wounded pride in the comments…
Undeterred by slings, arrows, and outrageous misfortune, I kept on signing…
oh look, another title of mine on the shelves there! (with some writer bloke called Will):
All photos in this report courtesy of the beautiful and amazing Vyla Rollins. Love you!!
PLUS, this amazing VIDEO from the same night by our lovely friend Maria Marichka:
She’s so TALENTED! And very sneaky - I had no idea at all at the time that this was going on. Stealth Ninja Video Techniques a speciality!
Suffice to say, a good time was had by one and all.
And if you haven’t already got YOUR copy, GO GET ONE (details on how below), then YOU can have a JOLLY GOOD TIME too! “ROLL UP, ROLL UP!” etc.
Until the next time - coming again later THIS week! X
