Nightswimming by Cliodhna Lyons

Ah....look at it. A5 with a yellow card cover with bare little on it but a sketch of a kettle, cuppa and thte title, 'Nightswimming'. 16 pages, just my size. 'Nightswimming' eh ? Oh, and first page in, really dodgy reproduction value. The toner is spreading the art murky all over the show ! Messy amatuer first timer look with obvious dark vengeance motifs ! Time to get my reviewer's armaments out. Oh. Oh. Its actually very good and the toner spread is perfectly suited to the whole Gordon Ramsey serial killer riff. The follow-up, "21st Century Girl" reveals this to have been one of those 'great art mistakes as art' but the toner has much more faded by now. Seemingly aerodynamic dancer aesthetics, Cliodhna Lyons can emote nicely and quite stylised.

Next up is a tale around the events of 9/11 - warm, funny, and unexpected, like scented body product treats amongst a socialist workers binding to a city traffic island during rush hour. Theres also a change in art style - a Tom Tomorrow thing happening. The booklet closes with "Luas ate my shoe", a postcard tale from post-modern Dublin. Lyons manages to produce something "personal public", not intimate but general and very much involved with the world we live in. Well done !

Most of Cliodhna's works are available to view at cons or online at http://www.ztoical.com/"

Cliodhna writes,

The "Luas ate my shoe" story was also printed in a travel anthology called "Kineso" my friends and I put together and can be purchased via http://comixpress.com/ and more info on the anthology here http://www.victordematha.com/luckyducks/