First of all, congratulations to our latest guest Declan Shalvey on the news of his engagement to comic color artist Jordie Bellaire! We’re very happy for them and wish them the best!

Now come listen to Declan talk about some awesome comics!

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While we’ve discussed Declan’s work on this show in the past (with special guest Frank Barbiere), this marks the artist’s first time on the podcast to discuss a work he’s admired.

Declan is revered for his collaborations with Warren Ellis, including the acclaimed creator-owned series Injection as well as a rejuvenating run with the Marvel character  Moon Knight. He’s currently finishing his first written-and-drawn project for Marvel, a story about Nick Fury running in the Civil War 2 anthology series, Choosing Sides, as well as providing backup story art for Scott Snyder’s All-Star Batman.

Yeah, the dude is busy.

We really appreciate Declan taking time from his schedule to discuss a little known one-shot spinning out of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Hellblazer run called Heartland. The story also has art contributions by color artist Daniel Vozzo and letterer Clem Robbins. Set in Belfast, Ireland in the early ’90s, the story focuses on Kathy AKA Kit, Constantine’s ex-girlfriend, in a story that really has nothing to do with Constantine or the occult, no magic, no demons, but tons of cigarettes.

Declan on Heartland:
“I was a big fan of Preacher when it was coming out. Growing up in Ireland, I didn’t really get much access to comics. I was able to get Preacher because there was trade paperbacks, so I could go to a bookstore and get them. But I managed to get to a comic book store one time and I saw this … so I picked it up. And I think it’s probably had more of an effect on me as a storyteller than anything else I’ve ever read. Having read Preacher, I expected some grossest violence, maybe some humor, nuanced characters and whatnot. What I got was this really compelling piece of family drama. I don’t think I’d ever read any non-genre comic book before…”

Music: “Chipfunk” by Emmett Plant

@woeisjoe @declanshalvey

Runtime: 00:53:46