Tim Corrigan has been writing and drawing his own comics for many years now. He started as a teenager with all the ambitions that many had to make it big. But unlike so many of us, the fact that Tim never got snapped up by the big publishers didn’t keep him down. In fact, it seems to have empowered him. Now an adult with a sign painting business and two teenage sons, Tim continues to produce mini-comics. Tim’s comics are truly a labor of love, and, what’s more, they’re terrifically entertaining.
For the last 16 months, Tim has been producing a little 16 page mini-comic that sells for the ridiculously cheap sum of $1. Most issues feature funny stories – Tim’s famous in the small press for his “Mightyguy” strips that depict a humorously mediocre hero and his ridiculous friends – but this issue has a little bit more of a serious theme to it.
“Tyran” is the story of a political prisoner in the year 3655, exiled to a strange exotic place called Fantasm where giant creatures roam, former prisoners live in caves, and there’s vague talk of fighting against enemies. Tim does a great job of taking that basic setting and giving it some interesting twists. I like how Fantasm isn’t quite as exotic as it first seems, and how the scary and strange creature in the first few pages turns out to be not quite as scary as it seems. Most of all, I like how fresh this story seems. This is purely Tim’s story, unfiltered from his mind, and that really makes the story feel fresh and original. How could it not? Tim’s creating his comics only for his own enjoyment.
I also really liked Tim’s art. He’s learned a few things from drawing as long as he has. His Kirbyesque art has an energy and enthusiasm and spirit that really carries the story along in a fun way.
This is a wonderful comic by any standard, but it gets extra points for me for being yet the latest product of a guy who’s not doing his comics for any reason except that he loves them. Why not stick a buck in an envelope and send a snail mail to Tim asking for his comics?