Gone to Amerikay Brings an Irish Flair

It's difficult to mix crime, ghosts and love into one solid story, but I have a feeling that writer Derek McCulloch is probably going to pull it off pretty well in Gone to Amerikay, if the early reviews are any indication.

"GONE TO AMERIKAY is not just a great book, it's an important book. . . . It uses the immigrant experience to talk about us, who we are, how and why we came here, with some echoes of where we might be going. The art is superb, containing some of the best and most evocative images of the period you're ever going to see, and the story is wide in scope but intimate in its details as it flashes forward and backward in time. Forget the hype, this is going to be THE book of 2012."

--J. Michael Straczynski

In March, McCulloch is joined by artist Colleen Doran and color by Jose Villarrubia for a graphic novel from Vertigo that tells a story through three intertwined tales.

From a penniless woman named Ciara O'Dwyer, who's struggling to raise her daughter alone in the notoriously brutal Five Points slum of 1870, to a young artist named Johnny McCormack, who comes to New York intent on becoming a Broadway actor and instead is drawn into the Greenwich Village counterculture of 1960, the year America elected its first Irish-Catholic president. And an Irish billionaire named Lewis Healy who, in 2010, sets out on a quest to unravel the secret of the music that inspired him as a child. After tracking down the haunts of Johnny and Ciara, Healy ultimately pieces together the dire circumstances--and the mysterious song--that ties them all together.

This March, Vertigo brings you a century-spanning original graphic novel that explores the vivid history of Irish émigrés to America via New York City. Full press release below.

GONE TO AMERIKAY by Derek McCulloch and Colleen Doran

"GONE TO AMERIKAY is not just a great book, it's an important book. . . . It uses the immigrant experience to talk about us, who we are, how and why we came here, with some echoes of where we might be going. The art is superb, containing some of the best and most evocative images of the period you're ever going to see, and the story is wide in scope but intimate in its details as it flashes forward and backward in time. Forget the hype, this is going to be THE book of 2012."
--J. Michael Straczynski, Superman: Earth One, Babylon Five, Changeling

"Ghost story or detective fiction? History or mythology? Drawing on the freewheeling spirit of Irish and Irish-American popular culture, GONE TO AMERIKAY is all of these. A tale that takes place simultaneously in 1870, 1960 and 2010, it recognizes that though enormous changes have taken place over time in the relationship between the New World and the Old Country, some things, like love, justice and respect, are timeless and imperative. With thrilling illustrations, rich with the color and mood of these passions, you will find yourself unable to avoid lingering at length on them before picking up the story again."--Philip Chevron, The Pogues

"GONE TO AMERIKAY is a wonderful story, lushly illustrated, full of music and passion, twists and turns, beautifully evoking the Irish immigrant experience in three different times and sewing them all together brilliantly at the end. A real treat, for those who love New York history, or just a great story."--Kevin Baker, Paradise Alley, Dreamland, Luna Park

This March, Vertigo brings you a century-spanning original graphic novel that explores the vivid history of Irish émigrés to America via New York City.

GONE TO AMERIKAY, written by Eisner Award-nominated writer Derek McCulloch (Stagger Lee, Pug) and beautifully illustrated with period detail by Colleen Doran (The Sandman, Orbiter) with color by Jose Villarrubia, is a mix of crime story, ghost story, and love story which touches on music, folklore, theatre, history and just plain survival.

Told through three intertwined tales, GONE TO AMERIKAY is not only a story of immigration, but of family, love, death and tragic misunderstandings. From a penniless woman named Ciara O'Dwyer, who's struggling to raise her daughter alone in the notoriously brutal Five Points slum of 1870, to a young artist named Johnny McCormack, who comes to New York intent on becoming a Broadway actor and instead is drawn into the Greenwich Village counterculture of 1960, the year America elected its first Irish-Catholic president. And an Irish billionaire named Lewis Healy who, in 2010, sets out on a quest to unravel the secret of the music that inspired him as a child. After tracking down the haunts of Johnny and Ciara, Healy ultimately pieces together the dire circumstances--and the mysterious song--that ties them all together.


About the Writer:
Derek McCulloch, neither Irish nor American, nonetheless grew up listening to Irish music and reading comic books about New York City, little dreaming these unrelated interests would one day form the basis for a book. His first graphic novel, Stagger Lee, was published to some acclaim in 2006 and was nominated for an Eisner Award. His second graphic novel, Pug, was published in 2010. He is currently adapting the works of Damon Runyon for both comics and stage.

About the Artist:
Colleen Doran's Irish antecedents named her Colleen, the Irish word for "girl," so there would be no confusion. Colleen Doran is American, therefore her ancestors are from many places. Colleen has written and/or drawn lots of comics and graphic novels like The Sandman, Mangaman, A Distant Soil, and Wonder Woman. She has won a lot of nice prizes, and lectured in a lot of nice places.