James Mulholland’s Short Stories

An anthology book of stories dark, and light hearted, James Mulholland’s Short Stories has something for everyone who is even remotely interested in comics. With a variety of genres to pick and choose from, the best part about this webcomic is perhaps Mulholland’s prowess as a storyteller. All set to release the book of Short Stories, Mulholland’s creations are currently up on the site for a free read.

In a world where webcomics are largely defined by line-drawings and crude humour, Short Stories has some great stories as well as art to offer. And Mulholland has a simple explanation for his decision to step away from the formula of success that has already been defined in this realm. ” I’ve got great artists and colorists onboard this project and I’m paying out of my own pocket to put these high quality pieces of art and story on the internet for free. My hope is that when it’s all printed, it will stand up to the quality of other books people have on their shelves.” With the need to compete with creators who are already established as well as comic giants, it perhaps makes sense to pay attention to quality. “I also wanted to show publishers that I’m not a time waster,” he continues. Writing for 6 hours a day, it takes a lot of hard work to work out the expenses all by himself. And in the stories Mulholland has released so far, one can already see promise.

Working with an idea and developing it further, Mulholland’s process of creation starts with an image, dialogue or a scene in his head.

“I start with that and build a story around it. I usually know my protagonist early on as I’m developing the story, so that they can go side by side with one another. Then I do a really rough outline, and I work from that. I’m evolving as a writer though, so many writers have different processes, I’ve tried a few over the last few years but I feel I’m getting close to what I want to be. For instance, on my next story, I’m doing detailed breakdowns of scenes, characters and how theme is affecting each scene. I was not doing this a year a go, but if I feel my next story is better because of this, then I’ll keep doing it, If I feel it weakened the story then I’ll get rid of it,” he explains.

Coming from a background in cinematography, Mulholland has plans to stick around in the world of comics. With the final pages of a new series, Minority #1, completed, he is currently on the hunt for publishers. And apart from that, he also plans to release 4-5 new webcomics before releasing an anthology of his comics.