Noe Land in Sight.

For anyone interested Noe the Savage Boy #2 should be hitting the shelves sometime soon. Drawn by Stephen Downey, published by Atomic Diner and written by myself, it closely follows the events of issue one which detailed The Sack Of Baltimore. The infamous raid on the small Irish settlement in Cork by North Africa bound pirates who spirited its population away into slavery. This chapter of the story of Noe details the experiences of the villagers of Baltimore on board the pirate/slave ship The Issabella. A ship captained by an actual pirate king Murat The First. True story; the pirates had themselves a king and he was it. Stephen Downey has excelled himself and populated the Issabella with human beings, drawn them as if he knew them and breathed life into a past that never was but just might have been. I have always felt that there is no reason real life or history should be any less exciting than the wildest superhero or fantasy ride. Real life being a mixture of every theme imaginable and even a few beyond belief.
              Some people who read the first issue and had never heard of the actual event the story explores commented to me about the harshness of times past and how lucky we are to be alive today in a world where such things are so unlikely to happen. The continuing situation in Nigeria makes me think otherwise. The whole scale abduction and human trafficking of hundreds of innocent young women and children is a savage reminder that as enlightened as we believe humanity to be the human race is capable of the most cruel acts. Everyday I hope to hear that these lost loved ones somehow make it home, that they may be released from captivity, from wherever they are being held, and are allowed to return to the arms of those who love and miss them. If it is at all possible that the ones who took them might find some humanity within themselves and allow them to return home.
               As a writer and even as a reader I was drawn to the events surrounding The Sack Of Baltimore. I saw the events that lead to it happening, its place in Irish and world history as a great starting point for a tale never told. The fictional adventures of a boy growing through a terrifying series of events that change his life and the life of those he loved forever. Its the magpie draw writers experience, crisis as a catalyst for a ripping yarn. And there is a certain censure that comes with the passing of centuries. You can spin such a yarn around the most atrocious events with impunity.
               It was all so long ago and far away.
               Like all the great myths and legends and verbal recounts of past glories and horrors.
               None so glorious or horrific as the act of living in the here and now.