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‘The Boxer’ is a soon to be 100 page graphic novel, backed by BHP Comics, written by Dominic Archer, penciled by Gary Welsh, inked by Marc Casilli, colored by Amanda Miranda, and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
In a special interview podcast, Aaron got to connect with Dominic Archer to discuss his latest work ‘The Boxer’. The story focuses on the protagonist Mike Shepard, an British Olympic boxer looking to make it in the professional leagues. The journey for Mike, however, is fraught with obstacles as he battles with himself about being an un-outed gay man in a sport that thrives on hyper-masculinity. The Boxer highlights the internal struggle of an up and coming professional athlete and the balance of being true to himself, versus the brand he wants to create for his career. While Mike is a gay man, he admits that he doesn’t want to be “the gay boxer”, and serve as a role model, and a voice for others.
The story is narrated by Jude, Mike’s boyfriend, and boxing medical examiner. Jude faces his own battle, but as the partners will learn, the stakes are a lot different for each of them. The style of the comic is presented in a retro, newspaper format, meant to have a classic feel to it. The decision made by the creative team, was so that the comic itself had a unique feel in salute to graphic novels of the eighties.
In the interview, Dominic dives into the details about the comic, and what drove the story, how he connected with his creatives team, the influences from comics on him as a young man, and his academic experience at Dundee University studying comics and graphic novels. Click play on the audio above to hear the rest of our conversation.
As of posting, the comic needs funding so that Dominic can take this story to print by allowing him to pay his creative. Anyone who helps fund the story will receive a copy of the comic, and help support some brilliant up and coming creators.
‘The Boxer’ Kickstarter is live now if you’d like to contribute.
