{"id":966,"date":"2012-03-25T22:47:51","date_gmt":"2012-03-25T22:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/secretacres.com\/newsite\/?page_id=966"},"modified":"2023-02-23T15:38:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T15:38:01","slug":"mike-dawson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/secretacres.com\/?page_id=966","title":{"rendered":"Eamon Espey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nBIO<\/span><\/p>\n

Eamon Espey<\/span> was born in Boston, MA in 1977. In 2002 he moved to New York to attain a Bachelors Degree in Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts. Around that time he began self-publishing the comic series Wormdye<\/em> and co-founded Mount Olympus Society. His work has appeared in Critical Citadel<\/em>, Free Radicals<\/em>, and The Spitting Anorexic<\/em>. Today Eamon lives and works in Baltimore, MD.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/a>IN PRAISE OF EAMON ESPEY<\/span><\/p>\n

In assembling<\/span> a top 100 list for 2000-2009, it\u2019s important to remember that for the first time, it\u2019s pretty much impossible to come up with something that resembles a definitive list that spans the world\u2019s output of comics…<\/p>\n

21. Wormdye<\/em>, by Eamon Espey (Secret Acres). Espey creates a bizarre, hallucinatory world filled with nightmarish dream logic. Espey mixes dark humor, naivete\u2019, visceral violence and a take-it-or-leave form of storytelling in his short stories that are related by theme and tone more than specific content.<\/p>\n

– The Comics Journal<\/span><\/p>\n

Strange book, this medieval Wormdye<\/em>; a succession of short stories forming one heterogeneous whole: one doesn’t quite know if one is dealing with a graphic novel spun out of control,  or a collection linked by some mysterious cosmic order. The only certainty is that Espey takes a merciless look at family, religion and mankind, painting a chilling, merciless portrait of humanity as an emotionally devastated mass, crawling with vices. A series of illustrations without text are interspersed throughout the narrative, like antique engravings, endowing this modern tale with the power of myth.<\/p>\n

– GQ France<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough for authors to figure out what to do at a graphic novel reading: Do you show slides? Talk about the book? Jump straight to the Q&A? Cartoonist Eamon Espey presents a unique solution: a shadow puppet show adapting a chapter of his newest book, Songs of the Abyss<\/em>, that is \u201cbased on the true story of a man that has often been referred to as \u2018the last wild Indian.\u2019\u201d The rest of Songs of the Abyss<\/em> features Egyptian gods, biblical figures, and the revelation of Santa Claus\u2019s true job: agent of Satan.<\/p>\n

– Paul Constant, The Stranger<\/span><\/p>\n

For the release of his newest book Songs of the Abyss<\/em>, Espey joined forces with Baltimore puppeteer Lisa Krause to create a puppet show adaptation of one of the book\u2019s stories, \u201cIshi\u2019s Brain.\u201d The apocalyptic tale of alien invasion, pagan worship, and mountain goat abduction was presented using every type of puppetry possible. These included shadow puppets, marionettes, and finally Espey himself donning a papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 skull mask as the story\u2019s main character\/demon. With zero speaking or text the story\u2019s narrative was slightly hard to follow, but the haunting tone of the visuals and the eerie soundtrack were spot on. Espey is a master of meticulousness, though none of his highly-detailed comics come off as visually overwhelming or cluttered. This same meticulousness carried into the puppet show and, along with the other presentations of the night, shed new light on the ways in which comics can be brought to life.<\/p>\n

– Lillian Nickerson, CityArts Seattle<\/span><\/p>\n

Espey’s newest book, Songs of the Abyss<\/em>, is a masterwork.  He tells his tales almost entirely through black and white, psychedelic imagery that is 50% beauteous and 50% grotesque.  There’s so much going on in each story, in fact, that it feels overwhelming at first to dive into to his soup of disturbing pictures and seemingly nonsensical associations.  Masturbation, incest, dismemberment, murder, flatulence – it’s all in here, rendered boldly and madly in a frenzy of line and texture.  But there are also mesmerizing patterns that rival the most splendid mandalas, constellations, deities, and secret hieroglyphics that beckon you to come closer.  Though I recognized some of the mythic references – and he draws from many paths, including Egyptian, Native American, and Mayan – I was delighted to find that the captions of the pieces were kept from us until the end of the book, to be used as a sort of a visual glossary.  This encourages the reader to let go of the impulse toward narrative and immediate meaning-making, and instead allows one to engage with the works in more of a state of shocked reverie.  Still, fun to go back afterwards and pin Espey’s words to his pictures.  I highly encourage everyone to pick up a copy.<\/p>\n

– Pam Grossman, Phantasmaphile<\/span><\/p>\n

MORE PRAISE FOR EAMON ESPEY<\/span><\/a>\n