Tag Archives: tara o’connor

Review: Side Effects

Hannah is having a rough time in her first year in college. She’s suffering from anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, the medication she’s given has some side effects… super powers.

Story: Ted Anderson
Art Tara O’Connor
Color: Tara O’Connor
Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Get your copy in comic shops! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon
comiXology/Kindle


AfterShock Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
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Preview: Adventure Time Season 11 #5

Adventure Time Season 11 #5

Publisher: KaBOOM, an imprint of BOOM! Studios
Writer: Ted Anderson
Artist: Marina Julia
Colorist: Meg Casey, Francesco Segala
Letterer: Mike Fiorentino
Cover Artists:  
    Main Cover:
Jorge Corona
    Preorder Cover: Julie Benbassat
    Incentive Cover: Tara O’Connor
Unlocked Retailer Variant: Jon Vermilyea
Price: $3.99

When Finn and Jake are finally ready to find a new home after their treehouse was destroyed during Golb’s attack, an unlikely group makes shore on Ooo, leading Finn to confront the question of where he truly belongs.

Adventure Time Season 11 #5
EPSON MFP image

Review: Roots

Anyone who has ever been in love can tell you about their first heartbreak. That one person you gave you this precious thing, this invaluable piece of yourself, those insufferable butterflies that flutter around you heart. That person who you were able to tell the difference between infatuation and love. It is always roses when things are going great. When you are both in sync and you definitely feel something for each other. When things go sour, there is a myriad of things that could happen. The most amicable being the two of you falling out of love with each other.

Then there are the things which lead to breaking up, like cheating or negligence. The latter being the crueler of the two causes. Life tends to throw hardballs and getting your heart broken is part of that. Thing is, what you do after your heart is broken is what counts the most. This is the adventure that Tara O’Connor endeavors on, as a recent breakup leads her to searching for her Roots in Ireland.

We meet Tara in the opening pages, a young woman whose boyfriend just broke up with her. Denial sets in, and the numbing pain of heartbreak sets in, rendering her motionless physically and mentally. She eventually goes to her childhood home to find solace where an idea for a book comes to her. To create a travelogue of her looking for her family’s roots in Ireland. As she sets on her journey to Ireland she meets up with another cartoonist who happens to live in Ireland named John. She delves deeper into her travels discovering not only who her family is but who she is. Her feelings for John grows simultaneously leaving her gob smacked with on how to deal with both of these things happening at the same time. As her time in Ireland comes to and end she struggles to keep her feeling at bay as both her and John had fallen for each other. By book’s end Tara finds home in the most unexpected place.

Overall, an endearing love story that will make you believe in love once again. The story by O’Connor is funny, relatable, smart, and heartfelt. The art by O’Connor is gorgeous and vivid. Altogether, a story that will make you hold the ones you love closer and never let go.

Story: Tara O’Connor Art: Tara O’Connor
Story: 9.5 Art: 9.0 Overall:9.8 Recommendation: Buy

Preview: The Altered History of Willow Sparks

The Altered History of Willow Sparks

(W/A) Tara O’Connor
(CA) Tara O’Connor with Katy Farina
Age Rating: Young Adult Audiences
Genre: Coming of Age; Fantasy
Price: $19.99
Page Count: 152

What happens when you can finally get everything you ever wanted? Willow Sparks and her best friend Georgia Pratt are at the bottom of the social ladder at Twin Pines High School, just trying to get through each day relatively unscathed. But when Willow finds a mysterious book that allows her to literally change her life, it feels like her luck is finally turning. As she becomes more and more popular with each entry into the book, her old life, including her friendship with Georgia, seems miles away. Yet as Willow will discover, every action has a reaction, and the future has unusual—even dangerous—ways of protecting itself.

The Altered History of Willow Sparks’ Hits Shelves This January

On January 24, 2018, Oni Press will release The Altered History of Willow Sparks, a graphic novel by the talented, Jersey-based writer and artist, Tara O’Connor! She is the author of Roots, which came out November 2017 from IDW Publishing’s Top Shelf imprint. This her first graphic novel with Oni Press.

What happens when you can finally get everything you ever wanted? Willow Sparks and her best friend Georgia Pratt are at the bottom of the social ladder at Twin Pines High School, just trying to get through each day relatively unscathed. But when Willow finds a mysterious book that allows her to literally change her life, it feels like her luck is finally turning. As she becomes more and more popular with each entry into the book, her old life, including her friendship with Georgia, seems miles away. Yet as Willow will discover, every action has a reaction, and the future has unusual—even dangerous—ways of protecting itself.

Oni Press Announces Five New Titles for Spring 2018

Oni Press is expanding its line of comics with five new titles to release Spring 2018 including: The Altered History of Willow Sparks by Tara O’Connor, Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir and Steenz, Sci-Fu by Yehudi Mercado, Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom by Terry Blas, Molly Muldoon, and Matthew Seely, and My Boyfriend is a Bear by Pamela Ribon and Cat Farris.

The Altered History of Willow Sparks by Tara O’Connor (January 17)

What happens when you can finally get everything you ever wanted? Willow Sparks and her best friend Georgia Pratt are at the bottom of the social ladder at Twin Pines High School, just trying to get through each day relatively unscathed. But when Willow finds a mysterious book that allows her to literally change her life, it feels like her luck is finally turning. As she becomes more and more popular with each entry into the book, her old life, including her friendship with Georgia, seems miles away. Yet as Willow will discover, every action has a reaction, and the future has unusual—even dangerous—ways of protecting itself.

Tara O’Connor is a New Jersey-based cartoonist. She is the author of Roots, which will be available September 2017 from IDW Publishing’s Top Shelf imprint. This her first graphic novel with Oni Press.

Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir and Steenz (March 7)

After losing her job at the library, Celeste Walden starts working at the haunting Logan Museum as an archivist. But the job may not be the second chance she was hoping for, and she finds herself confronting her mental health, her relationships, and before long, her grasp on reality as she begins to dream of a young woman she’s never met, but feels strangely drawn to. Especially after she asks Cel for help…

As Cel attempts to learn more about the woman, she begins losing time, misplacing things, passing out—the job is becoming dangerous, but she can’t let go of this mysterious woman. Who is she? Why is she so fixated on Cel? And does Cel have the power to save her when she’s still trying to save herself?

Philadelphia-based writer Ivy Noelle Weir and St. Louis-based illustrator Steenz have collaborated on numerous comics projects together including a short for the series Princeless. Steenz’s artwork has been featured in the critically acclaimed and award-winning anthology Elements: Fire, as well as Ham4Pamphlet, a collaborative illustration project inspired by the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, while Weir has written numerous articles for Women Write About Comics, American Libraries magazine, and NoveList in addition to her fiction writing. Both Weir and Steenz have worked both as librarians as well as being involved with The Valkyries, an online group for women who work in comic shops around the world. Archival Quality is their first Oni Press graphic novel.

Sci-Fu by Yehudi Mercado (March 14)
Hip-Hop, Sci-Fi, and Kung Fu all hit the turntables for the mash-up mix of the year! Cartoonist/force of nature Yehudi Mercado sets his sights on 1980s Brooklyn and Wax, a young mix-master who scratches the perfect beat and accidentally summons a UFO that transports his family, best friend, and current crush to the robot-dominated planet of Discopia. Now Wax and his crew must master the intergalactic musical martial art of Sci-Fu to fight the power and save Earth. Word to your mother.

Yehudi Mercado, a Los Angeles-based writer and illustrator, has previously worked on other projects such as Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon for Marvel/Disney Interactive, and Rocket Salvage and Pantalones, TX, with BOOM! Studios and their Archaia imprint.

My Boyfriend is a Bear by Pamela Ribon and Cat Farris (April 11)

Nora has bad luck with men. When she meets an (actual) bear on a hike in the Los Angeles hills, he turns out to be the best romantic partner she’s ever had! He’s considerate, he’s sweet, he takes care of her. But he’s a bear, and winning over her friends and family is difficult. Not to mention he has to hibernate all winter. Can true love conquer all?

Pamela Ribon is a best-selling novelist, and has written comics such as Rick and Morty™ for Oni Press and her original series Slam! for BOOM! Studios. After over a decade working in television, she became a member of Disney Animation’s StoryTrust, where she worked on Moana and is currently co-writing the upcoming Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2. Cat Farris is the creator of the webcomic The Last Diplomat and the minicomic series Flaccid Badger, has worked for companies such as Amazon and Rovio Entertainment, and illustrated Dark Horse Comics’ Emily and the Strangers.

Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom by Terry Blas, Molly Muldoon, and Matthew Seely (April 25)

Deep in the Oregon wilderness sits Camp Bloom, a weight-loss camp where “overweight” teens can “get in shape.” Jesse would rather be anywhere else, but her parents are forcing her to go. Noah isn’t sure if he wants to be there, but it’s too late to turn back. Tony is heartbroken at the thought of giving up his phone and internet. And Kate… well, she likes the hikes, at least. As far as these four teens are concerned, it’s just another boring summer. Until one night, when Jesse and Noah witness a beloved counselor’s murder. The body’s gone by the next morning, but a blurry photo leads to one clue—the murderer is one of the camp’s staff members!

But which one? As Jesse, Noah, Kate, and Tony investigate, they quickly discover that everyone’s got their secrets… and one of them would kill to keep theirs hidden.

Terry Blas’ work has previously appeared on comic book covers for Bravest Warriors, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty™, and The Legend of Bold Riley. Matthew Seely’s animation has previously appeared on MTV’s Greatest Party Story Ever. Molly Muldoon’s current projects include the forthcoming Cardboard Kingdom from Knopf.

Top Shelf Productions Announces Roots by Tara O’Connor

On a journey to the old world — she discovered a whole new world.

After a messy year of heartbreak and setbacks, Tara sets off to Ireland in search of clues to her family’s ancestry, but what she finds isn’t at all what she expected. Some of it has to do with the lack of records, but a lot has to do with John, the charming cartoonist she met on Twitter. Wrapped in real family history and set amongst the natural beauty of the Irish countryside, Roots is a classic romantic-comedy adventure and a page-turning account of a young woman finding herself.

Roots by Tara O’Connor
ISBN 978-1-60309-417-7 • Diamond: JUN170548
$19.99 (US) • 176 pages
black & white softcover graphic novel with French flaps, 5″ x 8″
On sale September 2017