Review – Establishing Shot, a comic book anthology from Will O’Mullane

September 22, 2023

4–6 minutes

Writer: Will O’Mullane
Artwork: Alfie Gallagher, Jane Lloyd, Edison Neo, Daniel Romero, Butch Mapa, Clark Bint
Lettering: Jonathan Stevenson, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Jane Lloyd
Cover Art: Alex Moore

“Establishing Shot” is a 40-page anthological showcase for up-and-coming writer Will O’Mullane which sees him collaborating with half-a-dozen talented artists for a veritable smorgasbord of stories covering a variety of genres from hard-boiled crime to slapstick comedy.

One thing that’s apparent from this collection is that O’Mullane has a ton of ideas bursting out of his head, and while some of the stories here are certainly better formed than others, this definitely feels like we’re getting to witness the process of a promising new writer gradually finding his voice.

The anthology kicks off with “Elsewhere in Manhattan”, which may very well be my personal favourite of the whole collection. Featuring artwork from Alfie Gallagher, the story sees a pair of bank robbers having their escape unexpectedly thwarted by some overzealous narration. Yeah, you heard me. Playing around with comic book conventions, O’Mullane, Gallagher and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou have a lot of fun bringing the text boxes to life as they plague our unfortunate criminals, with Gallagher’s dynamic, cartoony style giving the tale the humorous chops it deserves. Punchy, creative and genuinely amusing.

Up next we have “Bulwark Beatdown”, with Jane Lloyd on art duties for a bombastic slice of superhero versus supervillain action. Once again, O’Mullane tries to get a little meta by having the narration become a part of the story, with the narrator initially seeming confused by the one-sided nature of the superhero showdown before gradually getting into the swing of things for the panel-busting conclusion. The premise here doesn’t land quite as well as the previous tale, but Lloyd still provides some fun energy with the artwork, bringing it to the page in a knowingly retro style.

“SFX in the City” is up next, continuing the “meta” theme as artist Edison Neo helps O’Mullane deliver the story of some rogue onomatopoeia terrorizing an unsuspecting city. While the delivery is snappy and entertaining enough, there’s definitely a feeling of diminishing returns here with this being the third straight story to adopt a very similar hook. Neo’s artwork is suitably fun and colourful, particularly during the final panel, although I do feel that if this were the first story in the anthology it would probably hit a little harder.

The second half/other side of of the ‘flip book’ adopts a black and white aesthetic and a marginally more serious tone, and helps to showcase a few more of the weapons in O’Mullane’s writing arsenal.

“The Weak Link”, featuring artwork by Daniel Romero, provides a tale of betrayal and (almost instant) karma with two criminals escaping the law with a mysterious rucksack. O’Mullane’s narration adds a little more emotional heft to the proceedings than the previous three stories, and Romero’s detailed, kinetic artwork really helps to give the whole sequence some valuable tension and drama. As with a lot of anthologies, the page count works against things just a little here, but this is definitely the first story in this collection that I’d love to see fleshed out in a full-length comic, which is most certainly a positive. Good stuff.

The penultimate story, “Short Supply”, sees Butch Mapa taking over art duties for a festive tale of capitalism and crime as a group of four desperate men make the decision to hold up a truck carrying one of the last shipments of the “Galax-2000”, the hottest Christmas toy of the year. Mapa’s artwork is a real delight, with a clean, slightly stylized approach that works well to keep things flowing smoothly throughout the six pages. Unfortunately, the story itself is a bit of a jumble, and feels like O’Mullane trying to cram a few too many ideas into the relatively limited page count. Don’t get me wrong, some of those ideas are gold, but this one definitely would have benefitted from a “less is more” approach in my opinino.

Rounding out the anthology is “Crook’s Rest” which, if I’m being completely honest, feels more like a showcase of artist Clark Bint’s not inconsiderable abilities than a story in its own right. That’s actually no bad thing though, as Bint does a spectacular job of illustrating this four-page sequence with a gangland shoot-out spilling into a part of town where the local residents are more than happy to join in themselves. Cracking levels of detail and kinetic energy all the way through, and once again there’s a promising nugget of an idea here from O’Mullane that I’d definitely be open to seeing explored in more detail moving forwards.

Overall then, while the writing is perhaps a little rough around the edges at times, there’s definitely a ton of potential in O’Mullane’s approach, and as I mentioned above, the sheer creativity on display is definitely to be applauded. Establishing Shot also serves as a great showcase for some talented artists who I may not have crossed paths with otherwise, and I’ll definitely be seeking some of them out to see what else they have coming up in the future. Definitely well worth a look, and O’Mullane has just cemented himself as a writer I’m going to be seeking out in the future, if only to revel in his continued growth.

You can grab yourself a copy of Establishing Shot, along with Second Chances, O’Mullane’s follow-up anthology, from his Gumroad Store.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLCK TO ENLARGE]