The History of Deadend23 Comics

I always enjoyed reading comic books, and although, as a kid, I used to draw my own characters, I never though of actually doing a comic book myself.

In 1992, aged 22, I was working in a factory, screenprinting t-shirts.  I was inspired by my workmates to create my first comic strip Deadenders, a one page strip based on my workmates in the factory.  My workmates enjoyed the comic and encouraged me to do a few more, just for fun.  I changed jobs in 1994, but remained friends with Vinnie O'Brien from the factory.  Vinnie was the lead guitarist with a Dublin based death metal band, Morphosis.  My next comic Morphosis Death Machine: A Deadenders Special was a 15 page story about Morphosis and zombies.

I had another circle of friends, who were also enjoying my little comics and were dying for me to do a comic about them.  A Few Good Friends (sporadically produced between 1995 and 1998) were all based on this particular group of friends and were usually silly stories involving alien invasions and such.

Meanwhile my girlfriend (now wife) and I started a family and I went through a few more job changes and in 2001 began working in a warehouse/distribution centre for a large supermarket chain.  Surrounded by some great characters at work, it was only a matter of time before I was inspired again and in 2005 did a series of one-page comic strips based on my workmates: The Tesco Chain Saw Massacre.  I was working on an idea for a new story based on work Night of the Living Ed, when the warehouse closed down and I was made redundant.

In October 2008, my friend Marie Perry died from cancer.  One of the A Few Good Friends group, Marie had once written a poem for fun about us all called A Murdering Spree, about one of the group murdering the rest of us.  In November 2008, I began working on adapting her poem as a comic.  I finished the comic in March 2009 and made several copies for Marie's family and friends and also sold some copies at Dublin's Forbidden Planet.

Since A Murdering Spree, I have had one or two ideas for new comics, but I am working in a new job and am involved in a local camera club having taken up photography and I find my self with very little spare time to draw.  But who knows...  inspiration is always lurking nearby!

Watch this space!

Welcome to
DEADEND23

Comics and Art of Paul Maxwell