The Kiss After Midnight

A 3-page sequel by John Gilheany

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Author's commentary

"I don't draw much these days or all that often but it's a talent (some would argue) that's worth keeping alive; if only because it meant a lot when I had youthful ambitions of drawing for '2000AD' comic.

These days the monk-like existence of the commercial strip illustrator has far less appeal - even if I could produce pages to their excruciating deadlines. Still, it's great to be able to draw exactly what and when you want without editorial hassles etc and this particular strip - a 'sequel-of-sorts' to The Long Kiss Goodnight - is the type of creative freedom that's probably preferable to scripts of inter-dimensional mutant warriors or whatever when you're getting on a bit!

Hopefully this 3-page outing will appeal to fans of the film, anyway; when I first saw the trailer it seemed like a straightforward movie adaption of an indie comicbook. In that sense, it's somehow natural for an extrapolation/tribute to adopt the sequential strip format. Admittedly, it's too short because I'm desperately slow but the transition tends to work and it may be closer to the feel of the film than the proposed sequel which has recently being suggested without the Black/Harlin/Davis' lead character; 'Charlie'.

The entire strip had been at the bottom of my portfolio for several years due partly to my limited websurfing skills and consequent lack of knowledge of an ideal website! I attempted to get all three pages featured at Fanart Central last year but the technical hassle got the better of me (and most visitors to the location as it happens!) Apart from that the penultimate panel took on uneasy visual connotations after 9/11 which was another reason that I though it better to bury the artwork for a while.

Apparently there was a working title for a sequel around the time of the original: 'The Kiss after Lightning' which is where the title of this particular caper is taken from. So on the 10th anniversary of the project, let's hope it's a fun date!"

All art and commentary on this page is © John Gilheany 2008, shown here with his permission. For more of John's art, view his blog.