John A. Walsh /// Illustrator & Graphic Novelist
ILLUSTRATION
Boston’s Mayor Menino
Boston’s Mayor Menino Takes On and Defeats ALL Opponents in the Mayoral Election.
Client: The South End News
Political Warriors
Chuck Turner Dubiously Claims Victory in Boston’s District Seven Due to Tito Jackson’s Political Triumph.
Client: The South End News
Hello Swine Flu
The Exposure of Health Care Professionals to the Swine Flu Virus.
Client: The South End News
So Long 2008
National and Local Boston Political Year End Wrap-Up.
Client: The South End News
Sweet Medusa
The Horrific and Beautiful Medusa.
Client: Personal Work
Teddy Kennedy
The Failure of the Democrats to Retain Kennedy’s Senate Seat.
Client: The South End News
Walter Cronkite
Remembering Walter Cronkite.
Client: The South End News
Poor Paco, Poor Paddy
The Similarity in Hostility to Mexican Immigrants NOW and Irish Immigrants in the PAST.
Client: The South End News
Et Tu Dowd?
Even the Once Trusted Matthew Dowd Turns on George Bush.
Client: Personal Work
The Russian Strongman Returns
The Demise of Democracy in Russia.
Client: Personal Work
Informer
Informers in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Client: The Somerville News
Stalled Construction
The Stalled Columbus Center Fiasco in Boston.
Client: The South End News
Communication
Is an Explanation Really Needed?
Client: Personal Work
Love in the Time of Recession
The Impact of the Great Recession on Romance’s Big Day.
Client: The South End News
The Boston Irish
On the NEED for Boston’s Irish Community to Remember Their Tortuous Past.
Client: The South End News
Another Year, Another Winter
Life in New England. Boston to be Exact.
Client: The South End News
Urban Decorating Committee
Litter, Litter Everywhere in Boston’s South End.
Client: The South End News
Persecution of The Baha’i in Iran
The Destruction of Baha’i Cemeteries by the Iranian Government.
Client: The Association for Baha’i Studies Ontario
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Boston’s Mayor Menino
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Political Warriors
-
Hello Swine Flu
-
So Long 2008
-
Sweet Medusa
-
Teddy Kennedy
-
Walter Cronkite
-
Poor Paco, Poor Paddy
-
Et Tu Dowd?
-
The Russian Strongman Returns
-
Informer
-
Stalled Construction
-
Communication
-
Love in the Time of Recession
-
The Boston Irish
-
Another Year, Another Winter
-
Urban Decorating Committee
-
Persecution of The Baha’i in Iran
GO HOME PADDY
ABOUT GO HOME PADDY: Paddy Brennan is just off the boat. Things in Boston are not that much better than they were in Ireland; minus the Potato Famine, of course. It’s 1847, and the Irish are setting sail in massive numbers for the New World. They flee the Famine and English oppression fueled by a view of the Irish as an inferior race. On American shores, Paddy is finding the same miseries that he had left behind on the other side of the Atlantic: bigotry, poverty and hatred. The Americans seem to detest the Irish — and in no city are they more despised than in Boston, where the natives regard England as their mother country and where, at one point, the Puritans had banned Christmas for being too Catholic! Paddy’s parents are dead, he has no job prospects and he’s haunted not only by what he saw during the Famine, but also by his experiences while crossing the ocean on one of the many infamous “Coffin Ships”. Paddy will have to fight for his rights, his religion and his very life if he’s going to survive in Boston. And what will happen if Paddy and his fellow immigrants assimilate? Will they remember their torturous pasts, or will they simply move up the ethnic ladder and look down on those considered different? GO HOME PADDY, a web-comic, is the tale of one Irish immigrant’s aching struggle to find his way in a Bostonian society that fears and hates him while not forgetting his people’s wretched history.
Heartbreaking, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting, this unique narrative incorporates historical details such as the Great Hunger, the rise of the Know-Nothings, Victorian prejudices and the Great Boston Fire of 1872. GO HOME PADDYis also timely as it examines the role of immigration, race relations and religion in American society — hot political topics of today. GO HOME PADDY, a graphic novel of around 120-140 pages and illustrated using the Victorian simian stereotype of the Irish, is being serialized at GO HOME PADDY.COM
A short video created for the successful GO HOME PADDY Kickstarter campaign can be seen by clicking the link below.
Go Home Paddy Promo Video
You Wanted Violins and You Got Nero
YOU WANTED VIOLINS & YOU GOT NERO is the home of a series of inter-connected illustrated very short stories by John A. Walsh.
New stories are posted HERE whenever Walsh gets around to it…
ABOUT
John A. Walsh was born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut; he was the last of his parents’ five boys. He graduated from the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University and lives with his wife Rachel and daughter Fiona Maeve in Boston. John is currently creating the Great Irish-American Graphic Novel— GO HOME PADDY — which is being serialized at www.gohomepaddy.com
John’s clients include The South End News in Boston, Harvard University, Boston University, Brigham & Woman’s Hospital (Partners Organization), the Hannaford Supermarket chain and many others. He’s available for freelance projects and commissions both large and small.
He can be contacted at: john AT johnawalsh.net and can also be found on Twitter as: thickmick
