A passenger finds herself aboard a cruise liner. She has no memory of who she is or how she got there. The Visitor Liaison tells her not to worry and guides her on a tour of the ship.
But as she meets her fellow guests, it dawns on the passenger: She might have a one-way ticket.
The Voyage is a graphic story about mortality, journeys, judgement and the great beyond. Making her longform debut, Laura Callaghan has created a surreal comic where beautiful hand painted watercolours meet dark humour.
Words on The Voyage
"Death looms large over us all. Mortality has been on my mind a lot in the past few years with family illness and becoming a parent myself.
"I was raised Catholic, so morality and the afterlife were big topics of choice. But it wasn't something I had given a lot of thought to until researching this book. I spent a lot of time reading about how the concept of a soul differs from culture to culture and the theories on what happens to that soul once the mortal body is done.
"Life feels absurd. I find it much easier to lean into humour than earnestness and feel it makes serious subjects more approachable, both for myself and for readers.
"I love character design and feel like you can tell a parallel story with the clothing and styling of characters. I wanted to populate the ship in The Voyage with intriguing characters who are a bit unsettling for the voyager to encounter. I took inspiration from films, books and runway collections - the ballroom scene from The Labyrinth, the 2018 Gucci cruise show, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
"I'm drawn to detail and colour. Even the book illustrations I enjoyed as a child, I liked pictures where you would find something new on each viewing. For The Voyage I think the vibrant colour and details really help build the world our voyager occupies.
"It took a lot of late nights. It was a very labour intensive, slightly insane decision to hand paint the book but it was the vision I had for the artwork. I'm quite methodical with planning and getting as much details in my sketches first so the painting process is as smooth as it can be.
"I hope this book can provide some colourful escapism for readers. Thinking about something as vast and incomprehensible as death and the afterlife can sometimes make a grim day in the winter months seem a bit more manageable.”
Q&A
What is your favourite book? Under The Skin by Michel Faber. It's the only book which has provoked a physical reaction from me, I almost threw up reading one chapter.
What is your favourite quote? You're never lost if you have a tongue in your head - My mam
