"Slapstick violence and dark comedy are tools that Ceide uses to draw us into the story on a surface level but once there we become invested in the deeper subjects she is tackling. Salamanca Blues is a tale that doesn’t just mirror the ecological concerns we are living through in 2022 but also touches on ideas of religious intolerance and bigotry". Andy Oliver, Editor-in-Chief at Broken Frontier.
Read the whole review here
Trailer of Salamanca Blues
Salamanca Blues is my first graphic novel. It is divided in two parts and it belongs to The Earth Blues Series, a collection of theme-related stories that I'm creating to build a memoir of the future of mankind on Earth. My series is influenced by climate change's terrible prospects, and I conceive with fantasy and humour the decadent outcomes of our society.
Salamanca Blues is a 48 pages full colour comic printed on 130gsm silk paper, available in English and Spanish. I published it via crowdfundin and now it's available in selected shops and libraries in London, A coruna and Salamanca (see list here).
In Salamanca Blues I imagine how life could be in Spain once most of its land has become a desert. The story of the first part, Sand, starts in the ruins of Salamanca where a religious order controls the population with fear and superstition. But that is only the beginning...
The population of Salamanca's ruins is controled by a crazy religious order and they are forced to worship a huge lizard.
There're whimsical characters such us Mimo, a foreigner who speaks in an unknown language and does magic, The Hunter, an independent woman with strong morals who finds it difficult to keep quiet when faced with an injustice; and an ex-priest, a curious man who questions the dogmas of his religious order and who loves studying the ancient culture of the extinct civilization that ruled the Earth. These are three main characters who are forced to flee Salamanca’s ruins and cross the dangerous desert to escape from Captain Álvarez, his guards, and the priests behind them, the authorities who control Salamanca’s ruins and the people living in them.
The story is a journey that starts in Salamanca, and at the end of Part 1 the characters travel up north, towards Galicia (my homeland), following one of the old routes of the Camino de Santiago (St Jame's Way). Even if I was writing a fictional story, I wanted to be true to the real city of Salamanca and preserve part of its historical buildings, see the images below to see some of the landmarks featured in my comic.
I took inspiration by the scultures of San Esteban Monastery
San Esteban Monastery's Bell also appears semi-buried in the desert of Salamanca Blues
This is the inside of the Cahedral featured in my comic
The dry steppe of Central Spain and the current desertification and ecological issues inspired me to create a desert.
The cathedral is one of the main landmarks that appear in my comic.
I also drew the real ballastraude of the upper chorus of the cathedral
The scallop shell on the rocks, symbol of St James' Way
I wrote an Inside-Look article for Broken Frontier where I give in-depth insight about my research and creative process, you can read it here
REVIEWS and coverage
Broken Frontier published a review of Salamanca Blues written by the Editor-in-Chief Andy Oliver, you can read the review here
I was also interviewed by Andy Oliver to talk about comics, social justice and the small press scene in Spain. You can read the interview here
To learn more about my comic, check out the Inside Look article I wrote for Broken Frontier to celebrate their 20th anniversary. I give in-depth insight about my research and creative process, you can read The Inside Look here
The Crowdfunding and where to buy
I self-published this comic with a crowdfunding on Indiegogo, a huge thanks to all the backers that supported me! Below, the envelopes that I posted full of comics and rewards such as Fine Art Prints, Stickers, and a complementary Riso Print. if you'd like to read it, you can buy Salamanca Blues in my online shop and in the following bookshops in Spain and UK.
