Credits
- Story by Andy Corrigan
- Art and lettering by Javiera Argandoña
- Flat colours by Mariya Juni
On why the comic exists
Strangers on a Train: A Football Manager Story is a comic about a real-life thing that happened to me many years ago on a train to London.
It’s not the first time I’ve written about this surreal event. I told the story back in 2013, in an article called ‘My defining moment as a Football Manager’ for entertainment website IGN.com.
So, why is it now also a comic?
As I get older, I find my writing interests shift. I feel less inclined to hammer on my keyboard to sell videogame hot-takes and more drawn to telling stories in different formats. The most interesting to me is a format I’ve loved my entire life: comics.
As I, like many other writers, struggle to work my way through the ‘big thing’ I actually want to write, I’m always looking for short, fun projects I can use to sharpen my skills and boost my confidence (and, if I’m being really honest, distract myself from the daunting nature of that bigger project).
That’s what my first comic, Solace, was. That’s what a handful of other upcoming projects are. That’s what this story is.
In looking to past experience and work for short story ideas, the anecdote told in that IGN article simply stood out as a fun little project to adapt. And fun it was.
Not only were there interesting challenges in telling the same story across different formats, but the experience of comics as a collaborative process between writer and artist is equal parts energising and inspiring.
The result is a comic that not only represents the idealised form of real-life events as they live in my head, but also a whole heap of lessons learned about the creative process.
I hope you enjoy the read.
Andy Corrigan
About the creators
Andy Corrigan
Andy is a professional writer living in Adelaide who’s now dabbling in writing comics.
You can see Andy’s other comics, fiction, and hobbyist art scribbles at flameroasttoast.com. You can also follow Andy on various social media platforms.
Javiera Argandoña
Javiera is a professional comic artist based in Chile.
Make sure you check out her original comic series, White Eden. You can also follow Javiera on various social media platforms.