THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2024! 10 YEARS OF THE BF SIX TO WATCH! Living with the Living originally saw life a few years ago as a webcomic but went on hiatus when creator Shane Melisse (one of our ‘Six to Watch’ artists in 2021) hit a creative wall with the series, as elaborated on in this interview a couple of years back at Broken Frontier. Now retooled and revived for print, with John Lynott joining as writer and Kale Robinson on editing duties, this supernatural sitcom will make its physical debut at Thought Bubble this coming weekend.
The premise is a simple but neat one, with plenty of potential for humorous character interaction. In a semi-detached house In the suburbia of Enfield two sisters Kelly and Max are determined to get rid of their slovenly “housemates” Leroy (aka Lurch) and Betty. The twist here is, however, that Leroy and Betty have no idea they are in a house share because Kelly and Max are the ghosts of two former residents. Disgusted at the way the slobbish couple are treating their family home the siblings do their best to employ a certain brand of spectral slapstick to force the pair out…
On the one hand this is the perfect set-up for comedy hijinks but on the other there’s a more layered core to Living with the Living #1; a certain pathos surrounding the two sisters who can’t remember when they died or even how it happened. This is underlined by the sad figure of one of their former boyfriends Noah, keeping a lonely vigil outside the house in the street. It’s an effective mix of the ridiculously funny – the sisters trying desperately to apparate in front of the interlopers to scare them off or interfering with their daily domesticity – and the heartrendingly sad as the mystery behind the pair’s demise and anchoring to the house intensifies.
As ever Melisse’s art is particularly strong when it comes to visual characterisation and animated, physical humour. Moody colouring also creates an air of gloomy despondency while Lynott provides sparky dialogue and some engaging gag set-ups. We can be thankful that this sidelined project has found new life ready for Thought Bubble this weekend.
John Lynott (W), Shane Melisse (A), Kale Robinson (E) • Self-published
Visit Shane Melisse’s website here.
Review by Andy Oliver
Shane Melisse/Shanefaced will be at Table B37 in the Redshirt Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2024 runs from November 11th-17th with the convention weekend taking place on the 16th-17th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2024 coverage so far in one place here.
Art by Rocío Arreola Mendoza
