SECRET ORIGIN

A few years ago, my wife Christine signed us both up for a writing evening class – more for me than her in an attempt to focus my storytelling notions. During the course, we covered many aspects of writing: character development, plot structure, scriptwriting, etc. It was round about week 5 we were told next week was poetry week.

What did I know about poetry? The last time I had written a poem was in 3^rd Year at Clydebank High School. It was a 16 word poem about a devastating fire. I say 16 words, most of them were repeated for dramatic effect! (I did get an ‘A’ for it, thank you very much.)

On the way home, thinking about the next week’s class, I was distracted by the mounting pressure on my bladder. I realised “I should huv gone before I left”. That was all I needed. I wrote and submitted “The Lang Walk Hame” to the amused class, and the rest is Pishtory.

That class was taught by Martin Brocklebank. An experienced screenwriter with many credits to his name, including River City, Eastenders and Doctors. In a weird stroke of chance, I bumped into Martin on the day the Lang Walk Hame Kickstarter launched. It was the kind of coincidence I would have been criticised for using in a story but it DID happen. I thanked him because none of this would have existed without him and his class.

He backed it that night. Now THAT’S poetic.

I would like to thank a few others for their contribution in making this comic:

Firstly Gavin Boyle and Jonny Cannon for their help and advice from the start; the Glasgow League of Writers who kindly critiqued my first draft script; Gavin Rizza for his help with our Kickstarter video; Tony Esmond for helping get the word out; Dr Michael Dempster for his fascinating afterword; Robin Jones for his wonderful lettering and Chris MacAuley for breathing life into our comic with his colouring.

I’d like to thank all our amazing guest artists including the Glasgow Drink ‘N’ Draw team for their incredible work in making this comic. I’m hugely grateful to you all.

This comic would never have happened without my partner in punnage, Gordon Johnston. His artistic talent, vision and direction made The Lang Walk Hame far more than I ever imagined. Cheers, Gordon!

Of course, I would like to thank my incredible wife, Christine. None of this would have existed without her. She’s the best.

Finally, I’d like to thank the following people who backed us on Kickstarter at the  the “Comic and Mair Stuff” level and above:

Graeme Black, Robert Jennings, Christine Panton, Andrew McLaughlin, MJ Brocklebank, Davidt Dunlop, Paul D. Jarman, Gavin Rizza, Colin Murphy, Neil Collinson, Claire Carter, Helen Watson, Adam Davidson, Zoltan Deathspawn, Anne Macdonald, Lorraine Blackwood, Jake Hainey, Alex Docherty, Nicola Kidd, Dave Wilkie, Laura May, Grant Thorburn, James Mackay, Mary Fagan, Matthew Dargavel, Paul Welsh, Niall MacDougall, Barry Lumsden, Nairn Young, Craig Nicolson, Christine Adam, Greig McLean, Scott Kidd, Kara Kidd, Alasdair, Joe Espener, Carolyn Espener, Joyce Hawthorn, Debbie Murphy, Emma Jane O’Riordan, Dan Wilson and everyone at www.oldchs.co.uk – the website dedicated to preserving and promoting the heritage of Clydebank High School.

Cheers everyone!

Peter