Comics Stars Mingle at GONE TO AMERIKAY Launch Party

by Betsy Gomez

Last weekend, comics fans and creators gathered at the Harbor Lights Restaurant in New York City for the launch of Derek McCulloch and Colleen Doran’s new graphic novel Gone to Amerikay.

The star-studded party raised donations for CBLDF and several comics creators were in attendance, including McCulloch, Doran, Paul Levitz, John Cassaday, Stuart Moore, and Jose Villarrubia, just to name a few. The Beat‘s Heidi McDonald and Torsten Adair also joined the party. Attendees had the chance to view original artwork, enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeurves, and picked up signed copies of the book. Check out the stellar lineup in the gallery below, courtesy of Joan Hilty:

You can view Paul Flannelly’s photos from the party here.

Hailed by J. Michael Straczynski as “THE book of 2012,” Gone to Amerikay is a century-spanning original graphic novel about the America that Ireland dreamed.  It tells the story of three generations of Irish emigrants to the United States:  Ciara O’Dwyer is a young woman raising a daughter alone in the Five Points slums of 1870; Johnny McCormack is a struggling actor drawn to the nascent folk music movement in Greenwich Village 1960; and Lewis Healy is a successful Irishman who’s come to present-day Manhattan on his wife’s anniversary-present promise to reveal the connection between him and them. The mystery originates with Ciara’s runaway husband, who disappeared after promising to join her in America, and carries into mid-century when Johnny, devastated by an unexpected romance and a lost shot at musical fame, gets a supernatural visitor.

CBLDF would like to thank McCulloch, Doran, and all of the party attendees for their support. Special thanks also go to Midtown Comics and the Harbor Lights Restaurant and owner JP Delaney for helping make this event happen. If you would like to get a signed copy of Gone to Amerikay, Midtown has copies on sale here — $10 from every purchase of the book will be donated to CBLDF.

Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!