Kickstarting Comics: ‘Isabella and Blodwen’ From Rachael Smith

Isabella and Blodwen is live on Kickstarter now – the latest from the incredibly talented Rachael Smith, of Wired Up Wrong, Stand In Your Power, and Quarantine Comix.

Any new comic from Smith is always a wonderful thing, one of the most talented creators to come out of Britain and the author of the powerful works Wired Up Wrong and Stand in your Power, and the critically-acclaimed Quarantine Comix.

Isabella & Blodwen is a 200-page full-colour hardback that tells of a 16-year-old and her misadventures with a troublesome witch. After the last few years of incredibly important non-fiction works, having Smith come back to fiction will be an absolute delight, as those of us who adored her previous graphic novels and comics (House Party, The Rabbit, Artificial Flowers, I Am Fire, and others) will absolutely confirm.

In Isabella and Blodwen, 16-year-old Isabella is a prodigious student who’s made it into Oxford University a couple of years early. But although Isabella might be clever enough to be there, she’s terribly lacking in the social skills of her older peers. So, whilst struggling to cope with mixing with the older students, she sets her heart on getting the coveted summer internship with her hero, Professor MacLeod.

Unfortunately for Isabella, thanks to an accidentally borrowed bottle exhibit from a museum her life is about to get even more complicated, thanks to Blodwen, the Witch from the Bottle.

Freed from centuries of captivity, Blodwen’s determined to make the most of the situation, much to Isabella’s dismay. And, after a night out gone wrong where Blodwen casts a curse on Isabella, university life gets way more difficult.

With Smith’s wonderfully light cartooning immediately recognisable, this young adult graphic novel has that delightful universal appeal – as you’ll be able to see from any of the examples from the book here.

Isabella & Blodwen is the latest title from Cast Iron Books, a boutique independent publisher of graphic novels and illustrated books based in the UK. It was founded in the summer of 2020 by Lizzie Kaye, formerly of SelfMadeHero, Titan Comics and Unbound.

As far as the tiers, packages, and rewards for Isabelle & Blodwen, it’s all very simple, the book, after all, is the thing. But there’s extra options for bookmarks, a bookplate, art print, or the opportunity to commission a pet portrait from Rachael.

The Kickstarter for Isabella and Blodwen is running now and ends on 12th August 2022.