Crowdfunding Comics: Paul Cornell & Rachael Smith’s ‘Who Killed Nessie?’

Another book to get backing right now, as Paul Cornell and artist Rachael Smith bring you a cryptid conundrum with their new graphic novel, coming out on the crowdfunding site Zoop, Who Killed Nessie.

Every year, legendary creatures from all over the world gather for an annual convention. But never has there been a murder.

That’s the tagline for Who Killed Nessie?, a new graphic novel by Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith, a book they describe as ‘a comedy cryptozoological whodunnit about finding confidence through rationality and accepting a world of mysteries… by solving one.’

It all begins with young Lindsay Grockle, recovering from a bad break up that’s shattered her confidence, agreeing to be the manager of an isolated hotel in the Great Lakes. She’s a realist, a skeptic, whereas her former partner was romantic, whimsical, a believer, no matter how many times she’d tell him that there really was no such things as fairies and monsters and all manner of supernatural beasties. Oh, she’s about to find out just how wrong she was when she takes up her job just in time for… the convention.

Because this is a rather special hotel on a rather special weekend. The signs are all there, the previous manager rushing out looking very relieved, all of the staff taking leave just to be out of the hotel this weekend, and the steady stream of charming but eccentric hotel guests arriving for the convention. Some hide their faces, some shelter under huge coats, and some seem very strange indeed. Oh, and there’s a rather large big cat hanging around and the lake outside the hospital has suddenly become deserted of wildlife and weirdly choppy.

Lindsay might not have guessed what you already know – this is a very special cryptid convention, where all those creatures of legend get together for their annual convention.

There’s Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, a Unicorn, a Succubus, a minibus-load of Yokai from Japan… and outside in the lake there’s the Kraken and many more water-based monsters. And yes, poor Lindsay, there really are fairies and they cause a hell of a lot of trouble…

But of course, as you’ll all know from the title of this one, the convention has a twist – and that happens when poor Lindsay’s woken up in the early hours by a cat, actually the Beast of Bodmin, Bob for short. And Bob tells her that she has to come quickly. There’s been a murder.

Lindsay can’t quite decide which part of that to deal with first, the murder or the talking cat, but she’s quickly hustled to the ballroom, where, on the floor, lies the enormous corpse of… the Loch Ness Monster.

The murder’s thrown the convention into chaos, no one’s trusting their fellow attendees, the doors have been locked and everyone’s suspected everyone else. There’s only one person they know for sure can’t have had anything to do with it – Lindsay – and that’s who they put in charge of solving the murder of Nessie.

So, a murder mystery in a hotel full of the weirdest creatures in the world, with the one person who didn’t believe in any of this nonsense in charge of finding out the most important question of her life – Who Killed Nessie?

As you can see, this one looks a barrel of laughs, with Cornell and Smith spinning a tale packed full of wonderful characters and giving us plenty to giggle over whilst the mystery unfolds.

Of course, both Cornell and Smith have fine form with all of this. Cornell’s written plenty for TV, books, and comics, and certainly knows his way around a damn fine mystery. As for Smith, she’s one of those comic makers I’ve been fortunate enough to see develop right from her earliest work, where it was patently obvious that this was a future star with a wonderful knack of nailing both fabulous comedy and a real storytelling flair. But since then she’s become best known for making some incredibly powerful and moving comics dealing with mental health issues – Wired Up Wrong, Stand In Your Power, and Quarantine Comix. Most recently, she’s been documenting the trials and tribulations of new parenthood in Nap Comix – all of which have been featured plenty here at Comicon.

The rewards on offer for the campaign include the book, available in digital and softcover, then there’s tiers with the books plus signed bookplates or remarqued bookplates, and also the chance for original art, even the chance for a zoom call with Rachael and Paul. As for stretch goals, as and when they happen – there are postcards of the cast of Who Killed Nessie? from Emma Vieceli (Life is Strange), Alison Sampson (Ministry of Truth), and finally adding spot varnish on the cover to give the whole thing a touch of luxury.

The books should be off to the printers by Fall 2024 and delivered to the welcoming hands of readers at the beginning of 2025.

It looks like it will be an absolute treat of a thing, as you can surely see just from the pages we’ve shown you here – all you have to do now is get behind it and get backing!

WHO KILLED NESSIE – by Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith – funding on Zoop right here, right now!