Mad About Cork artist steps into the Tardis to run Cork's Comic Vault
Cathal at the Comic Vault on Lower Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork. Picture Dan Linehan
For the past few years, Comic Vault on Lower Oliver Plunkett Street has been a reliable home for all manner of comic books, graphic novels, and related 'nerd-culture' accoutrements, as well as providing a community space for local fan groups, hosting launch events for locally-created comics and local legs of trading-card game tournaments.
One of its regulars is none other than Alan Hurley, one of the artists behind the Mad About Cork and Re-imagine Cork initiatives, volunteer groups who have taken it upon themselves to help rejuvenate areas of the city centre with hanging baskets, community gardens, and most famously, their series of pop-culture paintings on ESB boxes around the city centre.
Hurley can often be seen behind the counter or haunting the shop's floor indulging his own grá for pop culture of all stripes, so it makes sense that he's announced that he'll be taking over the running of the Comic Vault shop and website in a fortnight's time.
Promising a 'full relaunch soon', the artist will continue to oversee its offering of periodicals and collections from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and other US comic companies, as well as Japanese manga anthologies, trading card games, and pop culture merchandise.
