The Magic Necklace

Story

Ann-Rita’s acting differently since she came back, because she’s not afraid of men any more. Not her brother, not the fuzz, and not the guy who’s standing right behind her. Whatever he does… It just can’t threaten her.

If you’ve ever wanted a comic about why women let bad boys and bad men in, this is that one. What’s fair in love and war isn’t always black and white… but add some pink, and you’re more than halfway there. Help us take this erotic thriller all the way!

I spent a decade working in the critical sphere, looking at presentation of sex and gender and romance and formal considerations in comics. All of that thinking has turned over into stories, that I want to share. My previous horror romance comic, Take Me to the Place I Love from Douglas Noble’s A Pocket Chiller line, was about desperation and hope and compromise and spite in straight romance; The Magic Necklace goes further down the same road and tries to make sense of the whole history of everyday heterosexual suffering and desire. It’s a fun story about revenge and tricks and eventual honesty! An erotic crime story, about bad boys and the girls who know them like you don’t.

If we can’t understand the pitfalls and passions of what’s normative, how can we escape or improve it?

For fans of Kyoko Okazaki, Lana Del Rey, John Boorman. It’s Mills & Boon meets a knife fight for autonomy.

Preview

Mood board

Sketches

I sketched some of my influences for The Magic Necklace and am offering all of these in the Rewards section above.

And here's a new drawing I did that we're offering as an 8 x 11 high quality giclee in the Rewards section above

Testimonials

About The Magic Necklace:

"Far more in line with [the audience bringing something to the read] is the other comic she sent me, which is called The Magic Necklace—which is all Claire Napier all the time, art, writing; and it is glorious. It’s a weird erotic thriller—pornographic thriller, even—if ehh… if you’re frightened of a cock! It’s very very funny! I enjoyed it— It has glorious tones, as well; she’s used this, like, really brutalist zip-stone of little hearts, almost like Eddie Campbell. But she’s done it in this way where it’s almost like she’s attacked the page with it. It’s almost like something Paul Milne would do. In terms of, like, on the page, it’s just, uh… it’s coming for you.

So, the set-up is basically, it begins in a bar, or a cafe, or a cafe that becomes a bar, and there is a woman who is allowing herself to be seduced. And it is about the interplay between what seduction is, who… has the upper hand in that game. And then, about halfway though, maybe two thirds of the way through, there’s a series of twists, where it brings a bunch of other bits and pieces in, including a little bit of magic. I enjoyed it a whole load, and would recommend that you hunt that one out."

—Douglas Noble, on SILENCE!

"Listen… This was really great. Your art is leaping forward. I love your style and the colors and the textures… It was really hot and sexy too"

—starlit, zinester

“Nothing truly prepares you for reading ‘guzzling cum.’”

—Aaron Losty, Blaze Beyond the Pale, Ploughman

"I just read this and it’s SPICY!"

—Henry Barajas, Helm Greycastle, La Voz de M.A.Y.O.: Tata Rambo

"Just a gnarly, provocative piece of cartooning that handles sex, fear, and power with refreshing honesty."

—Magen Cubed, Eisner-nominated writer, Southern Gothic

About Take Me to the Place I Love:

“Absolutely wonderful. It was a delightful story (drowning of exes and all),”

—Tyler Button of Tapestry Comics

“This was very chilling, btw, extremely creepy.... the sex was really spot on”

—starlit, zinester

“Proper good, proper spooky oneiromancy from friend Claire Napier. Highly, highly recommended.”

—Alex Paknadel, All Against All, Friendo, Marvel, etc

“A wonderfully realized comic, charting the geography of heartache in sweepingly heady gestures. A really strong piece of work.”

—Hagai Palevsky, comics’ favourite son

“[Napier’s] excellent thriller chiller dark romance comics? In this economy? Yes, please!”

—Mike Molcher, I AM THE LAW

About My Love Does Not Deserve Me:

“Claire’s my friend and colleague so my recommendation is very biased, but also this comic is absolutely beautiful.”

—Nola Pfau, Editor in Chief, WWAC

Bio

Claire Napier is a critic, cartoonist and comics editor based in England. If you have enjoyed her critical writing, you will find more of the same themes inside her comics.

Find her at clairenapier.com

Stretch Goals

Every $300 over our goal buys the creation of a page of Verdi & Bounce Try a New Romance, a collaboration between Warwick Johnson Cadwell and I, where a vampire takes a liking to a cutie at a freshers week University party. All backers will be given digital access to every page funded by this campaign, plus a discount code for eventual print collection.

Timeline

This comic is 100% finished; the PDF is ready for print. There is nothing more for me to do except provide the files to the printer.

Zoop are handling the fulfilment for this comic: they will take care of printing and postage for your books—I have no hand in that at all, and therefore cannot be bad or slow at it. As a creator whose ADHD surfaces most sharply in that area, this is vital. You don’t need to rely on me!

We anticipate a late summer '23 fulfillment after a successful campaign, and Zoop will provide updates and communicate any delays that may pop up.