The duo behind a comic book series based in the City of Red Deer will be hosting a night of music and art this week.
Writer of The Nefarious Smyths Dug Dixon and comic artist Gilberto Ferrel will be joined by local musician Tori Ginter for An Evening with the Nefarious Smyths at Taco Loft on Thursday.
In addition to a live performance by Ginter, a number of attendees will get a free drawing created by Ferrel.
“Gilberto told me he can sketch anything in 10 minutes, so we started playing with that idea,” Dixon said.
“We created a plan where we could have a dinner with guests, and we’d pick random people from the audience to give character suggestions. He’ll take those suggestions and do a bunch of sketches live for whatever character people want. We thought it’d be a fun, affordable art show.”
Dixon then reached out to Ginter about possibly performing during the show.
“My wife and I have seen her at the farmers market for years. She’s super talented and figured we’d invite her. She said yes, which was awesome. Everything’s better with music,” he said.
Ginter’s music is available on Spotify and Apple Music. The Red Deer musician has more than 180,000 followers on TikTok.
Ferrel, who lives in Mexico, is currently visiting Canada for the first time. He and Dixon have been creating the comics through calls and emails since its inception. The duo is now on Issue #10 of The Nefarious Smyths – they have also created a handful of spinoff issues.
“Everything’s become a lot more polished and we’re a lot more organized,” Dixon said.
“There’s a better reception to it now too, which makes it easier to put them out. They’re kind of sold before they come out now, whereas before we almost had to beg people to look at it.
“At first we weren’t really sure if people would dig a local book or not. But it’s actually been well received when we’ve gone to local conventions.”
Dixon has sent photos of Red Deer landmarks to Ferrel in the past to ensure the comic has the look of Red Deer. But this has been the first time he’s seen them in person.
“He’s taking pictures for reference and said, ‘I can do it even better now that I’ve seen it.’”
Tickets for Thursday’s event are limited. People who are interested in attending are encouraged to contact Taco Loft to purchase tickets ahead of time. Some tickets may be available at the door on the day of the event.
The Nefarious Smyths team are also scheduled to attend the Calgary Expo from April 27-30. The annual event attracts hundreds of thousands of people who are fans of comics, science-fiction, horror, anime, gaming and more.
For more information on The Nefarious Smyths and this week’s event, visit www.ab312c.com.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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