24-04-2025
Tom Crean, Irish comic book hero: inside the new graphic novel
Author and Polar historian Michael Smith introduces Tom Crean – Irish Antarctic Hero, his new graphic novel (illustrated by David Butler) celebating the legendary Kerry-born explorer.
I have a letter in a drawer which I regularly open and read, more than 20 years after it was written. It is a private letter written by a serving High Court Judge in Dublin who confessed that he was "chastened and somewhat ashamed as an Irish man" not to have known about the explorer, Tom Crean.
The Judge – I will keep his identity confidential – was responding to my biography, An Unsung Hero – Tom Crean, the first full account of Crean's remarkable life. While I warmly appreciated the feedback from a pillar of Irish society who was presumably well-educated and well read, what struck me most was that the Judge spoke for Ireland. Tom Crean was unknown in his own country.
Fortunately, this has changed since then and Crean's chiselled good looks, designer stubble and jaunty woolly hat are now the familiar features of a new and instantly recognisable Irish icon.
An Unsung Hero sold out in a matter of days when first published in 2000 and has been reprinted countless times and now sold over 170,000 copies worldwide. The book has been translated into various languages – including German, Spanish and Chinese – and Tom Crean's story now features on the curriculum in Irish schools. An adaption for younger readers, Tom Crean – Fear San Oigherar, appears in the Irish language.
I am delighted to say there is a major new addition to the literature of Tom Crean with the first-ever graphic novel devoted to the amazing exploits of the Kerry-born explorer. The new publication, Tom Crean – Irish Antarctic Hero, is a unique collaboration between me as the historic biographer, artist David Butler and Louise McSharry, the letterer.
The new graphic novel, featuring David Butler's striking artwork, recalls the dramatic story of how Tom Crean, the poorly educated son of a farmer, ran away from home as a teenager and served on three historic expeditions to the Antarctic.
Tom Crean's footprints in Antarctica were among the first left by any human and he spent longer in the frozen wastes than either Captain Scott or Ernest Shackleton. Tom outlived both the more famous men and retired to Kerry village of Annascaul to open the South Pole Inn, which is serving pints to this day.
Crean's adventures were central to Antarctic exploration at the turn of the 20th century which included many episodes of courage, heroism and tragedy. He volunteered to venture into the unknown on Scott's first expedition in 1901 and Tom Crean was the among the last to see Scott alive a few miles from the South Pole in 1912. Months later he went back into the icy wilderness to bury Scott's frozen body.
Tom Crean's heroism in saving the life of his dying comrade, Lieutenant Teddy Evans, by marching 35 miles (56k) without food or shelter to fetch rescue is the finest act of single-handed bravery in the history exploration. Or, as the Judge remarked, it made Tom Crean "one of the most courageous Irish men who ever lived".
Tom Crean was as close to being indestructible as any human being and he emerged as a major figure in Shackleton's epic Endurance expedition, widely regarded as Antarctica's greatest survival story. He was an inspirational figure when the expedition ship Endurance was crushed by the ice, forcing 28 desperate men to seek refuge on the desolate Elephant Island.
Leaving 22 men on the island, Crean joined Shackleton on the perilous James Caird open boat journey to South Georgia and forced march across the island's peaks and glaciers to rescue the castaways. Liberating the survivors on Elephant Island was Tom Crean's final act as an explorer.
The idea of telling this astounding story through a graphic novel came from David Butler, an accomplished artist whose previous work include the James Caird voyage and a biography of Michael Collins. Our paths had crossed a few times and appropriately enough, the idea of a book about an explorer-turned publican was hatched over a pint or two.
Graphic novels, to me the writer, present two major challenges. The first is brevity and writing to the book's prescribed length. My books generally run to around 100,000 words and the odd 1,000 words here or there is not vital. The big test was how to condense Crean's rich and adventurous life into 5% of my usual wordcount.
Fortunately, I am a newspaper journalist by background and crisp, concise story-telling is a crucial part of the job. Most journalists believe that every story in the world can be decanted into a single paragraph – the rest is detail!
The graphic novel's other challenge for a writer is to see the story in pictures. Luckily, I had some experience of writing film screenplays and recognise the importance of telling stories through the film-maker's lens. Besides, every picture tells a story!
As a poorly educated farmer's son, Crean never wrote a book or kept a diary and his 27 years' service in the British navy prevented him speaking about his adventures in the year following Irish independence. Tom Crean never spoke to a soul and took his story to the grave.
Piecing together his life took three years of painstaking research and writing. At the same time, dozens of publishers in Ireland and the UK turned down the book because, as they repeatedly emphasised, there was "no interest" in Tom Crean.
Rescuing Tom Crean from obscurity has been a huge privilege and I believe Tom Crean – Irish Antarctic Hero will attract further new audiences to this incredible Irish hero and his incomparable adventures.
