‘This Train Terminates Here’ Has Arrived At The Station. An Interview With Writer Folarin Akinmade

I spoke with South London based writer Folarin Akinmade about his new webcomic This Train Terminates Here, a high concept political thriller with time travel in just ten pages! This is Folarin’s first comic, but I think it’s a strong first step into the medium. He manages to juggle strong messages and high stakes with genuine character moments in a way that conveys his knowledge of the craft. Anyone looking to break into comics, Folarin’s insight from the story’s inception, to assembling his creative team, to crossing the finish line on a project will definitely inspire. Morgan: What do you like most about comics? Folarin: Two things. The first, the fact that your only real constraint is your imagination and not wanting to incur the undying wrath of your artist. The second thing is the form itself. Like, there is so much fun to be had with panels as a narrative device. Or the soft reset you get on every page turn. Or the way you can use coloring and lettering to tell a story. It’s an incredibly rich medium. M: What was the first comic you remember reading that let you know that this was something you could do? F: It wasn’t so much a comic that let me know I could do comics, so much as a pair of comics that broke my brain, and made it clear that I would live permanently in regret if I didn’t try my hand at writing. I read Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s Planetary Omnibus, then the first omnibus of Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples’ Saga, back to back. I started reading comics…