Hitman Tommy Monaghan by John McCrea

Through a friend I discovered Garth Ennis & John McCrea's "Hitman" epic. I immediately fell in love with the story through my old trade paperbacks. It's one of Ennis' better stories, as it features his satirical elements, but doesn't go overboard nor overshadow the emotional heart of the story.

All in all, it's great. Another highlight of "Hitman" is artist and co-creator John McCrea, who had to recently reinvent his style after a serious illness. He now has a more sketchy style, which seems like a natural evolution of what he had developed before.

At FACTS in November 2025, he was one of my main draws and I asked him for a commission to be delivered at the show. It had to be Tommy "Hitman" Monaghan and John more than delivered.

I saw this one on his socials and prayed this would be mine. Yes! The pose, the whiteout, the smoke, it all just fits together so nicely and confidently. Couldn't have asked for more on this one. Pencils, inks, white-out and some more on A4/9x12.

Another ancedote: In the morning, when searching for Bryan Talbot's table, John helped out while he was setting up his prints. He was the nicest and we spent quite a bit of time together throughout the day. All commissions he did for this show, were amazing, by the way. John was kind enough to show me all of those in person.