210mm x 210mm Books
4pp Cover onto 300gsm Silk
Matt lamination to outer
36pp Text onto 170gsm Silk (3mm Spine)
Four colour print throughout
Trimmed, collated and perfect bound
It Came From Beyond the Stars is a square, full-colour graphic story packed with UFOs, crop circles and a brilliantly odd little alien visitor. Created and self-published by Kevin Mc Hugh for Enniskillen Comic Fest, the book needed to look every bit as punchy as the artwork. We helped Kevin turn his finished files into a 210 x 210mm, matt-laminated, perfect bound book with rich, reliable colour from cover to final spread.
This project sits somewhere between comic, picture book and sci-fi romp. Across 36 pages, Kevin’s characters race through country roads, scramble around barns and stare up at a looming spaceship beam. The square format gives each cinematic spread room to breathe, making the most of his panel-free, poster-style compositions.
The tone is playful rather than grim; our little green alien feels more curious than threatening. That balance of humour and drama is reinforced by the bold cover and the way each spread layers expressive characters over big, graphic skies, vehicles and farm buildings.
For a visual book like this, the stock has to let colour do the talking. We produced the cover on a sturdy 300gsm silk, wrapped in matt lamination so it feels smooth in the hand while standing up to the bustle of a comic convention table. Inside, 170gsm silk pages carry Kevin’s illustrations with a subtle sheen that keeps blacks deep and gradients smooth.
The 210 x 210mm square size is a favourite for comics and illustrated books because it sits neatly between standard comic format and children’s picture books – compact to carry, but generous on image area. A 3mm square spine and perfect binding give the book a professional, bookshop-ready profile on the shelf.
The first thing that hits you is the cover: that deep cosmic purple sky cut through by an acid-green tractor beam and lime title type. It nods to classic comic book villains – think Joker and Hulk – and instantly signals tongue-in-cheek sci-fi. The masthead lettering is a standout piece of typography, chunky and distressed, with just enough wobble to feel hand-drawn.
Inside, every spread is saturated with colour and motion. Long, full-bleed illustrations stretch right across the gutter, while the text sits in clean blocks that never fight the artwork. The typeface feels comic-adjacent – expressive, but easy to read – so the rhyming narrative flows while the illustrations carry the drama. From the eerie nighttime abductions to glowing six-legged sheep and mid-air tractor antics, each page halts the reader for a moment to take in the detail.
Kevin first contacted our team with a very clear goal: have a fresh run of It Came From Beyond the Stars ready in time for Enniskillen Comic Fest. He supplied a precise spec and asked for pricing on 200, 300 and 400 copies, plus one all-important detail – the exact spine width.
We confirmed the 3mm spine, shared quotes for the three quantities and mapped out a realistic schedule: five working days for print and two for UK delivery. With that reassurance, Kevin went ahead with 300 copies and sent through his final files. We issued a clear invoice, set up an online payment option and, before going anywhere near press, supplied a full digital proof for Kevin to check and approve in his own time.
Once the proof was signed off and payment confirmed, the job moved straight into production. Regular communication kept everything transparent, and Kevin’s final note – thanking us “as always” for our help – hints at an ongoing relationship rather than a one-off job.
Our role here was to turn finished artwork into a convention-ready book with no surprises along the way. We:
Behind the scenes, our production team ensured consistent four-colour reproduction across those rich purples and greens, and that every page lined up cleanly at the trim for a crisp square finish.
