Author turns Hanford’s nuclear past into graphic novels with horror, humor
Author, playwright and Richland-native Tim Mulligan explores life and in “the most toxic place in the Western Hemisphere.”
News Story by Cindy Hval | FāVS News
Some might consider living in a town with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste buried beneath it scary enough. Especially since some of the tanks are leaking.
But when author and playwright Tim Mulligan set out to write about his hometown of Richland, Washington, and the Hanford nuclear reactor site, he upped the ante by adding by adding a supernatural twist.
He’s published two graphic novels based on his plays, with a third due this spring.
As a kid growing up in a town where one of the major employers produced plutonium for nuclear weapons, Hanford wasn’t a frightening word to Mulligan.
“My dad worked there, my mom worked there, I did work/study there,” he recalled. “The year I graduated from high school was when they quit making plutonium.”
Even during the onslaught of downwinder lawsuits filed by those who were exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons testing and uranium mining, Mulligan said no one really talked about the danger.
Designated as a Superfund site in 1988, thousands of people are currently employed at Hanford — most of them focused on the ongoing clean-up effort.
“I still know people who work there,” he said.
After earning a law degree at Gonzaga University, Mulligan eventually moved to Southern California and works as a human resource executive.
‘Witchland‘
Mulligan worked from home during the pandemic and sought refuge in creativity.
“I’d never written a play, but I’m a huge fan of theatre,” he said. “I wanted to write a scary, funny story with my family — my husband and our African American daughter as characters.”
The setting? His hometown.
The result was “Witchland.” It introduced Jared (an environmental engineer) his husband, Van, and their daughter, Ali, who move to Richland when Jared accepts a job there. Things take a haunting turn when they learn their neighbor is a witch. The author didn’t need to stretch his imagination to create that character.
“We really did have an alleged witch living nearby,” said Mulligan. “She haunted me and my friends.”
You might not think a play featuring curses, cancer and an infant cemetery could be funny, but Mulligan delighted in weaving humor throughout.
“Witchland” had performances in theatres from San Diego to New York and will be coming to Seattle in the fall.
But Mulligan was just getting started.
“I had so much fun writing it, and I had so many more stories to tell,” he said.
‘Snitchland‘
The sequel to “Witchland” focuses on the brave souls who risked much to expose the danger lurking in the ground and in the air around Hanford and beyond.
“Snitchland” is based on true events: the collapse of a tunnel at the nuclear reactor and the stories of workers who have experienced sickness and trauma working in dangerous conditions.
“I had a friend who worked there in 2017 when the tunnel collapsed,” said Mulligan.
The second installment follows the family introduced in “Witchland,” highlighting their resilience in the face of tragedy.
“I made up the whistleblower in ‘Snitchland,’ but I know a whistleblower,” Mulligan said. “The story is an amalgam of what might happen to one.”
This time, the supernatural element is a ghostly one. He described the tale as a cross between “Ghost” and “Erin Brockovich.”
“I do believe in ghosts now, but I don’t know if I always did,” he said.
Graphic novels
The visually compelling nature of the plays lent itself to a way to get the stories to a much wider audience — graphic novels.
“I took the scripts for both plays and storyboarded them,” Mulligan said.
His target demographic is readers in their late teens and older.
The evocative artwork created by illustrator Pyrink captures the menace and tension of the tales while engaging readers in the compelling family dynamic of the protagonists.
“Witchland” was released in February of 2024, and “Snitchland” came out in time for Halloween last October.
More stories to tell
The saga continues in a third installment, “Twitchland” due this spring.
“It features my version of a vampire,” Mulligan said.
He hopes that his irreverent perspective on Hanford’s legacy will keep alive the stories of those who suffered from radiation poisoning and the whistleblowers who revealed the site’s associated dangers.
The cleanup is ongoing; however, 56 million gallons of toxic waste remain underground.
“I didn’t set out to write an exposé on Hanford,” Mulligan said. “I have so much love for the area; I have friends and family there. The stories just go on. I’m hoping for a happy ending.”
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I can’t get enough writing process content so this is a nice surprise here. And weirdly coincidental as I’m writing a future column on art and creativity. Many people describe their creative process as a spiritual experience and this fascinates me. More please!