(Emily Aster in The Singles Club)Kieron Gillen had previously worked as a games and music journalist for several years before branching off into webcomics.

[3] In particular, journalists working at "covens" (a metaphor for music periodicals) specialise in "us[ing] their knowledge to jimmy with reality a little.

It’s all about changing your sense of identity or altering other people’s states of mind: oracle-like self-knowledge or plain old hedonism.

"[5] One issue concentrates on two younger characters from The Singles Club who attempt to avoid repeating Emily's mistakes, and is drawn as a homage to Scott Pilgrim.

[21] Matt Wilson (the colorist for the second and third volumes) colored the previously black-and-white Rue Britannia for the hardcover version.

[17] Gillen later remarked that if Rue Britannia had sold the additional 2,000 copies per month, he and McKelvie would have converted the comic into an ongoing series.

"[25] McKelvie began work on the first issue, but following the success of the Gillen/McKelvie run of Marvel's Young Avengers, the series was shelved for the time being.

McKelvie took time off the latter comic to draw Immaterial Girl (Gillen recruited guest artists to fill in), which was announced at the 2015 Image Expo for a 2015-16 run.

[31] In Comic Book Resources' 2024 ranking of the 50 greatest graphic novels of all time, The Singles Club placed 36th and The Immaterial Girl placed 46th.

[32] Alan Moore wrote that the Gillen-McKelvie partnership displayed "a dance-like or musical sensibility creeping into the storytelling, a kind of fluorescence ...

Music website Pitchfork called it "the ultimate music-obsessive comic,"[5] and Grimes claimed that she had never listened to a-ha's Take on Me until she read Phonogram.

[10] However, Rue Britannia was questioned for its perceived music elitism, an impression Gillen sought to dispel with The Singles Club.

[5][24] Ohio State University's Jared Gardner responded that "knowing the music referenced is in no way essential to getting the points the comic is trying to convey.

True, if you know the specific songs you will have access to an additional level of the work, but Gillen and McKelvie are so good at their craft that you don't need that layer.

"[11] In keeping with the Britpop theme, the six individual issues and the collection had cover art based on album artwork from that era.