The Penmen Review is proud to share the winners and runner-up comics in Southern New Hampshire University’s Graphic Storytelling Challenge! In this experiential learning activity, teams of undergraduate graphic design and creative writing students from SNHU’s Global Campus were tasked with creating a 4-page comic book, with cover, in just eight weeks. All teams were assigned the same prompt:
At the crossroads of past and future, of what might be and what never was, lies the Time Inn. It is a place of possibilities and impossibilities. A way station for those swept up in the temporal flow. A refuge where the ravages of time are held at bay—for a time. Here all manner of beings may be found, from every branching timeline. Some seeking. Some sought. All with stories to tell. For stories are the common currency of the Time Inn, and as seconds and centuries alike whirl by outside its walls, a warm fire crackles in the hearth, music plays, food and drink are shared, and such tales are spun that even the gods themselves, or so it is said, sometimes drop by to listen.
Comic-book writer Buddy Scalera (Deadpool, Avengers) and artist Sean Chen (Iron Man, Spider-Man) acted as resident experts for the Challenge, contributing over 30 video tutorials in which they shared their combined knowledge and experience in creating comics.
The results were judged by an all-star professional panel consisting of Ti Collier, the design director for the Square Enix Manga & Books imprint at Penguin Random House; Meghan Hetrick, a professional illustrator and comic artist known for her work with major publishers, including Marvel and DC Comics; and Darren Sanchez, CEO and co-founder of After Hours Press and host of the Comics After Hours podcast.
Although each team competed for top honors, the watchword was not competition but collaboration as students developed highly marketable skills of teamwork, self-confidence, program management, and mutual respect.
“These students learned more than just how to make a comic book,” said Associate Dean Paul Witcover, who facilitated the Challenge with Associate Dean Sloan Kelly. “They learned to believe in themselves and to trust their teammates, building skills that will serve them well in their future careers.”
First Place (shared)
Art by Kaitlin Garrison, Hannah Morris, and Tristan Weiss
Story by Sarah Cowart, Jackon Rivenbark, and Sean Ryan
The Jeong Brothers in the Time Inn: Souls Beyond Time
Art by Elise Pickens and Mario Williams
Story by Briana “Ravyn” Martin, Neil Nichols, and Vincent “Art” Valdez
Second Place
The Chronicle of Captain Kronos in the Starleaf Inn
Art by Aaliah Ahmad, Emily Butler, and Lucia Solis
Story by Emily O’Rourke, Amber Walker, and Jonathan Waugh