ABOUT THE COMIC: The War at Ellsmere is my second graphic novel from SLG Publishing (in 2007 I wrote/drew Zombies Calling which was also published by them). The War at Ellsmere is about Juniper, a 13 year old student who wins a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, Ellsmere Academy, something she’s been wanting for a long time. However, the school doesn’t turn out to be what she expected: Her roommate might be slightly crazy, there’s a scary legend about a monster in the forest next to the school, and she’s made a mortal enemy of Ellsmere’s top student, who sets out to destroy her.
Want to see a preview of the comic? Click here for an 11 page scene.
WHERE YOU CAN GET THE WAR AT ELLSMERE:
Locating an indie graphic novel can be frustating. Here are some suggestion for finding a copy of The War at Ellsmere:
You can order it online from Amazon.com/.ca. Your local comic shop, if it is a well rounded comic store like my local store Strange Adventures, might have it (look in the indie section). If they don’t have it in stock, they should be able to order it in for you if you ask them nicely. You can also order the book directly from SLG Publishing, or from your local Barnes & Noble.
FUN STUFF & REVIEWS:
The War at Ellsmere is on the American Library Association’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens short list! Yay! Also, I was nominated for a second Joe Shuster Award! I really hope I win. *_*
An interview with me on Blog@Newsarama.
An interview with me at Publisher’s Weekly.
Interview/review at Living Between Wednesdays.
A video of me at the San Diego Comicon talking about the comic (please excuse the exhaustion. Wow, was I tired).
A review at The Savage Critics.
A review at the Onion AV Club.
A review at Comics Worth Reading.
A review at Precious Curmudgeon.
A comparison between W@E and other boarding school books on Comixology.
A review at the School Library Journal.
HISTORY: I started developing Ellsmere a while ago, before Zombies Calling was published. Here are sketches done over the last few years that show the development of the characters and artstyle. I always get a kick out of development stuff, so hopefully you will too. (Oh, and originally Jun was called “Thessaly,” but that was changed because of a Neil Gaiman comic book.)
The first sketch of Jun (then called “Thessaly”) // Jun at the school gates //Sketches of early Jun/Cassie // Early sketch of Cassie // Jun/Cassie in the forest // Jun again// Jun/Cassie sitting in a window // An early version of their bedroom // An early attempt at the comic/another attempt/a third attempt // Cassie drawn in Flash // Old headshots of Jun, Cassie & Emily //Emily, queen of the world! // A more current Jun// Still evolving Emily // watercolour Emily/minions & Jun/Cass // Cassie falls //
