Graphic Novellas

Astrea Camilon, “Ere Mail”

Students in the Art Department’s winter 2014 Graphic Novel course at UC Irvine created graphic novellas, doing all the work from writing and artwork to final publication. The students started by choosing a myth or folktale from any world culture and then updated it in some way. In the course of the quarter, they took their original novellas from concept through writing and artwork to publishing by print-on-demand.

TIffany Wang, “Prometheus”

Set anywhere between the 1920s and the near future, the books tackle a wide range of subjects: cultural misunderstanding (Astrea Camilon, Ere Mail), homophobia (Neda Nahidi, Jolene, a Tale of Innocence and Misconceptions), post-traumatic psychological problems (Linny Tranh, The Silent Princess), social isolation (Geovanne Fregoso, Derelict; Nhue Nguyen, To Sea), misogynistic game culture (Barbara Presley, Gamer), war’s destruction of family (Katherine Kusuda, Kitsune; ), the surveillance society (Vivian Mai, Baku), the price of ambition (Ismael Castro, Umbrella Piano Light Show), kidnapping and adoption (Jenny Tsai, The Changeling), environmental change and its consequences (Mary Painter, Vitalcrash), corporate brutality (Tiffany Wang, Prometheus; Donna Semsem, Entity), broken families (Patty Lin, The Oak Tree), and the high price of disrespect (America Green, Eyes on the Snare; Diana Chang, Chaser), among others.