KCU Pitchfest Showcase 2023 (Top 50)
The Scion: A Hero In Motion
The Scion: A Hero In Motion is a superhero graphic novel that teaches science visually through the action. It is The Magic School Bus meets Spider-Man, written pedagogically and for a middle-grade audience.
Ray is a college student who can manipulate the forces of Nature — but only if he deeply understands them. If Ray understands gravity, he can jump higher; if he understands heat and energy, he can manipulate fire. Ray (and the reader) must master physics to foil the plot of Serpintun, a nefarious telekinetic alien stealing high-tech equipment for mysterious aims.
The Scion is a celebration of curiosity and resilience and features deep and diverse characters whose roles will further promote discussions on ethics and technology.
Age Range:
Middle GradeGenre:
Fantasy, Fiction, Nonfiction, Science FictionPage Count Estimate:
160
My Why:
The Scion is a project 20 years in the making. It began as worldbuilding exercises, character sketches, and a high-concept: teach science through a comic book narrative. Over the last few years, Andrew started working to bring The Scion to life, honing his writing and meeting Tristan, an artist with passion for visual storytelling.
Inspired by our love for comics and manga, we felt sequential art provided a compelling teaching medium, unifying pedagogy, visual dynamism, and human stories, the latter two of which are missing from classroom textbooks.
We are committed to superempowering the world through education and creation, especially audiences underserved by their schools, and seek to inspire the next generation of thinkers and makers.
Andrew Spielberg
Andrew Spielberg is a robotics researcher at Harvard and a recent PhD alum from MIT working on democratizing robot design and fabrication. In his “spare time,” he works on comics and other creative endeavors. He has written dozens of technical papers and has extensive experience teaching and giving talks to the general public.
Tristan Sito
Tristan Sito is a Toronto-based architect at Works Office and an artist with a history of drawing comics and manga. His research at McGill University focused on spatial narratives through graphic novels. He has a webtoon and multiple self-published projects including, Battle Bond Royale, and Ride or Die; you can find more on his portfolio website.