KCU Pitchfest Showcase 2026 (Shortlist)
Entire 2026 Gallery | List of Judges | 2025 Showcase
Comics creators from around the world have submitted their unpublished projects to be previewed online by editors and agents. A panel of judges have selected the top pitches. The projects are archived here so that industry pros may view them and discover new talent.
Camp Greenwood: Lucy Comes Out (of Her Shell)
“Welcome to Camp Greenwood, Lucy! Say bye-bye to your peaceful summer at the bakery and hello to sweaty hikes and sunburns. But it’ll be fun, because you’ll finally make friends your own age. You big loser.'
Lucy Nilsson’s summer is ruined when her dads hand her a death sentence in a summer camp brochure. For 8 weeks in the Virginia wilderness, she is forced to endure new stressors of a teenage girl’s social life: fast friendships, gossip and girl talk, backstabbing bunk mates, and, worst of all, boys.
When Lucy's very own friend group starts to form over a lie, she finds herself forced to keep it up. Because this summer is the closest she has ever gotten to making real friends, and she’s not going to ruin it by revealing her big secret.
Age Range:
Young Adult (approx ages 13+)Genre:
LGBTQ+, Own Voices, Realistic Fiction/Slice of LifePage Count Estimate:
250-280
My Why:
This story has existed in some capacity since we were kids. Originally, it was just about three best friends who, unlike us, weren’t stuck in middle school PE. We created these characters as an escape; they were the ideal versions of ourselves: confident, funny, and free to be who they were.
Lucy Comes Out (of Her Shell) is the coming-of-age story we would have yearned for then. It follows a girl who struggles to relate to the other kids, who is awkward and quiet, and who picks a boy at random to pretend to have a crush on, because she's scared to say she doesn't like any of them.
But what Lucy ends up finding in the story is something that we always had and was the true basis of our story: friendship, support, and acceptance.
Comp Titles:
This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, Drama by Raina Telgemeier, Heartstopper by Alice OsemanAdriana "Adri" Chavez
Adriana Chavez’s work is heavily inspired by stories her younger self would’ve cherished. Always with a sense of wonder and whimsy, she aims to spark nostalgic joy for the viewer/reader. Adri is a Miami-based illustrator and connoisseur of anything cutesy. She studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she got her B.F.A in Sequential Art. When she isn’t drawing, she can be found starting a new crochet project or playing story-based video games.
Samantha "Sam" Villar
Samantha Villar grew up daydreaming and doodling in class when she should have been paying attention. The stories she came up with then have refused to leave her mind since, and now she has the privilege of sharing them with a much higher production value. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English-Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Sam is based in South Florida, and when not writing, enjoys reading outdoors, frequenting coffee shops, and binging sitcoms.