Kids Comics Pitchfest Showcase
Comics creators from around the world submit their unpublished projects to be previewed online by editors and agents. A panel of judges (click here to see the juror list) select the top pitches. Projects are archived here so that industry pros may view them and discover new talent.
Roly Poly
As an art student in a world that has been at war for 300 years, Adelaide is in the bottom circle of the social structure at her school. After the top-tier Leader kids bully her friend, she sets out to change things with the help of her classmates. As the (literal!) class warfare escalates, the school’s adults bring in kid enforcers called Yellow Jackets to keep the rebels in line. Adelaide will soon discover that it takes all of her friends’ talents together to challenge the social hierarchy that says that some skills have more value than others.
Age Range:
Middle GradeGenre:
Adventure, Dystopian, Fiction, Science Fiction, Social IssuesPage Count Estimate:
250
My Why:
Children are born into a world filled with propaganda and violence, whether experienced in person or seen in media. We--as adults, teachers, and caregivers--shape the world they grow up in, and they're forced into the molds we create for them. In Roly Poly, the setting centers around the same kind of conflict: a war started before they were born that now shapes their lives, forcing them to fit into roles that devalue them and leave them unable to escape. Laura's work centers around giving children confidence that they don't have to feel wrong, unintelligent, or broken for being themselves and that kids can make a difference no matter how big the world might feel.
Laura Elizabeth Pendl
The comics Laura makes are adventurous, engaging, and fantastical. Regardless of age, she wants readers to be engrossed in the world’s mythos and feel like they’re part of the protagonists’ adventures. The characters have strong dynamics with friends they can rely on no matter their trials. She writes from children’s perspective because they’re new to the world and learning about who they are. Like the comics she grew up reading, Laura hopes her work inspires young minds to create in the future.