THE WENDY PROJECT (Super Genius/Papercutz / 96 pages / color / on sale July 25, 2017 everywhere books are sold / $12.99 pbk) is a fresh, deeply moving and modern take on the world of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and an extraordinary story about memory and magic, life and loss. Featuring stunning art by Veronica Fish (Archie, SLAM!), THE WENDY PROJECT is the graphic novel debut of actress, screenwriter and THE WENDY PROJECT creator Melissa Jane Osborne. Their collaboration is breathtaking and beautiful and a testament to the power of self-expression and storytelling in the wake of tragedy.
It is a late summer night when 16-year-old Wendy Davies crashes her car into a New England lake with her two younger brothers in the backseat. When she wakes in the hospital, she is told that her youngest brother, Michael, is dead. Wendy — a once rational teenager — shocks her family by insisting that Michael is alive and in the custody of a mysterious flying boy. Placed in a new school, Wendy negotiates fantasy and reality as students and adults around her resemble characters from Neverland. Given a sketchbook by her therapist, Wendy starts to draw. But is “The Wendy Project” merely her safe space, or a portal between worlds? As Wendy works her way through her emotions of loss, sadness and survivor’s guilt she chooses to confront her feelings and, contrary to Peter’s motto . . . grow up.
THE WENDY PROJECT joins Jessica Abel’s Trish Trash: Rollergirl of Mars and Neil Gaiman’s Mr. Hero as part of Papercutz’ Super Genius imprint. It features spot color to powerful effect and its pages have rounded corners and a ribbon bookmark so it looks and feels like Wendy’s intimate journal. This publication marks the first time THE WENDY PROJECT has been available in book form, following its release online and at comic conventions as a four issue comic book series from Emet Comics, an LA-based publisher dedicated to telling stories created by women and featuring strong female protagonists.
Once in awhile you come across a book that stays with you long after the last page has been read and THE WENDY PROJECT is one of those books. Reminiscent of This One Summer and Anya’s Ghost, it is a treasure.
About the Writer: Melissa Jane Osborne is an actor, writer, and creator who has worked with Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Samuel French Festival, NYFringe, Killer Films, IAMA Theatre Co and Stella Adler Studio, of which she is an alum. She is a two time O’Neill National Playwrights Center finalist. She is the creator of the interactive scripted iPhone game “Campus Crush” for the Episode App which garners 6 million views a month. Her short film ‘Oma’ starring Lynn Cohen (Munich, The Hunger Games) is currently out to festivals nation-wide. She is a proud member Los Angeles’s IAMA Theatre Co.
About the Artist: Veronica Fish has illustrated for clients such as Nickelodeon, Marvel Comics, Archie Comics, Wired Magazine, LEGO, The Girl Scouts of America, Mowgli Surfwear, Norman Rockwell Museum, and Conde Nast Publishing. Her paintings have been shown in galleries around the world. Her comics work includes Spider-Woman for Marvel Comics, Archie for Archie Comics, Sherlock Holmes: The Southhampton Horror, Frankenstein 1921, How to Draw Superheroes, and she is currently developing an animation based on her graphic novel Pirates of Mars with JJ Kahrs.
“Ethereal and haunting.”—KIRKUS REVIEWS
“A masterpiece.” —David Gallagher, author of The Only Living Boy
“This unexpected gem stands out among latter-day versions of Peter Pan thanks to its embrace of genuine emotion and psychological gravity.”—LIBRARY JOURNAL, Starred Review
“Heartbreak spreads through every corner of Osborne and Fish’s gorgeous tale, where splashes of color serve as glowing metaphors for change, self-discovery, and pain. THE WENDY PROJECT breaches the gap between real-world tragedy and the lure of fantastical places like Neverland, where the self can be left behind.”—Samuel Sattin, author of The Silent End and Legend
“A thought-provoking, poignant look at adolescence.”—SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
“Powerful.” —ICv2
