The novel I created is called Victoria and the Wolf. It tells the story about a young girl and the adventures she has with a grey wolf. The genre of the novel is fantasy and adventure. The idea for the concept of the novel comes from various Studio Ghibli films as well as Japanese anime and western animation. The idea of a girl and an animal comes from many sources that involve a similar concept. This would include media such as Monsters Inc., Clifford the Big Red Dog, etc. However, what really gave me the idea was a dog food commercial where a young girl was bed ridden in the hospital and a nurse brings in a dog to comfort her. What I did was take the dog and turned it into a wolf because wolves tend to be feared more than dogs for obvious reasons, and I thought that a concept of an innocent little girl and a fearsome carnivorous natural predator would make for an interesting premise. The main character, Victoria, is a character I created for another project I have planned. I just thought it would be nice to use her for this project.

Creating the graphic novel was a learning experience. During this project, I learned the ins and outs of being a cartoonist. I learned how to use adobe programs to not only draw the panels, but to arrange them as well. I also learned more about color and the importance of shading and shadows. This is what fleshes out the characters and backgrounds. The process of the project was not without flaws and errors. When I started drawing the panels, some turned out decent while others turned out not as good. I’ve also changed some ideas as I went along and cut out certain scenes that may have not been necessary.

Overall, I definitely believe that I have grown as an artist not just during my time at Catholic University, but during this project as well. While the project was official for school it was also an experiment on learning about how to create a comic. I really loved making the story and drawing the scenes. And the characters actually grew on me like this is something that I created; this is something that I made. Usually when I think of a cartoonist's work, I think of a style, such as Charles Shultz’s Peanuts, Kohei Herokoshi’s My Hero Academia, or any Matt Groening show. The creators have their own individual style and approach. I'm hoping with this comic, people can see my style and I hope to develop it more in the coming years for future projects.