The Sequential Storytelling Society is a group of college students united by their love for creating graphic novels. Their most recent project? A comic anthology: “The Urban Tales of Camp Foster.”
BYU illustration major Marcus Harding wanted to grow his skills in making graphic novels.
“There’s not any faculty or classes that really focus on making comics,” Harding said.
Harding said creating a graphic novel is no small feat. There’s a lot that goes into crafting a comic.
“You have to know how to write. You have to know how to draw. You have to know how to paste. You’re taking information from animation, creative writing, illustration, and you have to be able to do it all essentially,” Harding said.
So, Harding decided to create a group with other students who wanted to make graphic novels: The Sequential Storytelling Society.
“The idea was that we would hang out, talk about comic, get feedback on our project and share what we learned,” Harding said. “Once we got together, we were like, we should make a book together.”
“The Urban Legends of Camp Foster” is a collection of eight short stories, all set in the same magical summer camp.
“There’s a lot of fun variety in the stories,” Harding said.
A different member of the Sequential Storytelling Society wrote and illustrated each story.
“They’re in chronological order, detailing different ghost stories and legends from the summer camp,” Harding said.
The comic collective had a table at Story Con in Salt Lake City last month. They showcased The Urban Tales of Camp Foster along with other comics created by group members.
“I think the community that we’ve built is really awesome. It’s been really nice to have built in people that I can run ideas by and get feedback on my work,” Lili Briem, member of the society, said.
You can catch the Sequential Storytelling Society at Fan-X pop culture and comic convention in Salt Lake City this September — you might even pick up a copy of "Camp Foster" and get lost in a world of camp legends yourself.