Emanata 2021; Vol. 8, The End

EMANATA presents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Emanata wishes to acknowledge and thank the following:

Casper Pham for illustrating our stunning cover.

Our skilled book designer Gabi Wood for her patience and hard work despite less than ideal circumstances.

Velocity Comics for their support and their role in uplifting the Richmond comics scene.

Our alumni for their continued support of our organization. Our contributors for their hard work and dedication to sharing their stories and making this anthology possible.

And VCU’s Student Media Center, not only sponsoring our cover art, but for supporting and helping to guide us every step of the way!

Mark Jeffries

Creative Media Manager 804-828-7660 mjeffries@vcu.edu

Dominique Lee Sales and Business Development Manager 804-827-1642 leeds2@vcu.edu

Owen Martin Office Manager martinso@vcu.edu

Street Address

VCU Student Media Center 817 W. Broad St. Richmond, VA

Mailing Address

VCU Student Media Center Box 842010 Richmond, VA 23284-2010

Check out our website emanatacomics.com for even more comics! Contact us online at emanatacomics@gmail.com

FOREWORD

Dear Readers,

It’s now been a full year since the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in ways we never anticipated—and we’re still here! Despite the immense obstacles that come with a fully online school year, the hard work of our wonderful contributors and editors have made this issue possible. Even though this volume focuses on the end of a point in time — the perils of 2020 have certainly made it feel like “the end” as we know it — there’s solace in the fact that this is only the beginning. As we unearth how deep systemic oppression in this country goes and grapple with life-changing threats like climate change, it’s more important than ever that creatives stand up for what they believe in and get important messages out into a world that direly needs them. At times like this, it is an absolute necessity to uplift our community and we’re pleased to be able to use our platform for our Richmond-based artists to spread their work.

“The End” is a scary thought. It’s also one associated with relief and closure. Finding peace with change is something hard to do as humans but it takes maturity and life experiences to accomplish. From the leap of faith that is graduating high school or college, to the painful last goodbyes said to a loved one, the end is terrifying. It’s the unknown but also the promise of an uncertain yet welcome fresh beginning. This issue lives in that mysterious unknown and delves into the nuances of coping with the end and celebrating the beginning. We truly hope you enjoy these comics as much as we enjoyed making them.

- Lauren Johnson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover illustration by Casper Pham

New Girl by Audrey Garrett 4

The End by Blyth Feuzeu 8

Ourobos by C.A. Ward 14

The Conspiracy by Carleigh Ross

................................................................. 20

Afterwards by Jay Crilley .............................................................................. 26

Beyond the End by Kate O’Connor ............................................................. 29

XIII by Katy Hooper ....................................................................................... 33

After the End by KT Nowak ........................................................................... 37

The End by Loki Bischoff ................................................................................ 39

The End by Maggie Colangelo ................................................................... 44

Herding Season by Mattie Squire 50

Discovery by Nick Garnhart 55

Breakfast by Noah Wilson 58

The End by Peter Powers 59

The End by Quinn Wakefield ........................................................................ 65

In the End by Vince Ciciora .......................................................................... 72

END BY BLYTH FEUZEU

EDITORIAL STAFF

LAUREN JOHNSON

Editor-in-Chief

Lauren is a junior majoring in Communication Arts at VCU, working to hone her illustrative and storytelling skills. You’re most likely to find her drinking coffee, listening to podcasts, or watching cartoons with friends.

ALEX DOWDY Secretary & Treasurer

Alex is a third year in the Cinema program who loves to talk about writing for television (and sometimes likes to write too). He goes absolutely nuts for all sorts of speculative fiction media and anything that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Also, he loves cats.

JAYCE NGUYEN Social Media Chair

Jayce is a graphic design student at VCUarts with a deep-seated love for ice hockey, queer narratives, and serif typefaces.

SARAH BRADY Staff Editor

Sarah is a super-senior majoring in Communication Arts at VCU with a concentrated effort in sequential art. When she’s not hard at work making comics, she can be found playing video games or adoring her dog Hamburger. She lives in a constant state of fear of her tiny, gnome counterpart.

EDITORIAL STAFF

BAILEY WOOD Staff Editor

Bailey is a junior in the Communication Arts program at VCU and loves illustration, design, and taking pictures of cool mushrooms she sees on the street. In her free time, she’s probably either taking care of her houseplants or trying (and failing) to learn to play bass.

C. ALYX WARD Staff Editor

Alyx is an illustrator focusing on narrative art and comics. Fantasy, sci-fi, horror? They’ll draw it all. When they aren’t drawing, Alyx is often found taking pictures of fungus, thinking way too hard about ice cream selections, or skating around Richmond’s giant potholes.

CARLEIGH ROSS Staff Editor

Carleigh is a senior majoring in Communication Arts and minoring in Art History. She wrote her first comic as a nine year old about superheroes named Bacon Guy and Bacon Girl who went on to have triplets that were named after the Jonas Brothers. Many years and spelling edits later, she has held an interest in narrative mediums and conceptual design.

CLAIRE DEELY Staff Editor

Claire is a current Junior majoring in Communication Arts at VCU and strives to create work that has a positive impact on others. A contemporary history buff, they are particularly fascinated and inspired by the aesthetics and countercultures prevalent throughout the 1960’s-80’s, and creates comics and illustrations that reflect that.

EDITORIAL STAFF

OLIVIA MCCABE Staff Editor

Olivia McCabe is a current freshman at VCU in the AFO program in the art department. She aspires to go into Communication Arts with a focus in Scientific Illustration. She focuses on painting, drawing, digital illustration, and more. When she’s not focusing on art, she is probably watering her plants, finding a cat to go pet, playing video games, and fueling her caffeine addiction.

ISABELLE ROQUE Staff Editor

Isabelle is a senior in Communication Arts studying illustration and design. When she isn’t drawing or having fun experimenting with funky color palettes, you can find Isabelle taking walks with her chihuahua Kenny or cooking the perfect breakfast.

SONNET GARCIA Staff Editor

Sonnet is a Senior in Graphic Design, and is working towards a Certificate in Product Innovation. An avid connoisseur of Tetris and rhythm games. Some popular pastimes for her involves: belting kpop at the top of her lungs while dancing sporadically to choreography, customizing spotify playlist descriptions, and ranting about unrelated things to distract her from existential dread.

MAX KILBOURNE Staff Editor

Max Kilbourne or @crellth_official on insta is a comic obsessed, sleep deprived student. He cooks all his meals since he’s broke and never stops talking about it. Also he likes werewolves.

EDITORIAL STAFF

KATE O’CONNOR Staff Editor

Kate O’Connor is a freshman in AFO at VCU. She is interested in illustration and narrative development, and her favorite way to combine those is comics. In addition to conducting literary analysis on whatever cartoon she’s obsessed with at the time, she is also attempting to raise twenty plants on her own.

AUDREY GARRETT Staff Editor

Audrey is a junior majoring in English and Spanish. She has made cartoons for two years previously at the University of San Diego, CA where she won the California College Readership award for Editorial Cartooning. She enjoys skateboarding, making pies for her three roommates and calling her friends on the phone late at night. This is her first time writing and editing Emanata comics. The staff and submissions makes her wish she had transferred sooner.

CONTACT INFO

Brady, Sarah bradys2@mymail.vcu.edu

Bischoff, Loki reallystrangedreams@gmail.com instagram.com/spookyloki

Ciciora, Vince ciciorack@mymail.vcu.edu

Colangelo, Maggie colangeloma@vcu.edu instagram.com/noodleypie/

Crilley, Jay crilleyj@mymail.vcu.edu

Deely, Claire deelyhc@mymail.vcu.edu instagram.com/mintynjeb

Dowdy, Alex acedowdy@gmail.com dowdyam@vcu.edu twitter.com/factbankz

Feuzeu, Blyth feuzeubt@mymail.vcu.edu

Garnhart, Nick garnhartnm@mymail.vcu.edu

Garcia, Sonnet garciasmd@mymail.vcu.edu instagram.com/sonn_bun

Hooper, Katy hooperk2@mymail.vcu.edu

Johnson, Lauren johnsonl25@vcu.edu lnjohnson198@gmail.com instagram.com/multiplumes

Kilbourne, Max instagram.com/crellth_official

Nguyen, Jayce jayce.nguyen76@gmail.com instagram.com/jayce.nguyen

Nowak, KT nowakkj@mymail.vcu.edu

O’Connor, Kate oconnorce@mymail.vcu.edu

Powers, Peter quinnmop567@gmail.com

Ross, Carleigh rossce4@vcu.edu instagram.com/breadzoned

Squire, Mattie squirem2@vcu.edu

Wakefield, Quinn quinnmop567@gmail.com

Ward, C. Alex warda2@vcu.edu

Wilson, Noah wilsonbg@vcu.edu

Wood, Bailey woodbm7@mymail.vcu.edu instagram.com/baileymaxine