“Ava”

This stand-alone comic takes place in the near future and centers around Brianna “Brie” Bateman, a 22 year-old woman who lives with a rare neuromuscular condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). At the startup company she works for she participates in an experimental virtual reality program that enables people to interact with each other via avatars — yet, when she falls in love with another avatar, her new digital life threatens to upend her reality.

I’ve been lucky to get to collaborate on the project with my talented co-writer (and very good friend) Kevin Schaefer, a staff writer at BioNews Services and emerging comic book creator. Our extraordinary artist, Ben Humeniuk, has previously worked on “Waking Life” and “The Magnificent Makers”. You can check out some of their work below:

It’s been an honor to work on the project with Kevin, who has the same disability as Brie, with the goal of writing a story that explores personal themes about dating and disability. Though it contains some emotional scenes, it’s still very much a sci-fi romantic comedy. We hope it’s as fun to read as it was to write.

“Ava” is represented by Kaitlyn Johnson at Belcastro Agency. Look for it coming soon!