Oct. 26, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Chillers” a finalist for comic book industry award

Graphic novel created by WVSU professor, students

INSTITUTE, W.Va.– A graphic novel created by a West Virginia State University professor with the help of his students is a finalist for a prestigious award recognizing the best and brightest in the comic book industry.

WVSU Professor Daniel Boyd’s “Chillers” is one of five finalists for a 2012 Shel Dorf Award for “Original Graphic Novel of the Year.” The winner of the award, which is selected in online voting by fans, will be announced at the Detroit FanFare comic book convention Saturday, Oct. 27.

The graphic novel was created by Boyd, with the help of WVSU students, as well as illustrators from around the world.

“My teaching formula is a learn-by-doing environment,” Boyd said. “Every professional project that I’ve been involved with has always been staffed by students.”

“Chillers” is based on a 1987 film of the same name, written and directed by Boyd and filmed on and around the WVSU campus. The film has maintained a loyal following since its release, which led to the graphic novel project 25 years after the movie’s original run.

“I was rolling the dice when I decided to break into comics with it, hoping people would remember,” Boyd said. “And it seems they have.”

 A professor of communications and media studies at WVSU since 1983, Boyd has a history of actively involving his filmmaking students in his professional projects. A second “Chillers” graphic novel is in production and scheduled for release next month. There are currently six student writers involved with the series, as well as several student photographers.

In addition to the ongoing “Chillers” anthology, Boyd and his team are at work on a second graphic novel project called “Carbon.”

Presented annually, the Shel Dorf awards celebrate the best of the comic industry's present while honoring the unique place that Detroit has in comic fandom's past.

 As an avid comic book fan, Shel Dorf was an original founder of San Diego Comic-Con International. Dorf died in 2009, and the awards were established to honor his memory and recognize the achievements of those in the comic book industry.

West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi‐generational institution, located in Institute, WV. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.

-WVSU-