Zoe Lewis 2026

Abstract

Ride Like Hell is an action-fantasy comic about an aptly named Angel who competes in a no-holds barred race in hell. After a brutal accident takes the life of their human friend David, Angel decides to risk it all in order to bring back his soul and set things right. With vibrant colors and bold lineart, The comic aims to explore themes of friendship, platonic love, determination, redemption, and fighting for things that make you who you are. The comic is aimed towards a more teenage/young adult audience, something people as young as middle schoolers and as old as college students can enjoy. I was around 14 when I started to get into more “mature” graphic novels (Courtney Crumrin, Scott Pilgrim, E.M. Carroll, etc), so I want this to be something similar. I have been using the art program Procreate for drawing the actual comic itself. For concept art and world-building however, I’ve decided to go with a mix of both digital and traditional media, using hot press paper and watercolors, simply because it allows me to draw more freely. A lot of the primary pieces of inspiration have been shows and movies featuring cars in wild scenarios, such as Mad Max Fury Road, Redline, and the Disney XD show Motorcity. In all of these, the car feels like more than just a means to an end. They’re tools, extensions of the characters themselves and reflecting who they are. Comic wise, I’ve also taken inspiration from authors such as Jeff Smith and Bryan Lee O’Malley, who prefer to take their time with the characters and aren’t afraid to let some moments linger without immediately jumping to the next thing happening. While I will only have a few pages done for my thesis, around 5 or 6 finished, I plan on this eventually being a much longer graphic novel, roughly around 200 or so pages. I plan on using the finished thesis pages for portfolio pieces and applications to comic houses such as Dark Horse or Oni Press, as well as reference for pitching the actual novel itself.