The Margins

Artist Charley Keo's new gig begins as a fun challenge to breathe new life into the forgotten pulp world of Elad - this time as a comic book. But as tendrils of this lost realm creep into her sleepy Portland neighborhood, Charley realizes that Elad is much more than the lines on a day-dreamt map, more than the sum of an old hack's prose. Elad has its hooks in Charley, and what was once fantasy has become deadly reality for both the artist and the woman she loves. The graphic novel examines the dual nature of an artist's creative process in providing a healthy outlet for self-expression, as well as an unhealthy mechanism for avoidance and isolation. At its core, The Margins serves as an allegory for the growing trend of gatekeeping and its devastating ramifications.