I’ve been thinking a lot recently about this comic and the (sadly, unsuccessful) pitching process around it. It’s a pretty wild experience to spend so much time writing, creating, ideating, and explaining a story, only to have it fall flat. And not, of course, due to any lack of passion. Is it simply a timing issue? Is it something about the pitch itself? (We tried many different methods of packaging it, sending it to a variety of editors at many publishers.) Did I just pitch it poorly?
As an editor, I helped publish projects that started as silent webcomics, collected long out-of-print editions into new books, and helped make very old pitches into brand new series. So, one day, the work might pay off. Or, it might not. Regardless, as time goes by, I’m more and more proud of this little sample we made.
Below is the original post about the pitch from a few years back. Then below that, I posted some of the original pitch materials from YEARS ago — just for fun!
I jotted down the initial version of the pitch doc in 2017, it was the first kids story I really put down on paper. Then in 2019, the very talented Lucas Elliott and I connected and started talking about working together. We aligned on doing something with the nugget of an idea I’d been noodling with for ages, and then Lava Jumpers really erupted. We went through multiple pitch docs, pieces of concept art, a sample script, and much more while pitching it around to agents and editors. Sadly, nothing ever came together — even after creating a short origin comic focused on the Lava Jumpers world’s first three igneous beast fighting, molten river jumping heroes.
The journey ended for Lava Jumpers a long time ago, but it’d be a shame if no kiddos ever saw the magma-tastic adventure that might have been!
Without further ado, here’s a free story for the cool kids in your life! Share it with them!
Here’s that VERY old pitch info, just for fun…
🌋 Lava Jumpers 🌋
A children’s graphic novel pitch by Jim Gibbons and Lucas Elliott
The Chronicles of Narnia meets Super Mario and Hook... but with, like, WAY more lava!
Elevator pitch: A game of “the floor is hot lava” comes to life when three kids stumble into an underground realm of magma and adventure where they must free the citizens of Lavaland from the rule of an evil igneous king.
Length: A self-contained 72- to 80-page graphic novella that can be the first of a series if it finds an audience.
Themes: Teamwork, friendship, responsibility, self-reliance, growing up, doing what’s right, and learning that actions—even with the best intentions—have consequences.
Synopsis: Wayne and Eli are best friends, and Wayne’s little sister Marty is never far behind when they play together. Inspired by a children’s book written by their Dad, Michael, Wayne and Marty — with Eli rounding out the team — constantly jump from couch to chair to foot stool pretending that the floor is hot lava. It’s all fun and games, full of imagination fueled by a fun story their dad told them… or at least it seems like it is until the floor in their living room actually becomes lava and a crew of evil lavalings kidnap Marty. Wayne and Eli follow Marty and the abductors to the secret underground world of Lavaland, where their adventure begins.
Once in Lavaland, the kids learn that Michael’s story isn’t just fiction, it’s the history of Lavaland. When Michael and his siblings were kids, they had adventures in Lavaland and defeated the evil king Ignacio Igneous. For years, there was peace as King Igneous rotted away in a dungeon cell, but now he’s escaped and seized power again, capturing the daughter of his old foe in revenge.
Michael quickly realizes what has happened, but it’s up to the kids to take care of themselves till the former heroes of Lavaland can make their return… if they can return. For Wayne and Eli, they must help the good citizens of Lavaland rise up against their ruler in order to save Marty. Meanwhile, Marty starts organizing a prison break from the dungeon. The kids must learn about responsibility and how to take care of themselves, while understanding that the mistakes of their well-intentioned parents are now theirs to fix.
Character Arcs
Wayne: A classic older brother, Wayne will come to learn that his sister can look out for herself. She doesn’t need his protection, she needs his trust and support — which is harder than just being bossy.
Eli: An only child, Eli always wants to call the shots. He learns that teamwork is key in surmounting big problems and that it’s good to rely on people.
Marty: Finally on her own, Marty will get a taste of what her older brother deals with when he gets frustrated with her as she tries to organize the prisoners and take care of her baby cousin (who was also abducted).
Creative Team
Jim Gibbons (writer, co-creator) is a multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning editor for his work on Dark Horse Presents. His writing credits include Legend of Ninkasi: Rise of Craft, Birch Squatch: The Last Bigfoot, and Mars: Space Barbarian. His work has been featured in Corpus: A Comic Anthology of Bodily Ailments and Planetside: A Sci-Fi Slice of Life Comic Anthology.
Lucas Elliott (artist, co-creator) is an illustrator based the frozen tundras of Alaska. His work can be found with such companies as IDW, Upper Deck, and Blind Ferret Entertainment. His largest work to date was illustrating the Alaskan epic MOOSE the graphic novel. You can find his current project, BATTLE STAR, online at battlestarcomic.com and his portfolio at lucaselliottart.com.
Here’s an outline that accompanied the pitch:
Lava Jumpers Vol. 1 outline
80-page graphic novella
By Jim Gibbons
Open with Wayne, Eli, and Marty playing the “floor is lava” game. An action sequence to set things up, introduce characters, and show the imagination of the game. It will initially appear they are in a different world, not Lavaland, but a world of their imagination. When it’s revealed that they are actually in a living room playing a game, we see Dad/Michael is washing dishes in the kitchen in the background.
The kids are having a sleepover and Michael reads them the book he made for them about the Heroes of Lavaland. The book is the inspiration for the hot lava game that they play—Michael played it as a kid, he explains. It’s the story about how three brave siblings went down to Lavaland and defeated the evil King Igneous and his pet lava dragon in battle.
The next morning, we see a lava portal open and some evil lavalings (or lava monsters) grab Marty. Wayne and Eli don’t have time to get Michael, the portal is closing! So, they grab some gear (baseball bat, etc) and jump into portal just before it closes.
The boys end up going down a different tube in the lava tunnel and land in a village of lavalings. Suspicious of strangers in these dark times, the lavalings draw weapons and we cut to the next scene.
Marty is in the chamber of the evil Lava King. She asks what is going on. He explains that her father and his siblings imprisoned him long ago, but when the lavalings got complacent, he convinced many to turn to his cause and escaped. He then took back his kingdom, and is taking his revenge by kidnapping her. They throw her in a cell with a few prominent lavaling prisoners.
Back with Wayne and Eli, Eli puts it together and explains to the lavalings that the Wayne is the son of their hero (he sees a mural or something). The lavalings explain how their land came to be in turmoil and how the king escaped. Wayne and Eli are reluctant to lead a rebellion, as they are asked to do, but allow a few guides to help them to the castle to free his sister.
Michael goes to wake up kids for breakfast. He sees scorch marks on the ground and knows what happened. He calls his siblings.
Marty befriends her fellow prisoners. Using a trick she uses on her brother (which we’ll see in the opening scene) on a guard, they escape the cage. They hear something… a baby? Marty finds her cousin in another cell and frees him — she wasn’t the only one kidnapped for revenge. They begin to make an escape.
Wayne and Eli use some of their lavajumping moves on the guards to the castle and enter. Guides follow.
Marty uses her moves to escape the lava jumps that make the prison hard to reach.
Wayne is like “We’re in, time to get sis.” But she runs out of another door in castle courtyard and bumps into them. “I was coming to save you. Should have known you’d save yourself. Proud of you, sis!”
King Igneous shows up and releases his new monster—a giant lava bruiser beast.
They fight the monster and realize that their dad had it wrong. They show the monster some compassion, and he sees them fighting for each other, whereas the king is being mean and using him, and the monster joins the good guys. King Igneous and his army flees. He’s not done with these brats… but he is for this volume!
Michael and his siblings show up decked out for battle… only to see his kids handled things even better than he did. They say they must stay and help defeat the king… Dad agrees, but after they get home from school.
Final scene is the next day — an average day. Michael is setting out a snack for after school. The kids rush home, gobble it up, and jump into a lava portal. Mom comes home early. “Where are the kids?” Dad gulps. He hasn’t had a chance to tell her. Last shot is action shot of kids going down a lava tube to help with a problem in Lavaland. End of volume, but definite “to be continued” vibe.
Character arcs
Wayne: Wayne will have two realizations in this volume. He’ll begin with a typical protective, but annoyed, older brother vibe. By the end, he’ll realize his sister is pretty capable and treats her more like an equal—listening to her plan to turn the monster to their side. Second, he’ll realize based on her suggestion that his dad’s way—which might have been good—is not the best way here. It wasn’t bad, but he sees they can do things better and he trusts his gut and his team and they find a better way.
Eli: Eli is going to overcome a nervousness by relying on his wits. He’s smart and observant and when he uses those skills, he becomes more confident. Maybe an angle too where he gets nervous in tense situations, but he learns to calm himself and get through it with Wayne to help him—friendship helps focus him!
Marty: Marty is going to show how capable she is, but she’s also going to learn, in taking care of her baby/toddler cousin how mush Wayne puts up with from her. It helps her realize how better to help, and how to be less self-centered.
Michael: Michael is going to have to realize that his kids are growing up, but also realize that they might have grown up in a way that gives them a better take on how to solve problems. Probably only hinted at in this volume, but he’ll have to come to terms with some of his choices in youth not being the best—I think, in volume 2, he’ll seek out the dragon with his kids to make amends.
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