The Trail of Dead Leaves

The mountains have always been good at keeping secrets…

In scenic small-town Pennsylvania, Jen’s life feels as peaceful as the mountains around her. However, when her sister fails to return home during the holiday season, Jen seeks to find the truth after receiving messages indicating that something darker may be lurking beneath her idyllic world.

A full-page comic spread of a girl crossing a creek and walking up a trail into the mountains. On the second page, she stands on a cliff looking out over the picturesque view of the mountains. — Pages 21-22

A two-page comic spread of a bonfire at a town festival. The townsfolk enjoy each other's company as they chat around the fire. A girl sits alone on a log by the fire, looking concerned as she taps away at her phone. A boy calls out to her, sitting next to her at the fire and handing her a cup of hot apple cider. The two chat for a while. — Pages 11-12

A two-page comic spread featuring a girl standing on a cliffside by the mountains. She takes a deep breath before looking at her phone, a conversation between her and her sister appearing on the page. The conversation is one-sided, appearing as if the sister has never answered her. The girl begins to type another message before deleting it. She turns to leave the cliffside and trips over a rock, with the page ending on a SLAM sound effect. — Pages 23-24

A two-page comic spread of a conversation between friends, a girl and a boy, at a bonfire. The girl talks about her sister’s bad reputation around town and the boy emphasizes that she can’t let the gossip bother her. The girl agrees, emphasizing that things will be okay because they have to be. — Pages 15-16

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From humble roots:

The Trail of Dead Leaves began over twenty years ago in the form of childhood comics – Jen and Max were best friends who went on adventures together in the pages of my dollar store notebooks. Their existence through crudely illustrated comics and fake book covers became the basis for my very first graphic novel. Though the story is wildly different (and they’re humans now, as I didn’t know how to draw humans when I was eight), the roots stay the same.

Two side-by-side images. On the left is a childhood drawing of two anthropomorphic dogs smiling and holding hands. On the bottom of the image is the text, “Best friends 4-ever!!!” The image on the right is of two characters, a girl and a boy, standing together on a blank background. The girl has long brown hair and is wearing a red-and-gold high school letterman jacket with denim shorts and hiking boots. She’s leaning against the boy, who looks annoyed at her. The boy is taller and thinner, wearing a blue-green turtleneck sweater with black jeans and brown boots. He has black hair that hangs in his face. — Left: a drawing from 2005 of Jen and Max in their earliest phase; right:Jen and Max’s official designs from The Trail of Dead Leaves, 2025.

The changing seasons:

This story began as a writing assignment that transformed into something very different along the way. Going back to my beginnings as a visual development artist, I took a lot of time to craft character sheets, environment concepts, and proof-of-concept panels. Some elements stayed, some didn’t, but all were helpful in the process of crafting the story.

A digital sketch of an establishing shot from an early version of the comic. The sketch is of the downtown area of the fictional town of Laurel Ridge, featuring a park bandstand and a sign saying “Welcome to Laurel Ridge, Pennsylvania.” The silhouette of a girl walks past the sign. — Sample sketch from an early version of the comic, 2024.

An illustration of a small bedroom. The room contains a small twin-sized bed, neatly made, with a quilt laying on top of it. Above the bed is a corkboard of pinned photos of the character’s life. By the windows is a desk with a laptop, lamp, and plant sitting on top of it. The far side of the room has a large bookshelf next to the closet, filled to the brim with books of varying sizes. The room is small, but orderly, with bits of personality around the room. — Concept art of Max’s bedroom.

A chart of two characters at various life stages. The characters, a boy and a girl, appear at ages 8, 12, and 16. The girl wears tones of red, yellow, and pink, and the boy wears tones of blue and green throughout the years. — Chart of Jen and Max at various life stages.

Four characters stand together in a design sheet. The first two are a boy and a girl. The girl has long brown hair and is wearing a red-and-gold high school letterman jacket with denim shorts and hiking boots. She’s leaning against the boy, who looks annoyed at her. The boy is taller and thinner, wearing a blue-green turtleneck sweater with black jeans and brown boots. He has black hair that hangs in his face. The third character is a girl sitting on an invisible wall. She has the same brown hair as the first girl, but with bleached blonde streaks that frame her face. She wears a dark red tank top, black shorts, torn black tights, and black combat boots. On the end is a tall, athletic boy with curly blonde hair. He wears a light blue-grey sweater and black jeans with hiking boots. — Official design sheet of four major characters.

Crafting a fictional town in the real world:

The town of Laurel Ridge is based on real-world counterparts around the mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania. Named after a state park in the Appalachian mountain range, Laurel Ridge is heavily inspired by several communities across the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.

A photograph of rolling mountains in Pennsylvania. The clouds are dark, casting a blue shadow over the mountains. The trees in front of the mountains are bright red and orange.

A photograph of the entrance of a trail in the woods. The gate and fence are rusted, and several trail signs lay broken beside the gate. The trees around it are a bright, lively green.

My family used to own property in the unincorporated town of Melcroft, along a winding creek and several miles of hiking trails. Having spent a ton of time here as a child, I based the woods around Jen’s home on this area, most notably the creek behind her house with the rocks piled along its banks.

A photograph of a creek in the woods. Rocks are piled across the creek, creating a small waterfall. On the banks of the creek are large boulders that create a hill that leads up into the woods.

A photograph of a back road winding through the woods during autumn. The trees on either side of the road are strikingly red and yellow. In the distance, the mountains rise high above the road.

Going forward, the game plan is to get The Trail of Dead Leaves published, bringing it to bookshelves across southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond, and inspiring artists to continue creating comics no matter their skill level, as it can always lead to something great.

Follow Jen’s journey as she uncovers what’s truly hiding behind the shining facade of small-town America:

my website mewzieart @ instagram

Credit & Recognition

2025 SVA Alumni Scholarship Award

The Trail of Dead Leaves

Credit & Recognition

Student

Faculty

Mentors

2025