The moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived!
This year brought our biggest annual Talent Search yet, with hundreds of entrants from around the world submitting for a chance to have their work published in an upcoming Mad Cave project.
We’re overwhelmed with the amount of talent we’ve seen this year, and we cannot overstate how grateful we are to each and every individual who submitted their work to this year’s competition.
Without further ado, we’re pleased to announce the winners of our Sixth Annual Talent Search! Congratulations, everyone!
Mad Cave Studios’ 2023 Talent Search Winner (Writer) – Sarah Cooke
About Sarah Cooke, Writer
Sarah Cooke is a comics writer and journalist living in Columbus, Ohio. She is the winner of the 2023 Negative Space Women’s Comic Book Writing Competition for the first chapter Scorned April. Her works include No Spell Lasts Forever, Olive and the Ogre, and an essay on visual storytelling and line art in the book How to Analyze & Review Comics: A Handbook on Comics Criticism. She is the co-creator and producer of the award-winning science fiction web series My Human Experience. As a comics reporter, Sarah has written for Marvel, DC Comics, Women Write About Comics, CBR, Voice of Youth Advocates, WTAP Television, and more. Read her comics on Substack: sarahlindseycooke.substack.com
Mad Cave Studios’ 2023 Talent Search Winner (Artist) – Leo Chiola
About Leo Chiola, Artist
Leo began his career when he was 20 years old as a freelance comic artist and illustrator. In 2017, he joined the animation studio Boulder Media, owned by Hasbro, to work as a character designer on the animated TV show, Transformers: Cyberverse.
In August 2019, he settled in Canada where he worked for more than 3 years as a full-time concept and comic artist for Digital Dimension Entertainment Group, developing the art of exciting, brand-new animated TV series.
He’s now working as a full-time storyboard artist at Gearbox Software and freelance comic artist.
Mad Cave Studios’ 2023 Talent Search Winner (Colorist) – Maksim Strelkov
About Maksim Strelkov, Colorist
I was a Star Wars fan from a very young age. This franchise made me a big comic book lover. I’ve read children’s stories like Tom And Jerry when I was a kid, but it was Star Wars that made me interested in coloring. I’ve been pursuing a professional colorist career for over ten years now. I love coloring.
In 2016 me and my wife moved to Varna, Bulgaria, where we live ever since. Over the years of life three wonderful cats became our family members as well.
Other than coloring, I love tabletop games and making music. My other dream that I want to be realized is composing music for video games.
Mad Cave Studios’ 2023 Talent Search Winner (Letterer) – Adel E. Talemi
About Adel E.Talemi, Letterer
Adel is a part-time comic book letterer. He’s a guy who finds joy in simplicity.
One of his greatest passions is true crime. He loves nothing more than getting lost in a good mystery and trying to piece together clues and evidence!
Despite his love of simple things, he’s also a good cook and enjoys sharing his creations with others.
Congratulations, again, to the winners of this year’s Talent Search! Stay tuned to see what our winners are up to and for announcements about their future projects with Mad Cave!
Mad Cave Studios is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded by Mark London in 2014, driven by madness and committed to quality. For additional information, visit madcavestudios.com.
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