The Challenge

Origin Story is a graphic novel following a protagonist investigating the history of a legendary comic book publisher.

The narrative required two parallel timelines that needed to feel visually distinct while remaining part of the same book. Readers had to immediately recognize whether they were following the present-day investigation or reading excerpts from fictional comics published decades earlier.

The Solution

Santaplix developed two completely different visual languages to support the story.

The contemporary investigation was illustrated with a clean, modern cartoon aesthetic, creating an accessible and dynamic visual rhythm for the main narrative.

Interwoven throughout the book are sequences presented as fictional comic books from the 1960s. These pages required extensive visual research to faithfully recreate the storytelling conventions of the period, including page composition, drawing style, inking techniques and traditional comic book coloring.

The same dual approach was extended to a series of alternative covers, each designed to reflect one of the book’s two visual identities while reinforcing the concept behind the story.

The Result

By giving each timeline its own distinct artistic language, the graphic novel allows readers to navigate effortlessly between past and present while strengthening the narrative experience.

Rather than simply illustrating the script, Santaplix used visual storytelling to make the structure of the story immediately clear, turning style itself into an essential part of the narrative.