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Summerland artists lands graphic novel deal

Fool's Gold: Death by Karaoke will be released in 2025

A fantastical adventure in a graphic novel by an animator and storyteller originally from Summerland will soon be available in print. .

Fool's Gold: Death by Karaoke will be released in paperback form in July, 2025, but pre-orders for the graphic novel are already available. .

The story is by Jenna Woldenga and her partner Felix Irnich, and is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons.

According to the publisher, the story involves a stoic masked druid, a cursed monkey sorcerer and a bubbly magical girl, in a quest for powerful crystals left behind by an ancient dead civilization.

Their plans are derailed after an afternoon of drunken karaoke.

Woldenga has been a Dungeons and Dragons animator on YouTube since April 2018 and her Dingo Doodles channel on YouTube has more than 810,000 followers.

She and Irnich were approached by California-based United Talent Agency and they received a publishing deal through Simon and Schuster. 

While the story is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, it is also accessible to those who are not familiar with the role-playing game.

Woldenga, who graduated from Summerland Secondary School in 2012, has had a lifelong interest in art and animation. Her art career started with a web comic at her site, electricbunnycomics.com.

“All of the things I did growing up have led me to this point,” she said.

In early 2022, a Kickstarter campaign raised close to $2.5 million for her animated storytelling.

“United Talent Agency came to us because of the Kickstarter campaign,” she said.

The story has already received positive accolades, although the book is not yet in print.

“The response has been really, really positive,” Irnich said. “It’s a ice next step for us.”

The graphic novel has involved work from a creative team, including someone drawing the images and someone working with the colours. 

Woldenga said the experience has involved learning to work with others on this book.

Fool's Gold: Death by Karaoke is the first in a series, and Woldenga and Irnich are already at work  on the sequel.

The book can be pre-ordered through foolsgold.fun/comic.

Woldenga hopes to get the book into libraries and schools in British Columbia. 



John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

I have worked as a newspaper journalist since 1989 and have been at the Summerland Review since 1994.
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