Off Menu: A Graphic Novel

The last thing on Soup’s to-do list is to make waves at the restaurant she calls home, but when her boss’s villainous behavior becomes toxic, she decides to dismantle his power by beating him at his own game-cooking! This graphic novel is an empowering story about taking risks, finding your voice, and being brave enough to stand up for friends.

At seventeen, Soup is at a crossroads, eager to make her mark on the world, yet reluctant to leave the restaurant she calls home--the place where she was found as a baby, the place where she grew up, the place where she learned to cook. It’s only when her elven boss snaps at her that she begins to see his pattern of abuse, starting in the kitchen and extending all across town. Something’s got to give, and the answer is simple: a cooking competition for the restaurant.

If Soup wins, she’ll claim the business and protect her village from destructive expansion. But if she loses, she’ll have to leave her home and stand by as the food community she loves is razed to the ground. With friends and chosen family rallying around her, Soup has a chance to win. Yet, everyone knows villains don’t fight fair, and this restauranteur is not going to give up his throne so easily . . .

Oliver Gerlach is a writer, classicist, and general creative reprobate living in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has previously worked on the anthology Hey, Amateur! with Peter Snejbjerg and the self-published comic Jazz Orcs with Maeve MacLysaght. Off Menu is his debut graphic novel. Oliver splits his time between writing, doctoral research, and attempting to teach classical literature to undergraduates at the University of St. Andrews. When not writing, Oliver can be found in a corner, buried in a pile of ancient Greek research texts.

Kelsi Jo Silva is an American artist and illustrator based out of Denver, Colorado. She graduated from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in 2014 and is the illustrator for the Ela Cat children’s book series published by Good Luck Black Cat Books--the first of which won both a Moonbeam Award and a CIPPA EVVY(TM) award for illustration. In the last few years, Kelsi has shifted her focus from children’s books to comics, and she hopes to keep muddling her way through the comics world as it continues to bring her nothing but delight.