Ben W. Witt

CAIRN: No Exit

A secret battle for the future rages in the shadows of a shattered world.

In the middle of the 21st Century, the League of Human Advancement rose to power during a global plague of apocalyptic proportions. Their mercenary armies, immunized against all disease with a super-drug only the League possessed, seized vital resource deposits and industrial zones across the globe. Governments had no choice but to rely upon the League as they struggled to rebuild society. A new world order in favor the League was established, its terms dictated by their despotic leader, the Visionary. In what remained of the United States, members of the government who were opposed to this arrangement formed a secret agency to fight back: the Counter-espionage, Anti-sabotage, and Intelligence Retrieval Network, or CAIRN for short. Faced with ruthless and elusive enemies, CAIRN’s agents can count on only one thing: they are in a fight to the death.

This exhibit displays twelve pages from the second chapter of CAIRN, a graphic novella I began working on during my junior year. Also included are several pieces of concept art, the script for the planned pages thirteen through twenty-one, and the successive stages of one page as an example of my process. Additionally, the inked pages in their original form are on display. This chapter of CAIRN, titled “No Exit,” expands upon work from my junior year independent study and the Summer thereafter. It demonstrates growth in my drawing skills and graphic storytelling capabilities, both of which I am developing further as I continue to work on CAIRN.

Ben W. Witt ‘26

Advisor: Marina Mangubi

↑Back to Top