The Script2Comic Contest, which turns writers’ stories into comic books, has found its latest round of winners.

Writer Brian Gene White’s Death’s Assistant takes the top the top honor among the 2022 winners, announced Tuesday. The story, which won the Discovery of Voice prize, centers on a man who makes a deal with the devil to spare his fatally injured fiancée, and becomes death’s assistant in the process.

Winning scripts will be published as comics or graphic novels by Scout Comics, and be put into development for film or television. Picturestart, the Erik Feig-founded company that counts Lionsgate’s upcoming Borderlands and the animated Universal feature Strays, as among its titles, sponsors the event.

“Selecting a winner for the Discovery of Voice prize was a tall order, given how many great scripts were submitted! Ultimately, in Brian and Death’s Assistant, we found a special storyteller who could build out a universe populated by truly unforgettable characters,” said Royce Reeves-Darby, VP of production Picturestart in a statement. “This is a story that poses the tough question: What lengths would you go to save a loved one? It’s a comedic look at a stage in life that we all experience, and we can’t wait to see where Brian takes it.”

First prize goes to the Gregory Lemmons title BOT, will be picked up for development by Motor Content, the production company from Don Handfield that counts The Founder and Knightfall as among its credits.

Second prize winner The Undeathable Dead Dudes, from writer Winston Han, will be published by Scout Comics. The story centers on two young dudes who wake up undead and must solve both their own murders and the coming zombie apocalypse before they rot away.

Ruby Mainieri’s Miss Demeanor took home third prize. It centers on a famous superhero once known as Little Miss Wonder, who has been rebranded Miss Demeanor, due to years of alcohol abuse and frequent sexual encounters with supervillains. Now, she must overcome her narcissism and hypochondria in order to reclaim her place in the spotlight.

The special jury prize went to Weekend Warriors by Danny Hogan. Described as Zombieland meets Office Space, the story takes place in a world in which an overnight event turns humanity into a horde of mindless, violent drones. Two hard-partying office rivals, still inebriated from an evening of partying, learn that the drugs and alcohol in their systems are the only thing keeping them from being infected. To survive, they must keep the party going.

Handfield noted that the contest was founded in 2020 to keep writers and the development pipeline moving amid the covid shutdown. Added the executive: “We couldn’t be more excited to have five incredible new stories to tell, created by a diverse and talented group of writers who will soon see their comics on shelves in stores across the country.”

Scout president James Haick III said that the vampire babysitter title She Bites became one of the publisher’s best selling titles after winning Script2Comic. “We know there are more hits coming,” he added.

The contest is also expanding to horror, with Horror2Comic contest now taking submissions, with winners set to have their comics published by Shiver, an upcoming horror line from Scout.