Welcome to an extra special edition of Family Comic Friday. This column is normally reserved for reviews. But not today! Last weekend, I attended the Bull City NC Comicon in Durham NC. I went to lots of panels including one tutorial on how kids can create their own comic books.
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| May Madeline, Greg Burnham, Marcus Williams (front L-R) Sarah Gaydos, Jeremy Whitley (back) |
The panel consisted of 5 experts who have been working in the comic book industry. Their
job experience ranged from just a few months to several years. So I thought that this would
be a great opportunity for them to pass along some valuable tips on helping kids create their
very own comic book.
Panelists
Sarah Gaydos, Editorial Director of Licensed Publishing, Oni Press
Jeremy Whitley, Writer and Creator of Princeless
Marcus Williams, Artist and Co-Creator of Tuskegee Heirs
Greg Burnham, Writer and Co-Creator of Tuskegee Heirs
May Madeline, Teen Art Student, Artist of Rainbow Brite Variant Cover!
What is a Comic Book?
According to Sarah Gaydos, a comic book is a story told with words and pictures. But
does that mean that The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a comic book? “Typically not as comic
books are made with a paper cover and have staples in the spine. (The middle fold of a
comic book.)’ Sarah explains, ’Also, most comic books have more than one picture per
page usually.”
But don't some comics have hard covers? “ That's normally what we call a graphic novel,’
Sarah answered, 'Those type of comics tell a single story in one volume whereas a comic
book may go two or three or more issues in order to tell the story.” But don't worry if the
comic book you create is done in just one issue. “That's the fun in creating comic books,
you can do whatever you want with it!”
What Should I Do First? How Do I Write a Story?
Sometimes you just don’t have any ideas. So the panel recommends that you keep notes.
“Bring a pen and Notebook with you everywhere you go... Write your idea down.” Jeremy
Whitley says. “You might be at school and have a great idea but you don’t have time to do
anything about it. Write the idea down real quick so you don’t forget. Then later you can
come back to it.”
Putting Pen to Paper
Later when you have an idea, you star drawing. Greg Burnham advises all aspiring artists
to “Keep it up. Write or draw every day. Don't stop.” Greg also says that if you don’t have
an idea, keep drawing. “Draw everyday like. Draw yourself. Draw your family. A toy. Just
keep drawing.”
Marcus Williams, Greg’s writing partner on Tuskegee Airmen, also does character design
sketches. He says that when he’s drawing he will also write. “Develop your character.
Leonardo di Vinci. Do like he does. He would make sketches and then make little notes
(on the sketches) for later.”
Artists also have another important role in the design stage. Marcus explains “an artist
takes things in their own mind and use shapes, colors and designs and put it on paper.
That's an artist. His role is to draw every scene that is created by the writer. It's okay to
draw your own way.” An artist helps craft the world for the readers.
“Think about your entire world.’ Sarah says. “Think about the villains, gadgets, the towns.
You don't know if you are an artist or writer until you try.”
What Style of Art Should I Use?
15 year old May Madeline has a cartoony art style. She recommends that new artists be
open to anything.“Everyone has their own art style. You should always look at other art
styles. It can help you create your own style. Even if you draw cartoons, practice it
everyday to perfect your style.”
Marcus also likes the cartoon style. He says “It’s great as you can stretch and pill the
character into many different ways. But if you want to draw comics, study comic books
and the artists.”
“You can copy comic books. There's no comic police. Copy and dissect the art.” Sarah
chimed in. She points out that now as a kid, you can copy any comic book you want. But
when you get older and work for a publisher, then you might be limited by law as to who
you can put in your drawings. But for right now, “If you want to draw Batman with a
Smurf, Do It!’
My Art Doesn’t Look Right. Am I Not an Artist?
Sometimes you can draw your favorite character and it doesn’t look it should in the
comic book. That’s okay. Maybe it’s not the style for you. “Nobody has to tell you
you're an artist for you to be an artist.” Marcus says. The important thing is to try
and try and try.
What Should I Use To Draw?
May says that when starting out, “you don’t have to be fancy. you can use line paper
and pen, markers. Try different things. Markers, crayons. Pencils” Pencils are great
as they’ve got an eraser. But there’s some types of pens that can be erased as well.
What are some other things I can add to my comic?
Sarah went over several things kids can add to a comic book. First open are panels.
“Some comics have lots of panels. Some just have one.”
One of everybody’s favorite things to add to a comic book are sound effects.
“Experiment.’ Sarah says. ‘Sound effects. Create your own. Take the sound effects
and make it part of the art.”
Lastly is color. When you draw, you are typically use black and white. Greg says
“With your pen or pencil, use it in different strokes or designs to make shades.
Then use colors.” But which colors do I use? “Any colors!’ Greg exclaimed, “It’s your
book. Make it how you want it to look!”
How Can I Stay Focused?
Sarah, who is an editor at Oni Press, explains that an editor is like a teacher. They
keep the artist and writer on track. It’s my job to say on Friday that the job is due on
Monday. Then on Monday, I say ‘Okay guys, it’s Monday! Your projects are due
today!”
Some Activities
Drawing and writing are fun. But why not make it a little like real life. And why not do
it with a parent or guardian? Here are three fun activities that the family can do to
simulate the job of a comic book creator.
#1. Stay On Target.
In this activity, Mom or Dad come up with a story. They then give the child a deadline
like a week or a month. The adult also tells the child how many pages to make the
story. Then they act like an editor keeping the kiddo on task.
#2. Sound Off.
In this activity, Mom or Dad take a piece of paper and write a sound effect on it.
Then the child has to craft a picture of what if making that sound. For example- the
sound is ‘Pop!’ Maybe it’s a piece of popcorn popping. Or a little girl is yelling for her
daddy. Or maybe a car’s tire has gone flat. There’s tons of ideas here. You can even
have the child come up with 3 different pictures of the one sound effect.
#3 Reverse Mad Libs
In this final activity, a grown-up writes 10 words down in a list. These words can be
anything. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, proper names. Then the young writer is
challenged to craft a story with all the words. You can later make this game a little more
difficult by making the list 26 words long and each word is done in ABC order. For
example “Apple, Bring, Counting,...” The real fun is to use words that might have more
than one meaning, like ‘Duck.’ You might think they will write about a bird. But they might
have a character duck from a frisbee being thrown at them.
Remember with all of these activities, have fun. There’s no right or wrong. Well, as
long as you try! Not giving your dreams a chance- that’s always wrong. Because you
will never create 100% of the comic books that you don’t practice on.
