Comic Writing

Comics were not my thing when I was growing up, and I don't mean that in a snobby academic way - I simply didn't think comics were written for me as their audience.  They belonged to the world of the boys I knew.  Superheroes, good versus evil, the grand gesture of saving the world...these were not my story.  But there was another reason I wasn't drawn (no pun intended) to them - reading them took a lot of work, and I was not a strong reader. 

My interest in graphic novels was piqued when I was working on my Master's in teacher-librarianship.  Maus, Persepolis, Blankets, Owly, Bone, and Baby Mouse opened my eyes to the genre.  I loved the narrative, but also the artwork.  The heavy black-and-white drawings in Persepolis, the love story and artwork in Blankets, the sweetness in Baby Mouse and Owly, all caught my attention and invited me into the world of comics and graphic novels.  I began to champion them for use in the classroom. 

I was so intrigued, I even had a go at writing/drawing the first chapter of a graphic novel.  I learned that creating such a visual story took a lot of work, and the process of telling was pared down to what was truly essential.  The ability to communicate with drawing and words widened the stream of narrative for me. 

Now that I am a parent, I watch my eight-year old gobble the Bone series for the third time. I was recently  pleased when he tried to create his own comic on Bitstrips, and started with a comic representation of our family. 

Liam spent a good deal of time on creating each member of our family (from left to right, Me, Liam, Charlie, Dad, Charlie, Aidan and Kieran.  You will notice that in my son's mind, he and I are the same height, and each of the boys is more buff than their father (it's okay to stretch the truth when you're telling a story, I always say).

The comic below was written by my friend's son when he was in Fourth Grade.  When he showed this to me last year, I was really impressed by the quality of his art, but also of the narrative voice he has developed in such a short time.  He has applied all that he knows about the comic genre in this three-page spread.

I just love the expression represented in the latter photo. 

Our conversation in the elementary class about the use of hand-writing/printing versus keyboarding can be carried over to these two examples: the hand-drawn comic versus the one created electronically.  Is the process engaging the student as much in the electronic version as the hand-drawn?  Is one more authentic than the other?  Does it have to be?  What is really important here, the artwork or the story? Or is that even a fair question?  Perhaps it's like comparing apples to mangoes.

One might argue that we can't compare these two samples because one represents a full story, while the other is more aptly described as a family portrait.  A better judge might be the students themselves, creating their representations with both mediums, then reflecting on and evaluating both experiences.

The bottom line for me is that there is a story and it wants to be told.  Whichever tool we use; whether that be ink, pencil, chalk, digital representations, talking to ourselves in the mirror, or moving a stick in the wet sand - as individuals we all have something to say.  Our job as teachers is to support our students in the telling of it.