I read a lot of times to escape. I have chosen comic books and graphic novels (you say tomato…) because I enjoy the artwork and the varied styles. Here’s what I picked up today, most of my comics picks are rated “Teen” so somewhere around a PG-13 movie (like those ratings really help). Anything I’ve marked as “All Ages” are comics I’ll bring into my classroom. I’ve removed some comics that are a bit much for most audiences could be because of themes, language, or violence. If you are looking for comics for your classroom or your child, go into a comic shop and ask and read whatever you want to buy, because only you truly know what is acceptable in your family or classroom. I’ll pick a few to elaborate on the story especially since a lot of what was in my stack are things that the average person would have no idea about. The “LEGO Variant” comics just have a different cover depicting the character as a Lego minifig I may have only picked up the comic because of that.
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The Ordinary People Change the World Series, while not specifically comics, I’m really excited to bring these into my classroom to inspire my students!
Tiny Titans Return to the Treehouse #6 of 6 (All Ages) – I really hope this continues, it’s a great series for kids with lots of inside DCU jokes for adults.
Over the Garden Wall Special #1 (All Ages)
Rocket Raccoon #5 “I am Groot” this was my winner for most amusing read in the stack.
Gotham Academy #2
Green Lantern #36 (LEGO Variant Cover)
Grayson #4 (LEGO Variant Cover)
Detective Comics #36 (LEGO Variant Cover)
Action Comics #36 (LEGO Variant Cover)
Fiction Squad #2 of 6 Detective story in fairytale land I’d almost say all ages, but the way they draw some of the female characters… not so much
Atomic Robo Knights of the Golden Circle #5 of 5 Kinda all ages – the older kids at my school enjoyed borrowing the trades and reading about Nazi zombie robots fighting a robot built by Nikola Tesla
Little Nemo Return to Slumberland #2 (All Ages) The return to the world created by Winsor McCay- a beautiful book
Penny Dora and the Wishing Box #1 (All Ages)
Rasputin #1
The Fuse #7 Detectives on a ginormous space station
Birthright #2 A young boy disappears & returns as barbarian warrior – lots of flashbacks to his time in a fantasy realm.
The Mercenary Sea # 7 1930’s adventure in a submarine – interesting artwork.
Tüki # 2 Jeff Smith’s life of a cave man
Wayward #3
Imperial #4 of 4
Tech Jacket #5
Tooth & Claw #1 Start of a massive fantasy story with animal people (which seems to be a trend in some comics) great artwork, and intriguing premise.
Velvet #8 Love this book! Moneypenny was a better spy than Bond.
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Quick Update November 9
OK just went through some of the basic pieces with the next round of “Secret, Ultimate, Final, Crisis War” being put out by Marvel and DC in the coming months… this is why I have stopped buying most “mainstream comics” I’m tired of investing time into a character just to have it squished in some marketing scheme to gain more readers. I really appreciate the folks at Comic Carnival for guiding me to new and cool titles- so I missed out on a bunch of epic universe altering crossovers. I’ve found some great titles where the creators are telling good stories. Someone asked the question “Which is important Continuity or Story?” If you are telling a good story, continuity should be a part of it. If the writers are thinking about the future they might not try some of the silly over-hyped stories that paint them into a corner so they have to reboot to fix it.
Last week I gave you a simple project for your class… take a scene from a book and make it into a comic. this should have been maybe a page or two, but nothing too complex, just rewriting a scene. How do you branch beyond that- here is another idea. Next week you’ll get an even more open ended one, but again we are focusing on the basics, building a foundation.
The Comic “Book Review”. This is another simple one page project, but it gets the students to start writing their own scripts. A script is important as they branch into longer stories. I have hunted down some trade paper backs that include the original script. My current favorite for this is Code Monkey Save World. While not completely all ages – the song isn’t for younger kids due to some language (PG- but will get giggles and irate parents in a younger classroom). I use the script by Greg Pak and a copy of the first page to show how the process works. It’s pretty simple since the lyrics used for page one are just “Code Monkey get up, get coffee, Code Monkey go to job.”
It becomes much more as a comic…
first page of Code Monkey Save World by Greg Pak
and a script including the notes about changes (proving that writers do go through drafts).
Click on the image to zoom in
So for Mentor Texts I bring up The Comic Critic and Unshelved’s Book Club both are web comics that are simple one page reviews of books and movies. As with any internet resource some may not be appropriate for all classes, you know your community. We can analyze how they provide limited information and persuade us one way or another.
As the students work on this they start to work a little more on drafts, scripts, page layout and character design. Some will find that the author has given them no details about the main character, and setting while others have overwhelmed us with exacting details. As a teacher this is where you guide them into searching out details and making a list. If the author mentions a characters favorite color… write it down. If they like baseball, make sure they wear a baseball cap, those kinds of things. If the author doesn’t, then the student needs to fill in the details, and create the character. Fortunately, in most cases students are reading realistic fiction so it’s pretty easy for them to draw someone.
The review is also a great chance for you, the teacher, to model what you want. Pick a book that you have read aloud in class and use that as an example. When I did this with my class I chose Funerals and Fly Fishing by Mary Bartek. As a class we talked about the major plot points and what I shouldn’t tell people in my review/summary *spoilers*. As I plotted and laid out the page I used it as an example of how to finish a panel. I had enough panels that I could do it over and over again with multiple students. Like the first example last week, it will take longer than you think.
Click on the image to zoom in
You can see in my example one- that it isn’t finished and two- that I used blue pencil. to draw with. Why? I’m pretty old school I draw my comics using non-photo blue pencil and then ink over that. When I scan my work anything blue magically vanishes, all that’s left is the black line. I use a Prismacolor Verithin pencil, but there are others out there. When I did this project each student got a non-photo blue pencil and a piece of comic book paper (I chose the cheapest paper from Blueline Pro) but the kids thought they were cool drawing on real comic book pages. When they were done, I scanned each page and then printed it out. Each student had their original art and a black and white finished product that they could hand color if they wanted to.
So far we’ve focused mostly on using comics in Language Arts. Next week I’m going to share a larger comic project that involves integrating Science.
So you’ve visited your local comic book shop and actually talked to a “Comic Book Guy.” You’ve started to buy comics, trade paper backs, for your classroom. Now you’re trying to figure out how to integrate comics into your classroom. It’s easier than you think. You probably have been asked to have Reader’s and Writer’s Notebooks so add a drawing sketchbook to that and you’re ready to begin.
First of all don’t over think it… like so many things in education we spend a lot of time trying to get round pegs to fit into square holes. To start most kids (unless they’ve been squashed) like to draw, or doodle. If they say they can’t start with simple drawing lessons. For years I’ve used Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad which has 180 lessons. Is it a coincidence that we have 180 days in a school year? Probably. I have used these lessons with every grade I have taught and amazingly enough they tend to be one of the things my students remember the most about my class. One year I was asked to cover for the technology teacher… that class actually took over the daily lesson (thank you Elaine) they were third graders. To me this is an addition to handwriting (which we don’t teach anymore). Start accepting student illustrations of things. A scene from a book, a science experiment… have them tell a story with their pictures. When you meet with them, ask them to write down what is happening in the pictures, a caption if you like. I had a special ed student one year who if I asked him to write I’d get nothing, if I asked him to draw, the page was amazing, then I could ask him to add text and I ended up with finished pieces that would rival my gifted kids.
So get your class is drawing every day. After a week or so of this talk to them now about the basic parts of a comic, the language of comics:
Gutter – the space between panels
Panel – a picture representing a moment in time
Speech Bubble – what a person says
Thought Bubble – what a person thinks
Special Effects – SHRAAKOOOOOOM!
Have them take their drawings to the next level using comic construction to tell about things they do in the classroom. A math problem? A class rule?
In the beginning these should be fairly simple. so as not to stop the fun of creating a comic. Remind your class that simple scenes might not need much planning but as they get more complex you need to work a little harder.
Project #1- A Scene from a Book/Story
Have your students take a story they are reading and adapt it to a comic. I would have them find a scene that has either action or dialogue. The first chapter introducing the characters and plot, are a little more difficult. This should start off with just stick figures. Keep it simple, they can always make it more complex later on.
Once the student has chosen the scene, make a copy of that so you can conference and make sure it includes everything. You can look for storyboards from films to use as examples, since they are basically comics, although they may frustrate some kids thinking that they must produce something like that, which they may not have the drawing skill. You know your students.
Teacher Tip: This will take more time that you think so be flexible. Some students will love it, others will need a little convincing, but give them time… I wish I could tell you how long, but each class is different.
Once they have a quick draft plotting out the beats of the scene, then talk to them about details. The setting and the characters will need some kind of detail so you can tell them apart. Does it happen inside or outside? Kids talking to adults? A boy talking to a girl? Two girls talking? What makes them look different? Did the author give you enough detail or leave it to you?
This keeps you away from having the kids write a script (next week) until they have an idea as to how a comic is constructed. They use the author’s script from a book they are reading.
This is a fairly easy project to grade on the comic end (you can always grade on spelling & grammar). Take that copy of the scene and walk through it with the student. If it is a faithful adaptation, smile and give it a good grade. Remember the idea will always be to communicate. If the student succeeded in doing that, then they deserve a good grade. For advanced students you can always shoe them Wally Wood’s 22 panels that always work as a way to vary dialogue panels.
Comic book artist Wally Wood compiled these 22 panels that always work as a way to help other artists.
So, there’s a start a simple scene, which could be taken into a moment in history, a science experiment… give your class illustration as a option when it comes to written projects. If they can tell you what happened with pictures then you can move into having them describing things is words.
A section of my personal library not all of these make it into my classroom.
Fortunately, or unfortunately I’m moving classrooms so I’m having to reorganize and sadly clean out not only my stuff but also whatever the previous occupant of this classroom decided to leave… I’m sure it’s all really important, but c’mon… Mimeograph books?!?!
This ordeal has given me the perfect opportunity to take a look at what is in my current comic library, what holes I need to fill, and what, due to my grade level, I may want to keep at home. I thought I’d share what my basic library contains, and what I’m going to add to it as time permits. I teach third grade, I have taught all the way up to fifth and all the way down to first.
When I first started teaching I heard an author talk about his time as a graduate assistant in an introductory literature class. While all the other classes had reading lists of the classics he had things like “The Princess Bride” (before the movie). His reasoning was this- he was supposed to teach certain skills to help students tackle a text, any text. If the student couldn’t understand what they were reading, how could you really master the skill? You spent most of your time translating what the author meant or deciphering olde English. I use comics and graphic novels in the same way. If my goal is to get students to understand character traits then why not talk about the cousins in “Bone” then when we are reading a more challenging text, circle round to those traits we already mastered, “Isn’t this character like Phoney Bone?”. Although when you get to the end Bone is definitely a deep story.
As you look at creating your classroom comic book library please understand your mileage may differ… you know your class, the families, and your community. Make sure to read every book you put out there and be comfortable enough with the content in case someone throws a fit over it. Not all comics are created equal. Make sure to check out a Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids Comics and get on the Diamond Bookshelf mailing list to see what’s new. Diamond is the major comics distributor for the the US so if they talk about it, your local comic shop can get it. Also check out Reading with Pictures and join their community to see what else people suggest for your specific grade level.
If you are using reading programs like Accelerated Reader check to see what quizzes are available for various titles. It’s always a nice check to see if the kids are actually reading.
Series:
Bone by Jeff Smith I started with the Scholastic editions when they first came out and soon realized that my students could not wait until the next book came out. I passed along my complete Bone (in one 1300 volume) to a few students and finally had to buy another copy. The students enjoyed carrying around this massive tome and didn’t mine that it wasn’t in color.
Amelia Rules by Jimmy Gownley I started off with these as individual issues and then picked up the trades. Life as a kid with a strong female character dealing with issues that kids can relate to.
The Dreamland Chronicles by Christian Scott Sava When I first started looking at webcomics I stumbled upon this one. The story of a guy who returns to “Dreamland” where kids go when they sleep in order to save the realm and help his friends. Currently available in print (seven volumes) but on hiatus as the creator works on a film.
Tiny Titans by Art Balthazar and Franco Yes, it’s mainstream, but Tiny Titans, now back in print as a monthly title is just fun. Each issue has small individual stories that tie together using characters from the DC Universe. The artwork is a joy and a great inspiration for kids.
Leave it to Chance by James Robinson & Paul Smith (Sadly out of print) this is the story of the mystic protector of Devil’s Echo. Chance Falconer wants to follow in her father’s footsteps, but he won’t allow it so being a “strong female character” she goes ahead and does it anyway. The first arc (Shaman’s Rain) can be a little hard for the kids to get into initially, but once they do they are hooked.
Mouse Guard by David Petersen “Mice with Swords” Fantasy Tale about the mice who keep order in the realm. Beautifully illustrated, David Petersen is available on Ustream to watch his process. better for upper elementary, I’ve had former students hunt me down to get the most recent story. Mouse Guard is the story, Legends of the Guard is an anthology in which other creators tell a tale from the same universe.
Owly by Andy Runton Wordless comics great for younger audiences tells the story of Owly, Wormy and their friends in the forest. What I like about it is by being wordless you can have kids of any age, tell you the story.
Individual Graphic Novel Titles:
Smile by Raina Telgemeier Bio-comic that kids can get into, when I brought this into my 4th grade class it vanished for weeks being passed from kid to kid until almost the whole class had read it.
Monthly Comics I’ll be Adding:
New Comic Book Day is Wednesday so teach your class some patience by picking up individual issues that they have to wait and remember what was going on.
Tiny Titans – back after a hiatus, this playful kids version of the DC Universe has multiple short stories that are tied together by a central theme each issue.
Scribblenauts Unmasked – When DC released a version of Scribblenauts (a great video game you should check out players are confronted with a puzzle that they must solve by creating things using a magic notepad. You write “hammer” and a hammer appears) a companion/extension comic was created in which the characters from Scribblenauts help save the DC Universe.
Princess Ugg – I’m always a little leery suggesting a comic when only one issue is out but I lie this premise and the idea of a strong female character. This comic is telling the story of a barabarian princess heading off to princess school… and hijinks ensue.
Herobear and the Kid – one of my favorites that took forever to get the issues out… Drawn in “rough animation” style so kids who draw can see the underlying work it tells the story of Tyler who moves into his grandfather’s house upon his grandfather’s death. He has the typical problems of a kid in a new school plus all his grandfather gave him was a broken pocket watch and s stuffed bear… a stuffed bear that happens to turn into Herobear! It is back after a long hiatus and is being published in 5 issue arcs so hopefully it won’t require you to wait a year between issues.
Trade or Graphic Novel Titles I’ll be Adding to my third grade classroom:
Drama & Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
Amulet (Series) by Kazu Kibuishi
Lunch Lady (Series)
Squish (Series)
Baby Mouse (Series)
You’ll notice I have left off a lot of mainstream DC & Marvel titles. Basically, these tend to talk down to kids, and are in many cases not very good for the kids- which is why so many adults think of comics as the candy of books. There are some great stories out there, but in my journey through comic book shops, most things produced by major publishers are junk food. Your mileage may vary… check out a few titles and see what you think. The first trade for the second volume of Ultimate Spider-Man – introducing Mile Morales) is very well done and and really engaging to upper elementary/middle school kids. There are hundreds of titles out there and I know I’m missing some great ones, so please feel free to share your suggestions in the comments.
Buyer Beware
When I was a first starting out I used to go by the rule that if it was approved by the Comics Code Authority that meant the comic was basically similar in content to what the kids would see on prime time television. The Code was established as a watchdog agency censoring the content of comics so they were appropriate after a number of hearings dealing with some of the horror comics in the 50’s. There are books written on the subject, so I’m just giving you a very brief overview. The code went away pretty recently and comic publishers now rate comics as Mature, Teen, or Everyone – All Ages kind of like what they do with video games. They are self regulated, so a Teen comic may be OK for your elementary classroom, you need to decide. You know your students, families and community better than anyone else.
I just remember when a friend handed me a long box (around 200 comics) as a donation for my school. I started handing them out to teachers seeing that they all were approved by the code… a few days later I was called into the principal’s office- she had a stack of comics and I found out that the comic code had failed me… It seems that Batman & Detective Comics were a little more mature- the surveillance scene in a strip club was tastefully done, but inappropriate. So make sure, like anything else you put in your classroom you have read it and approve of the content.
So go out talk to the folks at your local comic shop and read some comics!
Next time: Ideas for Integrating Comics into your Classroom.
As many of you know my day job is teaching elementary school which is why there tends to be no mature stuff in this comic, we might use fancy vocabulary, but for the most part it’s kid friendly. I actually get a little upset when a creator takes a perfectly good all ages story and ruins it by putting in one word (just to be cool? just because they can? just to show everyone that they are edgy and “mature”?). I’ve already commented on publishers being clueless (Action Cat #2 came out this week- funny, the majority of the ads were all ages- hopefully they will reprint issue #1 in the same manner so I can put it in my classroom). Once a week I’m going to discuss comics in the classroom and how other teachers can use these powerful tools to engage students and enhance learning. Just remember “With Great Power comes great responsibility.”
Some of this comes from the panel I was part of at Indy PopCon with Jim McClain (Solution Squad) and other pieces come from years of using comics with kids and seeing how other teachers have embraced comics.
Vocabulary:
Comic Strip – Basically a joke or gag told in a specific number of panels
Comic Book – A book which tells a story using the medium of comics (panels, balloons, etc.)
Trade Paperback – A bound edition containing a number of comics, usually a complete story arc.
Graphic Novel – A bound edition usually containing one story. At the elementary level what most people consider Graphic Novels aren’t appropriate as the content is too mature.
In my Classroom: Even though it is reading, I tend to not allow my students to read comic strips in class. I prefer comic books and trade paperbacks since they build on each other and tell a complete story. I tell my students that while it is reading, there is more I can teach them through a comic book. If they want to check out and read books with comic strips at home, during their “free time” that’s fine, but during class time no comic strips (I also discourage joke books, and some other “fluff” books).
Some overall basic resources to start with…
A Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids’ Comics – I have purchased three copies of this and only have one left! This is a great resource for comics sorted by age. It also includes If you liked this recommendations so what do you get that kid who loved Bone to keep them reading?
Search the Web for good webcomics – Sadly some of the best stuff for kids is being produced independently so you need to check out the web and See what’s available. I tend to have my students reading The Dreamland Chronicles or Little Guardians (both of which are available in print also) . unfortunately not many of the comics online are in long form so they tend to be just strips. Also web creators aren’t always timely about updating their comics (like me). So kids tend to have to wait (and wait, and wait)
Your Local Comic Book Shop- I know it’s scary in there, and not all shops are created equal, but there is no harm in asking. Some shops will donate or at least give schools a discount. The more we, as educators, talk to comic shops the bigger and better their all ages sections will be.
Reading With Pictures – an online community and creator of “The Graphic Textbook” which is now going by “Reading With Pictures- Comics that Make Kids Smarter” and should be available in August -as a Kickstarter supporter I better get my copies before they are for sale to the general public (just sayin’)
I’ve started to put together a resource website for the teachers at my school about comics, it is a work in progress so keep that in mind (and it has a strong focus on STEM).
I know there are a lot more and I’ll keep adding to the list as I post more, but I’d like to keep these short, Next week when we look at some specific titles that should be in your classroom comics library!
“Excited” would not be a word I would use to describe my feelings as I prepared for “tabling” at Indy PopCon- “terrified” would probably be a better word. While I am a teacher and spend hours each day in front of an audience (i.e. my class) I’m not very good at or comfortable with just talking to people. If you have known me for a while you might have forgotten that I hide in the corners of rooms and quietly add something to a conversation when I hear them. After a while I do come out of my shell, but for the most part, I’m fine hiding out and getting a feel for the crowd… its called “being an introvert.” So here I was setting up a table at a Convention that will have thousands of people potentially tens of thousands of people what was I thinking?!?
Set up began Thursday for the people who were bringing in lots of stuff (not me). I had about 70 copies of my book, about 350 buttons, 15 prints, a banner, an old cigar box, business cards, drawing supplies and a couple of pads of paper in various sizes. It almost all fit into a large box that fit in the boot of my MINI Roadster. I showed up Thursday evening to get things ready… because I’m that way. 15 minutes later I had everything set up and Sue was asking me if I wanted to put it all away so nothing would get stolen. I took the change out of the cash box, and went to look around the Hall which was huge and at the time fairly empty.
The View from my Table
Indy PopCon is a strange beast, it seems the idea is to have a convention that embraces all forms of popular culture not just one. So as I walked around, I saw a wide variety of stuff in the booths that were setting up. The organizers had done their homework, put together a Kickstarter to help with initial funding, and visited the other new convention, the Indiana Comic-Con, which had been held months earlier with a few issues. Their communication was exemplary, keeping everyone informed. Being my first big con, I was very happy with everything I had seen so far. Still nervous, but I felt that with all the prep and changes they had made to accommodate more people it would be a fantastic success for everyone involved.
The first day of Indy PopCon coincided with the last day of school so since I had set up already I headed to school to say my goodbyes, and then head off to PopCon. I didn’t realize that there would be high school graduation ceremonies, a convention of Methodists, and the State Democratic Convention all happening around PopCon. I was in typical Con wear for me (my nifty comic Hawaiian shirt and my flying monkey fez. I arrived (early- this is the way I try to do things especially when I’m nervous) and rearranged some things sat down and started to draw. I wanted to have some samples of monkey sketch cards and a commission so the throngs of people would know what I could do. The nice thing was I was really close to some great comic creators (Little Guardians, Chris & Gin, Samantha Kyle, and Ron Braun) in case things did get weird… Hey! who brought that laser pointer?!?
FridaySaturdaySunday
I was able to complete a lot of work and avoid talking to people since most people do what I do when walking through Artist Alley the first time- they stay in the middle of the aisle and avoid eye contact. Those that stopped I talked about my comic “It started off as a biocomic and then I realized my life was boring (ha ha) so I added the evil monkey bent on world domination and his scores of clone minions that live in my basement to spice things up (ha ha).” I talk to kids much easier than adults, but since for many kids it was still a school day, it was mostly adults. Sales wise I sold mostly to my friends who stopped by to see how I was doing and be supportive (thank you all). I survived the first day without a mark on me, and actually was pleased with how things had gone. Saturday I wore my Star Trek Red Shirt, figuring that this was the day I would get pummeled with people and being new had little chance of survival. It actually was kind of nice. I made my typical jokes about this being my “Walking Dead” costume, and stuff like that. Not what I had expected, but what was great was drawing some more and talking to the friends who stopped by to check things out. Sunday I helped at a panel on Comics in the Classroom with Jim McClain and again enjoyed myself (dressed in my TARDIS fez and new TARDIS bow tie). As the con came to a close I was happy to have given it a try and enjoyed it (although I was exhausted).
A commission for some friends.
How’d I do? I “made table” which to me meant I made enough money to pay for my table space. Being my first con I was happy with the result. Some people weren’t as happy, but they had more experience, and kept comparing to other cons. Was I swamped? No. Did get to be obnoxious yelling at people to “buy my stuff”? or “Hey! Look at me!” I hope not, I said “Hi” as people passed and went into my little talk if they stopped to look at things. I was a little surprised that the posters didn’t sell at all, but that’s okay. Mostly I had fun. I learned a lot from the experience and am looking forward to taking that knowledge to the next Con, whenever and where ever it will be. Some of the things I need to consider are how many of these things do I go to- I’m not really sure right now. For right now Indy PopCon is on my calendar for next year, along with a repeat visit to the INDYpendent Show. However my current priority is to get more comic strips drawn, tell more & better stories, and be ready to make “My Geek Odyssey” issue #2 before May of 2015!
My first convention appearance has already been blogged about (The INDYpendent Show) which was a great opportunity to teach a little about comics, and get told how I needed to step up my game… So I did. The first thing I worked on was getting something else printed, more than a print. I depressingly looked at the comics I had produced recently and realized that I could put together a 16 page comic book with two years worth of comic strips. Many of my self publishing friends had given me a drop dead date for having something ready, and that date had come and gone when I finally was able to start this project. I looked around the interwebs and remembered a few publishing company names from conventions and went to Ka-Blam out of Florida. They had an online pricing tool and promised a quick turn around so I could have my books in time for the Indy PopCon (which I will blog about a little later). I realized that about a third of the comics still needed to be colored so I decided a black & white book was in my future. As I was working on getting the book laid out (fine, avoiding the scariness of laying out the book) I designed some buttons to sell also. I tried a few different ideas for a cover and decided to go with one I drew while waiting for a meeting to start, which has shaped the design of the covers for the future. Once everything was turned in, it was just waiting for the comics to arrive. As the time passed I got anxious like waiting for my first MINI, I checked the progress on the Ka-Blam website until I saw that the book had shipped. The package arrived earlier than I had anticipated, and I was very pleased with how they had turned out. I kept telling myself this was a learning experience, and I would figure out what I did wrong, and fix it for the next book- I was already thinking about the next book before the first book was in my hands.
There’s something strangely scary about seeing your work in print. For the past five years I’ve been working on this comic and it’s just been pixels on a screen. Pixels aren’t real, no matter how much I looked at the comics I published here they were always intangible. When My Geek Odyssey appeared in FTF Geocacher Magazine, it didn’t faze me since I know a lot of people to contribute to hobbiest magazines, they write, I draw- no big deal. When I opened that box and stared down at my cover, an homage to Uncanny X-Men #141, it all became real, I had actually done it. While many a Con had called me a “Professional” it never really meant anything until I held that comic in my hands thumbed through it and found the one glaring error. Then I remember the old Marvel No-Prize and decided this was another lesson I had to learn.
I’ve already got ideas for next time, and issue 1.5… my first big thing is to start getting more comic strips out. I’m planning on Tuesday & Thursday as a publishing schedule for the summer and hopefully into the school year. I’ve got a bunch of stories I’m getting ready to tell, the first one being about our trip to Joyce Kilmer National Forest in North Carolina which started today. I’m re-examining the direction of the comic and will see what path that takes me down. I’ll take some side trips on My Geek Odyssey, but hopefully you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I will enjoy making them.
Some of you may have seen my Facebook post about this earlier in the week. On Wednesday I picked up an All Ages comic from my local shop I was purchasing it for my future classroom (more on that later). The cover was cute, reflecting the content of the comic. I have purchased other all ages comics from the same creators, and my students have really loved them. So I have nothing against the comic itself and what was is “All Ages.” Then I looked at the back cover, and cringed. You see the publisher of this specific comic seemed to think that the “All Ages” audience (little kids) would also enjoy reading about a scantily clad, woman who bathes in blood.
Looks kid-friendly enough doesn’t it?
Here’s the description of the all ages comics (from Previews) “THIS is it kids! The Cross-Over EPIC Event of a lifetime! Finally, CAPTAIN ACTION CAT meets ACTION CAT and the characters from AW YEAH COMICS! There is something EVIL out there and EVIL CAT is determined to find it! Even if it means searching throughout the SILVER AGE to do it! Could this blip on the screen be the one known as DOCTOR EVIL CAT?! We bet it is! What will happen when the SILVER AGE and the AW YEAH AGE collide! What does this mean to the Time-stream? The Fate of the comic world may change forever! PLUS, a mysterious frozen souvenir from the GOLDEN AGE makes a visit! Brought to you by the EISNER and HARVEY Award winning, New York Times best-selling Famous Cartoonists-Art Baltazar & Franco! CAPTAIN ACTION CAT is based on the classic Action-Figure Adventure-toy CAPTAIN ACTION! True story.”
Here’s the description of the comic advertised on the back- “Set against the fairytale backdrop of knights and magic, Blood Queen begins with the heartbreaking plight of a royal child, teetering between life and death. Summoned to save the princess, a young woman of untold power begins a journey that will uncover secrets, reveal forbidden desires, and stoke the fires of war. Inspired by the notorious true story of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Blood Queen imagines the Renaissance era as a colorful nightmare of mayhem, lust, and sorcery.” I will not show the ad, but you can see it (and what one cool cartoonist dad did to it) in the link below.
To quote Sesame Street “One of these things is not like the other…” As a teacher who LOVES comic books and wants to expose my kids to great stories and reading I sadly can’t put Captain Action Cat in my classroom library because for some strange reason I like to be employed and the rather “mature” ad on the back of this all ages comic makes it impossible. I handed the comic to another teacher to use in her class as an example but warned don’t show the back cover, don’t let the kids read it, just show a page or two using your document camera. I’m rebuilding my school comic library and unfortunately, some titles just might not make the cut… that makes me sad.
So here’s my question, because this is not the first publisher to do something like this, “What are you thinking?” I know, you have sell comics, and I know it is hard to change something that has been standardized for your entire line, but c’mon. How am I supposed to promote comics in the classroom to teacher who are already skeptical when all you give me are more reasons for them to say “No”? See, I can’t fill my room with the stuff DC and Marvel produce, because for the most part they’re titles talk down to kids and are only based on cartoon shows that are tied to selling toys. Worst case they are just a weird version of fumetti with screen shots from the cartoon instead of photos. There are some great titles by regular publishers like Scholastic and Random House, but I want to make sure my kids get a variety of all ages comics. Great comics for kids that challenge them come from the independent creators and they don’t tend to produce regularly, and then when they do the publisher puts a massive advertisement on the back and a few in the actual comic to make it impossible for me to have it in my classroom.
I’m not the only one, but we shouldn’t ever have to go to such extremes:
Thanks to the co-creator of Dexter’s Digs and The Brother’s Grant for sharing that link with me, it made me feel vindicated.
Feel free to comment with your favorite All Ages title- I know I don’t know them all, and would love to get more into my new classroom.
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That leads to the announcement that I will be returning to the classroom next school year! After two years dealing with fun and frustration of working with teachers and administrators I am really looking forward to getting back to a classroom and test, and test, and test my students day in and day out. Who knows I might end up discovering that they need to know about Countess Elizabeth Bathory and I’ve missed the chance to have third graders learn something new and important. What does this mean for My Geek Odyssey? I really don’t know, but I do know that when I was in the classroom before I was able to get a comic out more regularly, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. This summer I will be working on creating a sizable buffer (I know, I know, I’ve said that before) with lots of scantily clad monkeys in every strip.
Remember I’ll be at Indy Pop Con Booth 238 stop by and say “Hi” or yell at me about being a prude who likes to be gainfully employed. I’ll have stuff for sale.
So as Fall Break comes to a close I thought I’d at least share a bit about the adventures I had this past week. For those who don’t know about Fall Break in the midwest (or at least in Indiana) there has been a short break in October for as long as I have been teaching. It started off as a time for teachers to attend workshops and conferences, but slowly (because teachers have families- and therefore need to find daycare for their kiddos) it ended up being a four day weekend, until recently. Over the past few years many people woke up to the understanding that they no longer work on a farm the idea of “balancing” the school calendar had come into vogue. Ideally the calendar would be something like 9 weeks of teaching, then a break. I did my undergraduate thesis and graduate thesis on the advantages of a “year round” calendar and it finally might become reality. Sadly opponents claim this would destroy the time honored tradition of complaining that teachers get “summers off” it could also ruin the even more sacred high school athletics schedule. So many school districts have come up with a compromise, quietly extend some of the already community approved breaks and shorten Summer “vacation” a bit. This is why many people look at me like I have three heads when I talk about going back to school in early August. So this year my school district extended Fall Break to one week (many school districts have extended it to two weeks). We also have a week at Thanksgiving since attendance during that week is awful as so many people pull their kids out to travel over the river and through the woods.
What did I do this week? If you noticed an actual comic strip was published on both Tuesday and Thursday, a tradition I hope to continue. I also tried to relax… no really. I went to a game night on Friday, attended the Kokomo-Con on Saturday, and spent a lot of the week reminding myself why I hate doing artwork for other people, even friends.
Geek-wise I played Boss Monster, Ticket to Ride and Pandemic and had a great time with each. For those who have never played any of these a quick overview of each:
Boss Monster – A chance to play the evil villain in one of those old scrolling video adventure games. You construct a dungeon, room by room, and at the end of each turn you lure heroes to their doom (you hope). It was a Kickstarter project and the gameplay is pretty easy to understand. I have a few questions on the actual sequence of some things, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out if I play it more. – I lost, this time around
Ticket to Ride – Where have you been living? a cave?!? Sorry, Ticket to Ride is a train game in which you attempt to complete routes across the country (there are many versions of this game dealing with many continents the base game is mostly the U.S> with a few side trip into Canada.) It has been around for a few years and is a lot of fun to play, especially with more than two people, when it can get challenging, and a little cut throat. I won! trouncing my opponents with a route from Miami to Los Angeles and Houston to Winnipeg worth lots of points!
Pandemic – I don’t feel so good… Pandemic is one of those games in which it is the players vs. the game. A “cooperative” game. Which is a really cool idea. In this case you are trying to stop the human race from dying off from four different diseases. Each player has a role and therefore special abilities. The problem with many cooperative games is all it takes is one simple mistake, or a bad draw and it’s over…and yes, it was over, we lost. For kids Forbidden Island has a similar game mechanic and is a little easier to grasp. in that case an island is sinking and you are trying to rescue four artifacts and escape before it plunges into the depths forever.
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I’ve been to many a comic-con- I started with Creation Conventions, then WizardWorlds, C2E2, New York Comic Con, and San Diego… and now I can say I’ve been to Kokomo-Con. Kokomo-Con does not compare with any of the other conventions I have been to, but that’s not a bad thing. It has a homey feel about that only a small convention can have. It was small, and it reminded me almost of pop culture flea market, but again not in a bad way. It was a lot of fun and I decided to go for a few reasons. First my friend Jim McClain who does Solution Squad a great comic to engage older kids in Math was going to be there and I had run out of books (silly kids & teachers “borrowing” them) and he had a new poster dealing with the four steps of problem solving which I wanted to get for the schools I work in. Then another friend of mine (from Geocaching and Lego) had posted he was going to attend, so we hung out for a bit looking at all the different things at the show. From rare collectible toys, to a fiberglass replica of the Bat-mobile. Booths stocked with comics & toys and folk art made from comics and toys. I did discover some cool things so it wasn’t at all a waste of my time. Then again, as a teacher, a lot of what I found was stuff that would be great for school. One thing I did pick up was a copy of Boss Monster, I know I’ll have a chance to play it again.
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My MINIon badge… Yes, I am expendable, and yes, this is a modified version of the “official” graphic for MTTS.
I started off the week with a long list of stuff, and after the first day decided to dump it all and do some drawing. So I spent most of the week doodling and inking (hence two comic strips getting posted). This reminded me how much I love to draw and just play with images. It reminded me why I can never do artwork for someone. You see MINI Takes The States is coming up next summer and I was playing around with the idea of creating “badges” for some of my friends who would be going. Making them official “Cecil MINIons” I did some artwork for MINI on the Mack and thought it would be fun to extend it. Unfortunately I forgot how difficult it can be to draw for someone, and not just for myself. I asked my friends to give their “MINIon Number” and I would create a badge for that. Now some of these folks I have known for years, and other are fairly new so what they got may be determined by how much time I had spent with them, or the geekiness of their MINIon number. So the person who asked for #42 was pretty easy, a monkey with a towel holding a yellow fish, others, not so much. Stupid me started with the ones I wanted to do, the fun ones. Then like any proud parent I posted them for the group to see… then the floodgates opened with requests- which drained the fun right out of the project. Then my friends started asking for tweaks to the drawing I had done, “Could you add this?” “Could you change that?” “I really want this instead.” Then they started to make requests for their friends… I have stopped working on this project for the time being. I will return to it, but not right now. I do appreciate the person who specifically asked how much I was charging for these badges, and seemed a little shocked when I said “nothing, I’m doing this for fun- it keeps me out of a straight jacket.” I know that many of my friends would help me in a heartbeat if I needed it, so it’s not like the favor will not be returned, but for now, I’m taking a break.
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Besides that I worked a little on a Lego Project- taking the “Just like Beggar’s Canyon Back Home” to the next level, and seeing how I can add some kind of motion to it. I’m about 1400 bricks into my first draft so we shall see how it turns out. Fortunately I have until March to get it done.
All in all not a bad break, kept away from schoolwork unless it connected with something I was already doing, now I just have to figure out how I’m going to get up tomorrow in time to make it to school…
A couple of years ago I decided to participate in 24 Hour Comic Day, a challenge for comic book creators to make a 24 page comic book in 24 hours, I succeeded (kind of) with time to spare. This I was not so lucky.
In 2011 I sat down at a table with a bunch of other comic creators and in about 20 hours produced a 24 page comic book about Geocaching. A comic book that due to exhaustion has never, and probably will never be published. My process is to draw in non-photo blue pencils, ink, and scan my comic. In 2011 I had decided that I would create a simple black and white comic. After completing it I then got talked into adding some spot color to my original art. For the “blueline” to work, you can’t really add other colors. I knew this, but I was tired and decided “Why not?” when I got back home I was too exhausted to fiddle with it, and have since moved on. I still have all the pages, but that’s about it.
Fast-Forward to this year- Same challenge, different location. I spent yesterday morning running around dealing with things for my school district’s “Magnet Fair.” The Magnet Fair is an opportunity for families to shop around and see what schools are offering. In a lot of cases the parents already know, but they are double checking their decision. From 1:30 to 4:00 I was helping to persuade parents that STEM would be a good choice. Actually I asked one kid a series of questions about what they really liked… and then told them they should consider another school. Then it was a quick stop back home to feed and comfort Hemi before heading out to the opposite side of town and be creative.
The 24 Comic Day event was held at Downtown Comics’ westside location and while it started at 5:00 it was recommended to get there around 4:30 to set up, I got there at 5:30… already off to a bad start, since when I first arrived there was no room at the table of creators for me. I began by just warming up for drawing with a pad on my lap. This was rectified when another a table was set up in the back.
Cecil looks over the finished pencils for upcoming strips.
As a participant part of the challenge is to start from absolutely nothing. I don’t think it’s possible to not have a kernel of an idea floating around in your head, but you should come with nothing written down. I had a few ideas: another Geocaching comic that could be sold to cachers at events, retelling the tale of Sue and my wedding from the proposal to the big day (to help the healing process), retelling the adventures of MINI Takes The States in a long form comic, or “something else.” So I started to work on a MINI Takes The States comic, since it would be pretty simple to plot out. I also decided to take the kid’s comics format used by Tiny Titans, Superman Family Adventures, and Little Hellboy. Have smaller stories that all relate and build on each other. Each story is a few pages, but the final piece links everything together. I plotted this out ending up with around 12 different mini tales and started on page 1 and hit a roadblock. After about 2/3 of the way done with the first page I just didn’t really know how to proceed. So I stopped and attempted to regroup. At this point a decided to try “something else.”
While not within the “rules of the game” I decided that I was going to use this time productively and draw, just draw. When I’m home there are always other distractions, so being locked in a comic shop for 24 hours gave me time to draw, and not do much else. I started working on some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while, then I moved onto my notes for My Geek Odyssey. I always keep a running note on my iDevices giving me a place to jot down any thing that comes to mind. So I looked at this list, and started drawing. By sunrise I had penciled around 14 strips and my hand was starting to give out. I didn’t want to ruin what I had drawn so I stopped and decided I would not ink them until later. I have the advantage of having a school vacation coming up and decided that I would take care of finishing these over that break. I spent the next few hours drawing for some other projects and finally around 11:00AM decided to pack it in and go home.
So yes, I failed at the challenge, but I did get a lot done, and feel pretty good about what I have accomplished, some of it may work for the little projects I have bouncing around. WIll I try again next year? Of course. What will I do differently? A lot of things. I want to start with a single idea, worked out ahead of time (I know, breaking the rules- but this isn’t as much about the challenge anymore as it is about using 24 hours devoted specifically to creating a final product). Next- show up on time to get a seat at the table. I had a great time talking with Paul and Jeff throughout the evening, and was really productive considering my modified goal, but as one of the other participants said- he was there for “networking.” While this isn’t about networking for me, it is about a communal spirit that is hard to participate in when you are sitting at the “kids’ table.” Actually it was probably more the “adult’s table” but you get the idea- when you are separated from the main group you can be really productive, and yet miss out on some of the camaraderie of the experience. Being an introvert I’m not sure how much this is needed for me, but getting to know new people is part of the experience, part of the challenge.
A big thanks to Downtown Comics, Jeff Himes, and all the sponsors (Marcos Pizza, RAM, etc.) who helped make the 24 hours a lot of fun.
Besides the actual comic strips that you will see in time below are some of the other doodles I did.
Working on some graphics for MTTS- each MINIon has a “Badge” with their MINIon # on it… decided we needed a Darth Minion
MINIon #1701 yes, the final shirt color will be red.
Rough sketch for the MINIons on the Dragon Dragon portion of the design
Random MINIon with really really really long scarf
