Let's Make a Comic Book: Write, Draw, Publish Your Own Comics & Manga Ages 10-13

Does your learner aspire to be a writer, illustrator, or sequential artist?  Let's Make a Comic Book is a 10 week course that guides students through the entire process of developing a comic or manga. Students will write, draw, and publish a 4-6 page comic book of their own design. The course focuses on both the creative writing and illustration skills that professional sequential artists use to produce comic books. The teacher will use guided drawing, peer collaboration and critique, examples, and collaborative art to guide students through the entire process of creating a comic book. 

September 7-11: How Creators Develop Ideas.
Students will engage in a brainstorming activity to develop potential plot and character ideas they can later develop into a sequential narrative. Students will learn how to collaborate on a short comic strip through a jam comic. Students will discuss their favorite published comic books and graphic novels. We will use our favorite titles to brainstorm stories that we wished existed. Students sketch their story idea on drawing paper. 

 September 14-18: Character Development and Design
Students will learn about the protagonist and antagonist of a story. Students will analyze examples of protagonists and antagonists from their favorite comic books. Students will create a protagonist and antagonist as main characters for their stories. Students will complete an activity to flesh out their characters. Students will learn how to draw characters using simple shapes and lines of action to create movement. 

September 21-25 Setting Development and Design
Students will study and analyze the qualities of settings found in their favorite comic books. Students will create a setting for their protagonist and antagonist. Students will participate in a guided peer critique to gain feedback from their peers. Students will complete an activity focused on the revision process to add further details to their settings. Students will learn how to use shapes, one point perspective, and references to draw objects commonly found in comic book backgrounds. 

September 28-October 2 Writing a Narrative Like a Movie Script
Students will learn how to write their narrative and dialogue as a movie script. Comic book writers use a scripting format to guide how the comic will be drawn. Students will learn how to write a narrative so that the events of the story and the character dialogue are clearly defined. Students will study examples of movie and comic book scripts and discuss their similarities. Students will use a script template in a guided writing activity to write their story as a script. 

October 5-9 Plan Your Comic Book with Paneling
Students will learn how to create panels to show the progression of their comic book story. The teacher will provide students with examples of different paneling methods and explain the purpose of each. Students will collaborate to create panels for an existing comic book story. The teacher will lead students in a guided activity that will help students create their own panels. Students will create a thumbnail sketch of their entire comic book idea. Students will engage in a peer critique to receive feedback that will support them in making revisions and preparing for their final pencil drawings. 

October 12-16 Pencil Your Comic Book on Bristol Board
Students will learn how to prepare their final comic book drawing on Bristol board using pencil. The teacher will model how to use pencil to draw the final comic and show consistent lighting and shadows. Students will draw their final pencil drawings on Bristol board while the teacher models an example. 

October 19-23 Lettering Your Comic
Students will learn how to add narration and dialogue to their penciled comic book pages in a guided activity. The teacher will model how to draw captions and word bubbles into a panel. The students will draw captions and word bubbles onto their own comic book pages with guidance from the teacher. 

October 26-30 Inking Your Comic
Students will learn a variety of techniques for adding ink to their finished pencil comic pages. The teacher will provide penciled practice drawings. Students will use the practice drawings to explore how to use brush, wash, spot lighting, and cross hatching techniques. Students will learn how to use pens, markers, brushes, and India ink to create the lighting effects seen in traditional comics. 

November 2-6 Make Your Characters and Background Stand Out through Color
Students will learn how to use colored pencils and markers to color their comics. The students will analyze sample comic book pages and discuss the way the pages are colored. Students will learn how values, warm tones, and cool tones separate the foreground from the background and distinguish the characters. Students will use a practice comic book page provided by the teacher to practice coloring. Students should scan and email their finished comic to the teacher next week. 

November 9-10 Celebrate and Prepare for Publication
This week students will celebrate their completion of a full length comic book with a virtual publishing party. The first day of class will focus on discussion, finishing any incomplete steps. The teacher will model any strategies from previous lessons to help students finish the project as needed.  On the second day of class, each student will present their finished comic to their peers and the teacher. Students will participate in a virtual gallery walk to celebrate their accomplishment and the accomplishments of their peers. 

Each class will begin with a collaborative jam comic warm up. A jam comic is a short collaborative comic strip in which the students each draw one panel of a 3-6 panel comic to tell a short story. This strategy allows students to collaborate and begin brainstorming ideas for each session. The teacher will then introduce the objective for the day's lesson. Students will have time in class to practice the learning objective with teacher guidance and feedback. Students will have the opportunity to share ideas with each other and participate in peer critiques. The teacher will provide time in class for students to work on the long term project of making a comic book; however, students will also need to spend time outside of class completing the project. The teacher will provide feedback during both live video sessions and through email based discussion.  At the end of the course, students will each receive a digital copy of their own comic book. Students are responsible for participating in the creation process, producing their own writing and artwork, and emailing their final product to the teacher by the last week of the course. The teacher will then review and format the student's final product for digital publication. Students should have access to a scanner in order to scan and email the final product to the teacher. Once scanning and formatting is complete, the teacher will send the student a final digital copy the publication. The student can then share their digital comic book with friends, family, or have as a keepsake.

                                                                         * Comic Creations Digital Anthology 2021 Updates*
Each month, I collect the wonderful comic and manga art created by learners and publish the digital anthology "Comic Creations." The anthology is available exclusively to  learners who participate in my comic book and manga classes.  The anthology will shared with these learners and families monthly. The release schedule is below: 
May 14, 2021
June 11, 2021
July 30, 2021
August 20, 2021