Blog

February 13, 2013

In the fall of 2011 we did a comics reading series at the Brooklyn Public Library. The third book we read and discussed was Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme. Here is a slightly edited transcript of our discussion that Sunday afternoon. ...read more

book club, Ludovic Debeurme, transcript

Activities, Blog, Cartoonists, Comics library, Comics readers, Educators, Events, Students, Uncategorized

Guest post: Dan Berry’s guide to making 24-hour comics

January 13, 2013

In anticipation of the upcoming 24-Hour Comics event in Angoulême, France, cartoonist and teacher Dan Berry shares his pointers on how best to prepare yourself for this rewarding challenge. ...read more

24-hour comic, creative constraint, creativity, links, news

Activities, Blog, Cartoonists, Drawing Comics, Educators, Guest posts, Making Comics, Students

Combined index to Mastering Comics and DWWP

January 8, 2013

We’ve posted a complete index to Mastering Comics and Drawing Words &Writing Pictures, for those who might want to find out if the books address questions they’re interested in, or to check if they were mentioned! ...read more

Blog

Teaching Comics to teens week 2 day 4: Basic Character Design

2 Comments

January 3, 2013

Now that your students are approaching the final version of their Gag Cartoon, it’s time for some more drawing lessons. Nothing terribly complex, but these simple concepts can make all the difference in the work of a neophyte cartoonist, both in visual appeal and readability. ...read more

Best American Comics: the Notable Comics of 2012 (and a giveaway)

65 Comments

Best American Comics, Notables

October 9, 2012

A complete list with links of the Notable Comics 2012 from the Best American Comics, and a giveaway of some of those very books! Comment to enter the drawing. ...read more

Blog, Cartoonists, Comics library, Comics readers, Educators, Links, Students

Teaching Comics to Teens week 2 day 3: How Not To Be Funny

September 24, 2012

So after spending yesterday helping my students struggle with their nascent, shaky ideas, revising, reworking and shaping them according to the fundamentals that make gag cartoons work, what do I do? Introduce Anti-Gag Cartoons of course! Keep ‘em off balance, that’s what I say! ...read more

comics teaching, creativity, gag, lesson plan, Mark Newgarden, student work, syllabus, teaching

Activities, Blog, Comics library, Drawing Comics, Educators, Guest posts, Lesson plans, Making Comics, Writing Comics

Giveaway: Best American Comics 2011, signed by cartoonists and Alison Bechdel

42 Comments

Alison Bechdel, Best American Comics, giveaways

August 3, 2012

Best American Comics 2011 (Featured Image)

Matt and Jessica are giving away signed copies of the Best American Comics 2011. ...read more

Blog, Comics library, News

Giveaway: Best American Comics 2010, signed by cartoonists and Neil Gaiman

28 Comments

Best American Comics, giveaways, Neil Gaiman

August 3, 2012

Matt and Jessica are giving away signed copies of the Best American Comics 2010. ...read more

Blog, Comics library, News

Best American Comics 2012 table of contents

August 2, 2012

Every year, we get requests from teachers wanting to know what will be in the new Best American Comics before it comes out, so as to plan their classes. Herewith, therefore, is the table of contents of the new Best American Comics, edited by Françoise Mouly, and out in September of this year. vii : ... ...read more

Best American Comics

Blog, Comics library, Educators

Get this comic: “(NO) PAIN! The mega-mini comic”

July 6, 2012

Seeing how many cartoonists were injured inspired Kriota to try her hand at cartooning. The result is a fat little tome that should have a place on every cartoonist’s shelf, (NO) PAIN! The mega-mini comic. ...read more

injury, Kriota Willberg, stretching

Blog, Cartoonists, Comics library, Educators, Links, Making Comics, Students

Teaching comics to teens week 2 day 2: “The Horror!”

July 5, 2012

Early in Mastering Comics, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden discuss ‘the Horror of the Blank Page’ (Chapter 2). Every artist who has ever put pen to paper has felt it, and likely some of your students will be feeling it now. ...read more

Shujaaz: Kenyan comics for youth

June 26, 2012

There’s something really interesting about a comic that crosses the line into readers’ real lives in some way, and, possibly because of that crossover, the positive messages in the comics seem to have a lot of concrete impact. ...read more

Blog, Cartoonists, Comics readers, Educators, Links

Teaching Comics to Teens Week 2 Day 1: Gag me with a ‘toon

June 18, 2012

In DWWP, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden begin with this basic unit of comic art—the single panel cartoon. This approach only makes sense, and I utilize it as well. ...read more

activity, comics teaching, lesson plan, solo learning, student work, syllabus, teaching, workshop, writing

Activities, Blog, Demos and tutorials, Drawing Comics, Educators, Guest posts, Lesson plans, Making Comics, Writing Comics

Matt’s Comics Process II: The Inking Stage

6 Comments

June 8, 2012

This is the second of a two-part post where we walk you through the method Matt uses to make a typical comics page. ...read more

inking, mastering comics, nib pen, pen inking, process

Blog, Cartoonists, Drawing Comics, Professional practice, Tools and techniques

What’s happening with Mastering Comics: some reviews and interviews

4 Comments

interview, mastering comics

June 6, 2012

our first ever sale of Mastering Comics, at TCAF 2012

Mastering Comics has been out for over a month now, and we’ve been receiving interviews about it and seen many good reviews around the web. Here are some of the places you can find out more. ...read more

Blog, Books, Interviews, Links, Mastering Comics, Reviews

Teaching comics to teens day 4: Cartooning through the ages

3 Comments

May 14, 2012

I am a firm believer in exploring the rich history of the cartooning medium; not only for its own illustrious sake, but as a fount of inspiration for my students’ work. (I also admit that I love teaching it. Windsor McCay, Siegel and Shuster, The Fleischer Bros., why wouldn’t you teach it?) ...read more

activity, comics teaching, lesson plan, student work, syllabus, teaching

Activities, Blog, Educators, Guest posts, Lesson plans

The anatomy of doors

May 10, 2012

This is one of several features we had to drop from Mastering Comics for length, and will be posting here. For more like this, and better, check out the book! (For another sample of the kind of stuff that we just couldn’t shoehorn into our giant book, check out our guide to laying out bleeds.) ... ...read more

activity, details, drawing, mastering comics, research

Activities, Blog, Cartoonists, Drawing Comics, Educators, Making Comics, Students, Tools and techniques

Mastering Comics is on sale today, May 8!

3 Comments

May 8, 2012

Today Mastering Comics: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures Continued is officially released into the world! ...read more

mastering comics, news

Blog, Links, Mastering Comics, News

Teaching comics to teens day 3: Learning basic cartooning techniques

May 7, 2012

As you know, cartooning is primarily about storytelling. However, for some students a big motivation for taking the class is to learn how to draw. But, as any artist knows, the best way to learn how to draw is simply to do it. Over and over again. ...read more

activity, comics teaching, lesson plan, student work, syllabus, teaching

Activities, Blog, Educators, Guest posts, Lesson plans

Teaching comics to teens day 2: Creating an exquisite corpse

3 Comments

April 30, 2012

The second day will be about them getting to know each other. I like to have the class play a game called The Exquisite Corpse. Originally conceived by Andre Breton and the Surrealists, the game encourages group creativity through random chance (in my experience, kids love all things random). ...read more

activity, comics teaching, lesson plan, student work, syllabus, teaching

Activities, Blog, Educators, Guest posts, Lesson plans

Teaching comics to teens day 1: Using comics to tell your story

4 Comments

April 23, 2012

We inaugurate a fantastic new series by Derek Mainhart, who is setting out to write up an entire year’s curriculum for a comics class at the secondary level: middle school and high school. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s going to be entertaining, well-planned, and incredibly useful. ...read more

#comicsedu, activity, comics teaching, creative constraint, lesson plan, student work, syllabus, teaching

Activities, Blog, Demos and tutorials, Educators, Guest posts, Lesson plans, Tools and techniques

Mastering Comics pre-release giveaway online and at MoCCA Fest!

16 Comments

giveaways, mastering comics

April 16, 2012

an example of the kinds of doodles you could develop into a comic

Our new textbook, Mastering Comics, releases officially on May 8 and to celebrate we will be giving away four copies, two here on the website and two in person at our table at the MoCCA Fest 2012! ...read more

Activities, Blog, Cartoonists, Comics readers, Educators, Events, Making Comics, Students

Mastering Comics: it’s finally here!

5 Comments

book release, mastering comics

April 7, 2012

After years of labor, we are happy to announce that we hold an actual, printed copy of Mastering Comics, our follow up to Drawing Words & Writing Pictures in our hands. Official release date is May 8! ...read more

Blog, News

Book group transcription #1: “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel

2 Comments

February 28, 2012

Back in the fall, Matt and I ran a graphic novel book club at the Brooklyn Public Library. These were really great discussions, and we’re going to try to post complete transcripts. ...read more

Alison Bechdel, book club, transcript

Activities, Blog, Cartoonists, Comics library, Comics readers, Educators, Events, Students

What’s in Mastering Comics?

7 Comments

mastering comics, table of contents

February 24, 2012

Wondering what’s coming in our upcoming new textbook Mastering Comics? We’ve posted our table of contents in the Resources section, and will link items in it to posts here as we make them. Can’t wait to share this with you! ...read more

Blog, Cartoonists, Comics library, Comics readers, Drawing Comics, Educators, How to use, Making Comics, Students, Writing Comics

Announcing Mastering Comics

7 Comments

February 20, 2012

We are excited to announce that Mastering Comics will go on sale May 8th, 2012. ...read more

mastering comics

Blog, Cartoonists, Comics readers, Educators, Students

Guest post: Cartooning and Confianza

1 Comment

Jarod Rosello

January 3, 2012

As a teacher, having confianza with my students has always been of the utmost importance. In fact, it’s always been my main priority: I just figured the content-learning would come if I could get my students to trust me. Teaching, I think, is about managing human relationships. ...read more

autobio comics, writing

Activities, Blog, Cartoonists, Educators, Guest posts, Lesson plans, Making Comics

Best American Recap: Notable Comics of 2010

27 Comments

Best American Comics, Notables

December 12, 2011

This week we are going to give away a set of about 10 comics and graphic novels that were featured in the Best American Comics 2010 List of Notable Comics! Just comment on this post between now and Tuesday December 13 at 5 pm, and you will be entered in a drawing to win the pile. ...read more

Blog, Cartoonists, Comics readers, Educators, Reviews, Students

Panels, pages and balloons book club: a few notes on Asterios Polyp

2 Comments