Blog

Announcing Mastering Comics

Feb

20

2012

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

Guest post: Cartooning and Confianza

Jan

03

2012

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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

Best American Recap: Notable Comics of 2010

Dec

12

2011

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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

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

Dec

09

2011

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This Saturday, December 17, we’ll be hosting a final live book club meeting at the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. This time we’ll be discussing Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzucchelli. ...read more

Best American Comics: the Notable Comics of 2011

Dec

07

2011

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This week we are going to give away a set of about 25 mincomics and self-published books that were featured in the Best American Comics 2011 List of Notable Comics! Just comment on this post between now and Friday December 9 at 5 pm, and you will be entered in a drawing to win the pile. ...read more

A holiday gift idea: the beginning cartoonist’s starter kit

Dec

05

2011

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The Holidays are coming! And we have a great gift idea for you: a beginning cartoonist’s starter kit! To get your special person started in comics, just use our checklist to buy him or her the basic tools of the trade. ...read more

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

Nov

17

2011

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This Saturday, November 19, we’ll be hosting another live book club meeting at the Central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. This time we’ll be discussing the recently translated French comic Lucille, by Ludovic Debeurme. ...read more

Guest post: Chinese calligraphy—Shu fa

Nov

16

2011

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Our editor on Drawing Words & Writing Pictures is the multi-talented Mark Siegel. He’s the creator of Sailor Twain, and often posts interesting observations on art and craft. A few months back he posted a couple of times on the art of Chinese calligraphy, and as Matt and I were recently thinking about sumi ink ... ...read more

Drawing comics live demo: report

Oct

28

2011

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At a recent conference at the University of Iowa, I drew a six-panel comic in front of six 25-minute sessions of middle- and high-school kids, one panel at a time. It was a chance to talk naturally about the order of work, the materials needed, and to show all the behind-the-scenes action. ...read more

Guest post: About teaching comics, part 3

Oct

27

2011

Mari Ahokoivu on getting unstuck, teaching comics
Mari Ahokoivu is back with the much-anticipated third part of her visual essay on teaching comics. This time out: getting unstuck. ...read more

Panels, pages, and balloons book club: a few notes on Ice Haven

Oct

23

2011

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Next Saturday, October 29, we’ll be hosting our second live book club meeting. This time, we’ll be discussing Ice Haven, by Daniel Clowes. ...read more

“What Is a ‘Graphic Novel?’” slideshow

Oct

19

2011

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Librarians and comics educators, here’s a great and simple tool for introducing the basics of comics! We’ve put together a Powerpoint/PDF presentation of Jessica’s 2002 strip, “What is a ‘Graphic Novel?’”, also available as a PDF poster or handout. Feel free to use it, whether for a book club or in a classroom, or in any way you think up. ...read more

Panels, pages, and balloons book club: a few notes on Fun Home

Oct

15

2011

Pay attention to how Bechdel uses words in this page (153) from Fun Home; also observe the parallel visual narrative.
This afternoon, we’ll be hosting a live book club meeting on Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel. Our plan is to talk a little bit and show some slides at the beginning and show and then open up the floor for all of you to share your thoughts, questions and observations about Fun Home and reading ... ...read more

Let’s talk comics: Panels, Pages & Balloons: The Graphic Novel Book Club at the Brooklyn Public Library

Oct

12

2011

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This Saturday we will be inaugurating our new book club at the Brooklyn Public Library, Panels, Pages & Balloons: The Graphic Novel Book Club. It’ll be a great forum for discussing comics, especially if you’re new to the medium. ...read more

Social Media for Young Cartoonists: Wrap-Up

Oct

10

2011

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Hoo boy. Social Media for Young Cartoonists. We kept it up for nine articles… and nine intense weeks of researching, experimenting, goal-setting, (goal-missing and goal-reaching), coding, uploading, updating, tweeting, commenting,and collaborating. Then what? ...read more

Welcome to our revamped site!

Oct

07

2011

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Like most websites, dw-wp.com is a perpetual work-in-progress and we are always fiddling around behind the scenes, adding and changing features, strategizing our content, and so on. However, over this past summer we have put in a whole mess of updates and are proud to announce what amounts to a relaunch of this site. ...read more

24-hour comics day present, future & past

Sep

29

2011

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This Saturday, October 1, is 24-hour Comics Day, and Matt takes the opportunity to reminisce about the repercussions of his 24-hour comic experience, many moons ago. ...read more

September Twitter round-up

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Sep

23

2011

Our September tweets, in one convenient post. ...read more

Crowdsourcing: build a better comics classroom

Sep

02

2011

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If you were starting a comics studio program from scratch (and with a decent budget!), what would be the optimal comics studio set-up for your students? ...read more

End-of-summer Twitter round-up, July-August

Aug

26

2011

A round-up of our tweets about comics and education. ...read more

Comics like magic in five days

Jul

18

2011

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Incredibly action-packed 5-day comics workshop in the Twin Cities: a report and samples of student work. ...read more

Social Media for Young Cartoonists, Week 9: Building a Persona

Jul

07

2011

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JP presents his three-part strategy for developing a persona while Hilary tries on “wisecracker” for size. Plus: a cliffhanger! ...read more

Guest post: About teaching comics, part 2

Jul

06

2011

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Mari Ahokoivu takes us through part 2 of her development as a cartoonist and a teacher of comics. ...read more

Social Media for Young Cartoonists, Week 8: Backlogging and Pacing Content

Jun

29

2011

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Before you even start thinking of having any type of blog/web-comic, you should make sure you have at least 5-6 pieces ready to go before you launch. ...read more

A Modest Proposal: a wiki for all comics education?

Jun

27

2011

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Here’s an idea: What about creating a wiki where comics educators could create and update listings on what they have to offer? And of course, being a wiki, students and former students could add information on their experiences? If you’re experienced in creating wikis, and interested in comics education, we need your help! ...read more

Social Media for Young Cartoonists: Week 7, traffic reports

Jun

20

2011

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JP: So last week I finally got around to uploading one of my comics online. A day went by, and I was curious to see how many people actually viewed my comic. 2,798 visits?! RESULTS! HUZZAH! ...read more

Weekly Twitter round-up for 2011-06-17

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Jun

17

2011

A weekly round-up of our tweets about comics and education. ...read more

Social Media For Young Cartoonists: Weeks 5-6: Collaborating and Counting, Part I: Offline

Jun

14

2011

The social media project takes a turn for scary-real-world as Hilary and JP learn about collaborating. Part one of two… ...read more

Guest post: My life with manga by Abby Denson

Jun

13

2011

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On the occasion of receiving the International Manga Award for my graphic novel, Dolltopia , this spring, I’ve been reflecting on my relationship with manga and Japan over the past fifteen years or so. I’ve been lucky enough to study in Tokyo as well as exhibit at conventions there, and am grateful to have had manga as an influence and inspiration for my own journey as a comics creator. ...read more

Weekly Twitter round-up for 2011-06-11

Jun

10

2011

In Social Media for Young Cartoonists, week 4, @haha_hilary and @whurf tell you all about Tumblr! http://cot.ag/lHf6Tt #makecomics # Have you read this week’s installment of Social Media for Young Cartoonists? It’s all about Tumblr! http://cot.ag/lHf6Tt # Sorry about any weird tweets showing up–an unexpected byproduct of some upgrades we’re working on. # End-of-the-year report ... ...read more