Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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