Review by Booklist Review
There's no shortage of how-to-create-comics manuals around, but McLachlan (The Princess Planet webcomic) manages to distinguish his by breaking down complex concepts with very accurately age-targeted language and examples. His instructions are divided into 10 secrets, each an overarching and abstract idea essential to comics and story creation, like unifying words and art, practicing simplicity, creating ideas, and even a chapter on knowing when to break the rules. He then explains the concept in practical terms with easily understandable language and a great deal of enthusiasm. He fills each chapter with visual examples and pro tips and ends each one with exercises that will pull budding cartoonists right in. Though he affords ample time to the visual mechanics, McLachlan offers salient writing advice as well, touching on elements that have produced great stories for as long as there have been stories, in an easygoing and unintimidating manner. Indeed, like a beloved teacher, McLachlan's warmth, humor, and charm make this book the absolute best of its kind for the age group.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Comics creator McLachlan outlines 10 secrets, from "Comics let you show and tell" to "Go beyond the normal," as he encourages readers to try their hand at graphic storytelling. He opens with a discussion of "comics grammar" (explaining conventions like speech balloons, panels, and caption boxes), then moves into discussions of styles and genres, the use of details and color, how to give drawings personality, and developing one's ideas. McLachlan's comics appear throughout to, well, illustrate his points; in a section about telling "complex or deep stories with simple art," a yellow circle with black lines for rays appears near an ornately rendered sun ("Again, that doesn't mean the story with the second kind of sun will be better"). It's a useful and accessible primer for the next generation of comics artists and writers. Ages 8-12. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
People are always asking writers, "Where do you get your ideas?" This book actually answers the question. Everyone knows that the best way to get a child to do something is to say it's forbidden. McLachlan has given this book the subtitle "Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics," so that readers think they're gaining forbidden knowledge. Some of the information isn't much of a secret. The first tip is: "Comics marry pictures and words." But the author's really talking about much bigger ideas, like the different ways that words and pictures show the passage of time. He talks about the way a word or a picture can inspire readers, telling them that "the comic panels invite the reader to imagine what has happened between them." None of this is hidden knowledge (Scott McCloud discussed most of the same topics in Understanding Comics, 1994), but it's valuable information. The sections about generating ideas give very practical advice, especially the pages on "brainstorm doodles." The sample comics that appear throughout the book aren't quite so impressive (ROBIN HOOD: "Marian, would you like to join us in our forest?" MARIAN: "Sure wood!"), but the techniques they demonstrate are worth learning. Advanced cartoonists may prefer a longer book, like McCloud's, but this book has all the secrets beginners might need. (Nonfiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
