The comic book lesson A graphic novel that shows you how to make comics

Mark Crilley

Book - 2022

"Read this comic and start creating your own comic book! This charming illustrated tale will teach you the fundamentals of visual storytelling and making comics. Acclaimed illustrator and graphic novelist Mark Crilley returns with a new approach to learning the essential elements of making comics. Using the same comics-style art instruction as in The Drawing Lesson, The Comic Book Lesson follows the story of Emily, an enthusiastic young comics fan and aspiring creator who has a story she needs to tell. On her quest to turn her story into a comic book, Emily visits her comic book shop and local comics convention, where she meets three mentors: Trudy, a high school student working on comics of her own, teaches Emily how to create express...ive characters and how art can convey action and suspense. Madeline, a newly-published manga artist, teaches Emily how to use panel composition and layout to tell a story visually and the process of developing a comic from script to sketch to finished pages. Sophie, a professional graphic novelist, guides Emily through fine-tuning the details of dialogue, sequence, and pacing to lead readers through the story. The Comic Book Lesson blends these teaching moments into a sweet, funny, and poignant story that reveals why Emily is so driven to create her comic book. Each lesson builds off the previous information and skills presented, and the sequential art format provides the perfect vehicle for step-by-step instruction. Crilley also includes practice exercises to help readers develop their own comic book skills"--

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Subjects
Genres
Graphic novels
Comics (Graphic works)
Published
California ; New York : Watson-Guptill [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
Mark Crilley (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
155 pages : chiefly color illustrations ; 26 cm
ISBN
9781984858436
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Crilley (Mastering Manga) returns with an accessible but simplistic guide for readers keen on making their own comics. Instead of a textbook format, Crilley disguises his teachings through a narrative focused on Emily, a naive young teen eager to bring her pet detective story to life. While looking for a book that will show her "how to make comics" she finds Trudy, who is "working on a comic book project" herself. She offers to help Emily get started and quickly introduces her to Madeline, an outgoing zinester--or as Trudy puts it, "the real deal." Between these two expert figures, Emily and therefore the reader are provided lessons on paneling, character designs, and scripting. However, the plot lacks much propulsion aside from being a vehicle for cartooning basics. Crilley's art style has a YA feel, and employs some clever devices, such as leaving his sketch layer under the panels to hint at how students of the volume could letter and draft objects in their own projects. But compared to exemplar comics explainers such as Scott McCloud's Making Comics or Lynda Barry's Syllabus, this feels more like a companion or junior version. It's best for younger readers wanting to dip their toes into comics creations. (July)

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Introduction I had this idea: to teach people how to make comics by presenting lessons in the form of an actual comic book story. The two things seemed like a match made in heaven, but showing someone how to make comics is no small task. Even the simplest comic involves not only writing and drawing, but also designing characters, laying out pages, and wrestling with the surprisingly tricky matter of knowing where to put all those speech bubbles. Unfortunately, many aspiring comic book creators get distracted by matters of style, focusing all their energies on learning how to draw particular things such as superheroes or manga characters. But you can't make a good comic if you don't grasp the basic nuts and bolts of how comic book storytelling works: that delicate dance between words and pictures that occurs the moment you begin putting one panel next to another. So, no, this book won't show you how to draw specific things, or tell you what kinds of ink pens or software you should buy. Because you can't make great comics simply by buying a bunch of stuff, or by learning how to draw awesome-looking capes. It really comes down to learning how to think the way a comic book creator does. Each new panel presents you with endless options for what you're going to show to the reader, and how you're going to show it. Your job is to consider those options, weighing one against the other, and then choose the one that will best convey that next little beat of the story. This is at the heart of every comic anyone has ever made, whether it's about intergalactic aliens, the French Revolution, or a couple of dudes sitting around playing cards. My hope is that you're at least a little like Emily, the main character in this story. She's not looking for drawing lessons, or for a list of things she has to buy. She's got her sights set on something much more fundamental than that: How do you transform an idea that's stuck in your brain into an actual comic book story? If that's something you're eager to learn, then read on. This book is for you. Excerpted from The Comic Book Lesson: A Graphic Novel That Shows You How to Make Comics by Mark Crilley All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.