New York City

Just got back from having a very enjoyable four days in New York City. I was invited to submit a proposal to present at the National Conference of Teachers of English on the topic of using comics to teach literary devices. My proposal was accepted and I traveled with my fellow members of the Endless Mountains Writing Project to New York City.

It never would have occurred to me to attend a conference for English teachers, but there were dozens of sessions that dealt with the integration of the visual arts into language instruction, etc. And, there was almost always at least one session going on that dealt with using comics to teach!

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon, veteran writer and artist of the comics industry. They are also the editor and writer of the fantastic new graphic adaptation of the 9-11 Report. They basically took something that was unreadable to most people and made it understandable through graphics in the comics format. This book is being used in high schools and colleges now. At their session they explained the process of making the book and answered questions about it.









I picked up a free copy of the book and asked them to sign it for my son. They wrote "To Dan the Man". Ernie is most famous for the 25 years he spent drawing Casper the Friendly Ghost comics so I asked him to draw Casper in my sketchbook. Sid remarked, "You still got it!"


I read their book and highly recommend it. I'll post one page of it below to give you an idea of the quality. It's not a dramatization. They are trying to remain objective and present the facts for us to draw our own conclusions.

Challenge #12: Make a Photo Comic

This was our challenge this week at 52 Comics Challenges:

Homework for Artists & Writers:
Take photos of your friends to use as the drawings in your comic. Create a 1 - 2 page coming using only photos. Reuse photos if necessary, but try to use at least 6-10 photos. Once you have your photos, create your comic like normal, using word balloons, captions and sound effects.

Well, I had to make a flier by Monday to take with me to the National Conference of Teachers of English. I'm not following the guidelines to the challenge exactly, but I did use a couple photos in comic format. I'm afraid it's the best I can do at this point.

I'll be presenting at the conference on the topic of Using Comics to Teach Literary Devices. The flier is to have available in case anyone would want me to come speak at their school on the topic.

The flier I created is here.

Wham! ....smurchle....

Just one panel from an unpublished story I've submitted to an anthology. Can't show you the whole story for free, or who would buy the anthology? Actually, I don't know yet if my story made it in. As soon as I know myself, I'll tell ya!

Dino Daze

Below is a poster I designed to advertise an upcoming event at the school where I teach.

Spaced Out in Color

Dan colored this panel from the comic strip I did called "Spaced Out". You can see the rest of the strip in black and white here.

Gideon: From Wimp to Warrior

My last post was the rough draft of this comic. Here's the final version. Bible stories are interesting, but more than that, I believe that many times there's a message for us in it. This story illustrates how a good leader doesn't just see flaws, they see potential. The best Leader of all sees each one of us not just as we are, but what we're capable of becoming.

Challenge #10: The Fifteen Minute Comic

This was our homework at 52 Comic Challenges this week:

"Now that you’ve pushed yourself through a 24 hour comic, why not try a 15 minute comic?"

Homework for Artists and Writers: Think of it a “gesture drawing” for comics. Take two pieces of letter sized copy paper. Fold them in half and staple to make an 8-page book. Set the timer for 15 minutes and get crackin’. It’ll have to be scribbly and fast to make the deadline so think fast and draw faster! Good Luck!

I used the opportunity to map out an eight page story I had in mind to do. Every year our church has a Pastor's Appreciation Sunday. We give him the day off and a few of us pitch in to take over music, sharing for the day, etc. I had in mind to tell the Bible story of Gideon in comic form. I made two 15 minute comics to plot it out (to be honest I went a little over, but worked as fast as I could in the spirit of the idea). Then I drew four pages of it. I'd like to finish the next four pages soon.

I put the comic story in Powerpoint format and shared it today. A lot of work, but everyone said they liked it. I believe comics have the power to teach, even the important messages that are in this story. In this post, I'll share a few pages of the rough draft.

"Gideon: From Wimp to Warrior"