Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads

Secondary Education


Guides
Collections
News
(0)
Wish List (0)
Wish List
Download high-resolution image

The Comic Book Lesson

A Graphic Novel That Shows You How to Make Comics

Author Mark Crilley
Ebook
Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed | Ten Speed Graphic
On sale Jul 26, 2022 | 160 Pages | 9781984858443
Grades 6-12 + AP/IB
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies
See Additional Formats
An aspiring young creator learns the fundamentals of visual storytelling from three comic book mentors in this charming illustrated tale—a graphic novel that teaches you how to turn your stories into comics!

Acclaimed illustrator and graphic novelist Mark Crilley returns with a new approach to learning the essential elements of making comics. His easy-to-follow instruction about comic book art, design, and storytelling provides aspiring creators a one-of-a-kind how-to experience.
 
In The Comic Book Lesson, you’ll meet Emily—an enthusiastic young comics fan who has a story she needs to tell. On her quest to turn that story into a comic book, Emily meets three helpful mentors who share their knowledge. Trudy, a high school student who works at the local comics shop, teaches Emily how to create expressive characters and how art can convey action and suspense. Madeline, a self-published manga artist, teaches Emily how to use panel composition and layout to tell a story visually and how to develop 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.
 
Page by page, you’ll discover more about the events that drive Emily to create her comic book as her mentors teach her (and you!) about the fundamentals of visual narrative and comic book art. Each lesson builds on the previous one, guiding you through the steps of planning and creating your comic, with accompanying exercises you can try for yourself. Are you ready to start your comic book lesson today?
© Miki Crilley
Mark Crilley was raised in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating from Kalamazoo College, he traveled to Taiwan and Japan, where he taught English for nearly five years. It was during his stay in Japan that he created the Eisner Award–nominated comic Akiko on the Planet Smoo, which spawned a series of graphic novels and prose novel adaptations. In 1998, Mark Crilley was named to Entertainment Weekly’s It List of the 100 most creative people in entertainment. View titles by Mark Crilley
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.
Copyright © 2022 by Mark Crilley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About

An aspiring young creator learns the fundamentals of visual storytelling from three comic book mentors in this charming illustrated tale—a graphic novel that teaches you how to turn your stories into comics!

Acclaimed illustrator and graphic novelist Mark Crilley returns with a new approach to learning the essential elements of making comics. His easy-to-follow instruction about comic book art, design, and storytelling provides aspiring creators a one-of-a-kind how-to experience.
 
In The Comic Book Lesson, you’ll meet Emily—an enthusiastic young comics fan who has a story she needs to tell. On her quest to turn that story into a comic book, Emily meets three helpful mentors who share their knowledge. Trudy, a high school student who works at the local comics shop, teaches Emily how to create expressive characters and how art can convey action and suspense. Madeline, a self-published manga artist, teaches Emily how to use panel composition and layout to tell a story visually and how to develop 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.
 
Page by page, you’ll discover more about the events that drive Emily to create her comic book as her mentors teach her (and you!) about the fundamentals of visual narrative and comic book art. Each lesson builds on the previous one, guiding you through the steps of planning and creating your comic, with accompanying exercises you can try for yourself. Are you ready to start your comic book lesson today?

Author

© Miki Crilley
Mark Crilley was raised in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating from Kalamazoo College, he traveled to Taiwan and Japan, where he taught English for nearly five years. It was during his stay in Japan that he created the Eisner Award–nominated comic Akiko on the Planet Smoo, which spawned a series of graphic novels and prose novel adaptations. In 1998, Mark Crilley was named to Entertainment Weekly’s It List of the 100 most creative people in entertainment. View titles by Mark Crilley

Excerpt

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.
Copyright © 2022 by Mark Crilley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Additional formats

Other Books by this Author

Related Articles

English Language Arts Social Studies History

Books for Native American Heritage Month

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month this November, Penguin Random House Education is highlighting books that detail the history of Native Americans, and stories that explore Native American culture and experiences. Browse our collections here: Native American Creators Native American History & Culture

Read more

Books for Native American Heritage Month

English Language Arts Social Studies History
Social Studies Books in Spanish The Arts History High School Middle School General Education & Professional Learning Graphic Novels English Language Arts Environmental Science Favorite Authors & Series Science

2024 Middle and High School Collections

The Penguin Random House Education Middle School and High School Digital Collections feature outstanding fiction and nonfiction from the children’s, adult, DK, and Grupo Editorial divisions, as well as publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Peruse online or download these valuable resources to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: English Language Arts,

Read more

2024 Middle and High School Collections

Social Studies Books in Spanish The Arts History High School Middle School General Education & Professional Learning Graphic Novels English Language Arts Environmental Science Favorite Authors & Series Science
new penguin random house education high school collections sixteen thematic collections and resources for grades 9-12 curated by lorena german cicely lewis morgan taylor julia e torres and ronell whitaker
General Classroom Libraries English Language Arts Advanced Placement High School Graphic Novels

PRH Education High School Collections

All reading communities should contain protected time for the sake of reading. Independent reading practices emphasize the process of making meaning through reading, not an end product. The school culture (teachers, administration, etc.) should affirm this daily practice time as inherently important instructional time for all readers. (NCTE, 2019)   The Penguin Random House High

Read more

PRH Education High School Collections

General Classroom Libraries English Language Arts Advanced Placement High School Graphic Novels
education translanguaging collections affirming bilingual and multilingual learners
General Graphic Novels Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series Classroom Libraries References Science Translanguaging Collections Social Studies The Arts History High School Middle School

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

General Graphic Novels Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series Classroom Libraries References Science Translanguaging Collections Social Studies The Arts History High School Middle School
The Arts High School Middle School Graphic Novels

FROM THE PAGE: An Excerpt from Mark Crilley’s The Comic Book Lesson

In The Comic Book Lesson, an aspiring young creator learns the fundamentals of visual storytelling from three comic book mentors in this charming illustrated tale—a graphic novel that teaches students how to turn their stories into comics! Copyright © 2022 by Mark Crilley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or

Read more

FROM THE PAGE: An Excerpt from Mark Crilley’s The Comic Book Lesson

The Arts High School Middle School Graphic Novels

About Secondary Education

Penguin Random House Education

Penguin Random House

About Secondary Education

Penguin Random House Education

Penguin Random House

Back to Top
0
    • 0
    Secondary Education
    Wish List (0)