IL320/Comics 2: Developing Story and Character
Project 1 – Autobiographical/Memoir Comic
Begin by composing a list of twenty ideas for your comic. Some examples might be:
- Your Happiest Memory
- Your Worst Memory
- Your First Love
- Your First Heartbreak
- Your Worst Experience at the Dentist
Examples of autobiography/memoir comics, as well as examples of handmade comics, will be available to examine and read in class on 8/24. Research the selection of cartoonists on the list provided on the second page and read some of their comics. Consider the techniques, formats, and design of these books and draw inspiration for your own project.
Select your best idea and develop it as a four to six-page comic. Additional pages are acceptable as long as the comic is completed by the scheduled due date. Different cartoonists have different processes for creating comics. Some begin with scripts and then do thumbnail sketches for their pages while others begin with sketches and write later. There will be a demonstration of a detailed process that begins with a short story broken down into bullet points, which are broken down into page descriptions that are expanded into a working script. Thumbnail sketches are created, revised, and enlarged for the final art.
The media, techniques, format, and dimensions are up to you, but you will be expected to print and assemble multiple handmade copies. There will be a demonstration on laying out pages, printing, and assembling handmade books on 9/14. Digital files must be placed in the Project 1 folder within the IL320 class folder on the dali server by 2:00 on 9/26. Each student will be paired with a classmate and responsible for cross-preparing each other’s comic for critique on 9/28. In addition to leading the critique of their partner’s comic, each student is expected to read all of the completed Project 1 comics on the server before critique.
In addition to submitting digital files for your finished comic pages, you are also required to submit digital copies of your notes, sketches, and other visual development work for your comic.
The media, techniques, format, and dimensions are up to you, but you will be expected to print and assemble multiple handmade copies. There will be a demonstration on laying out pages, printing, and assembling handmade books on 9/14. Digital files must be placed in the Project 1 folder within the IL320 class folder on the dali server by 2:00 on 9/26. Each student will be paired with a classmate and responsible for cross-preparing each other’s comic for critique on 9/28. In addition to leading the critique of their partner’s comic, each student is expected to read all of the completed Project 1 comics on the server before critique.
In addition to submitting digital files for your finished comic pages, you are also required to submit digital copies of your notes, sketches, and other visual development work for your comic.
Autobiography and Memoir Cartoonists List
Lucy Knisley – Radiator Days, Relish: My Life In The Kitchen, Something New, French Milk, and others.
Thi Bui – The Best We Could Do
GB Tran – Vietnamerica
Trinidad Escobar - Crushed
MariNaomi – Kiss and Tell, Dragon’s Breath, Turning Japanese
Harvey Pekar – American Splendor, The Quitter
Alison Bechdel – Fun Home, Are You My Mother
John Lewis – March
Mimi Pond – The Customer Is Always Wrong
Lynda Barry – Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor, One! Hundred! Demons!
David Kelly – Rainy Day Recess
Craig Thompson – Blankets
Nicole Georges – Fetch, Calling Doctor Laura
Ashanti Fortson – I’m Not a Robot
Maia Kobabe – Genderqueer
Asaf Hanuka – The Realist
Marjane Satrapi – Persepolis
