Comic Strip Capers examines the genre of comics writing and visual storytelling. Students examine comics to uncover important elements that move a story forward including art, dialogue, captions, and other storytelling clues. Students explore the world of sequential art and learn how to develop colorful characters and place them in varied original storylines.
Students engage in the entire comics writing process, from writing a script to penciling, inking, lettering, and coloring. In the class, they build skills in character development, plot creation, story structure, pacing, and comics drawing.
Syllabus
Week One
Students analyze comics to encounter all their elements. They develop an original character using writing or visual description.
Week Two
Students dive into the world of sketching as they outline the bones of their story. They practice drawing by penciling their story in comic form.
Week Three
Students plan for their second comic with a longer storyline. They begin with a script and thumbnails this week, anticipating a polished, full-color comic by the end of class.
Week Four
Students spend this week in the final stages of inking, lettering, and coloring. They emerge from class with a finished comic and a readiness to make their next one!
Common Core and Academic Standards Support
What follows is a word bank and set of skills associated with this class. Use them to craft your own learning narrative for use in year-end evaluations, charter school reports, or any other accountability source.
Word Bank
- Analysis
- Character sketch
- Dialogue
- Keen Observation
- Outlining
- Perspective
- Plot
- Scriptwriting
- Sequencing
- Structure
- Visual storytelling
- Writing voice
Core Skills
- Analyze elements of existing comics to uncover character description, visual focus, humor, movement, driving emotion, setting, style
- Create a character sketch in words and in visual form
- Freewrite about situations to be used in a comic
- Introduce comedic elements through surprise
- Outline an entire comic through all stages (script, thumbnails, inking, lettering, coloring)
- Structure scenes in comic form to fit allotted number of frames
- Utilize dialogue to distinguish between characters and move the plot forward
- Utilize visual storytelling elements to move plot forward
- Write detailed, organized, structured original narratives
