How to Read a Comic

Upon beginning my role full-time as an illustrator at Miacademy, I realized that we would be producing and expanse of comics and releasing them to students who may not have experienced or interacted with comics in the past. The efforts of both myself and Miacademy are centered on honoring all backgrounds, and we didn’t want to make the assumption that every single one of our students had read a comic before. As such, I proposed my first self-directed project where I would generate a how-to-read style comic which would be linked and available alongside any lesson that includes a comic.

The first two images are the comic itself. This was not only scripted but also visually designed to include numerous comic conventions. Garnering inspiration and reference from Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, I tried to incorporate these into the story naturally without being too heavy handed.

Below that is the PDF lesson which contains the comic itself as well as instructions for further synthesis. This comic has each convention labeled for clarity and explanation. I also wanted to introduce students to the concept that they could reread a comic or go back through a lesson if they didn’t understand it, or wanted to read something slower — highlighting a key feature of comics in education, which is pacing, allowing students to determine their own pace and length of study.

Getting to make something so bright and silly that also has educational undertones was such a fun artistic experience. I also really enjoyed the experience of directing my own work, utilizing the skills I learned and developed through my thesis work at The Center for Cartoon Studies.