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How to Create Comics

Series: How to Create Comics

(6)

Episodes

Rating

Year

2021

Language

English

Publisher

The Great Courses

About

Taught by Peter Bagge, a cartoonist and award-winning comics creator, How to Create Comics will show you how comics are made and why they have become so enduringly successful. Like any wide-ranging and long-lived medium, comics creators put certain technical and creative tools to use when they produce their stories. You will get a firsthand look at how these tools are used-and how digital tools have changed the comics landscape. Whether you want to create your own comics or simply better understand the medium as a fan, this course will give you the tools and the insight to see how comics work and to start you on your way to creating your own stories.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1. Introducing Comics as an Art Form

24m

Begin the course with a look at what comics are and why they are so appealing, and also get a brief overview of what you may need to create your own comics. Then, take a look at some of the artists and writers that have made comics such an appealing and fascinating form with so many different possibilities. Close with a few book suggestions that can help aspiring comic creators.

2. Comics Formatting and Terminology

25m

Learn how comics are formatted and how to talk about layout, configuration, and other aspects of comic creation. Look at a variety of different examples from various artists that demonstrate the many possibilities, from single panels to full-page strips. Also learn the ins and outs of word balloons and how to place text.

3. Tools of the Comics Trade

25m

Get an overview of the tools of the comics trade, with a focus on traditional, non-digital tools and supplies. With Professor Bagge's help, you will learn the best paper, pencils, pens, brushes, and other items to use if you want to create your own comics, or simply get an inside look at the toolkit used by your favorite comics artists.

4. Writing For Comics: Beyond the Word Balloon

25m

Since the images and words in comics work in a very specific harmony, writing for comics is not the same as it is for other forms. Better understand the dynamics of writing for comics, from why you should write first and draw later to the many options you have for outlining and structuring your story.

5. Creating Characters For Comics

25m

A big part of what makes a comic strip or comic series work is the design of the characters. Learn why simplicity is key when it comes to characters you will draw over and over again and look at the different ways you can come up with characters, as well as how to decide the level of realism you want to achieve and what audience you are hoping to reach.

6. Humor In Comics: Finding the Funny

26m

While comics have since branched out into many different kinds of storytelling, their origins lie in humor. But humor can be surprisingly difficult to do well. Dive into the way comics can be used to make us laugh, whether it is through visual gags and silly jokes or complex, real-life experiences and narrative humor.

7. Telling Dramatic Stories Through Comics

27m

As you can see from the name, comics originated as a humorous form, but comics have been telling dramatic and thrilling stories for decades. Turn now to genre fiction to look at the many ways you can tell a serious and engaging story through the comics medium, from superheroes and space adventures to spine-tingling horror and gritty noir, and everything in between.

8. Creating Memoirs With Comics

27m

Some of the most profound-and profoundly successful-memoirs of the 20th and 21st centuries have been created in the form of comics. So, how do creators use this special harmony of image and text to tell their most intimate stories? Memoir in comics is a case where form follows function-there are few hard rules, but Professor Bagge gives you some very helpful guidance in this genre.

9. Comics as History, Biography, and Journalism

27m

Comics are a surprisingly effective medium for disseminating real information, whether as biography, history, instructional guides, journalism, or other nonfiction formats. Here, look at some of the different types of informational comics, and explore some of the technical and stylistic choices made by creators in the nonfiction comics field.

10. Working Relationships In the Comics Field

27m

Collaboration-whether between different creators or with editors, publishers, and agents-is a vital part of working in comics. Dive into the different dimensions of professional relationships in the comics field, from communication and division of labor to charging for your work and working with a team-player mentality.

Extended Details

SeriesHow to Create Comics

Closed CaptionsEnglish

How to Create Comics

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