Comics! - Friday, July 27 Our Last Day

Today was our last day of class. Your child should have a note in his/her backpack with some ideas for continuing to explore the world of comic books but just in case it got lost, I've included a copy of it in today's batch of comics.

Comics! - Thursday, July 26

Mr. Funke Recommends - Cool Comics

Cool Comics

by Pam Price 

I didn't share this one with the class today but it's a great book about collecting comics I discovered in my school library this year. It's only printed in library bindings which makes it pretty expensive but you can find cheap used copies on eBay if your library doesn't have access to it. The book gives a surprisingly complete look at the various aspects of the hobby and has some pretty good suggestions for anyone just starting out.

Comics! - Wednesday July 25

Comics! - Tuesday July 24

Mr. Funke Recommends - Leave it to Chance

Leave it to Chance is a great book for anyone who likes Harry Potter. Chance Falconer is the daughter of the magical protector of her city. Her father, naturally, doesn't want her to have anything to do with his work and would like her to stay home and out of trouble. Of course, in books like this, that doesn't happen and Chance goes off on her own adventures, helping out her father without his knowledge.

Comics! - Monday July 23

The 1st annual Kids Create Comics Day is this Saturday at Aw Yeah Comics in Skokie, Il. They're looking to expand in the coming years so there may be locations closer to you in the future but Art and Franco, who own and operate the store, are also popular creators for DC comics (Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures) and will be on hand to show kids how to make comic books. As this is its first year, I've never been but it looks like a fun opportunity for and kids who are interested in creating. Here are today's comics...

Comics!

Here are the comics from Friday, July 20.

Comics!

Here are all the comics that were finished today. For our first comic, students were required to write and illustrate a 4 panel comic (no more, no less). This limitation was imposed to stress the importance of telling a story with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. For the rest of their comics, students are free to write something as long or as short as they like.

Mr. Funke Recommends

From time to time, I'll recommend a comic to the class that I think they would enjoy. I'll post it here as well in case anyone is interested in buying it for their kids. Today we looked at Return of the Dapper Men. It will probably be a little tough to find in comic book stores (although I always encourage people to shop there first) but is available on Amazon and might be on the shelf at Barnes and Noble.

Today in Class - Tuesda, July 18

Today was a work day because we were moved to a different classroom while our other summer programs use the lab for MAP testing. We got a lot of work done though and should have a few comics ready to publish tomorrow when we're back in the lab.

Today in Class

Today in class we spent a little more time going over the different stages of art that go into creating a traditional comic book. This time, we looked at the different stages of a particular image by comic book artist Jim Lee, seeing the difference between pencils, inks, and color.

We also learned how to format and draw for our comics in Kid Pix.

Tomorrow we'll be meeting in the library while the lab is used for testing.  We'll be back in 133 on Thursday.  I'll also begin recommending some comics to our students then and will make sure to share them here as well. Look for pages to start being posted by the end of the week.

Welcome to the Hey Kids Comics! blog.  I'll be posting completed pages here as they are turned in to me.