Comics: Theory and Practice

Transcription

1 SYLLABUS Comics: Theory and Practice Untitled, Saul Steinberg How do comics work? What kinds of stories can comics tell? In this course, we ll explore comics from the bottom up, discovering how comics work by discussing established cartoonists strips and then drawing our own comics. After learning about the form of comics through single-panel cartoon and style exercises, we ll transition into thinking about content by addressing the genre of many famous graphic novels: autobiography. Why do these authors, like Marjane Satrapi or Art Spiegelman, use comics to tell their stories? We ll begin to formulate an answer to that question by drawing diary strips and writing a paper about graphic narratives such as Fun Home or Maus. In the final section of this course, we ll turn to distribution and collaboration, exploring the comics community in Boston and beyond. You should leave this course with a fresh perspective on comics, whether you re an avid graphic novel reader or an incurable doodler. No artistic talent or experience is necessary; all you need is, as the Center for Cartoon Studies puts it, a fearless commitment to putting images on paper and a dogged determination to figure out how comics work. To the drawing board! Required texts: Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud Recommended texts: Maus, Art Spiegelman Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi

2 Further reading: Fun Home, Alison Bechdel Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice, Ivan Brunetti What It Is or One Hundred Demons!, Lynda Barry And many more! Consult me for any recommendations. Final Project: Theory or Practice A written paper or a short comic, zine, or webcomic about any topic you choose! You will meet with me in class about your preliminary ideas for this project by Week 12. The goal for this course is to help you understand how comics work and what comics can do; by the end, you should have the tools either to begin writing your own comic or to make an argument about a comic (or adaptation of a comic) that already exists. NB: Because this course is based in practice as well as discussion, the homework assignments will frequently involve applying concepts we ve workshopped as a class in a series of short exercises. In order to keep a degree of thematic cohesiveness, I ve indicated those assignments on the same day as the workshops, i.e. homework indicates work that should be completed for the following class. Academic Integrity: Tufts University has a serious Academic Integrity policy where faculty are required to report violations to the Dean of Student Affairs Office. If you are concerned or unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, please talk to me or consult the Tufts Academic Resource Center s advice on Avoiding Plagiarism on their website. Inclusivity: Tufts University values the diversity of our students, staff, and faculty; recognizing the important contribution each student makes to our unique community. Tufts is committed to providing equal access and support to all qualified students through the provision of reasonable accommodations so that each student may fully participate in the Tufts experience. If you have a disability that requires reasonable accommodations, please contact the Student Accessibility Services office at Accessibility@tufts.edu or to make an appointment with an SAS representative to determine appropriate accommodations. Please be aware that accommodations cannot be enacted retroactively, making timeliness a critical aspect for their provision. Grading Breakdown: Homework and Participation: 25% Diary Assignment (and critique): 15% Graphic Novel Review (and in-class discussion/group presentation): 20% Collaboration Assignment (and critique): 15% Final Project: 25%

3 Just start making things and don t stop! The barrier to entry in comics is extremely low. The materials can be extremely cheap. You don t need a lot of space. You don t necessarily need to be able to draw well. The only thing you need is a point of view and something to say. Jillian Tamaki What do we mean by comics? How do comics work? Week 1 Tuesday, July 3 Building Blocks of Comics I: The Panel and the Icon In class: Review Syllabus and course expectations together, set guidelines for critiques and discussion In class exercises: doodle exercise, single panel cartoon scaffolding and exercise, read The Vocabulary of Comics from Understanding Comics, visual information hierarchy Homework : draw three single panel cartoons, read The Impossible Definition by Thierry Groensteen from A Comics Studies Reader and Blood in the Gutter from Understanding Comics Thursday, July 5 Building Blocks of Comics II: Sequence In class: Single panel cartoon critique, Discuss readings through short strips slideshow: How do they communicate effectively through visuals and jokes? How do they interact with the readings? In class exercise: complete the Nancy cartoon, four panel organization exercise Homework: Complete at least three two-four panel cartoons, read excerpts from Fun Home, Maus, and Persepolis and Hillary Chute s Comics for Grown Ups? from Why Comics? How can we use comics to tell our own stories? Week 2 Tuesday, July 10 Diary In class: Short strip exercise critique, Discuss excerpts from memoir comics/short slideshow to accompany and facilitate discussion, watch video from creators such as Marjane Satrapi, slideshow with Kochalka diary comics, pick groups for presentations In class exercise: Charlie Brown yourself! (autobiographical character exercise) Homework: Complete three four-panel diary entries, pick a page from either the excerpts or a favorite comic of yours and bring it to class, read excerpt from Lynda Barry s One Hundred Demons!

4 Thursday, July 12 Memory: Where can ideas come from? In class: Diary critique, Discuss Barry s One Hundred Demons! and watch video with Barry In class exercise: Today s Demon exercise, Lynda Barry free-write exercise Other people s mothers, 9-panel thumbnails, copy a full page exercise Homework: Write single page, autobiographical comic based on this in-class exercise or another memory, prepare group presentations for next class Long-term Assignment: Graphic Narrative review: Write a book review of Fun Home, Maus, or Persepolis (or another graphic narrative, pending my approval), due in class on July 24 Week 3 Tuesday, July 17 Group Presentations! In class: Single page critique, group presentations on Maus, Persepolis, and Fun Home! In class exercise: full-page comic exquisite corpse Homework: Bring drafts of Graphic Narrative Review paper to class, read excerpts from My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris Thursday, July 19 From Page composition to Book composition In class: Thumbnails with pages and spreads, discuss page turns In class exercise: thesis group workshop, paper peer workshop Homework: Finish Graphic Narrative Review, read excerpts of collaborative comics from Bitch Planet, Ms. Marvel, and more. How can we can create community around comics? How can we engage with existing comics communities? Week 4 Tuesday, July 24 Collaboration In class: Turn in Graphic Narrative Review, discuss reading for class In class exercise: translation exercise, take time with your groups to begin planning the collaboration exercise Homework: go to a local comicbook store like Comicazi (in Davis), Hub Comics (in Union Square), or Million Year Picnic (in Harvard Square) and pick out a zine or print mini-comic Long-term Assignment: Collaboration project due July 31

5 Thursday, July 26 Print culture In class: Present mini-comics that you ve brought to class In class exercise: Make your own zine! THEN Field trip to Eisner award-winning Comicazi in Davis Square! Homework: Find a comic online that really speaks to you and be prepared to explain why in class; continue working on collaborative projects Long-term Assignment: Final project due August 9! Week 5 Tuesday, July 31 Webculture In class: Collaboration assignment critique, present webcomics, trip to Digital Design Studio at Tisch Library In class exercise: write your own Dino Comics dialogue!, in-class brainstorming about final project Homework: Watch Marjane Satrapi s Persepolis OR Katsuhiro Otomo s Akira OR Ryan Coogler s Black Panther, read excerpts, and prepare discussion questions for class Thursday, August 2 Adaptation In class: Discuss films in groups and watch scenes together In class exercise: Create an environment exercise, meet with me in-person to discuss your final project plans Homework: Continue working on final project, prepare materials to present in class, reading TBD Week 6 Tuesday, August 7 Final Projects Workshop In class: TBD, depending on class interest (i.e. a superhero day/a manga day/a horror comics day) In class exercise: peer workshop, time to work on final projects in class Thursday, August 9 Projects due/open House! In class: Bring what you ve completed for the final project for a class-wide open house. Remember if you ve made a zine or print book to bring enough copies for the class!

6 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Please see me for more specific suggestions! Allison, John. Bad Machinery. Scary Go Round, 1998-present, Accessed 25 January Barry, Lynda. One Hundred Demons. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, Print. Barry, Lynda. What It Is. First edition. Montréal: Drawn & Quarterly, Print. Beaton, Kate. Hark! A Vagrant. Hark! A Vagrant, 2006-present, Accessed 25 January Beaton, Kate. Hark! : A Vagrant. Montréal: Drawn & Quarterly, Print. Bechdel, Alison. Alison Bechdel Draws a Fun Home Coda. Vulture, 10 April 2015, Accessed on 25 Jan Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home : A Family Tragicomic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Print. Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home! The Musical! Seven Days, 2 July 2014, Accessed on 25 Jan Behind the scenes of the Tony-nominated musical Fun Home. YouTube, uploaded by CBS This Morning, 4 June 2015, Brunetti, Ivan. Cartooning : Philosophy and Practice. New Haven Conn.: Yale University Press, Web. Bushmiller, Ernie, and Daniel Clowes. Nancy Is Happy. First edition. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books, Print. Coates, Ta-Nehisi, and Brian Stelfreeze. Black Panther. A Nation Under Our Feet. New York, NY: Marvel Worldwide, Inc., Print. DeConnick, Kelly Sue, et al. Bitch Planet. Book One, Extraordinary Machine. Berkeley, CA: Image Comics, Print.

7 FUN HOME - broadway musical Come to the Fun Home. YouTube, uploaded by musicalpopsong, 10 Sept 2015, Fun Home on Broadway. YouTube, uploaded by BroadwayBox.com, 21 April 2015, Gillman, Melanie. As the Crow Flies. MelanieGillman.com, 2012-present, Accessed 5 April Jacques, Jeph. Questionable Content. Questionable Content, 2003-present, Accessed 25 January Karasik, Paul, David Mazzucchelli, and Paul Auster. City of Glass. First Picador edition. New York, New York: Picador, Print. Karasik, Paul., and Mark Newgarden. How to Read Nancy. Seattle, Wash.: Fantagraphics, Print. Kominsky-Crumb, Aline, and R. Crumb. Drawn Together. New York: Liveright Pub. Corp., Print. Mankoff, Robert. The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, Print. McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics : [the Invisible Art]. 1st HarperPerennial ed. New York: HarperPerennial, Print. North, Ryan. Dinosaur Comics. Qwantz, 2003-present, Accessed 25 January Ring of Keys - Fun Home (Broadway) - Sydney Lucas. YouTube, uploaded by Abigail W, 15 Aug 2016, Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. First American edition. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, Print. Satrapi, Marjane, et al. Persepolis. Widescreen. Australia: Films, DVD.

8 Spiegelman, Art. Maus. Pantheon, Print. Walsh, Dan. Garfield Minus Garfield. Tumblr.com. Accessed 26 January 2017.