Let's Make Comics

By Jess Smart Smiley. Published by Watson-Guptill. 

Softcover, 96 pages, 2-Colour, 2018. 

A light-hearted interactive guide to comics and cartoon-making that uses an activity book format and creatively stimulating prompts to teach the fundamentals of cartooning in a fun and easy-to-follow fashion.

From a working cartoonist and comic book making instructor, this all-ages activity book uses humorous and informative one-page comics and exercise prompts to guide young readers (and readers who are young at heart) through easy-to-master lessons on the skills needed to make comics. The activities cover a range of essential comics-making tasks from creating expressions for characters to filling in blank panels to creating original characters and placing them in adventures of their own. Each exercise can stand on its own or work together with others in the book to stimulate creativity via the comics medium. In the end, readers who complete the activities inside the book itself will have created several comics of their own, and will have generated many ideas for more sequential art creations.

Praise for Let’s Make Comics!

“At once playful and complex, this book is a perfect introduction to cartooning, as well as a lovely (and lovingly crafted) tribute to the comics form and a timely reminder that artmaking can be fun.”—Roman Muradov, creator of Vanishing Act and On Doing Nothing

“Let’s Make Comics is a book I wish I had when I was 9, but 29 works too! It’s so fun and brilliant and packed with oodles of awesome activities. Great book for learning to make comics or for a seasoned cartoonist to find some new inspiration.”—Ben Clanton, creator of the Narwhal and Jelly books 

“It’s fantastic! This book will make you a better writer and a better artist and show you how to think like a comic star.”—Charise Harper, creator of the Fashion Kitty and Crafty Cat books 

“Warning! This book will make you make comics, and it will be fun!”—Greg Pizzoli, creator of The Watermelon Seed, Number One Sam, and The Book Hog

“If only we’d had this book! Our comics would be much better.”—Elizabeth Pich and Jonathan Kunz, creators of War & Peas