One-Page Comic

 A one-page comic is a short comic that tells a simple story or joke. It follows the same format as a story in a book, just much shorter - you still have an introduction, a plot, and a conclusion.

STEP ONE: CHOOSE A PROMPT

Start by choosing a prompt (or come up with your own!):

  • Your pet suddenly can talk. What do they say? How do you react?

  • A fictional character ends up in the real world. How do they react? What do they do next?

  • You get to visit any one place and period in time. Where do you go? What happens while you’re there?

  • The International Olympics Committee hire you to create a brand-new sport. What would it be? How would people play it?

STEP TWO: PLAN IT OUT

Now you have to decide exactly what will happen in your comic and how many panels you will need to draw. Panels are the boxes on the comic page that contain the pictures.


SET-UP: Use one or two panels to introduce your character(s) and setting. Who are they? Where are they?

ACTION or PROBLEM: Spend two to five panels telling your story's plot - what situation is happening? Is it serious or funny?

ENDING: Use one or two panels to quickly wrap up your story. What is the result of the action or problem that just happened?

STEP THREE: DRAW YOUR PANELS

Now that you have decided on how many panels you need, it's time to draw out the boxes and figure out how to arrange them on your paper. You can draw plain rectangles or get creative with the shape and placement of the panels! There's lots of ideas here.

STEP FOUR: DRAW YOUR COMIC

Time for the fun part! Your only rules are:
    No stick figures
    Color/shade at least half of each panel

One way to easily "level up" from drawing stick figures is to use basic shapes like circles and rectangles:

This works perfectly for a comic since most comic strip characters have pretty simple designs, since the artist has to draw them over and over again.

Unlike more traditional drawings or paintings, comics often simple or blank backgrounds – but even very simple, black-and-white comics will have at least some objects colored in or shaded to help them stand out. A good guideline is to “color” in at least half of each panel:

This is a very simple comic strip, but the solid black stripes on Charlie Brown's outfit help him stand out, and the lines for the grass and mound of dirt help you understand where he is.



SUCCESS CRITERIA:


Review Book Success Criteria:
  • Make a short, simple comic strip (3 or 4 panels) that tells a short story or joke
  • No stick figures :)




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