We here at comicsclub.blog are all about encouraging people to start up comic clubs, and several of you have asked for some guidance on the specifics of how to go about this. To help you get started, we are incredibly lucky to feature this Guest Post by Alix Coughlin, co-founder and wrangler of Team Ketchup, self-publishing youth comic collective
So you think that having a Comic Club would be a Really Good Thing, and a lovely idea and you know a bunch of people who would really enjoy the chance to meet up, talk about and make comics, but you don’t know where to start?
To be honest, that’s where we were at the beginning of Team Ketchup – it was just an idea, but four years later we are self-funding, published five issues of our comic, have thirty members and have exhibited at Thought Bubble three times – it grows very quickly!
So here are some ideas, based on our experiences and with the benefit of hindsight.
We initially came together to be judges for the British Comic Awards Young People’s Choice Award http://britishcomicawards.com/ as it gave us a focus and a list of books to read. The group was put together by a librarian, Joolze, and supported by me, a parent, and we persuaded one other parent to join us. Having the group in the library meant that we had access to the catalogue of books, a trained and knowledgeable children’s librarian, and a safe space. It also meant that children from different schools and of different ages could join. However, other groups at the British Comic Awards are reading groups from schools.
Step One – contact your local library and ask about the possibility of starting a comic club. Libraries really want young people to come to the library, and they are looking for ways of having more community involvement. It can be once a month, or once a week for a short period of time e.g. six weeks, in the first instance, so it’s not too overwhelming. The other option is to go to your local school and ask about running a reading group focused on comics. If you are looking for a focus and a reading list, then the Excelsior Award http://www.excelsioraward.co.uk/ is a good place to start, although you do have to pay to join in. It has both a Junior Award and a list more suitable for teenagers and will help you find age appropriate material if you are not a comic fan yourself.
The main point to take from Step One is that you need people to give up their time, just a little bit, in order to get the most out of it. Look for people who are enthusiastic and willing, because they will be your greatest asset. And that goes for the kids too – do they really really want to read and talk about comics? Are they passionate about super-heroes and super-powers? Do they feel like they’re the only people they know who make comics? Are they secret comics makers who haven’t shared their work before? Get them together with other people like them, and they will blossom and grow and become much more powerful than they ever thought possible! And parents who don’t “understand” comics at first will grow to realise the potential in them and what their kids get out of being part of a comic group. We have an amazing support group of parents who help out at events, we couldn’t do it without them.
Step Two – start off small, don’t have more than 10 or 12 members, it gets loud and there will be a lot of different opinions and readers of different comic styles. For every DC/Marvel fan there is an equally loud Asterix/Tintin fan. For every reader of The Phoenix comic there will be a Raina Telgemeier devotee. Also, it makes it easier to resource as you could choose a list of books to read and easily find ten different comics to share out and swap.
For a list of resources, don’t feel like you are on your own. Comics people are amazingly generous with their knowledge and skills and there are multiple Lists of Comics out there on the internet. Twitter is especially good for advice. The British Comic Awards shortlists from the last few years are a good place to start for junior clubs, and the Excelsior Awards. Both have a lot of books from The Phoenix Comic, which are essentials for any comic club https://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/product-category/comic-books/ in fact they are essentials for all libraries and schools. This http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/comics-and-graphic-novels/ is a good list and is split into younger and older readers. Neill has written a list based on a seven year old http://neillcameron.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/comics-and-literacy-day-4-comics-for-7.html but that was a while ago and needs adding to (seriously Neill, what else have you got to do at the moment?). Sarah McIntyre is also an amazing advocate for comics and has written some ideas here http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/502079.html
For the first few weeks just reading and sharing ideas will keep the children busy, but introduce the idea of critiquing the books they’re reading – what do they like about them? What do they notice about the colours, characters, backgrounds, stories? Who would they recommend them to and why? Get a discussion going on what features there are in a comic that makes it stand out from other story genres, what shortcuts can be used, how is the story broken down into sections? Does it give them any ideas about their own stories or an idea for a character? The more variety of styles, drawing, characters and genres they are exposed to the better for when they start their own drawing and comic creating.
Step Three – start to think about getting the kids writing and drawing their own comics. Again, you are not on your own, there are so many inspirational comic creators out there sharing their ideas. This Comics Club blog and challenges are a fabulous place to start, and easy to follow. Get Neill’s book How to Make Awesome Comics and follow the instructions – it does what it says on the tin. Start a comic-jam with guidance from Sarah McIntyre http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/?skip=5&tag=comics%20jam
http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/tag/comics%20jam – with a video so there’s no excuse!
It will take a lot of paper, pens and pencils (and we find biscuits help too) before the kids find their style and get into making stories that make sense or don’t end in explosions and blowing up, but it is part of the process. One of things we wish we had done at the beginning was to give guidelines on layout of the comics. Ensure the children leave a margin around their page, they use clear panels that don’t join together, and that their text is written in block capitals, with the bubbles drawn in after the text is written. If they start out knowing that this is their brief, even when planning their stories, when it is printed it will look neat and tidy and be able to be reduced from A4 to A5. Print off some comic layouts for them to help them to see the style, or encourage the use of a pencil and ruler to make their own frames.
This step might need a long time to develop it, but if you use all the resources available to you there will be lots to do, plenty of exercises to develop story telling skills and understanding of the comic format. Don’t rush it!
Step Four – looking for funding in order to make a printed copy. This is where links with your library will be helpful as they may know what local council funding is available, and will be able to help with applications. Have a look here https://www.gov.uk/apply-funding-community-project for what is available in your area. Go small rather than big, to begin with, save that for later!
You may choose to photocopy your comic, in which case it will be cheaper, but if you want a good quality product that will sell, make contact with a printing service. You don’t need a large first run, but work out how much it will cost, how much they will sell for , and what profit you’d need for a second run, so it becomes self-funding.
If you are linked with a school, approach the Parent/Teacher Association, or the governors, or the Literacy Co-ordinator and ask for help. Funds raised can always go back into school. Year 6s are often asked to plan and carry out an Enterprise project in their last term of school, this would be a fantastic opportunity for them to research print costs, how to market the comic, who to sell to. Local colleges with Arts students are often asked to take part in enterprise schemes too, you could approach them for support and partnership.
Step Five – the children make and print their own comic. Give them a time frame – they will need to produce a first draft for approval by you (make sure the story does not offend anyone, makes sense, and can be read) then a couple of weeks to refine and finish it. Make sure that all pencil marks are inked over and then rubbed out. It’s up to you if they are coloured or not, depends on the cost of your printing. There should be a clear margin around the comic, with panels drawn in neatly, with space for a title and the name of the author.
What we expect is two submissions from each member of the group. Then we have a final deadline meeting where they read each other’s comics and then vote on which story is the best. Then the content of your comic is democratically chosen. You could also have a competition to design and draw the front cover, and the name of your collective (do choose carefully, ours was originally The Pink Fluffy Ketchup Covered Flower Ponies!).
Once all the pages are gathered in and checked, send them off the printers and let them do their job. Plan a launch party for your comic and show the world your creation!
Hope these are helpful. Let us know how you get on and share your work. We are always open to questions. We’ve always said, we might be the first self-publishing youth comic-collective in the country, but we don’t want to be the only ones!
Get in touch – Facebook: Team Ketchup, Twitter: @theteamketchup
Email : pinkfluffyketchups@gmail.com
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