Comics: Investigate the History and Technology of American Cartooning

Build it Yourself

by Samuel Carbaugh

Comics have a rich and varied history, beginning on the walls of caves and evolving to the sophisticated medium found on websites today. For a kid, comics can be more than entertainment. Comics can be a lifeline to another world, one in which everyone has the potential to become a superhero and children are welcome to all the power adults have overlooked.

Investigate the History and Technology of American Cartooning follows the trajectory of comics from their early incarnations to their current form. Kids learn how to sketch comic faces and bodies, invent a superhero, draw manga characters, and create their own graphic novel or webcomic. Short biographies of famous cartoonists provide inspiration and introduce specific comic styles. Comics introduces the technology available to budding young cartoonists, while they channel their creative powers and develop their storytelling skills.

Part history, part instruction, pure fun, Comics entertains and informs young readers while challenging them to join the cartooning conversation.

This title meets Common Core State Standards for literacy in language art, and social studies; Guided Reading Levels and Lexile measurements indicate grade level and text complexity.

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2014

Reviews

[A.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers the entire history of comics in 120 pages. From cave drawings and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs all the way up to web comics, it covers everything (Sunday funnies, manga, superhero comics, graphic novels, indies, etc. etc.). It's written for young readers (junior high?) and it's beautifully illustrated in full color. This book also contains 25 different projects readers can do. Readers are encouraged to experiment with different types of comics and encouraged (multiple times) to self publish.

Even though I'm well outside the target audience for this book I truly enjoyed reading it. I learned a lot and the activities rekindled in me an old desire to write comics some day. This book is highly recommended for young readers who are interested in writing, storytelling, drawing, and anything related to comics.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would use this book to encourage writing. The book includes excellent projects for students, including how to design a cast of characters.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comic enthusiasts might find the “parts of a comic book” a bit tedious but I think the history of illustrated storytelling will spark some interest. For example, cartoon and cartoonist are words that evolved during the Renaissance when artists like Michelangelo brought in others to help transfer his work to large murals or frescos. Another interesting tidbit, Paul Revere drew and published political comics that are credited with sparking the revolutionary war. Activities throughout the book encourage the reader to try out their own skills. They include sidewalk cave paintings, manga-style sketchbooks, and creating webcomics in addition to practice drawing comic faces and bodies. I think young children who enjoy comics and show an interest in drawing or creating their own will find this useful, but teachers and librarians will find it even more so. There are so many ideas and prompts that will make for some very artistic lessons and activities. I recommend for purchase for school and public libraries.

[Merrilyn Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to learn about comics, from the history to the making of, this is the book for you (well, if you are in elementary school, anyway). This fascinating and thorough study of how comics began (with early man and cave drawings) to where they are today (graphic novels, web comics, and anime) includes many "how-to" pages for the up and coming comic artist. The Table of Contents and Index are great navigational tools. The Glossary is a list of words that were already explained on the pages on which they were mentioned, so I am not sure of the point. The information about the Comics Code was eye-opening to me as I had no idea that comics had ever been considered subversive in America. I will purchase this book for my library, perhaps for the instructions on how to draw comics and hoping that a little bit of the history is read by the artist who checks out the book. The author is a comic artist himself and this Nomad Press book is part of a Build It Yourself series.