Let's Make Comics!: An Activity Book to Create, Write, and Draw Your Own Cartoons

by Jess Smart Smiley

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.

96 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2018

About the author

Jess Smart Smiley is a joke.

Seriously. He makes rad pictures with his bare hands and loves creating stories for children of all ages.

Jess lives in Utah and has helped thousands of children, teens, and adults around the world to create their first comics.

See more at jess-smiley.com.

Reviews

[Angypants · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had made this book, but luckily I get to *use* this book and read it and experience its knowledge giving life force.

Great for artists of all ages, and especially helpful to anyone who loves and wants to create comics. It has step by step exercises and the pages could be scanned if you don’t want to draw in the book the one time.

An all around great instructional tool, plus it’s genuinely fun to read and do the prompts!

[Allen Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kids Can Make (GREAT) Comics!
Jess Smiley has created a book that I wish I'd been able to get my grubby little paws on as a kid. Filled with incredible drawings, easy-to-understand tips, and a hilarious cast of characters doing the teaching, 'Let's Make Comics' is a gem! Primarily intended for youngsters, but a great tool for budding comic artists of any age! Highly recommended!

[Abbigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! So many practical activities and further information at the bottom of the page that adds a little more context. The ongoing story with Bramble and Dot is so cute too. Backmatter includes glossary and skills index. It's too bad that this would be a hard book to add to the collection since it encourages writing on the page so much, but I will be buying it for my personal collection and to use with Drawing Club.

[Eli Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Té els elements bàsics que fan falta perquè un nen o nena s'animi a crear un còmic.