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| Title: Meet a Comic Book Illustrator Brief Description: New Hampshire comic book illustrator Rich Woodall of the comic book Johnny Raygun presented. He gave a hands-on workshop that featured different techniques of comic book illustration and how to get into the business. The presenter spent the first half of the program speaking about how he started in the comic book business, what he did as a teen, and how he eventually published a comic. The remainder of the program was dedicated to a hands on activity. The participants walked through the process of creating a page in a comic book from concept to illustration.
Materials Needed: 11” X 17” sheets of paper Black Sharpie Markers Comic Book Illustrator
$100 for the presenter. This covered the supplies and mileage for the presenter to travel to our library. (This cost is negotiable. I would recommend talking with the presenter even if no money available for this program, if your library has the supplies needed.) Locate a comic book illustrator in your area. I started by going to the comic book store down the street from the library to ask if there were any local comic book artists. The only guidelines I provided the presenter were that I wanted the program to be hands on for the teens, and I wanted him to give some background as to how he got started. Aside from that I let him organize the agenda, decide what supplies we would need, and how it would be interactive for the participants. This program was 1.5 hours long. The day of the program I reserved the three tables in the teen area for this program, made a small display, and had some light snacks. That was it!
Rich Woodall Email: johnraygun@aol.comUseful Planning Resources For Librarians: This program did not require much planning because the presenter led the event. Contacting a local comic book store to find a local comic book illustrator is beneficial.Related Materials For Display\Resource List For Teens: Information from The Center for Cartoon Studies (a new program in White River Junction, VT) The presenter autographed and distributed copies of his comic Johnny Raygun to the teens. The presenter recommended participants do a web search to find comic book publishers. A handout with a list prepared prior to the event by the program coordinator may be helpful. Any books related to different techniques in comic design, career books for illustration, biographies of comic book creators, or the history of comic books. Additional Comments: This program was limited to 12 teens and required pre-registration. We had 9 participants at our library. This gave teens that brought their work the opportunity to ask Rich individually for his feedback before and after his presentation. The teens were divided into groups by three tables, creating a collaborative environment during the sketching portion of the workshop. Rich was very generous giving the library extra copies of his comic book and inviting any of the participants to contact him through email with any questions they may have as they continue to illustrate comics. He is very supportive of upcoming illustrators. I know of at least one teen that initiated an email correspondence with Rich asking for advice on how to get her work published.
Young Adult/Reference Librarian Nashua Public Library 2 Court St. Nashua, NH 03060 603-589-4612
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