An aspiring young creator learns the fundamentals of visual storytelling from three comic book mentors in this charming, illustrated tale—a graphic novel that teaches you how to turn your stories into comics!

Acclaimed illustrator and graphic novelist Mark Crilley returns with a new approach to learning the essential elements of making comics. His easy-to-follow instruction about comic book art, design, and storytelling provides aspiring creators with a one-of-a-kind how-to experience.

 Develop your own comic – Learn how to create:

• Two-Panel Sequence
• Multi-Panel Sequence
• Character Designs
• Facial Expressions
• Dialogue

In The Comic Book Lesson, you’ll meet Emily—an enthusiastic young comics fan with a story she needs to tell. On her quest to turn that story into a comic book, Emily meets three helpful mentors who share their knowledge. Trudy, a high school student who works at the local comics shop, teaches Emily how to create expressive characters and how art can convey action and suspense. Madeline, a self-published manga artist, teaches Emily how to use panel composition and layout to visually tell a story and develop a comic from script to sketch to finished pages. Finally, Sophie, a professional graphic novelist, guides Emily through fine-tuning the details of dialogue, sequence, and pacing to lead readers through the story.

Page by page, you’ll discover more about the events that drive Emily to create her comic book as her mentors teach her (and you!) about the fundamentals of visual narrative and comic book art. Each lesson builds on the previous one, guiding you through planning and creating your comic, with accompanying exercises you can try for yourself. So, are you ready to start your comic book lesson today?

Mark Crilley is an American manga creator and children's book author and illustrator. He is the creator of Miki Falls, Akiko, and Brody's Ghost, and he is also noted for his instructional videos for drawing in various styles on YouTube, including manga. Mr. Crilley was at one point an English teacher in Fukushima, Japan, as well as Taiwan. The author lives in Chicago, Illinois.