As some of you already know, Langara College currently offers a program on creating comics as part of its Continuing Studies. These courses are taught by numerous local comic creators (many of them from Cloudscape), and provide workshops on writing, drawing, inking, and all the other aspects necessary to create your own quality comic book or graphic novel. Many classes are starting up in the new year, including Writing for Graphic Novels & Comix I on Monday evenings (starting January 23) and the more advanced Writing for Graphic Novels & Comix II on Saturday mornings (starting January 28). There is still space in both the writing classes. They will be taught by Bevan Thomas, who has contributed to numerous Cloudscape anthologies as a writer and editor, and who is the driving force behind Epic Canadiana, Cloudscape’s Gene Day Award-winning series of Canadian superhero anthologies. The writing classes will explore the various traditions of comic storytelling in comics, both how to create ideas and how to organize them on the page, as well as the special techniques to give your stories depth and energy. You will also be given the opportunity to develop a longer comic and have it workshopped with your instructor and fellow students. If you want to develop your skill in writing comics, improve your technique, and receive feedback on your work from someone experienced in the art form, then the Writing for Graphic Novels classes are for you.
For more information on the Writing for Graphic Novels courses and the comics program as a whole, and to register for classes, visit Graphic Novel and Comix on the Langara website. Please also spread the word to anyone else you think could benefit from one of these courses.