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BROMWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (214) Telephone: Mr. Jonathan Wolfer, Principal |
Comics in the Classroom?-- Alice in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
"Comic books, first of all, are junk... Junk, like the drunk at the wedding, can get away with doing or saying anything."
"After all, haven't comics always been a little disreputable? Something that would never have been assigned in school? The answer to those questions is yes, which is exactly why they are important."  INTRODUCTION I've always loved comics, and so I've gathered some bibliographic material related to the connections between comics and classroom literacy. I also have some recommendations to share, of course!  DID YOU KNOW COMICS ARE ALREADY IN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY? Many landmark picture books use storytelling techniques and styles that were created by comics. Here are some of the best, sure to be found on the shelves of most elementary school libraries and classrooms: The Snowman by Raymond Briggs ... In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak ... City of Light, City of Darkness by Avi ... Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey ... and, of course ... the Asterix series by Goscinny and the TinTin series by Herge. There are many more besides!  HOW TO FIND GOOD COMICS FOR KIDS Parents often ask me, "Are there any comics for kids anymore?" A lot of comics, it seems, are made for "college kids," the ones with a lot of disposable income who have a taste for hard-edged, R-rated movies and video games. What about elementary kids? Yes, there are still comics for young kids, but sometimes you have to work a bit to find them. In the last several years, the huge success of the Bone series (an independent comic repackaged and redistributed by Scholastic Books) and the equal success of Manga (Japanese and Japanese-influenced comics) have brought comics for kids back into the marketplace. You can bet that Scholastic and the other publishers of childrens' books are looking for the next Bone, and may have even found it already. Archie comics are still the primary comics made for kids. They are bought mostly in digest form in super-market checkout lines, where they are displayed next to T.V. Guide and Soap Opera Digest.
The two largest comic companies, Marvel (makers of Spider-Man and The X-Men and their cronies) and D.C. (Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman and their cohorts), each market a few regular comics to younger readers. These are usually kid-friendly versions of their most popular superheroes.
Still, many parents tell me it's hard to know which comcis are okay for kids. It's best to ask the advice of your local comic-book store owner. But then again, it's hard to even take kids into a local comic-book store -- typically, they're filled with huge posters featuring the hard-edged R-rated comics that sell the best, and some stores have sections of pornographic comics. My advice: go the comic-book store, ask the advice of the owner or manager, but... well... don't necessarily take your kids with you!
The comics that are being produced for kids, few as they are, present quality stories and artwork. Here are some that I think are really great for kids, and are well-done besides, as of August 2007. They are not all published regularly, and in fact a few have stopped publishing new issues, but most are available in book collections. Amelia Rules! Alison Dare Bone Castle Waiting Go Girl! Groo Herobear and the Kid Leave It to Chance Measles Patty Cake and Friends PowerPuff Girls Sailor Moon Scary Godmother  PERHAPS THE BEST RESOURCE OF THEM ALL!  INCLUSIONARY ISSUES IN COMICS FOR KIDS Historically, almost all comics were made by men, and most of those men were white. As a result, most comics were then about male, white characters. This situation is slowly changing, but that just means (unfortunately) that there are just more hard-edged R-rated heroes of varying ethnicity or gender. Back in the Archie universe, there have never been very many ethnic characters, except for Svenson, the comical school janitor. In the late Sixties, however, the publishers did introduce a set of characters who were black: Chuck Clayton, his girlfriend Nancy, and his father, coach and gym teacher Floyd Clayton. They starred briefly in some short stories of their own but more often appeared as supporting characters in the main stories featuring Archie and his pals. In more recent years they have continued to appear as supporting characters, but with less and less frequency, and have not had any individual stories of their own.
There is one other recurring black character in Archie comics -- Valerie of Josie
and the Pussycats , which was recently adapted into a movie. As one of the three members of the band (she plays bass, red-haired Josie
plays guitar, and Melody, the "dumb blonde," plays drums) she is featured in every story in a
prominent fashion.
It is fairly common for black characters (or other characters of other ethnicity) to be included in the backgrounds of most of the
Archie stories created in recent years, with the result that Riverdale High looks well-integrated
even if the ethnic characters aren't given names or speaking roles. Furthermore, I have to note that Archie or Reggie are
sometimes even seen flirting with black girls (or, sometimes, with entire groups that have black girls as
members). Still, interracial dating itself has never been shown, and Betty and Veronica never flirt with any of the black boys at Riverdale High.
Other current comics offer varying degrees of inclusion. On my list, above, are many comics with "girl heroes." The main characters of many of these comics are white, although there are black characters in Go Girl! and Patty Cake and Friends. Measles features Venus, a Mexican-American girl. Akiko is Japanese-American, and Sailor Moon, like other Manga, are comics imported from Japan for American audiences.
DC Comics (again, they are the publishers of Superman and Batman) are devloping a new line of comics specifically aimed at the "young adult" girl market. That's good news. Unfortunately, the umbrella title of this new line is Minx comics. The unfortunate sexual connotation of that word is compounded by another gloomy fact: all the creators for this new line, so far, are male.
Social issues are currently coming to the forefront of discussions in comic-related magazines and websites. Trina Robbins (see below) has written about issues of gender, and Fredrik Stromberg's recent Black Images in the Comics: A Visual History (published by Fantagraphics) is a the first book to examine race (but likely, and hopefully, not the last).  INTEGRATING COMICS IN THE CLASSROOM Here are some resources that discuss how comics might be integrated into classroom reading and why that might be a good idea.
Inge, M. Thomas. (1989). Comics in the Classroom. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit Service.
Thomas, James. (1983). Cartoons and Comics in the Classroom: A Reference for Teachers and Librarians. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
Weiner, Steven. (1996). 100 Graphic Novels for Public Libraries. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press.
Gorman, Michelle. (2003). Getting Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens and Teens. Worthington, OH: Linworth Publishing.  THE AESTHETICS OF COMICS Eisner, Will. (1985). Comics and Sequential Art. Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press. The first book -- and in some ways still the best book! -- about the mechanics and contextual tools that underlie storytelling in comic books.
Eisner, Will. Graphic Storytelling. Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press.
McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.  THE HISTORY OF COMICS Barrier, Michael and Martin Williams. (1981). A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics. New York: Smithsonian Institute Press and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Reprints of many of the first stories of various comic book genres from the "Golden Age" of comics -- the 1940's and the early 1950's. The reprints are accompanied by a historical and critical overview that is brief but insightful.
Evanier, Mark. (2002). Comic Books and Other Necessities of Life. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows.
Feiffer, Jules. (1965). The Great Comic Book Heroes. New York: The Dial Press.
Inge, M. Thomas. (1988). "Comic Books." The Handbook of American Popular Culture. Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Jones, Gerard and Will Jacobs. (1997). The Comic Book Heroes: The First History of Modern Comic Books From the Silver Age to the Present. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing.
Kunzle, David. (1973). The Early Comic Strip. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lupoff, Dick and Don Thompson. (1970). All in Color For a Dime. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House.
Lupoff, Dick and Don Thompson. The Comic Book Book.
Robbins, Trina. (1993). A Century of Women Cartoonists. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press.
Robbins, Trina. (1996). The Great Women Superheroes. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press.
Steranko, Jim. (1970 - 1972). The Steranko History of Comics, Volumes 1 and 2. Reading, PA: Supergraphics.
Watterson, Bill. (1995). The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book. Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel.  COMICS AND EDUCATION
"When Girls Read Comics" and related articles,
"A Real Textbook Operation," "Comics: They're Not Just For Adults Anymore" and related articles, Nowadays, there are several good articles written each year about comics and education, in teaching journals as well as general newspapers and magazines. Here are two more recent examples:
"Back to the Future: How Teachers Are Using Old Favorites to Hook the Newest Generation of Reluctant Adolescent Readers"
"Teachers are Getting Graphic" and "Stories for the Ages"
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