One of the dirty little secrets about comics is that they're more fun to make than they are to read (however fun they are to read). Sure, doing them involves a lot of hard work -- hard play, really-- but the comic story is the most democratically available medium I've found for getting ideas, feelings, and opinions down on paper and packaged into a form that can entertain and touch other people. Simple drawings and simple writing extended over multiple frames can achieve a big effect.
If you know someone in the NYC area who's curious about trying their hand at cartooning, please encourage them to try my Cartooning Basics course this summer at SVA. In 10 weeks we'll undertake the journey from the blank page to the printed piece, noting along the way the basic principles that inform every major creative problem the cartoonist faces-- drawing characters that move and seem alive; making them perform in stories and settings that make sense, hold our attention, and amuse us; rendering the images in ink for inexpensive publication; printing and assembling booklets to offer for sale and to use as calling cards & gifts; and more besides. It's great fun and the rewards are many. Please spread the word.
Here's some work created in class.
And here are examples of what my students have gone on to do:
Adventures of Pyramid
The Squid
Please Listen To Me
Andrea Tsurumi
Versequential
Pregnant Butch
Bar Scrawl
How Do I Nook?
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