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What schools currently have a comics art program?
See our list of schools offering comics art curricula on the NACAE comics curriculum page.
Isn't comics just like animation?
Comics and animation are completely different. Comics are static images, animation is non-static. Because historically animation often uses a pared down iconography that resembles popular cartoon imagery, the distinction between comics and animation is not made by the general public. With comics you are able to view several images at the same time whereas with animation one
image is superimposed over another to create the illusion of motion.
Shouldn't comics be taught only in an illustration department?
I've noticed College illustration departments often offer classes in comics that don't address the nuts and bolts of visual storytelling but rather concentrate on style. Comics is mistakenly considered a "style" rather than a medium. These illustration classes usually focus on simple humorous drawings and caricatures. There is nothing wrong with an illustrator developing these skills but to call it comics is misleading.
Aren't comics mostly a guy thing?
It sure appears that way. There many talented female cartoonists working today, but the comic book industry is overwhelmingly male and as a result the books created are mostly read by boys. Sadly, comic art classes are predominantly men as well. This reality is to the detriment of the medium as a whole. There was a time when females accounted for a much larger percentage of the comics readership. Trina Robbins, cartoonist and historian, has done wonderful work in documenting and bringing attention to the history of women in comics as well as contemporary cartoonists.
To download a brief mini-course from Trina Robbins about Women and Comics click here.
Isn't comics suited for very specific subject matters?
The industry of comics, for the past forty years, has primarily produced heroic adventure stories for adolescent boys. As a result, this genre along with newspaper comics and humor publications like Archie has defined comics for the general audience. Most of these publications are aimed at a young audience and as a result comics are thought to be only intended for the simple-minded. However, comics is a medium not a genre. Comics that are autobiographical, existential, historical land surreal are also produced for audiences of all ages.
Don't you need a team of people to create a comic?
Comics have been traditionally a commercial medium, produced quickly, assembly line style. However, most of the great works of comic art have been the result of a singular vision.
Are comics capable of the same range that other media possess?
Of course. Since most comics are hacked out they possess no more or less of a range than hacked out sitcoms or crime novels. There are plenty of wonderful comics which evoke a broad range of emotional responses because of the subtle nuance and craftsmanship of the cartoonist.
Don't you have to be funny to do comics?
The name implies that doesn't it? Were there but another name, but alas, that's what we've got. I see the word "Comix" often now, implying the "co-mixing" of words and pictures. Perhaps that will catch on.