1st Edition

Creating Comics as Journalism, Memoir and Nonfiction

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book provides student journalists, artists, designers, creative writers and web producers with the tools and techniques they need to tell nonfiction stories visually and graphically. Weaving together history, theory, and practical advice, seasoned nonfiction comics professors and scholars Randy Duncan, Michael Ray Taylor and David Stoddard present a hands-on approach to teach readers from a range of backgrounds how to develop and create a graphic nonfiction story from start to finish. The book offers guidance on:

    -how to find stories and make use of appropriate facts and visuals;

    -nonfiction narrative techniques;

    -artist's tools and techniques;

    -print, digital, and multimedia production;

    -legal and ethical considerations.

    Interviews with well-known nonfiction comics creators and editors discuss best practices and offer readers inspiration to begin creating their own work, and exercises at the end of each chapter encourage students to hone their skills.

    Foreword Josh Neufeld 1. Nonfiction Comics 2. The History of Nonfiction Comics 3. Creative Approaches to Finding Stories 4. Using the Comics Form for Nonfiction 5. Finding Facts 6. Finding Visuals 7. Nonfiction Narrative Techniques 8. The Artist’s Tools and Techniques 9. Publication and the Production Process 10. Legal and Ethical Considerations

    Biography

    Randy Duncan, professor of communication, Henderson State University, is co-founder of the Comics Arts Conference; co-author of The Power of Comics: History and Culture; and co-editor of the Eisner-nominated Critical Approaches to Comics: Theories and Methods. He has received the M. Thomas Inge Award, the Inkpot Award, and a Peter Rollins Book Award for contributions to comics scholarship.

    Michael Ray Taylor, professor of communication, Henderson State University, is the author of Dark Life, Caves and Cave Passages, as well as a humorous ebook, The Cat Manual. He has written for Sports Illustrated, Audubon, Outside, and many other magazines, newspapers, documentary films and digital media.

    David Stoddard is a professor of graphic and media design. He illustrates book covers, posters, and other popular culture work. He’s had work in exhibitions from coast to coast, and has presented papers on comics and pop culture at conferences such as Comic-Con San Diego; ComFor Passau, Germany; The College Media Association, New York; and several other conferences.

    "In recent years the most ground-breaking and celebrated comics have been non-fiction. Journalism and memoir in comics have a power and intimacy that is only now being fully recognised. This book provides the knowledge and tools to enable you to create such comics. Packed with interviews, practical advice, and exercises, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in creating or studying non-fiction comics." —Chris Murray, University of Dundee

    "An exceptional work! By combining an academic approach with perspectives from contemporary comics pros, Duncan and company establish a necessary foundation for interrogating the visual rhetoric of nonfiction comics—an invaluable resource for comics scholars and pros alike." —Zack Kruse, Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne