Issue #2 received a review yesterday. And It was a very solid review. I really appreciated the words of the columnist. It gives me an opportunity to look at my comic through some one else's eyes, & get a different perspective, especially since issue #2 has been out for some month's now.
One thing Greg wrote about was the way the characters spoke in the comic. "The biggest problem with the writing is that the kids don’t necessarily sound like fifth- and fourth-graders. Crayton makes them far wittier than I think they should be, and they make several cultural references that I don’t think they would make---When he has them make dumber jokes – they wonder if their teacher got dressed in the dark – it feels “righter,” because kids like silly and somewhat cruel things and aren’t as clever as they think they are (actually, that’s true for most people, when you think about it)."
But honestly, writing kids to sound like convincing kids, can be hard while still keeping the the entertainment value high, b/c if they resemble children to closely, an older audience may not want to read them at all. And if there voices aren’t authentic enough, then they don’t sound like children at all, & that defeats the purpose of the book. I will always strive to make the children sound like children.
And he also talks about the art of the comic. Greg states, "The art is very cartoony, with Crayton giving his characters large, expressive eyes and exaggerated faces. He does an interesting job with the extremes of fifth grade – everything is heightened and intense, much like elementary school itself. The biggest problem with Crayton’s art is that he has a lot of characters in the book, and too often the adults don’t look much different than the kids, so it’s occasionally hard to tell everyone apart. The main characters are strongly defined, but the ancillary characters aren’t as much--- While Crayton’s rough pencil work could use some improvement, he certainly knows how to tell a story, working well within the framework of a traditional comic but knowing when to break out of it as well."
I agree with Greg in that the art is very cartoony. But when I designed the book, I meant it to be similar in art of that to a comic strip, lately the art has developed some Japanese Manga influences, but that has only improved the art work. I will continue to work at the art work from a technical standpoint, but I will not change the style of art. And I will always search for ways to tell a better story, that is always my focus.
I've read through the review a few times, & I appreciate Greg taking time out of his day to write about my comic. Here it is below :-)
Grade 5 #2 Review by Comics Should Be Good
