WRITING COMICS

Art historians consider comics as pop art, meaning popular art. Comics are part of modern culture and found in mass media, from video games to movies. They have ther own language and ways to convey emotions and messages.
Whenever there is a motivation and desire, a comic can be created. Students usually love comic characters which may include magical creatures, superheroes or just ordinary kids from anime and mangas, as Japanese comics are called.
Students can use comics to represent who they are and the world they live in. They can also create characters and invent stories. If you have effective ideas, give clear guidelines and encourage students to use their imagination, the sky is the limit!
Here are some ideas.

Characters
Beginners can start by creating interesting characters as a first stage. Such characters can be mutans, aliens, superheroes or villains. Then, as a second stage, they assign a speech balloon so that the characters tell their names and where they are from, mention their strongest point and explain their mission on Earth.


Villains go to therapy
Students choose or create a villain who is tormented because of the things he has done. So they imagine a session with a phychologist who gives him advice. Then they can role-play the situation.

It sounds familiar
Changing real people into comic characters can be fun. For example, students can turn themselves, their family and friends into characters of a comic strip. They can imagine crazy situations for everybody.


It´s a big world
Students can imagine a comic with animals as the main characters. They should think of animals to perform the role of someone brave, goofy, evil, powerful, cheerful, noble or crazy. They should also account for their choices.

Comic convention
Once students have created their comic, they can imagine they are at a comic convention (they can even wear a comic character outfit as they do in real life conventions) and explain to the audience what their comic is about, or even have a press conference, in which other students can ask about the story.
This activity is great because it enables you to conver both writen and oral production.

Dear diary
Superheroes are so pleased they have saved the day that they write an entry in their personal diaries about the good deeds they have done.

Comics review
Students choose their favourite comic or movies based on a comic and write a review for a magazine or newspaper.

A day in the life of...
Students think of a superhero or villain and imagine a day in their domestic lives, for example, going to the supermarket, having their clothes cleaned, cooking, going to the gym, babysitting, etc.

Chibis
They are cute, tiny creatures which give extra information about a comic. Students can use Chibis in their folders to help them remember important information: lesson dates or grammar points.

                                                                                       (Imagen de: Oscar Javier Estupiñán Estupiñán)

Animar a los alumnos a realizar comics es una tarea muy divertida y que a los niños les encanta. Con estas ideas de las que habla el artículo podemos hacer muchas actividades relacionadas con los comics, y por supuesto usarlo en clase de inglés a través de los diálogos de los personajes.