Matt at the Cultural Gutter: Commemorating Ernest Borgnine

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Ernest Borgnine memorial at Tortilla Flats NYC
Photo from Ruth Fremson / New York Times

Ernest Borgnine died on 9th July.

At his booth in Tortilla Flats, a Tex-Mex joint in New York’s West Village, they’ve put up  a memorial shrine.

I’ve been there on pilgrimage. It was Borgnine’s birthday. There was free tequila, a colouring competition, and a game of bingo where the numbers had to form an ‘E for Ernie.’

Drunkenly, my date and I used poster paints, glitter and glue to liven up photocopies of Ernest’s face before the bingo caller ordered everyone to toast the aged star (“Here’s to another 95 for Mr. Borgnine!”).

Best. Date. Ever.

You can see my latest piece, commemorating the great man, over at the Cultural Gutter, a Canadian website devoted to disreputable art.

Guest post: Neill Cameron on pirates, dinosaurs and comics in the classroom

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Neill Cameron writes and draws for The Phoenix, Britain’s new weekly comic for children, as well as giving illustrated talks and workshops for young comics creators. Neill Cameron giving a comics workshop

When mainstream comic companies sometimes seem to neglect younger readers, it’s exciting to see a publication like The Phoenix aimed at an earlier age range. Neill’s work for the comic includes a gripping pirates-versus-dinosaurs adventure and a series teaching readers ‘How To Make Awesome Comics’.

Neill joins us now as part of my site’s discussion of comics in education, which you can browse via the comicsedu tag.

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Comics in the classroom: supporting female students, part 2

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This is the second part of a discussion about engaging female students using comic books. Read the first part of the girls in comics discussion here, or browse all posts on comics in the classroom.

Queen and Country by Greg Rucka

Reflecting on girls, comics and education are comics commentator Dee Pirko from Girls Read Comics Too, educator and editor Lisa Fary from Pink Raygun, and Carol Borden, editor of The Cultural Gutter, as well as children’s writer Louie Stowell and Adele Walsh, who runs Melbourne’s Centre for Youth Literature.

I concluded the discussion by asking our panel to recommend good comics for educators and librarians to use with girls and young women.

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Comics in the classroom: supporting female students, part 1

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This week, our discussion of comics in the classroom turns to the question of how we can engage female students using comic books.

I’m joined by comics commentator Dee Pirko from Girls Read Comics Too, educator and editor Lisa Fary from Pink Raygun, and Carol Borden, editor of The Cultural Gutter, as well as children’s writer Louie Stowell and Adele Walsh, who runs Melbourne’s Centre for Youth Literature.

Michelle Bai of Alfriston College drawing her own comic

I started by asking the panel, “What are the benefits, and challenges, of using comics in education?”

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Zombie Pandemic! Comic books and public health communications from the CDC

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Can a comic book help you prepare for hurricane season?

What about bioterrorism? Or a natural disaster?

What about a zombie pandemic?

Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic comic from CDCIn the 21st century, using comics in education stretches far beyond the campus or the classroom. Health organisations around the world are increasingly looking towards comic strips as a medium for public health communication.

The ‘graphic medicine’ movement had a cover feature in the 2010 British Medical Journal, looking at a range of applications – from training doctors to understand patients’ healthcare experience through to public information and outreach programmes.

Last year, America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an unusual educational comic called Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic.

In it, everyday folk caught up in an apparent attack by the walking dead turn to the CDC for advice and support.

I caught up with Maggie Silver of the CDC communications office to find out more, and to make sure I’m ready for the coming zombie apocalypse.

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My Dinner With Hergé: Raymond Huber and Hugh Todd

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This is one in a series of posts supporting my article in the June 18th curriculum supplement to the New Zealand Education Gazette. Find more resources, interviews and features on comics in education via my site’s comicsedu tag.

Today, I’m joined by Raymond Huber and Hugh Todd, lifelong devotees of the iconic boy reporter, Tintin.

Tintin and Snowy

Raymond is a New Zealand children’s author whose novel Wings was a finalist in the 2012 Julius Vogel awards.

Hugh, a fellow Kiwi now based in Australia’s Blue Mountains, is a cartoonist, graphic designer and author of the Scholastic picture book Bring Back the Ball, Daisy Dog.

Raymond and Hugh agreed to discuss the enduring appeal of Europe’s most famous comic book character and his creator, Georges Remi, over an informal “dinner with Hergé”.

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Comics in the classroom: the artists’ perspective

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As a writer with the shaky draftsmanship of a toddler on Red Bull, I tend to avoid discussing the visual aspect of comic book literature – this despite holding a Ph.D. which looked at the lives of many 20th century art historians!

I really struggled with art in high school. The only recognition a teacher ever showed for my artistic talents was at the age of 13, when I decorated the interior and exterior covers of my maths book with an epic stick-figure comic depicting the escapades of Jimmy Joe the Spew Surfer as he battled his way to a Ramones gig.

At the bottom of that week’s homework, Mr. O’Grady wrote: ‘7/10, some corrections to be made. Please kindly cover over the adventures of Jimmy Joe et al, or purchase a new exercise book.’ He then made me collect litter from the campus after school.

Jessica Abel, self-portrait
Self-portrait from 2007’s Life Sucks, by Jessica Abel

In this blog post, I want to redress the balance and hear artist-educators’ thoughts on using comics in the classroom. From the USA, we’re joined by acclaimed graphic novelist Jessica Abel, co-creator of the Drawing Words, Writing Pictures comics textbook. In London, Kel Winser works with children and young people creating Egyptian-themed superhero comics at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian archaeology, while Australian writer and illustrator Steve Axelsen runs workshops for young people in Western Sydney via the Westwords programme.

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Comics in the classroom: Dr. Yen Yen Woo and the Dim Sum Warriors

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Dr. Yen Yen Woo is a filmmaker, comics creator and associate professor of education at Long Island University. She’s one half of the creative team behind Dim Sum Warriors, a comic-book iPad app which features pork buns, dumplings and other dim sum dishes battling for the throne of a fabled kingdom. The narrative is designed as a bilingual learning tool including English and Mandarin Chinese elements.

Yen Yen joins us today for her top tips on using comics in the classroom.

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Comics in the classroom guest post: Nick Sousanis of Teachers College, New York

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American artist and educator Nick Sousanis is one of the experts interviewed in this month’s education article on Comics in the Classroom. Nick made his name on the Detroit art scene before beginning a Ph.D. at Teachers College in New York.

Unusually, Nick’s own doctoral thesis takes the form of a comic book – putting into practice his belief that the medium can be a powerful tool for intellectual inquiry and the communication of complex arguments.

Possibilities comic by Nick Sousanis
A page from Nick Sousanis’ ‘Possibilities’, a philosophical and historical examination of games

Nick is currently speaking at the Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels. In today’s guest post, Nick shares his thoughts on making the most of comics in education.

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Cody Pickrodt – Comics in the classroom

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This is one in a series of posts supporting my article in the curriculum supplement to New Zealand Education Gazette, out on June 18th. Find more resources, interviews and features on comics in education via my site’s comicsedu tag.

Cody Pickrodt is an American indie comics creator and educator who runs comic book workshops for Brooklyn kids through the non-profit organisation Uproar Art.

Poster for Chicago Alternative Comics Expo
Cody Pickrodt will be attending CAKE – Chicago’s Alternative Comics Expo – this weekend.
Image by Laura Park.

Cody joined me for an interview on my site back in February 2011, and features in my upcoming piece for the Gazette.

Today, Cody shares some of his top tips for getting students to create their own cartoons, comics and graphic narratives.

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