Month: November 2015

Accessible Comics?

Posted on by Kirt Ethridge

grown clint deaf

{Image is a scan of a comic page. The top panel shows adult Clint staring at the reader. The second row of cells is a typed doctor’s note stating that Clint has been deafened. The third panel is an image of the doctor’s office, with Clint sitting on an examination table while his brother talks to the doctor. Their speech bubbles are blank, showing that Clint cannot hear them at all. The bottom row of cells shows Clint’s brother signing at him. Clint is looking down.}

Comics, as an art form, haven’t changed much since their inception. Sure, you can download them onto your computer or tablet now, but much like with other books, there are still paper copies being sold regularly. Comics have cells, panels, line and color art, onomatopoeia, and huge plot arcs with a clearly defined protagonist and antagonist.

Where does this leave would-be comics readers who, for whatever reason, can’t experience comics in their usual incarnation?

You don’t usually think of writing comics for the blind. But that is one idea I’m going to ask you and your students to consider in this post.

Today’s lesson plan is a unit about accessibility in comics. Do comic creators have an obligation to create at least some more accessible comics? What can comic creators do for would-be readers with sensory processing issues or other special needs? How can the traditional comic book format be modified for non-traditional readers?

daredevil-first-season.35411

{Image is a poster for Marvel’s Netflix show Daredevil. Matt Murdock faces the viewer. He has a cut on his forehead, and his knuckles are bloody. He is holding a cane in his left hand and is straightening his tie with his right hand. He is wearing tinted glasses.}

Students will engage in visuals, lecture, whole group instruction, discussion, and a project.

Materials Needed:

  • Computer
  • Projector
  • Computers available to students, for research purposes
  • Comics for research (especially comics used previously in class)
  • Comic-related films for research (especially films previously used in class)
  • Blank lined paper
  • Blank white paper
  • Pencils, pens, and other art materials needed for comics
  • A USB headset (I use this one for podcasts, but a gaming headset with a USB plug will do) and corresponding technology (such as Audacity), for any students who wish to work with an auditory medium
  • Whatever other materials students need for their special projects; you will want to touch base with your students throughout the unit to ensure that they have everything they need for their project to work

Standards Met:

  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.”
  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.A Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.”

DAY ONE

  1. Gather the students together as a class. Ask them if they can think of anything that might hinder someone from reading a comic. If they seem stumped, gently guide them toward the idea of people with special needs, for example by asking a question: “What if Daredevil wanted to read a comic?” Discussion should be brief, maybe five minutes.
  2. Introduce the students to the main idea of this lesson plan: The students will be assigned to groups (or allowed to choose their own, depending on how self-regulatory your students are). Their groups will design a comic for someone with special needs. This comic should be short, the equivalent of a ~5 page comic. (This measurement may not mean a whole lot, especially if the students choose to use a completely foreign medium, such as audio recording. Use your best judgment.)
    1. If the students need inspiration, you can give them a list of people who might need an alternate form of comics: have a comic for the blind that includes 3D art or that is narrated, for example; have a comic with muted colors and a wider spread for someone who has sensory processing issues or other problems with focusing; etc.
    2. This new form of comic may also encompass a group that is not often represented in cape comics: for example, an autistic superhero.
  3. REMIND THE STUDENTS THAT COMICS ARE FUN. THIS PROJECT IS TO HELP SOMEONE ELSE HAVE FUN. FUN IS KEY.
  4. Assign the students to groups (or let them group up). Give them part of the class period (15-20 minutes) to discuss what need they want to fill with their comics. Each group should bring you a paragraph-long proposal detailing what need they wish to fill and how they propose to fulfill it. This proposal does not have to cover all aspects of this issue, but the students should be prepared to keep in touch with you about their project as they work on it over the next few days.
  5. For the remainder of the class period, have the students research the special need that they have chosen. This research should continue outside of class. The students do not have to type a formal report about the need they wish to fill, but they should have printed reliable sources about what resources are used to accommodate the people they wish to accommodate. They should also research the culture of the people they wish to create comics for. If they want to make special comics for Deaf people, they should research Deaf culture. If they are interested in writing comics for Autistic people, they should look into autistic advocacy, particularly that done by autistic teenagers and adults.

DAY TWO

  1. Meet with each group during this class period. Have them describe what information they have uncovered in their research. Ask them how they intend to incorporate that information into their work. Remind them that they should always keep the wants and needs of their audience in mind.
  2. Let the students work on their projects in class. Check in with the groups as they work. Ask what materials they need that you might be able to help them find.

DAY THREE

  1. Students continue to work on their projects in class. Their work should be close to halfway done.
  2. Continue meeting with the groups. See if they have any questions. Provide resources created by the people they are creating their comic for if need be. Also: encourage them! Encouragement is key. Comics are fun.

DAY FOUR

  1. Students continue to work on their projects in class. Their projects should be completed by next time!
  2. Have the groups prepare a short summary of their projects. This summary should be about a page long, single-spaced. It will explain the purpose of their comic, its storyline, and what materials they used to make their comic accessible to a certain group. This summary will be presented along with their finished project.
  3. Remind the students that they need to have all materials needed for someone to experience their comic. If they need a laptop and headphones, they should find one (ask you or a librarian for one, etc). These materials all need to be present in the next class–otherwise their classmates won’t be able to experience their comics!

DAY FIVE

  1. PROJECT IS DUE! The students will set up their projects in designated spaces around the classroom. Their projects will be accompanied by their single-spaced summary. All of the students will move from station to station, experiencing each other’s comics.
  2. During the last part of class (20ish minutes), have the students settle into their seats. Have them write a reflection about their project. Why did their group choose to do that certain project? What do they think went well? What would they change if they could repeat the project? Finally, do they plan on giving the project to anyone who might benefit from its accessibility?

What did your students think of this project? Is there any way in which you wish comics were more accessible? Is there any issue that you think this lesson plan could better address? If so, let me know in the comments!

Thanksgiving

Posted on by Kirt Ethridge

  1. I am thankful for this two-day week and five-day weekend. At this point in the semester, this is my face:
    no

    {Image is of me, a blonde-haired white person with wire-rimmed glasses. I am wearing a red sweater and headphones. I am holding a thick textbook over my head and glaring at the camera.}

    But I am still here, alive, mostly healthy, and far more educated than I was at the beginning of the school year. I’ve learned so much from my professors and from my students. I’m getting better at debating and listening productively and respectfully. I’ve learned to blog and to put together a podcast. I’ve learned more about who I am as a person and how strongly I believe in what I believe in. I am incredibly grateful for my education, and I am wonderfully blessed to be able to help educate the kids I work with. They make all this end-of-semester exhaustion worth it.

  2. I am thankful for Captain America and the people who write his comics. Steve Rogers is the standard of morality that I hold myself to. He doesn’t like bullies. He defends what’s right, not just what’s stereotypically “American.” He listens to people carefully, and he befriends people based on how good they are, not based on their culture, race, sexuality, or gender. When written well, he represents not necessarily the US as it is but the US as it should be–fair, just, righteous, and open.

    captain america

    {Image is a scan of a comic cell. Captain America is facing the reader with his right hand outstretched. He is saying: “Well, I say America is nothing! Without its ideals–its commitment to the freedom of all men, America is a piece of trash! A nation is nothing! A flag is a piece of cloth!!”}

  3. I’m thankful for Iron Man, too, even when he’s a jerk. He makes me laugh when I feel like doing anything but laughing.

    tony

    {Image is a scan of a comic cell. Iron Man is in the center of the cell with his back to the reader. He is saying, “My name is Tony Stark. And Captain America dances in his underwear to the Andrews Sisters.}

  4. I am thankful for my fiancée. She’s the Bucky to my Steve–which, if you know anything about fandom, probably sounds tacky or cheesy or ridiculous. But it’s true. She encourages my writing, even when I’m moaning about how I feel stuck in a rut. She wrestles with me in the snow and reads me the lesson plans she writes for her third graders. She shares every single one of these lesson plans on her social media. She makes me feel safe and smart and listened to. Those aren’t words I historically would have applied to myself. But with her, they’re true.
thanksgiving 1

{Image is a photograph of my fiancée and me from this Halloween. We are standing outside by some orange leaves. She is in costume as the Winter Soldier. I am in costume as Captain America. She is holding Captain America’s shield over our heads to protect us from the rain.}

And I’m thankful for you, person who is reading my blog. Thank you for reading my lesson plans. Thank you for engaging with comics on a meaningful level. Thank you for embracing your geekery and your students’ geekery. Thank you for sharing these plans on social media and for trying them out in the classroom.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Watch the Macy’s Parade and the dog show. Eat until somebody has to roll you out to your car. Curl up with the people you love, whether they’re family by blood or by choice, and let them know that you love them.

Enjoy the break! I’ll be back with your regularly scheduled lesson plans on Monday.

(No word on how coherent said lesson plans will be. The post-turkey coma is rough.)

Writing Stan Lee-Worthy Comics

Posted on by Kirt Ethridge

“I don’t think anything can really beat the pure fun and pleasure of holding a magazine in your hand, reading the story on paper, being able to roll it up and put it in your pocket, reread again later, show it to a friend….I think young people have always loved that. I think they always will.” —Stan Lee

EXCELSIOR!

One of the most gleeful moments as a Marvel fan is spotting the latest Stan Lee cameo. He’s ridiculous and funny, kind of like your grandpa when he gets a little tipsy at Christmas dinner.

He’s also a writing god. Stan Lee, Jack Kirby–everyone who’s come after them has had to fight to live up to the standards they set. Jack Kirby passed away (before I was born, which is a damn shame. I’d like to take that up with whoever’s running this whole universe show). But Stan Lee’s still around, drinking too much Asgardian mead, being oblivious to Spider-Man, and dispensing advice to wannabe comic writers.

Recently, Buzzfeed interviewed Stan Lee. Out of this interview came five pieces of advice for people who want to create superheroes.

This week’s lesson plan is a unit on creating heroes based on Stan Lee’s advice.

Writing Stan Lee-Worthy Comics

Students will engage in lecture, whole group instruction, discussion, and a project.

Materials Needed:

  • Loose leaf lined paper
  • Blank white sheets of paper
  • Pencils, pencil sharpeners, rulers, pens, markers, and other art supplies for drawing comics
  • A computer
  • A projector and whiteboard/something to project onto
  • Optional: copies of comics previously used in the classroom

Standards Met

  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.”
  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.A Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.”
  1. Have the students take out a loose leaf sheet of lined paper. On one side of this sheet, have them list each superhero they have studied so far in class. Make sure they leave a few lines between each name. Then have them describe each hero’s character traits in the space by each character’s name. This should take about ten minutes.
  2. Have the students flip over their sheet of paper. On this blank side, have them expand on the character traits of one superhero. Why does this hero have these traits? How are these traits shown in the comic–through dialogue? Through art? This should take about ten to fifteen minutes.
  3. Pull up the Stan Lee interview linked above on the whiteboard. Go through his advice with your students. This should take about ten minutes.
  4. Introduce them to the main project by telling them that they are going to use Stan Lee’s guidelines, as well as their own observations about superheroes, to create a short (one-to-three-page, not including a cover) comic about their own original superhero. This comic should reveal the hero’s character. The first draft will be sketched. Then, after a peer review and revisions, a full-color or fully-inked comic will be submitted for a final grade.
  5. For the rest of the class period, have the students map out a plan for their superhero. Who are they? What do they look like? Where are they from? What are their powers? What is their family/their friends like? If the students finish this task early, they may get a blank piece of white paper to start sketching their comic’s cover.
  6. Over the next few class periods, and/or outside of class, depending on time constraints, your students should continue to work on their comic. Remind them that, as a first draft, their comic does not have to be colored or ink. Keep Stan Lee’s interview pulled up on the whiteboard so the students can review his advice.
  7. When the students turn in their first drafts, have them exchange these drafts with another student. Provide them with a checklist for peer review: Does the comic fit the required structure of a cover and one-to-three pages of actual comic? Does the other student seem to have used Stan Lee’s advice? Is the superhero’s character obvious through action and dialogue? What doesn’t make sense? What does? Remind your students that this review is meant to be constructive.
  8. Have your students revise their comics while bearing in mind their peers’ advice as well as your own advice. Remind them frequently that their final draft should be colored or inked.
  9. Enjoy reading all of their comics!

What superheroes did your students create? What heroes have you created? If you use this or any other lesson plan in your classroom, please let me know in the comments!

Not the Winter Soldier: Cosplay, Trick-or-Treating, and Safety

Posted on by Kirt Ethridge

As evidenced by my Halloween post, I cosplay fairly frequently. I don’t hand-sew my costumes like some people do. To be honest, most of my cosplays are thrown together the night before the event I’m dressing up for—or the day of.

{Image is of me cosplaying as Tony Stark for the Iron Man 3 premiere. I am wearing a black Iron Man t-shirt from the boys' section of Target and purple sunglasses I got for free somewhere. I have an arc reactor button pinned to my shirt. My hair is dyed brown, and I've painted a goatee on my face with mascara. All of this outfit was decided on just hours before the movie started.}

{Image is of me cosplaying as Tony Stark for the Iron Man 3 premiere. I am wearing a black Iron Man t-shirt from the boys’ section of Target and purple sunglasses I got for free somewhere. I have an arc reactor button pinned to my shirt. My hair is dyed brown, and I’ve painted a goatee on my face with mascara. All of this outfit was decided on just hours before the movie started.}

I enjoy dressing up. I’m willing to bet that most of your students do too, even the ones who don’t enjoy comics. High schoolers might be older kids, but they’re still kids. Ask who dressed up for Halloween, and I’m sure almost all of your students will raise their hands. Ask who went trick-or-treating, and some hands might go down, but you’ll still have some hulking teenage boys (and tiny teenage girls) with their hands half-raised.

The problem with big kids in costumes isn’t that they don’t deserve to have fun. But adults tend to view these huge costumed people shuffling to their door as a sham, or worse, as a threat. Not me, of course. I trick-or-treated through my freshman year of college, guys; I won’t turn anybody who wants candy way.

What happens when fully-grown adults wander the streets in costume? How about when they do so, and it’s not Halloween? This is the dilemma cosplayers are often faced with. Nobody wants to have to get dressed at the convention center, especially if they’re going to wear a handmade replica costume of, say, Iron Man. Con restrooms can be gross and awkward, and besides, some of the best photo ops happen when you’re in line for big events.

This leads to people wandering the streets as Captain Marvel or Harley Quinn. Not a big deal, right? Sure, cosplayers probably get funny looks (and unfortunately, cat-calls), but they aren’t generally perceived as dangerous.

Until they get ahold of replica weapons.

A man cosplaying as the Winter Soldier was arrested in Canary Wharf the other day because people mistook his replica gun for a real weapon. He was in town for a convention and, therefore, wandering in costume. As someone who spent a good amount of Halloween wrapping their fiancee’s arm in tinfoil, I can only imagine how much effort it would have taken him to apply and remove his extraordinarily realistic-looking metal arm. He probably wasn’t thinking about how he might appear to people who aren’t familiar with the erstwhile Bucky Barnes.

As some people have pointed out, cosplayers are supposed to leave the tips of their replica guns unpainted—usually they’re orange, if the gun is Air Soft. But even with a bright orange tip, from afar, guns look like a threat.

I sort of think the cosplayer’s bright silver metal arm should have been a hint that he was in costume. Not that people don’t have prosthetic arms, but usually they aren’t indestructible metal.

Still, I understand why someone called the police. Gun violence is no joke. It’s better to be prepared, to take action every time a gun might be present, than to let something slip.

Though this whole situation reminds me of an anecdote Viggo Mortensen tells in the behind-the-scenes clips from Lord of the Rings. He took his prop sword everywhere with him in order to practice his moves. One time, he was wandering the streets half-in costume, swinging his sword. A cop started tailing him. Somehow I think that a police officer working near the set of one of the biggest fantasy films of all time could have assumed that the sleep-deprived sword-wielder was an actor.

I can’t help but to think of the effect this must have had on the cosplayer, who didn’t have the good fortune to be a famous actor working on a film. I’ve been scouring tumblr to see if he has a blog so I can send him encouraging messages. He might have made a stupid mistake, but being arrested like that must have been traumatizing. In all of the photos of his arrest, he’s shielding his face.

{Image is of a police officer leading the cosplayer away. The cosplayer is handcuffed. He is shielding his face with his non-metal hand.}

{Image is of a police officer leading the cosplayer away. The cosplayer is handcuffed. He is shielding his face with his non-metal hand. Image (c) the Daily Mirror.}

Let’s say one of your larger boys, six foot tall—big guy, football player or basketball player—decides to be the Winter Soldier for Halloween. He goes all out for it—his best friends will be Cap, Falcon, and Black Widow, and they’re all designing their own costumes, so builds a metal arm and buys a replica vest. He even borrows Black Widow’s eyeliner to smear on his face as war paint.

As the final touch, he spray paints an Air Soft gun black.

Your big Winter Soldier goes trick-or-treating. Late at night: he’s fifteen or sixteen or seventeen, not a baby. He has his gun. He has his mask.

Somebody calls 9-1-1.

I have questions for your students and for you. What should the man on Canary Wharf have done differently? What are your thoughts/your students’ thoughts on older trick-or-treaters? On guns as part of costumes? On the culture of cosplay in general?

I don’t have the answers to these questions. Just more questions. Sometimes being a geek sucks.

Daredevil and Religion in Comics

Posted on by Kirt Ethridge

“[You] have someone who believes in God, and believes in divine order, and God’s will, and the almighty. Who, at the same time, is going out and playing God.” –Charlie Cox

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I haven’t been to Confession in years—not since high school, when our teachers herded us into the auditorium and forced us to do penance. This gap has a lot to do with my own cowardice, but another part of my skittishness stems from the fact that Confession on television is nothing like Confession in real life. Most confessional scenes shown on television today are based on the old confessional booths from the mid-20th century. The partition between the priest and the penitent emphasizes the separation between God and man in a visual way that works perfectly for dramatic TV moments.

Daredevil’s Confessional scenes are gorgeous. Matt Murdock’s Catholicism is part of what spurs him to superhero action in the comics. This faith carries over into the recent Netflix series. The trailer for the first season begins with a voiceover: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been too long since my last Confession.” As Matt, still in voiceover, confesses his sins, he is seen taking down bad guys in his masked costume.

daredevilstill-1024x575

{Image is a still from the Daredevil Netflix series. Matt Murdock is in the background, seen through the screen of a confessional. He is in plainclothes and wearing dark glasses. The priest’s face is blurry in the foreground.}

This combination of religious virtue and brutal violence defines Matt Murdock’s character. He’s the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen who worries about his immortal soul. What makes this religion-based story work, even for audiences who haven’t been raised Catholic? What makes other religious characters, such as Kamala Khan, relatable?

Today’s lesson plan is about how religion is portrayed in superhero stories, and how it isn’t.

Daredevil (2015 Netflix series), Drew Goddard

Students will engage in lecture, whole group instruction, discussion, and a project.

Materials Needed:

  • Computer with access to Netflix
  • Projector
  • Computers for Research
  • Comics for Research (such as previous comics read in class, especially Marvel #1)

Standards Met:

  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.”
  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.”
  1. Ask the students how much religion they expect to see in a superhero story. This discussion should take no more than five minutes.
  2. Show the students the first episode of Have them take notes about the episode, paying special attention to any religious motifs.

NOTE: Daredevil is the equivalent of a “mild” R-rated film. It may be prudent to send students home with a permission slip before you show it.

  1. Have the students discuss the various religious motifs they noticed in Which did they immediately recognize? Which were more subtle? How do they think religion motivates Daredevil’s character, and how does it influence the show’s mood?
  2. Inside or outside of class time, depending on your preference, have the students research religion in comics. They will write 750-1,000 word paper (3-4 pages, double-spaced) comparing the representation of religion in Daredevil and at least two other comics. Remind them of the Marvel comic they read earlier in the semester. If you have a Marvel.com account, you can allow the students to browse comics there. You can also provide them with paper copies of comics as you see fit.
  3. On the day that the students turn in their research reports, have them each briefly (five minutes per person or less, depending on the amount of students and length of the class) summarize their findings. What is their opinion on religion’s representation in comics? Is it fair? Is it realistic? Is it too much or too little? Remind them ahead of time that discussion like these should be civil and respectful.

What did your students think about Daredevil? Are you excited for season two and Punisher? Tell me all about it in the comments.