How to create a comic

KAPOW! A comic is an entertaining way to capture a story in both words and pictures.

Common forms of comics include comic books, newspaper cartoons, graphic novels and comic strips.

In this article you will learn:

• How to plan a comic
• How to layout a comic
• Different comic features, such as panels and captions

This resource is suitable for creative writing for primary school learners.

Watch this video to learn about the different features of a comic then have a go at making your own comic strip!

Before you create your comic, you have to plan it out first.

• Think about your story and how you will tell it in pictures.
• Your plan might be messy and rough at this stage.Get your ideas down on paper and see how they fit together.
• Each piece of action in your comic needs to be drawn inside a panel. This is surrounded by a gutter.
• Remember to make your comic strip look exciting and interesting by varying your images and addingonomatopoeia for sound effects.

• Panels – Comic strip panels are usually read from left to right, but not always. The shape and size of the panels and where you place them on the page is important as it creates the flow of a page. Readers will follow the flow of the panels to put the pieces of the story together.
• Captions – Use captions to tell the reader when and where events in your story are happening. Think of it as your narrator’s voice that gives background information.
• Speech bubbles – Put the words you want the character to say inside speech bubbles. Different types of outlines around the speech bubbles can show different emotions. For example, a jagged speech bubble might show the character is angry.
• Thought bubbles – You can show what you character is thinking inside thought bubbles.
• Sound effects – Sound effects can be added using onomatopoeia. Use words like “pow” or “boom”. They sound like what they are describing.
• Motion lines – You can use visual elements like motion lines to show movement.

Just like a film or TV show, your comic can have lots of different shot types:

• a long shot
• a mid shot
• a close up
• an extreme close up
• bird’s eye view
• a worm’s eye view

• contain – To hold or keep something within something else. A comic panel contains a scene or moment in your story. For example: 'Be careful. Don’t drop the box,” she said because it contained lots of glasses.'
• convey – To show or give an idea or information. For example: 'When he got his new trainers, he didn’t say anything but his face conveyed his happiness.'
• visual– Something we see. This could be a picture, film or illustration. For example: 'The photographs of their holiday is a useful visual reminder of the places they visited.'
• element – A piece of something. For example: 'They had only one more clue to find and then all the elements could be put together.'
• onomatopoeia – A word that sounds like what it is describing. For example: 'Cock-a-doodle-do woke him, then he heard the loud tick-tock from the clock before he jumped out of bed at the crashing sound of plates falling.' The words in this sentence imitate the sound they make and using onomatopoeia makes writing more interesting and colourful.

Draw your own comic

• Draw your panels first. The panels can be a variety of sizes.
• Draw your character and set them off on an adventure. If you need help creating a character, use this BBC Bitesize to help you: How to create a character
• Use all different types of shots.
• Include the words they would speak and think in bubbles. Remember to include onomatopoeia for sound effects.

KAPOW!