PORTFOLIO HOW-TO AND REVIEW
How to put together the best possible portfolio to show an editor

DATE:  Thursday 7-10 pm. July 4 2013

MATERIALS:  Students should bring the art they are planning to show an editor; drawings, pinups, sequential pages. They don’t have to be in a “proper” portfolio book for this class (but do plan to buy one).

PRICE:    $30

Payment accepted by cash, cheque or PayPal (There will be a fee for NSF cheques).

REGISTRATION/INQUIRES:  email comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com or call us at 905-822-2961 to book a space, and to make payment arrangements. Please note that spaces are limited for each class; registration is on a first-come first-reserved basis.

First up, a PORTFOLIO HOW-TO AND REVIEW workshop. This will be one three-hour session. Ty will spend the first half-hour or so, explaining what skills and examples editors look for in a portfolio, how your portfolio should be put together and arranged, and what pages you should have in it to best show off your abilities to any potential client.

Immediately following, Ty will spend time reviewing each student’s portfolio/art samples, giving highly specific critiques and notes for the work in front of him.

Students are welcome to leave after their own review but are advised that it’s in their best interest to stay and watch everyone go through the process.  Much will be learned with every example.

Because of the time involved in that process, the class will be limited to ten students. If more than ten students are interested in this class, we will add on additional workshops in subsequent weeks.

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COVER DESIGN, COMPOSITION and EXECUTION

PREREQUISITE:  none, although knowledge/experience of drawing is helpful.

DATE:  Tuesdays 7-10pm July 2 – July 16, 2013

MATERIALS:  paper for drawing (loose sheets or sketchbooks), pencils, erasers, pencil sharpener, paper and pens for taking notes

PRICE:  $125

Payment accepted by cash, cheque or PayPal (There will be a fee for NSF cheques).

REGISTRATION/INQUIRES:  email comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com or call us at 905-822-2961 to book a space, and to make payment arrangements. Please note that spaces are limited for each class; registration is on a first-come first-reserved basis.

A cover is not simply a drawing, it’s a conversation with your potential reader.  It’s one-part advertising, one-part introduction, and a whole mess of parts involving content, composition, style, and the needs of the readers and retailers.

Arguably, the cover is the single most important element of a comic book business, and is often the most overlooked.  This new course is a greatly expanded version of the 90 minute cover lecture Ty has given in his Bootcamp Level 1, class, including elements and lessons never taught at the Bootcamp before!!

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As always, classes are first-come first served…so email us asap to reserve a space.

comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com

Thursday May 1 will be the first meeting for HOLMES INCORPORATED #4. Interested students can email comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com–only students who have taken classes with Ty will be considered.

Starting Tuesday May 14, Ty will be teaching PENCILING THE PAGE. Previously called LAYOUT FOR COMICS, this class “is the fundamental how-to course for creating comic art – from blank paper to finished page, through thumbnail sketches, layouts and pencils, this is everything you need to know about how stories are told visually, and how to make great pages come to life.”

WRITING FOR COMICS PART TWO will take place on Thursdays, starting May 16. Only students who have previously taken PART ONE (in any session) will be registered for this workshop.

Check the information under UPCOMING CLASSES for all the details on WRITING FOR COMICS PART TWO, and PENCILING THE PAGE. Check HOLMES INC. #4 for more information on the upcoming course.

Keiren

WRITING FOR COMICS (PART ONE)

Wednesdays 7-10pm, March 13-April 24 2013

FEES:  $300 (for students who have taken this class before, and would like to repeat it, the price is $250)     Payment accepted by cash, cheque or PayPal (There will be a fee for NSF cheques).

REGISTRATION/INQUIRES:  email comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com to book a space, and to make payment arrangements. Please note that spaces are limited for each class; registration is on a first-come first-reserved basis.

Plot, tale, character, dialogue, set pieces, scenes  and act structure —we cover it all.  Seven intensive workshops, will teach you the basic language of fiction, with an emphasis on comic and graphic novels as a script form.  This is a writing class like no other writing class you`ve ever had.

Students are expected to create stories, plots, pitches and scenes in the workshops.  Bring a pencil (with a healthy eraser) and a willingness to dig in and write, write, write!

Most of my industry awards were for my many years writing for Batman.  As a result, this course is my favourite to teach, and a favourite with students.  This class generally fills very quickly–so reserve a spot as soon as possible..

(This course is followed by  Writing for Comics Part Two, which focuses on world building, continuing series, genre, comedy, tragedy, and a study of classical story forms.)

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Drawing the Human Figure From Your Head

Mondays 7-10pm, March 11 – April 22 2013

FEES:  $300 (for students who have taken this class before, and would like to repeat it, the price is $250)     Payment accepted by cash, cheque or PayPal (There will be a fee for NSF cheques).

REGISTRATION/INQUIRES:  email comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com to book a space, and to make payment arrangements. Please note that spaces are limited for each class; registration is on a first-come first-reserved basis.

Visualizing the human form in three-dimensional space is one of the basic skills needed to make comics, and our bootcamp class makes this often difficult skill surprisingly easy, with a unique geometric approach to skeletal and muscular systems.  In seven weeks, you’ll understand the movement  of the elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and hands, basic human proportions, the muscle system, and balance (yes, in just seven weeks!) without needing a model to see it in your head.   Previous drawing experience is not required, we can teach this method to anyone willing to learn.

Bring lots of paper and pencils, this is a class for drawing, not for listening to lectures.

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COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP PART TWO

Tuesdays 7-10pm, March 12-April 23 2013

FEES:  $300 (for students who have taken this class before, and would like to repeat it, the price is $250)     Payment accepted by cash, cheque or PayPal (There will be a fee for NSF cheques).

REGISTRATION/INQUIRES:  email comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com to book a space, and to make payment arrangements. Please note that spaces are limited for each class; registration is on a first-come first-reserved basis.

For students who have completed COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP PART ONE, the layout/scripting/anatomy lessons continue, with a new emphasis on dialogue, character, pencilling and inking the final page, facial features, cover design, body language, expressions and “acting” with a pencil.  Students will write and draw their own short comic story by the end of the seven week course.

Bring paper or a sketchbook, pencils and erasers for drawing lessons; a notebook or laptop or whatever you need to write down lessons.

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PLEASE NOTE:

Ty will do his best to help students catch up on any lessons missed if they miss a class; a makeup class won’t be the full three hours (as in-class instruction includes class participation, exercises, etc.) but will include all knowledge passed on.

logo designed by COMIC BOOK EMBASSY’S Brice Hall

On Saturday, January 5 2013, more than thirty creators showed up at The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery and Guerilla Printing for an event hosted by us (Comic Book Bootcamp!), and our studio-mates,Comic Book Embassy.

(photo by Kevin Boyd) This was from the first few minutes; people continued to stream in over that first hour. A couple turned up in the late afternoon!

Our event was inspired obviously as a take off on Scott McCloud’s 24 Hour Comic Day, which was held back on October 20. As Ty said over on ART LAND!!, at that time, we were still getting our class space organised, and there were still many comics-related events taking place, keeping a lot of creators fairly busy. So, we decided to run our own in January as a great start to the new year–a chance for one last fun holiday event before everyone is “officially” back at work and school, a chance to jump in and do the comic book you’ve always wanted to do.

(photo by Tyrone McCarthy)

I said in an email to participants,

“The original intention of Scott McCloud’s 24 Hour Comic was to win a bet with a fellow creator and show him that it was possible for a single person to make a comic, from start to finish, in a single 24 hour period. My hope for this event was a little different–I wanted everyone to find out that it was possible for ANYONE to make a comic if they wanted.”

The participants’ list for the event fluctuated quite a bit–we kept it restricted to 30 figuring people would turn up at the last minute hoping to join in. So, even though three people didn’t turn up and three more cancelled, we still ended up with 34 people participating during the entire event…although that number is low as there were some who came in throughout the 24 hours and sat down and joined in for anywhere from thirty minutes to several hours. A couple creators had to leave unexpectedly, and a few came in knowing that they wouldn’t be able to stay the entire time-period but still wanting to participate–one actually finished her 24 page comic in the first seven hours, having carefully planned it out at the beginning of the day. But all in all, we were pretty amazed to see the turnout–with creators from all across the GTA, from as far afield as Hamilton, St. Catherines, and Barrie.

(photo by Kevin Boyd) Ty turned up to join the participants, “to show solidarity” said he. He finished pencilling and inking that day’s Bun Toon, then headed for home to digitally colour and post it.

We’re listing as many of the participants here as we can, with a link to where you can find them online. I’ll put asterisks by those who have posted their comics online. (If they post their finished comic on a different site, we’ll post that link as well.) We had originally hoped to have everyone work on the same size paper and to scan the all so we could post ALL the finished work–but the success of the event quickly put an end to that idea.

(photo by Darwin Santos) Many people finished their pages but left earlier. This was the crew that decided they were hanging in for the full 24 hours no matter what! Even after having finished his 24 pages AND a cover for SAD ROBOT, Chris Yao had been valiantly sketching just before time was called.

We were thrilled to host this event…and to see the comics that came out of it. I hope everyone who participated came away feeling inspired and ready to create comics–after a good night’s sleep, of course.

Aaron Broverman– AARON BROVERMAN:  WRITER, INTERVIEWER, AGITATOR

           **work in progress:  GIMP

Aaron Feldman (worked as a team with Rebecca Slack)– Isn’t it Aaronic?

           **finished comic:  UNTITLED

Adam Gorham–A PRINCELY DREADFUL

            **work in progress:  UNTITLED

Adira Rotstein– Adira Rotstein

Ali Morbi (worked as a team with Shane Kirshenblatt) – Morbi Design

Anthony Smerek–anthony smerek’s DEVIOUS DRAWINGS

             **finished comic: UNTITLED

Brian Evinou–Brian Evinou Comics!

Brice Hall–BRICE-INK:  COMICS/ILLUSTRATION

            **finished comic:  TWO HAPLESS CHAPS

Christopher Yao (worked as a team with writer James Cooper)– yaoza graphics studio!

             **finished comic:  SAD ROBOT

Daniel Reynolds– THE SAME PAGE

Dylan Kloepfer– Dyl’s Blog for iPod

James Cooper (worked as a team with artist Christopher Yao)– JAMES COOPER. write. direct. create.

              **finished comic:  SAD ROBOT

Jason Roussel

              **finished comic:  My 24 Hour Comic Book (on Facebook)

(also posted on deviantART) My 24 Hour Comic Book

Jeff Longstreet–Black Dot Comics

        **finished comic: BLACK DOT ISSUE 000

Jessika Koeslag

Joe Kilmartin

Kawai Shen– cute juice comics

**finished comic:  LEGACIES

Mansoor Siddiqui

Mark Paraiso– southpaw dragon 

         **finished comic:  UNTITLED (on Facebook)

Megan Kearney– the quietly:  the secret online home of Megan Kearney

Pierce Desrochers-O’Sullivan

Rachael Wells– Rachael Wells

**Rachael joined us to work in solidarity with her fellow creators (many fellow Bootcampers/Holmes Inc. contributors), but worked on her upcoming book STEAMPUNK VIXENS. Keep an eye out for news on it’s publication.

Rachel Primeau– WARAMPSCHICKEN

Rain Infinity– Studio Octan

**finished comic:  ALLOY

Rebecca Slack (worked as a team with Aaron Feldman)– Rebecca Slack’s Illustration

                    **finished comic:  UNTITLED

Ricky Lima– KingKRule

                    **finished comic:  HUMA AM

Rob Oakman–

Rodrigo Bravo–RODRIGO BRAVO

                **finished comic:  THE LAST DAY

Sam Noir–

Sanya Anwar– art by sanya

 **Sanya was working on a story that she thinks will end up as a prequel of sorts to an ongoing comic. Keep an eye on her site for information about future publication.

Savannah MacIntosh– Savannah MacIntosh

Sari Kirshenblatt (Sari accompanied her husband Shane, but soon produced TWO different flipbooks which she then animated!)

Shane Kirshenblatt (worked as a team with Ali Morbi)– kirshy.com

**Shane and Ali’s comic is being lettered, and undergoing production. When it’s available for reading, he’ll let us know!

Ty Templeton– Ty Templeton’s ART LAND!!

**Ty stopped in for a couple hours to work, in solidarity, with the creators. He pencilled/inked his Bun Toon, then went home to digitally colour and post it:  New Years Bun Toons. YAY!!

Tyrone McCarthy– Tyrone McCarthy’s ART BLOG

*******

Keiren

(photo by Kevin Boyd) Me, attempting to fake consciousness while Debra Shelly does her best to keep me upright…

]]> http://comicbookbootcamp.com/2013/01/07/the-24-hour-comic-challenge-marathon/feed/ 4 comicbookbootcamp 24 hour comic day logo_header And So It Begins...JoePhoto boystable_Tyronephoto Ty at 24comicjam_Joephoto Last Stand Me at 3am http://comicbookbootcamp.com/2012/12/07/special-one-day-workshop/ http://comicbookbootcamp.com/2012/12/07/special-one-day-workshop/#comments Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:35:46 +0000 comicbookbootcamp http://comicbookbootcamp.com/?p=217 Continue reading →]]>

This illustration was completely coloured with markers!

RENDERING WITH MARKERS

Saturday December 15 1-4pm

$65 (includes the cost of THREE Copics markers, and illustrations printed on art board)

email us at comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com and save yourself a spot in this class!

No materials required–all will be provided by the instructor.

*****

A member of Comic Book Embassy, animator/illustrator/webcomic artist Megan Kearney  will be running a one-day workshop on RENDERING WITH MARKERS. Megan has run similar workshops before, and has a lot of experience working with different brands and kinds of colouring markers in her work.

If you want to learn to colour pinups, comics, webcomics, manga, any kind of illustration–this is the class for you! Learn how markers can give you a variety of looks, and a depth and richness of colour you thought you could only do with paints or digital colouring.

The class will run Saturday December 15 1-4pm at our school. No matter what your level of drawing ability, you will be able to take this workshop and learn to colour! Megan will provide each student with illustrations (printed on art paper) to work from, and each student will receive THREE Copics markers, included in the price, to take home at the end of the workshop. She will also have a supply of other markers so that you have a variety of colours to work with for the class.

Meg will teach you how to colour, to shade, how to layer with the markers, how to build up colours, and how to mix to make new colours. This isn’t just basic colouring–she’ll show you how you can use Copics to mimic the look and effect of watercolours. You will be amazed at what you will be able to do by the end of the three hours!

Class size is limited, so please sign up as soon as possible–and make sure you specify which class you would like. Pre-registration is necessary so that Megan is able to provide supplies to each student.

RENDERING WITH MARKERS

Instructor:  Megan Kearney

Saturday December 15 1-4pm

$65 (includes the cost of THREE Copics markers, and illustrations printed on art board)

email us at comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com and save yourself a spot in this class!

No materials required–all will be provided by the instructor.

Art and colours by Megan Hendriks

Keiren

We will be sending copies of the latest flyer off to stores in the GTA in the next few days, now that Ty has finalised the design and the courses (I will be posting a page with official descriptions later today). Classes will start the second full week of January…  the first few days of the new year, we will be with family celebrating a late Christmas (known for various reasons as The Holiday That Shall Not Be Named). Saturday January 5th we will be hosting a 24 HOUR COMIC DAY at The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery/Guerilla Printing community space. The Comic-creation-apalooza will start at 10am (I’ll confirm that later) and continue to 10 am Sunday morning. We will be co-hosting and co-presenting this event with our studio-mates Comic Book Embassy–several of them will be participating as well.

The following week, Ty will run makeup classes for students who miss the final day(s) of the November-December session. We are waiting to see just how many students that is, and what classes are affected to finalise the days–the time will be the same as for regular classes.

And then–the following Monday, January 14, Ty will start an absolutely brand-spanking new class, HEADS, HANDS AND FACES. Many an artist has worked hard to get all of the anatomy just right on a figure–then ruins it with a poorly rendered hand or a bland generic face. You may have even made fun of an artist who seems to have one face they draw–maybe even one expression. THIS class will save you from that fate! In seven weeks, Ty will “[cover] the skeletal forms, muscles, movements, lighting and expressions of these often difficult body parts!”

We’ve had a lot of requests for this course, so we’re expecting it to fill quickly. If you’re interested, please send us an email as soon as possible to reserve your space. Class size is absolutely limited  (to maximise learning for each student).

Tuesdays will see the return of Ty’s LEGENDARY COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP. Yep, the class the entire school is now named for is BACK! This is Comic Book Bootcamp Part One, and will give you the basics you need to plot, script, layout, pencil, and dialogue your own comic, graphic novel and/or webcomic! The workshop includes anatomy lessons and cover design.

This class is for both artists and writers. Drawing skill is helpful but is not required–Ty recommends this class even for someone who only sees themselves as a writer. An ability to thumbnail your story or even draw simple layouts is incredibly helpful for a writer.

HANDS, HEADS AND FACES

Mondays 7-10pm January 14-February 25 2013  $300

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COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP PART ONE*

Tuesdays 7-10pm January 15-February 26 2012 $300

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(*If enough people are interested, we may end up running a second version of Comic Book Bootcamp Part One at the same time)

Send us an email at comicbookbootcamp@gmail.com, or call at 905-822-2961 to reserve a space.

Keiren

The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery is hosting an UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 LAUNCH PARTY today, 12-9pm. Owner Kevin Boyd writes, “The first customers who purchase the book will receive a limited edition print and other goodies, and there will be other surprises and bonuses for those who try out the new book.”

To help launch the book, Kevin and Lounge manager Joe Kilmartin are hosting a mini Artists Alley. Ty will be there 3ish-6:30ish. There’s an impressive list of Bootcampers scheduled to sketch as well…

Swamp Thing by David J. Cutler

David J. Cutler (The Northern Guard, Heroes of the North), Christopher Yao (Heroes of the North, Holmes Incorporated, The Adventures of Y Guy),

Con sketch by Christopher Yao

Rachael Wells gathered up the stories she drew for all three Holmes Inc. and put them out as a collected issue.

Rachael Wells (Holmes Incorporated, Steampunk Vixens),

Selena Goulding (Cobble Hill),

Cover for the upcoming Cobble Hill mini-series, published by 215Ink, by Selena Goulding

from Megan Kearney’s webcomic adaptation of Beauty and The Beast

Megan Kearney (Holmes Incorporated, Megan Kearney’s Beauty and The Beastwebcomic),

and Brice Hall (Holmes Incorporated, The Adventures of Adam Brochu).

A comic by Brice Hall

Stop by and check out the Launch Party!!

Keiren

*

The members of the Comic Book Embassy, who share 392 Spadina Avenue (Second Floor) with us, are having a party THIS SATURDAY September 29, to officially open the space, and to celebrate the launch of Megan Kearney’s Beauty and The Beast webcomic and Brice Hall’s first self-published comic, The Adventures of Adam Brochu. The party is at our shared location, 392 Spadina Avenue, Second Floor, Toronto, and will run 7:30ish to midnight-ish.

The current page for Megan Kearney’s Beauty and The Beast

The Comic Book Embassy currently has four full-time members. Megan Kearney is a graduate of Sheridan College’s prestigious animation program. She works in animation, advertising, comics and more. Beauty and The Beast is her first webcomic, but not her first comic work–Meg was a creator on Holmes Inc. #3 this year. She provided the artwork to Daniel Reynold’s story, Flight Lessons.

Flight Lessons by Daniel Reynolds and Megan Kearney

Sam Noir was also a contributor to this year’s Holmes Incorporated–that’s where this group of skilled illustrators and writers met. After Wednesday meetings, the creators would go out for coffee and pizza cones (yep, it’s a thing!), and talk about their work, and what they hoped to accomplish. Eventually, one of them talked about how great it would be if they could work together and keep that “Wednesday night meeting feeling” going…and thus, the Embassy was born! Sam Noir is the writer for Artie is Dead, drawn and inked by Rachael Wells.

Artie is Dead by Sam Noir and Rachael Wells

Artie is Dead, by Sam Noir and Rachael Wells, pg 3

Savannah MacIntosh has an interesting resume–she’s a mechanic AND an illustrator! As part of the Embassy, she’s hoping to spend more and more time working in the creative fields. Savannah is also a writer–she wrote Analysis Paralysis for Holmes Incorporated #3, which was illustrated by Tuhin Giri. Then she and Tuhin switched jobs and she illustrated his story, Drinking Buddies.

Analysis Paralysis by Savannah MacIntosh and Tuhin Giri

Drinking Buddies by Tuhin Giri and Savannah MacIntosh

Brice Hall joined the Embassy, officially starting off his career as a freelancer. Brice was the artist for James Cooper’s (author of Kickstarter for Filmmakers)  story, Night of the Living in Holmes Incorporated #3. He will be selling copies of his first self-published book, The Adventures of Adam Brochu at the party.

Night of the Living by James Cooper and Brice Hall, pg 1

Night of the Living by James Cooper and Brice Hall, pg 2

Ty and I will be at the party-Ty is hoping that many, many Bootcampers will join us. He’s really looking forward to introducing new Bootcampers to old, and to having people show off their work as well. If you’ve been working on new stuff, if you have interesting projects underway, bring them with you and tell us all about them! We’d love to see ‘em and Ty will be available for feedback.

After the party…we’ll be heading over to Guerilla Printing, 587A College Street West Second Floor (all the best creators hang out on the second floor!). Guerilla Printing is taking place in ScotiaBank’s Nuit Blanche, (co-sponsored by The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery which shares space with Guerilla, just as we do with the Embassy).

As Ty wrote on his Tumblr,

“THIS SATURDAY is Scotia Bank Nuit Blanche Toronto, when

“For one sleepless night, experience the city transformed by artists for Toronto’s seventh annual sunset-to-sunrise celebration of contemporary art. One night only. All night long.”

There are over 150 possible projects to check out—and one of them isStripArt by our very good friends at GUERILLA PRINTING (and sponsored by THE COMIC BOOK LOUNGE AND GALLERY).

StripArt

“…will give you the opportunity to participate directly with the medium of the comic book. StripArt will remind people that comics were once drawings, illustrations, thought bubbles of exposition, paper, and panels of art and narrative.

With the assistance of artists, StripArt will give people the experience of making a comic book:  of thinking about character and their visual representation; dialogue and characters; of narrative arcs and punchy anecdotes.

So come bring a comic book to life. Artists draw content sourced from your imagination, continuing plot from panels created from other participants, to create a strip of collaborative comic art.”

The project runs from Saturday at 7:05pm to Sunday at 6:05am.

During the entire event, The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery will be open so after watching artists create comics in front of your eyes, you can buy new comics! And make sure you check out Guerilla Printingand the services that are available to artists and comics creators.

At 587A College Street West (at Clinton) Second Floor, Saturday September 29 7:05pm to Sunday September 30 6:05am.

StripArt on ScotiaBank Nuit Blanche Toronto website

StripArt on Facebook

All Nuit Blanche events are FREE.”

Keiren

WRITING FOR COMICS – PART 2

LAYOUT AND STORY TELLING

INKING

 CLICK THE UPCOMING CLASSES BUTTON (above), OR CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!

Please note–when we say that space is limited and so, we’re limiting the enrolment, we really do mean that! Part of the enjoyment of the classes is having students share their work and get feedback and reaction from classmates–classes are kept to a size which facilitates that.

]]> http://comicbookbootcamp.com/2012/09/24/new-classes-for-november-announced/feed/ 1 comicbookbootcamp blue logo http://comicbookbootcamp.com/2012/09/11/first-class/ http://comicbookbootcamp.com/2012/09/11/first-class/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:31:30 +0000 comicbookbootcamp http://comicbookbootcamp.com/?p=116 ]]> All set up…just waiting for students!

WRITING FOR COMICS (Part One) starts tonight at 392 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, second floor. See you there!

Keiren