Greg Gildersleeve

Mike Sullivan and I will be at Raytown Middle School this Saturday, April 29, to lead a workshop on writing and drawing comics. The event is part of Raytown School District's Young Author's Day; other presenters will include a poet, a novelist, a newspaper columnist, and a cartoonist (technically, Mike and I are cartoonists, as well, so that makes three presenters from the comics end of things!)

I don't think the event is open to the public -- it's geered toward Raytown middle school students -- but I'm told that 38 kids have signed up for our two sessions. That's a lot of potential future comics creators!

I'm excited about doing this. Any time I get to share my love of comics with others is a good thing, but to be asked to discuss writing comics to school children is a very special honor. Most comics creators today started out loving comics as kids, but these days comics compete with video games and so many other forms of entertainment that it's no wonder our beloved artform is often regarded as a marginalized if not dying. But the high enrollment (20 students is about the size of the college courses I teach) in these sessions is encouraging: It means that comics are still in the game.

By the way, if anybody still wonders if these blogs serve any purpose beyond shameless self-promotion and meaningless musings, you can rest easy. It was through this very blog that the Raytown School District's library services coordinator contacted me!