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Meltdown University — New Class Begins August 5th!

Jul 302009

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It’s that time again, time for a new series of comics writing and drawing classes at Meltdown University. The next set of classes begins this Wednesday, August 5th, at 7pm at our lovely Meltdown U campus, otherwise known as the gallery in the back of the store (And it really is lovely — right now the walls are covered with art by Joëlle Jones from the new Oni graphic novel she drew, written by Jamie S. Rich, called You Have Killed Me).

The class consists of 14 weekly sessions meeting every Wednesday where students learn a solid foundation in the skills you need to make a comic book — writing and story structure, visual storytelling, and basic cartooning, drawing, and inking skills. If you are a writer and not an artist, you’re welcome to join the class. You’ll learn about story structure, comic book scriptwriting, and have the advantage of watching artists put together their stories, which will only improve your comics writing skills. Each session is only $20 and is taught by Jim Higgins, who edited comics for DC’s Paradox Press imprint (which published Road to Perdition, and The Big Book series – The Big Book of Hoaxes, The Big Book of the Unexplained, etc.), taught at The School of Visual Arts in New York for eight years and is now teaching how to write and draw comics at The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

For more information on the classes, go to http://www.meltcomics.com/meltdown_u.html

In order to sign up, you need to fill out the info form, which you can go directly to at http://www.meltcomics.com/mlt_u_contact_us.htm

All future comics creators, come join in!

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Oct 302008

Hey there, Pal and Gals,

Meltdown U instructor Jim Higgins here. The University is in full swing with the Monday and the Wednesday classes both filled. The Monday class started in September and so the studes are well into the project for the semester, which is to write and draw an eight-page minicomic or, for the ones who are writers and not artists, to do scripts for two eight-page stories. The tales run the gamut from pulp adventure to slice-of-life toÂ one about a superheroic cockroach avenger(!)

The Wednesday class had its first session last night. There’s a lot of just-writers in this one so the dynamic will be different from the other class. For the writers, they’ll get the experience of seeing comics stories being put together right in front of them. And for the others, they’ll get the benefit of getting input and feedback from people who have spent more time developing and acquiring skills as writers. Most of the writers in the Wednesday group are graduates from the University of Michigan’s writing program who all decided to join up together. After the term, they will be forming their own super-team and looking for financing so they can get a fancy place like The Baxter Building.Â Next week the class begins learning story structure.Â They’ll getÂ concrete ways to put together a story that is filled with interesting, engagingÂ events and has an emotional impact.

For anyone interested in signing up for a class, we’ll be starting a new term in mid-January and start to take names probably around mid-December.

Till next time, take care.