Comic book heroes

Task:

Your task is to create the first edition of a new comic book. This should introduce your
character and how they got their powers. You should end your edition on a cliff-hanger
to encourage people to buy the next edition!
Plan how you will launch your comic. Where will you advertise? Who is your market?
How will you generate income? What members of staff will you need and what will their
job involve?

You will need to:

 research comic books and heroes

 create your own hero
 plan and produce your comic book
 present a pitch to representatives from a publishing house
 evaluate your work

Research:

Use the spidergram on the next page to help you research the comic book genre.

Explain the differences between the following and give an example of each:
 Graphic novel
 Manga or Japanese comics
 Bande Dessinée
 British comics
 American comics

Remember that your research notes do not have to be presented as an essay. Spider
diagrams, flow charts, time-lines, annotated images and extended bullet points are all
valid ways of presenting the information. Choose the style of presentation that best
suits you and the information you are trying to give.

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 Comic book heroes

Date first
comic
published Institutions /
Narrative
organisations
structures
producing comics

Iconography Regulatory
bodies

Social, ethical
and moral issues
Typical content
and presentation
Comic books

Representation
Style
and tone

Character
functions Price

Key developments
in the genre Target
Forms and audience
conventions

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 Comic book heroes
In order to create an authentic hero for your comic book you will need to do some
research into existing characters.

Fill in the chart below with details of two comic book heroes. You should also include
an image of each character, either drawn or printed out. If you prefer, you can label
your image with information rather than completing the chart.

Information Character 1 Character 2

Name

Age

Gender

Place of birth

Family history

Appearance
(costume,
distinguishing
features)

Weapons and
mode of
transport

Powers or
strengths
(include how
they were
obtained)

Vices or
weaknesses

Friends and
enemies

Everyday
persona

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 Comic book heroes
One of the perils involved with being a superhero is that you are always present at crime
scenes. As a result you have been arrested on more than one occasion!
Fill in the following record with information that could be found on the police file of
your superhero.

Mugshot: Name/alias:

Age:

Place of birth:

Gender:

Address:

Appearance and distinguishing features (e.g. a mole, limp…):

Costume:

Weapons and mode of transport:

Powers/strengths:

Vices/weaknesses:

Family history:

Everyday persona:

Known associates and enemies:

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 Comic book heroes

Producing your comic:

Keeping in mind all the ideas you have gathered from your research, you should begin to
produce your first edition. You only have to create the first few pages but you should
have planned the outline for the whole of the edition.

Make sure that your ideas are easy to follow. Boxes should be read from left to right of
each A4 side and from top to bottom - you may want to number them or use arrows.

Be sure to use the conventions associated with comic books (e.g. speech bubbles).

Check that your work is eye-catching and imaginative.

Meanwhile, in the He thinks back to a time

study... he can barely
Why did
remember...
they leave
in such a
hurry?

10 minutes later...

Thank you!

POW!

When you have finished your pre-production and production work, pitch your comic book
to members of your class who will act as representatives from a publishing house.

Your pitch must include all the key information about your comic, present your hero and
explain your idea for the first edition. You should explain who your target audience is
and the USP of your comic. Try to make your pitch interesting as well as informative!

Evaluation:

 How did your research inform the decisions you made when producing your comic?
 Who is your target audience and how do you plan to appeal to this market?
 Which publishing house would be most likely to produce your comic?
 How successful do you think your work is as a media product? How does it
conform to or subvert the expected conventions of a comic?

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