Silent Comix

by Robby Charters

A series of feature length cartoons that can will amuse everyone including non-English speakers and illiterate people.


I got the idea as I was teaching English to private students. I scrawled the cartoons on A4 sheets of paper with a pencil, had the students look at the cartoon and tell me the story in English. It worked pretty well. Later, I inked them in, scanned them, and touched them up a bit. Here are some of my best ones. ESL teachers may find these useful...

ebook

First published September 24, 2011

About the author

Hello. That photo you see there is of me and my son. It's actually a few years old. My son was about nine when I took that selfie but now, he's twenty, and is in Uni in Scotland, becoming smarter than me. I still like that photo, and I'll keep it until he tells me to take it down. And I probably look a bit older than that as well. Anyway, my wife and I live in N. Ireland. I write stories, draw pictures, design books, and work at a day job. In some of my books, there's a character named Boz, probably with the surname of O'Brian. If you happen to come across him, that's me making a cameo appearance. From Boz, you'll know that my roots are in Thailand, where I was born of an Irish dad and American mum. Though American, my mum was also born in Thailand. We're all missionaries. You'll read about that bit of history in The Eurasian. In Pepe, you'll find that I worked for a year in a homeless children's shelter similar to the one you'll read about there. I still think fondly of that place. The Zondon will tell you about the school I attended for two years that I think define my childhood in Bangkok, with other missionary kids. If you like how my covers look, and the interior design of my books, I can do yours as well - if you're a self published author. To find me, just Google "Robby Charters", or go to my website: www.RobbyCharters.co.uk.

Reviews

[Bonnie Ferrante · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silent Comix was a neat idea - set of stories told entirely in pictures. This concept would be useful for working with people who have English as a second language. It might also generate sequential story-telling with younger children.

Unfortunately, I found the pictures difficult to understand. After discussing them with others, all but one incident was made clear. However, we agreed that the pictures were often too rushed, even messy, and difficult to discern.

There some clever and funny moments in the story and I believe the "text" has potential but the book needs easier to understand drawings.

Perhaps a second edition?