Making Comics

by Lynda Barry

The bestselling, idiosyncratic curriculum from a 2019 MacArthur Fellow will teach you how to draw and write your story

“The self-help book of the year.”― The New York Times

Hello students, meet Professor Skeletor. Be on time, don’t miss class, and turn off your phones. No time for introductions, we start drawing right away. The goal is more rock, less talk, and we communicate only through images.

For more than five years the cartoonist Lynda Barry has been an associate professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison art department and at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, teaching students from all majors, both graduate and undergraduate, how to make comics, how to be creative, how to not think. There is no academic lecture in this classroom. Doodling is enthusiastically encouraged.

Making Comics is the follow-up to Barry's bestselling Syllabus , and this time she shares all her comics-making exercises. In a new hand-drawn syllabus detailing her creative curriculum, Barry has students drawing themselves as monsters and superheroes, convincing students who think they can’t draw that they can, and, most important, encouraging them to understand that a daily journal can be anything so long as it is hand drawn.

Barry teaches all students and believes everyone and anyone can be creative. At the core of Making Comics is her certainty that creativity is vital to processing the world around us.

Genres: Art, Comics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Writing, How To, Graphic Novels Comics

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2019

About the author

Lynda Barry is an American cartoonist and author, perhaps best known for her weekly comic strip Ernie Pook's Comeek.

Reviews

[Charles Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trove of ideas and exercises, invaluable to teachers and students alike, and drawn and designed with Barry's expected handmade immediacy. Delightful to page through and learn from. More than simply a wonderful practical resource, this should be recognized as another installment in Barry's ongoing theorizing about the nature of storytelling and narrative drawing. She is on to something important.

[Sara]

Well...I finished reading this, but that's not really the point. This is Lynda Barry's actual course curriculum for making comics. Did I do any of the exercises? I did not. Still very enjoyable.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynda Barry's Syllabus shows Barry's first steps at a curriculum for comic-making; her work of five-years as a professor at a university comes to fruition here in Making Comics.

She encourages all the necessary tasks: loosening up students; allowing students to set aside judgment about good and bad art; drawing a lot; drawing badly; breaking down a story into panels; using simple forms.

I think this is the book for those who might want to create comics.

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lynda Barry makes you feel as though you can draw anything. Her pages ideas are imaginative and freeing, and she makes me escape the mindset that I have to create a "good" drawing, and instead lets me work freely in the moment. Her ethos -- to encourage everyone to draw -- is so encouraging, and I really like her openness to all kinds of drawing: by kids, adults' doodles and scribbles, brief sketches and careful designs. However, I found I stalled when I got to the central section of the book, where the exercises veer more towards writing comics in the form of memoir. I found the exercises less inspiring and more relentless. Barry has a tendency to push you: to use bad tools such as cheap oil crayons so that you will have to labour for hours over a single drawing; to spend huge chunks of time using a cheap pen to create shadow when you could just use a thicker pen; to work every day no matter what. Her approach began to feel constraining and lacking in flexibility.

Another aspect of this book that frustrated me is that there are many exercises that require you to work with a class full of people, but obviously I'm not IN a class, and I don't understand why she didn't adapt them when she's not teaching a group.I was also a bit put-off by the absences policy she lists at the beginning of the book: that if you miss three of her classes, you're out. I would never have made it through her class if I was a student with her, and that makes me feel bad.

All that being said, this is a positive, imaginative book. It's fun to look at, very open, and full of great ideas. It made me excited about drawing, and was a good companion during lockdown. I may return to it.

[Linda Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb book. Open it anywhere, and you will find an exercise to get your creative mojo bossa novaing. Drawing with your eyes closed, with both hands simultaneously. Story prompts that will launch a new adventure you didn't know you were going to have. Your drawings can meet you. The whole book is a comics practice, with supplies recommended (I need to get a Staedtler nonphoto blue pencil). In fact, the book is drawn as a composition book. Meta engaging.

The book is also a creative practice. Whether you want to make comics, write fiction or nonfiction, paint with watercolor, mud or celestial dust, there is something in this magic book that will start you on the journey.

I already recommended it to one person who asked what book I thought an arty youngster might enjoy, and to a friend who thought her grown comics son might like it, too. Whatever level of skill, age, or dimension - this book is a carnival of ideas.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous. Good chance I bump this up to 5 stars after I do the exercises.

One tiny gripe: she lists some needed supplies at the beginning but not all of them. For example, she doesn’t tell you to procure a non-photo-blue pencil until the exercise it’s needed in. Perhaps I’ll update this review with a comprehensive supplies list once I’ve made it.

[M Aghazarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely. Everyone can make comics

[TaraShea Nesbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. You might think it is about making comics, but it is also about attending to yourself and the world, about making a life and holding on to that 4 y/o self's imagination, warbly line, expression.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A treasure trove of inspiration, ideas, and creative play. I tend to love her books, so was not surprised that this one delighted me. This is the curriculum for a class she teaches, but don't be fooled by the title. It's is not just for people interested in making comics, but for anyone interested in paying deeper attention to one's daily life. I am so inspired, and might actually bump this up a star once I go back through and actually do the exercises.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's definitely some overlap with Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor, but Making Comics has many, many more exercises for, you guessed it, making comics.

[Jaina Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love Lynda Barry. This book is a treasure. What more can i say?

[Jim Reddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of Lynda Barry’s cartooning and comic book homework assignments with illustrated examples from her and her students. A list of recommended materials is provided in the beginning.

The assignments do a good job of helping the reader escape the mindset that a drawing has to be perfect and encourages anyone to draw no matter the skill level. A great resource for anyone interested in storytelling, narrative drawing, and channeling their creativity.

I like how the book is designed in the style of a composition notebook. It’s a subtle touch but it helped make reading this book and doing the assignments a fun learning experience.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an interesting, inspiring, insightful book. I appreciate both the specific drawing and writing exercises in it as well as Barry’s own musings on and explanations of the relationships between drawing, creativity, images, and the mind. There’s great stuff here.

[Megan O'Hara · Rating 5 out of 5]

do you think Lynda can feel my love

[Melissa]

An enjoyable little book on creativity and creating comics from the images and stories in our heads, memories, and lives. What distinguishes Lynda Barry's from other "how to make comics" books is that she is not only a practitioner but an educator, who has spent the better part of her adult life engaged deeply in thinking about, putting into practice, and refining her approaches to helping others access their creativity, mitigate their self-consciousness, and find their style, voice, and material, so her books are really engaged and engaging, actionable, fun, and terrifically useful.

[Susie]

“Everything we have come to call the arts seems to be in almost every 3-year-old. When these capacities are absent in a young child, we worry about them.”

[Story · Rating 5 out of 5]

With each book, Barry further refines her thinking and teaching. I loved reading this and will continue to practice the exercises--not only the art exercises, but also the way of thinking and noticing and being.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this and hope I can get myself to start on the exercises soon!

[Jessica Park Rhode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is Lynda Barry so good?
Why can’t I just do this (drawing, writing, making) with other people all the times?

[A. J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was was one the of the main books that we read in my Comics and Graphic Novel class (I've just realized I keep changing around the order of those words and now I can't remember which is correct :D).  Also keep in mind that I'm not an artist, but I am interested in writing comics at some point so this review is from a writer's perspective. 

Making Comics is around 200 pages, and a book of that size normally doesn't take me long to read. But my professor had us reading the book in sections over the whole term. Looking back I'm not sure if I would have liked Barry's book more or less if I had been able to read it at my normal speed.  


Barry takes us on a journey though her ideas of making comics, and what she usually does in her classes.  Which at first I found to be quite interesting. It's easy to follow and Barry has a fun style of art. Though honestly her classes seem a little intense and I don't know that I would like being in one. 

My main problem was that the book quickly becomes repetitive in its exercises and doesn't get to the actual ''making'' of comics until about halfway through. And by the time she actually got to this part I was uninterested.  To me it felt like Barry spent the first half of her book just trying to prove to the readers that her art style was valid, so that by the time she got around to explain how to make comics I just wanted to throw the book away. 

At the end of the book I wanted to have a clearer idea of what making comics looked like and I don't feel like I had that. I don't think Barry did what she set out to do. I think she got distracted and defensive.  Hence my rating of 2 stars.  The book needed a clearer purpose, or maybe a different title so that I went into it with different expectations. 

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent excellent excellent. I enjoyed this so much. It's a teaching memoir; a philosophy of comics, teaching, and art; an exercise book; a classroom textbook. Barry does so many things in just 200 pages, and I found myself inspired on multiple levels. I'm looking forward to sharing this one with friends. While I am one of those people who have "given up on art," I think I'll try my hand at these exercises! At this point in my life, I give no sh*ts if something is "good" or "bad." So it should be fun.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids love to draw, and are exuberant about depicting their world and imagination in pencil and crayons. Most adults give up drawing, thinking they're "no good at it."

Lynda Barry has created a book for these drawing-averse adults, hoping to help them recapture the joy of the hobby. For that audience, I give this one 5 stars. For myself, I have never given up drawing, so I don't really need that constant goading, BUT there are some great ideas for drawing and story prompts here!

[Nick Carraway LLC · Rating 4 out of 5]

1) "how old do you have to be to make a bad drawing?"

2) "Structure and plot have a spontaneous core that is too easily forgotten when we believe we must know what we are drawing before we can begin. If you open the way for them, monsters will surprise you and this is a reason to draw them. One of the hardest things to remember is to keep certain doors open to unknowns. When you are lost, there draw monsters."

3) "If I asked you which character was drunk, who would you choose? Who just got fired? Who is feeling bloated? Who is experiencing painful urination? How can such specific mood-states show up in faces made by eight different hands? No one intended to make any of these people, yet here they are with specific dispositions. Who creates a comic? The person who draws it or the person who sees it?"

4) "Changing methods every week will make this daily practice a companion. In the way certain friends make you see the world in a different way, and the way certain companions make the world more alive, the daily diary will wake you up."

5) "It can be helpful to build a story in fragments that tend to knit their own connections.
When you read your story over you may be surprised by things that seem to link up with no conscious intention on your part.
This is an alternative to the method of outlining a story, planning our characters' actions, and knowing the ending before we begin.
It doesn't matter how great the plot is, if the only thing moving it forward is logic and duty to the outline, deadness sets in.
Stay alive!"

6) "Everything good in my life came because I drew a picture. I hope you will draw a picture soon. I will always want to see it.
XOX
LB♥"

[Ava Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the many how-to draw books I have read, this is the first one that I think will actually help me past my creative block. Barry does a great job at reminding you how fun it was to draw as a kid, and how to do that again. There are a lot of great exercises to loosen you up and get you past that ever-present hurdle of “what should I draw? But will it look good?”
I can tell this is geared toward people who have never considered themselves good at drawing, or haven’t drawn in a long time, and not necessarily for intermediate or advanced artists. But what’s also great about this book is that Barry erases those boundaries between skill levels. If you ask a class of beginners and masters to draw something with their eyes closed, suddenly everyone is on the same level.
I think a lot of these are also geared towards classroom or group settings, which is too bad because I would have loved to do those activities. Looking forward to doing more of the exercises, though!

[Tammy V · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had this woman for a teacher when I was younger. If you can't draw a comic book after this, then you haven't done the exercises (no, I didn't either but I am in love with here black and white composition book "how-tos").

This is something an adult could do with a child, or a group of children. It is set up for the classroom (much like her "Syllabus" book which I remembered I had once I got "Making Comics" from the library). This is something a child who can read could do by themselves - give it to your favorite graphics lover. My experience is that the young folks who love graphics (manga) have an excellent grasp of the way to put a story together. My grandson amazes me with his astuteness on character-drive vs event-driven stories and story arcs.

Everyone needs a inspiration book in their library to pick up and open to a page and "go." This will fill that bill.

[Tena Edlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished the latest Lynda Barry book, and it is full of great activities and lessons for me to use in my Cartoons, Comics, and Graphic Novels unit. She has such a great way of making everyone feel like an artist and helping everyone channel that creative, fearless child in all of us. This book made me think of how I can reintroduce journaling back into my GOAL classes, but in a different way.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading anything Lynda Barry creates for years, so in all honesty, this could have been a refrigerator repair manual and I probably would be here telling you how great it is. While this isn't one of her Marlys comics I can lose myself in, nor does it have the emotional punch of _The Good Times are Killing Me_, this is a satisfying 'how to' book. How to what, you ask? Well...a lot of things. Primarily, this is about writing and drawing comics, but there is good advice here for drawing in general, writing in general, and teaching writing or drawing or comic making. You can be her student by following the assignments. You can pretend to be her by doling out these assignments to other people. The art--both hers and re-tooling of student examples--is fun and fantastical. The writing and writing prompts are genuine and clever.

This book will appeal to those who are fans of Barry's work, to those who are interested in "faux naive" drawing, writers of fiction and memoir, and creatives of all types.

[Peter Tillman]

WSJ list of diverting books:
"This combination of memoir and cartoon-drawing workbook is perfect just to read, but even more fun if you’ve ever desired to learn to draw. Who better to guide you than Lynda Barry, the legendary cartoonist always attuned to finding beauty in even the ugliest of sketches?"

[Cory Busse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific book. For anyone who's ever wanted to write. To draw. It's a stylized and densely populated primer on both. It's as much a joy to look at as it is to read, and even if you never do a single one of the dozens (hundreds?) of exercises in it, you'll appreciate how much love went into crafting them, and how much fun you might have if you decided to try. This is a keeper to go back to again and again for inspiration, to get creatively unstuck or just to mix up the doodles that you're making while you're ignoring all those Zoom calls.

[Thijs Koole · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing and philosophical look at the absolute basic idea of "drawing" as an illustrator there were moments in this book that deeply moved me. Overall it’s a book with exercises that will help distill ideas and drawings into stories with in-between tidbits of knowledge. But it was those tidbits that really took me for a ride.