Comics

Comic strips have been in newspapers since 1896. The first comic strip was called the Yellow Kid, and was about a poor city boy who wore a baggy yellow smock. Comics were put in the newspaper to help increase sales of the paper.

When comics first started they were always funny, so a lot of people call the comics "The Funnies" or "The Funny Pages."

People who write comic strips have to think about ideas all the time. They can watch their pets or children, and see what funny things they do. Or they might remember things that happened to them when they were little. Some of the most famous comics are about every day kind of things!

Here are some basic steps to follow if you want to make your own comic strip!

1. Write the script. This helps you know how many panels you need. The number of panels you need depend on what you want to say!
2. Draw a rough draft of the whole comic strip. Just sketch in stick figures. This will help you know what should go in each panel.
3. Redraw the comic strip on the final paper, but do it very lightly so you can erase. Lightly draw in the balloons around the words so you’ll know how much space you’ll need.
4. Once everything is lightly sketched how you want it, go back and make the marks dark so you can see them.
5. Publish your work and start your next comic!

Here is a comic from a joke!

If you want to learn even more about making comics, here’s a great site to visit:

http://www.teleport.com/~ennead/ampersand/how_to.html