This worksheet can be used for student work or modified for a formal analysis of a specific text. Students put they're work on the wall and get to play the role of "editor" for this assignment. They read each others work, and write down some key points about the narrative breakdown and page layout. For panel composition and style, they can write a few notes, but the primary objective is to have the students render a thumbnail of a panel that they believed succeeded, or, drawing a thumbnail of a panel that was confusing, and then drawing a few possible solutions (moving the world balloon, placement of characters, etc...).

The most widely circulated expression challenge sheet was created by Nancy Lorenz in 2007. Students can complete this worksheet using a character of their own creation, themselves, or a popular character. This exercise works well when analyzing expressive work, such as Will Eisner, discussions on affect displays, or learning about McCloud's "Big Triangle."

This brief can be utilized or altered to fit any comics creation project. Students will generate an 8-page mini-comic, and then produce 20 (or class size) copies to distribute to the class. On the day of assessment, students will break into small groups to perform a peer review. They will read through the comics and assess using the rubric provided, and then discuss in small groups why they assigned each grade for each section. Note, students should not be assessing their own work. Student assessment notes are then gathered and factored into the final grade, and comments are shared with the creator about their book.

Many students benefit from hands-on, experiential learning. After a term of disusing comics, making a comic is an ideal way to apply terms and concepts. This file is a PDF of an 8-page, quarter-fold mini-comic. It is 1-sheet of paper, folded twice, trimmed once, and then stapled (preferably with a long-arm stapler).

To use this document, download the PDF, and print! Make sure to hit "duplex" or "print on both sides," and select "flip on long edge." Once you have a double-sided copy, you can fold it twice, trim down the center, collate, and then staple. This gives first hand experience in production, and then further serves as a reference when making further mini-comics. See the corresponding peer-review for assessment.