Make A Comic With Your Kid

Depending on your child's age, drawing an actual super hero might
be more challenging than fun. In that case, a good clip art cd will
likely have dozens of super hero pictures you can print and cut out
to simply paste into your graphic novel. All you need do is help her
with the story and dialog.

Aside from the fun time spent with your kid, coming up with a
comic story together can be a great (and subtle) way of introducing
them to good moral decision making and will bring out the creative
magic every child has (including some in yourself you might have
forgotten about.)

Remember that every hero must have at least one super power and one weakness.
Superman can fly, see through objects, is extremely strong, etc. His two weaknesses are
kryptonite and his inability to bend the rules even a little. He always does what's right.
Spiderman is strong, can sling webs, climb on walls and ceilings, but can run out of web
fluid at any time and his social life is a perpetual wreck. Batman has seemingly unlimited
wealth, an abundance of technical toy wonders, is a superb martial artist and an amazing
detective, but if the technology fails, he's in trouble because he is, after all, a mortal being
like any of us. All of them have an alter-ego they must keep hidden from discovery lest
they, or their families and friends, be put in danger.

Very few kids dislike drawing. Likewise, it's a rare child who
doesn't have a favorite super hero. Combine your child's love
of art and fanciful heroes and have him create a super hero
from scratch, then help draw a first issue comic in which the
hero gets his powers and defeats his first enemy!

To help your child along, work with them on a list of cool
super powers like strength, invisibility, speed, etc. Include a
bunch of funny ones like snot-shields, burp of doom, flaming
flatulence (if you can stomach the obscenity) or breath of
death. Next, make a list of vulnerabilities such as - powers
only work at night, super clumsy, defenseless in the presence
of cheese, slack-witted, frightened of mice, hasn't learned to
control powers, requires a hug before activating powers,
sneezes fireballs in the presence of cats, etc. Now let your
child name her super hero!

The next step is to describe your character's alter ego. What is her street name?
How does she earn a living? Does she live in a city or a small town? Now decide
how she got her powers. Bitten by radioactive mosquito? Came into contact with
alien artifact? Granted great power to use in the name of good by an ancient or
modern deity? Fell into experimental diet machine and turned invisible? Finally,
decide on 2-3 colors (no more) for your hero's costume.

Once you have all the pieces in place, work with your child on a basic story
outline. Storyboard the idea in rough with dialog. Finally, cut your young Stan Lee
loose with plenty of paper and some crayons or markers. If they have a comic
book handy, keep it open so they can borrow from the design and layout.