I have the privilege of writing and producing a weekly comic for my high school newspaper's website, and while I really enjoy the job, I worry that if anyone bothers to read it the comic will appear boring. I'm not used to writing one page stories that have an interesting twist, so I was wondering if anyone would be willing to offer up some ideas for the comic.The mascot of my school is a knight, so I thought that it would be cute to relate the comic to that somehow. The main theme of the story is that a high school student named Ken falls out of a tree and hits his head, thus forgetting who he is. He wakes up believing that he is a real knight of a royal order, and promptly drags his best friend (who is perfectly sane) along on several misadventures while calling him "squire". The fact that the main character is a knight only in his mind has earned the story the title of Sir Delusional.Any ideas for a funny or clever direction that I can take with this would be super. I'm prepared to give credit where credit is due. If you would like to see any of the previous pages visit MHSRoundTable.com
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Perhaps you could read Cervantes' works 'Don Quixote' and Man of LaMancha', which deal with the same situation, a man who thinks he is a knight and his friend who is aware of the real situation. Cervantes used his character to critique the society of his day and address social ills. Perhaps you could do the same. For example, Don Quixote's attack on the windmills was Cervantes criticizing the owners of the mills for essentially ripping off the people, eg charging exorbitant fees to grind their wheat or corn so it could be used for baking then doing a poor job of it, so the result was almost worthless. It might be interesting to see your character attack the 'sorceress' who is really the 'Queen B' at the school and her magic is simply her ability to manipulate the others in the student body, or the Black Knight who is simply a bullying football player, or an evil queen who is a teacher that grades unfairly. He would win, but more by dumb luck or divine guidance than skill.
Hi Casey. If you can you should send a copy over the wire to the forum. (Provided that is not breaking any rules!) I have a small comic strip I run on occassion. I'd love to see others.
As for my profile picture. Long story there. I work in a variety of mediums under a variety of genres. This particular picture is reflective of my zombie heritage, a picture I just happen to like. Honestly, there isn't much to it aside from that. Well, I guess it is a little alarming but I like to think in a fun way. My kids and I are working on a zombie kid's book for all ages. Kind of silly but that's what we do.
Best of luck over the summer. Keep with the forums, and for the love of all that is holy write and draw your brains out! It's good for you.
-Tim
Casey said:
Thanks for your help, Tim, in fact I use the whole "errent kinght complete with stumbling sidekick and ne'er do badly attitude" a lot. The main character is all about courage and arrogance. To answer your questions, the comic is a typical 8" by 11", about 7 panels normally, and it is published weekly. At least until school ends for the year, which is only about 3 weeks away. Thank you agian for your help. and by the way...what is going on in your profile picture? Kinda crazy looking...:)
Ray Bradbury in his book ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING offers some helpful advice: Just start writing up a list of all the words associated with your central idea and let that spark ideas.
Oh! I love Ray Bradbury. I think I'll check that out, thank you! :)
Thanks for your help, Tim, in fact I use the whole "errent kinght complete with stumbling sidekick and ne'er do badly attitude" a lot. The main character is all about courage and arrogance. To answer your questions, the comic is a typical 8" by 11", about 7 panels normally, and it is published weekly. At least until school ends for the year, which is only about 3 weeks away.
Thank you agian for your help. and by the way...what is going on in your profile picture? Kinda crazy looking...:)
A lot of possibilities here. My first question is the space involved. Is this a panel comic? (Sounds like it is. Three panels, five?) My second, is how often is this going to be published? By your description the tone sounds more comical than political or serious so I would think obvious gags would be in order. Of course this has to be delivered for a high school perspective. Something along the lines of "I VANQUISH THEE FOUL MATH TEACHER!" or something of the sort. Think of an extremely exagerated Prince along the same lines as the James Marsden's prince in Enchanted. Really I would exploit the stereotype of the errant knight complete with stumbling sidekick and a ne'er do badly attitude!
Replies
Perhaps you could read Cervantes' works 'Don Quixote' and Man of LaMancha', which deal with the same situation, a man who thinks he is a knight and his friend who is aware of the real situation. Cervantes used his character to critique the society of his day and address social ills. Perhaps you could do the same. For example, Don Quixote's attack on the windmills was Cervantes criticizing the owners of the mills for essentially ripping off the people, eg charging exorbitant fees to grind their wheat or corn so it could be used for baking then doing a poor job of it, so the result was almost worthless. It might be interesting to see your character attack the 'sorceress' who is really the 'Queen B' at the school and her magic is simply her ability to manipulate the others in the student body, or the Black Knight who is simply a bullying football player, or an evil queen who is a teacher that grades unfairly. He would win, but more by dumb luck or divine guidance than skill.
As for my profile picture. Long story there. I work in a variety of mediums under a variety of genres. This particular picture is reflective of my zombie heritage, a picture I just happen to like. Honestly, there isn't much to it aside from that. Well, I guess it is a little alarming but I like to think in a fun way. My kids and I are working on a zombie kid's book for all ages. Kind of silly but that's what we do.
Best of luck over the summer. Keep with the forums, and for the love of all that is holy write and draw your brains out! It's good for you.
-Tim
Casey said:
Oh! I love Ray Bradbury. I think I'll check that out, thank you! :)
Thank you agian for your help. and by the way...what is going on in your profile picture? Kinda crazy looking...:)
Hope that helps!
-Tim