ABC Newspapers

Wednesday, 06 January 2010

by Elyse Kaner
Staff writer

Shakespeare plays in comic book form?

Graphic novels have leaped beyond the confines of “Superman” and “Archie and Jughead” comic books. Nowadays, you can find action novels, Bible stories, fantasies, vampire novels and more all tied up neatly in a colorful book of about 30 to 40 pages or less.

The pictures and actions speak volumes.

Thanks to Friends of Anoka County Library, Chad Corrie, a local graphic novelist from Spring Lake Park, spoke to an audience of mostly teens, the afternoon of Dec. 30 at the Rum River Library in Anoka.

Graphic novels are easy-reading, short stories with pictures. They can also be episodic, which means, similar to a TV episode, the story can continue into a next issue.

So far, Corrie, 32, has written a total of 10 short stories collections, novels, and prose books and about two dozen graphic novels, with five total books (four prose and one graphic novel) seeing publication.

One of his latest published novels is the fantasy “Tales of Tralodren™: The Beginning,” a fantasy that explains the happenings of the cosmos before recorded time and “encompasses the creation of the cosmos, the gods, Tralodren and everything else in-between.”

He turned to writing graphic novels mainly because “I wanted to tell history in a world setting in something that was not in dry prose,” he said.

For Corrie, the best part of being a graphic novelist is that he gets to create.

The most challenging part is promoting the books.

“There’s the craft and the business part of writing,” he said. “Who you know also helps.”

Corrie has navigated the barriers of the profession. Conquering his own fears that his writing was not good enough, finding authentic feedback and moving forward despite many rejections from publishers.

Davika Richter, 15, with sketch book and pencils in hand, attended the library’s winter break program. Although, she draws for a hobby and probably won’t go the graphic novel route, she thought the presentation sounded interesting.

“I like getting other people’s views,” she said.

Davika attended the presentation with her sister, Petra, 12.

“I think it’s cool how he was 12 and started writing and he’s still doing it,” she said about Corrie.

Mitch Bostyancic, 35, of Ramsey has always been a fan of the graphic novel. His collection of about 4,000 comic books sum up his passion.

During times of a recession, he said he enjoys taking advantage of programs that cities and Anoka County offers. He also finds it a good way to network. But “the reading is what I like the most,” he said about the novels.

Making a graphic novel

Corrie shared tips in his Dec. 30 library presentation on how to create a graphic novel - sequential storytelling with visual images.

Following are the highlights of the discussion:

Begin with a strong script. “The script is the foundation for anything you do,” he said.

The novel mainly comprises panels, gutters and word balloons. The panels, a series of images that tell the story, can be shaped in squares or circles, which focus on points of actions, similar to a storyboard.

Gutters are spaces that separate the panels into images and word balloons are the captions. The balloons have small tails that point to the speakers.

For layout, an artist sketches the characters and scenes. This is usually done in pencil. However, today, more artists are creating images digitally. “The nice thing is you can do multiple versions on the computer,” Corrie said.

To add light and shadows to the images, Corrie has an artist draw the page a second time in ink.

Lettering for graphic novels used to be written by hand, but today most are done by computer, offering a variety of fonts and colors.

Adding color is the final collaborative step with the artist.

“Now you just wrap it up with a bow and make it look pretty,” Corrie said.

The layout and printing are combined to form a book.

Creating a page a day is standard in the industry, Corrie said in answer to an audience member’s question.

The graphic novel industry is growing. Corrie cited the New York Times, which has added a graphic fiction best seller’s list and the number of popular movies, based on graphic novels, featuring comic book characters, such as Batman, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four.

He always wanted to be a writer

Corrie had wanted to be a writer since he was in sixth grade. After he and a friend saw the movie “Batman” in 1989, he started reading comic books back when they were 75 cents a piece.

He watched cartoons and read Stephen King novels. He was intrigued by Robert E. Howard’s episodic “Conan, the Barbarian” with lots of action scenes.

“It was something I could get into and relate to,” he said.

Corrie was further inspired when he took a creative writing course in high school at Concordia Academy in Roseville. “You know what? I really can do this,” he thought to himself.

But it wasn’t until 2001 that things started clicking. He sat down and wrote his first graphic novel “Americana,”  a near-future dystopia (in production process). Since then he has written several more.

Although, he has written a variety of genres from poetry to fiction to screenplays, he mostly enjoys writing fantasy.

“It’s just a joy to tell fun and engaging stories,” Corrie said.

Now, despite his distaste for reading and public speaking during his earlier days, he finds enjoyment in researching his next novel, running workshops and in his guest speaker gigs.

Looking back, Corrie says he was always a creative kid, giving story lines to his Lego warring villages.

“I grew up in an era when there were no cell phones or cable. What did you do? You created things,” Corrie said.

For more information on Chad Corrie, visit www.chadcorrie.com. For more information on Anoka County Library events, visit www.anoka.lib.mn.us.

Elyse Kaner is at elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com

*This article was edited from how it originally appeared for greater clarity.  The unedited version can be found here.