Comics, the Classroom, and the Creative Life
About the Book:
Curated from his writings for Graphic Policy–covering everything from Starman to World War II military comics–CJ Standal offers deep analysis into one of the hottest media today.
A former high school English teacher, one who created and ran a graphic novel class Standal reflects on his experiences designing and teaching such a unique course. Get in on the ground floor of one of the most exciting movements in education!
A critically acclaimed comic creator in the last five years, Standal covers the process of creating a comic: taking an idea from outline to script to comic page. Not only that, but Standal walks the reader through the steps of publication and running a successful Kickstarter.
With something for everyone–autobiographical essays on being a geek, analysis of some of the medium’s best stories and movements, a guide on how to produce and sell comics–Outside the Panels is a treat for casual readers, educators, and creators alike!
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Excerpt:
James Robinsons’s Starman: The Unrepentant Collector
As comic fans, we often share a similar, repetitive request when people we meet find out about our fandom: “What comics would you recommend?”. Whenever someone asks me this question I invariably respond with the standards–Maus, Persepolis
Fun Home, March, and so on. Of course the conversation eventually steers towards superheroes, and I’ll spotlight Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and more of that great–yet gloomy–work.
But for those close friends of mine, those with refined eyes and discerning taste, the superhero comic I always endorse is James Robinson’s Starman. Brilliantly embellished by Tony Harris at first, and then suitably replaced by Peter Snejbjerg, this series succeeds on many levels: bringing heart to each character, big and small, hero and villain, person and place; it also adds intricacies for the intellect, with a story that unfolds in more and more complexity–never sacrificing clarity, though–and reveals itself as a Russian doll, full of more secrets with each new doll opened.
But that doesn’t even touch on the best serving that Starman brings to the table: a heaping helping of pure geekery. This is possibly most notable when considering the plot of the series as a whole: one that pays tribute to the decades of DC history and it’s most popular characters plus a few of its most unsung ones; one that uses time travel mixed with that continuity to tie together loose ends; one that jumps across worlds in the solar system; and one that tries new narrative techniques with each new arc.
It even uses history, architecture, art, and more to bring Opal City and its citizens to life. This attention to detail betrays the obsessive nature of most geeks, myself included.
Author Interview:
1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?
I grew up loving reading, especially reading comics, science fiction and fantasy. Since my mom was a teacher and I loved books, I naturally became an English teacher. Although there are some aspects of writing that are more elusive and can’t be taught, I loved trying to analyze writing so that I could teach my students general guidelines and specific skills.
In the process of teaching writing, I often wrote sample pieces for my students; that, my love of reading, and doing thousands of one-on-one paper conferences with students sparked my interest in writing and fanned the flame until I needed to write for a larger audience.
I knew I wanted to start writing comics first, since that’s the medium I love the most (closely followed by prose). After writing comics, I started getting prose gigs for online outlets, which made me want to write more prose.
2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?
When I was younger, I used to love to write late at night—I think that’s pretty natural for young people in general (Circadian rhythms do shift for adolescents and those of college-age to wake up and stay up later).
Now, I love to write earlier in the day: I prefer writing in the morning, although I do like writing in the afternoon too. It might be because it makes it feel more like a job to me and makes me feel like I’m being more productive. As I’ve grown older, I’ve worked on my procrastinating tendencies, so I try to avoid having things hanging over my head, which is what happens when I push off writing until nighttime.
I like to write at home in some comfy chair or even in my bed. I sometimes like to write at a desk, but that can make me feel too confined for some reason.
3: Where do your ideas come from?
Everywhere.
I use some of my own family experience (when I feel like I can handle the topic sensitively enough, I have quite the memoir to write about my dysfunctional—yet loving—family).
I’ve become friends with people of different backgrounds, and that helps me create more complex and varied characters.
Teaching for nine years—I left the profession six months ago—has also helped me meet new people and see new conflicts I wouldn’t have without that experience.
I’m also a voracious reader, TV watcher, and film-goer, so some of those plots, tones, and themes also work their way into my writing.
In short, as every writer will tell you I’m sure, ideas come from keeping eyes and ears open, and then throwing them in a blender to create some new spins on familiar people and plots.
4: Do you have a plan in your head of where the story is going before you start writing or do you let it carry you along as you go?
Generally, I do, especially when I first started writing. For my first comic, Rebirth of the Gangster, I spent a year brainstorming ideas and outlining the whole story (all 24 issues) before I wrote the first page of the first script. For each issue, I outline every beat and how many pages it should take.
That being said, I have strayed from all of my outlines: it helps me flesh out a general path, but if I see an interesting side road, I follow it, knowing that I can get back to the main path, because I have my outline (of course when I do get back to the beats of my outline, I find they play out differently than I originally envisioned).
B.A.E. Wulf (coming soon from Markosia, in late February or early March) also involved outlines, although in a different way. I outlined the first story arc and then wrote that one. After I wrote the first story arc, I outlined the remaining three.
Any nonfiction writing, especially if it involves research, also involves outlining.
One of my own personal projects—a fantasy prose story that features myself and my girlfriend as the main characters—did not involve any planning at first. I wrote the first six or so chapters, drawing on our first months of dating as inspiration, and then mixing that with my love of fantasy and books like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe¸ and The Magicians (well, more the concept of The Magicians: I didn’t care for the writing style all of the time—but I do love the show!). After I’d written those six chapters, I saw connections that had existed, ones I hadn’t consciously created. At that point, I outlined the rest of the book in broad strokes; I constantly revise this outline, only getting really specific for the next few chapters I have to write). Maybe because I didn’t plan at first, or because it had such a personal inspiration (my love of fantasy and my girlfriend), but I think this is my best writing, and I’m excited to shop Mapping Mythland around when it’s finished.
5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?
I love to write in many different genres, partly because there really isn’t a genre I dislike.
Rebirth of the Gangster is a thriller (even more specifically, neo-noir), because I grew up reading Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet, Ed Brubaker, and Brian Azzarello; I’ve lately loved reading Shirley Jackson and Ruth Ware, two great thriller writers. I also love thriller movies, like The Godfather, and shows, like Breaking Bad and The Wire. I like how thrillers examine society through a gritty, suspenseful lens.
B.A.E. Wulf is a hybrid of old-school adventure epics (like Beowulf) and horror (especially Lovecraftian horror). I scare easily, but I grew up reading Steven King, H.P. Lovecraft, Mary Shelley, and—as already mentioned—I’ve lately read a lot of Shirley Jackson’s fantastic horror. And I loved Netflix’s recent The Haunting of Hill House, vastly different from Jackson’s incredible book, but also incredible, nonetheless. I think horror gives me a safe space to confront my own fears, and I love horror that speaks deeply about the fears of society, both the universal fears and the ones tied to a specific time and place.
Outside the Panels: Comics, the Classroom, and the Creative Life is nonfiction, covering literary analysis (come on, I was an English teacher), historical writing (my second major was in history, because I love reading about different people, places and times to find differences and commonalities), and how-to-writing (my love of deconstructing writing to teach my students led me to deconstruct two of the biggest, recent events of my life: creating comics and running a Kickstarter, two things that can also seem to be hard to show others how to do.)
6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?
When I envisioned my characters for Rebirth of the Gangster, I had just watched a lot of Friday Night Lights and was on the Michael B. Jordan train before most even knew about him; he would be my ideal Marcus.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Stephanie Beatriz would be a perfect Lorena; she has played a tough cop who slowly evolves in her relationships with her girlfriends, which is Lorena to a T.
I was a big fan of Sons of Anarchy. Charlie Hunnam played someone on the wrong side of the law doing atrocious things yet showed a sensitivity that made you empathize with him. Hunter, Rebirth of the Gangster’s antagonist, does awful things for understandable reasons, so Charlie channeling his Jax Teller would be a great fit.
Michelle Yeoh would make a perfect Andrea, the strong, caring mom who has a violent streak and secrets but hides it behind an affable and cultured presence.
7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?
Yes, I read a lot and wish I could read even more. I love Neil Gaiman—his voice brings an approachability to fantasy. I love Shirley Jackson—she’s the queen of unreliable narrators and suspenseful reads. I loved C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as a child (probably still would, but I haven’t reread them in a long time). Ted Chang is great, a revelation. Octavia Butler always brought her “A” game for thought-provoking reads that were also endlessly entertaining. And the kid in me will always love A.A. Milne.
8: What book/s are you reading at present?
I’m reading Murder on the Orient Express, Lovecraft Country, Bel Canto, and many graphic novels, like The Forbidden Harbor and 20th Century Boys.
9: What is your favourite book and why?
It’s a tough question to answer with anything definitive, but I love East of Eden: it tackles fear of rejection and how rejection in general shapes our actions, something I was deeply interested in growing up as a geek and outsider.
10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?
Just write! You need to churn out some bad stuff to find your true voice and to find an audience. Worrying to much about how others will view your work or how you’ll break into the business can be overwhelming and doesn’t sharpen the skills you’ll need the most.
11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?
Website: cjstandalproductions.com
Instagram and Twitter: @cj_standal
Facebook (CJ Standal and CJ Standal Productions both are there)
graphicpolicy.com (much of Outside the Panels are edited pieces that originally appeared there)
About the Author:
CJ Standal is a writer, former teacher, and self-publisher. Rebirth of the Gangster was CJ’s first comic work, but he has been active as a writer in other contexts before that and will shortly release B.A.E. Wulf from Markosia Publishing. He wrote for the now-defunct Slant and is now writing for Graphic Policy; he also writes a blog at his own site, cjstandalproductions.com. He used to teach high school English, including a class on graphic novels, bringing his lifelong love of comics to academia; now, he writes and works with software full-time. When not writing, he can be found snuggling up for a good read next to his girlfriend and cat in Wisconsin.
CJ Standal has received widespread critical acclaim:
“Standal has great range as a writer” Fanbase Press
“C.J. [Standal] is good at breaking down people, and situations, to where we feel for them and can even imagine ourselves in their situations.” Comic Booked
“[Rebirth of the Gangster] is one of those series that really benefits from a reread of what came before and will make for a great trade paperback when the time comes…Juan Romera’s art on this book is a perfect fit. The series is black and white, very fitting for the noir theme running throughout, and gives off a definite Walking Dead vibe.” Fanbase Press
“It’s CJ Standal’s first comic, but it doesn’t feel like his first comic.” –This Freakin’ Show
Reading Nook 