Ok, so as promised, here’s what’s going on with me teaching college.

My good friend and master editor Diana Shutz has been quietly teaching at Portland State for a couple of years and she asked me to guest lecture a couple of times. It was a great experience that turned into being offered my own writing class.

After consulting with various faculty members at Portland state and realizing that everyone I truly admire in this world, both in comics and out, have at one time or currently teach I decided it was one thousand percent the right thing to do.

The class is at Portland state’s main campus MW 2-4 and the class is by instructor approval only. 

WR 399: the Graphic Novel 
Brian Michael Bendis

The graphic novel features the unique marriage of words and pictures that has seeped into every facet of popular culture. This course will focus on all the storytelling elements that create the written word of this unique visual medium. Students will study the form and its influences, discover and create original works for both print and digital platforms, and be put through a classroom version of the editorial process. Throughout the term, there will also be a smattering of comic book professional guest lecturers. 

Texts will include: 
Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert Mckee
Comics & Sequential Art by Will Eisner
On Writing by Stephen King
Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud

No, this does not mean I am leaving comics or dropping any of my projects. It is something else I am doing. I’ll be doing this instead of reading Empire magazine and playing Rock Band iphone app when I should be working 

It is a small class but if you live in the Portland area and are at all serious about your place in the world of comics, I have created a class that I wish I had when I was in college.

I will not be putting my lectures online as the class is very, and I mean very, workshop and project intensive.

You’ll notice nowhere in the course description does it mention spelling.