There are many fun ways to start making your comic book. One my favourites is to think about who will the main character (or characters) be.

This week we will create the main character of our comic. They could be anything you want: from a person to a table lamp, a talking bear or a super-sandwich. The type of characters you create might help you decide what sort of story you want to tell, but don’t be afraid to come up with stuff that feels weird or crazy. Sometimes the most unusual combinations of characters and settings can create very interesting story starters.

Here are a few things to think about when you create your main character:

• Who are they? Are they kids, grown-ups, animals, vegetables, inanimate objects? Do they work?

• What do they like? What don’t they like? Are they mostly happy, grumpy, loopy, etc?

• What makes them different or special?

• Do they have a purpose? A quest? Something they want to change in the world? (it’s fine if they don’t, maybe they just want to eat their biscuits in peace)

• What do they look like? Try to think of ways in which the answers to the questions above can influence your characters appearance, their shape, clothes, movement. etc.

• What do they sound like? We might not hear them in the comic, but if you can hear them in your head when you write they’ll become much more real.

A great way to put all of this together is creating a character sheet. IT can have anything that helps you describe who they are: a drawing of your character, some of their features, skills and anything else you might want to add. Below are some sheets for some particularly silly characters Tom and I have created as examples.

Remember, if you want to share some of your characters with the rest of the club, email them to tibolota@gmail.com and they’ll appear on our gallery over here.