Comics Club

Mr. Sneaky Pants was in kindergarten or first grade when he discovered Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes and fell in love with comics.  He reads voraciously, thick novels swallowed all at once, but he loves a good comic strip to clear out his brain every once in awhile.  Grandma Kathy always saves the Sunday comics from the Fargo Forum  and gives him a stack of funny papers to read all at once.  For him, it’s bliss.

This year at school, a mom who has a library science degree developed an after school comics club, where kids gather together every Wednesday to learn about the art of comics.  They read and discuss graphic novels, and use different mediums to write their own comics.  I knew the minute I heard about the comics club that it would be a perfect fit for Mr. SP, and fortunately, it was even going to be taking place on Wednesdays, which is the one day that works for our family to do after school activities.  We filled out the paperwork speedy quick to ensure that he would get a spot,  and for the last several weeks Mr. SP stays after school for comics club.  We pick him up after YaYa’s oboe lesson.

Comics Club has been the perfect activity for Mr. SP.  I love that they write book reviews for graphic novels, and that they have great discussions about what they are reading.  I love that he’s found a way to use the part of his brain that creates great stories.  He always has such great ideas for a story, but is a reluctant writer and the ideas usually never make it to paper.   He’s excited that the Comics Club has a huge stack of graphic novels that are age appropriate, and he gets to bring a new one home every week.

I, myself, have never really enjoyed graphic novels, and as a parent I’ve never figured out how to find good ones that are age appropriate for Mr. SP, since he likes them so much. There are a lot of graphic novels that I just wouldn’t hand my elementary school student, so I’m really happy that some of the work in figuring this out has been done for me.  Mr. SP always leaves Comics Club happy, with his nose stuck in a new book.  In fact, the janitor the other day commented about how he just didn’t understand how Mr. SP could walk through the halls of the school reading the whole time he’s walking without falling or tripping at all.  Each Wednesday he reads all the way to the car, in the car all the way home, and then I have to pry him out of the car so that he gets his homework done before we go to activities at church.