ONLINE Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels
10 Weeks | Wednesdays | Begins September 23, 2026
6pm-8pm PT | 7pm-9pm MT | 8pm-10pm CT | 9pm-11pm ET | 10pm-12am AT
Instructor: Bevan Thomas
MEMBER PRICE: $450.00
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $550.00
Ever since the first comic strips appeared in newspapers, children and adults alike have laughed and thrilled to this dynamic storytelling medium. Comics combine the energy and immersion of visual art with the subtlety and depth of the written word, resulting in an engrossing narrative experience unlike any other. It’s a medium that has captured every genre, from the exciting superhero adventures of Marvel and DC to soul-searching intensely personal memoirs such as Maus, Fun Home, and Persepolis. A person can express any experience, real or imagined, through a graphic novel with an immediacy and excitement all its own.
This extensive course studies the whole comics writing process, exploring the unique language of graphic novel storytelling. We focus on the writing aspect of comics rather than the drawing, but also analyze various ways that a good script brings out the best in the art. Whether you want to create a humorous comic strip, an epic adventure graphic novel, or a deeply personal memoir, this class will get you started. We will discuss the elements of a graphic novel script, the different relationships that words and pictures have in a comic’s panels, how to effectively transition the story from panel to panel, and other techniques for producing a story that best fits the comics medium. We will also explore how regular writing elements and genres work differently in this format, how to create thumbnails to guide the comic’s panels, and how to collaborate with other people to bring your project to life. By the end of this class, you will have the tools you need to begin your own graphic novel.
This is an interactive online class using the Zoom web platform.
Bevan Thomas is an award-winning author, editor, and creative writing teacher with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He has always been fascinated by the unique ways that comics and graphic novels present their stories, and is heavily involved with Cloudscape Comics, BC’s biggest comics collective and publisher. Bevan has been an editor and author on numerous Cloudscape anthologies. Most prominently, he created the anthology Through the Labyrinths of the Mind, which features a range of comics about mental health, and Epic Canadiana, which pays tribute to classic Canadian superheroes, and which won the 2016 Gene Day Award. For many years, Bevan was the writing instructor for the comics program at Langara College. He lives in Vancouver with his wife, the cartoonist Reetta Linjama.
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We are a community that thrives on support and encouragement. Based on the philosophy of "no writer left behind", the J. Michael Fay Subsidy Program is available to anyone who finds themselves in financial need but really wants or needs to participate in one our programs are classes. Click link above for more details and to apply.
