WonderCon Panels

4/3/2022

WonderCon, with its laid-back vibe and colorful cosplay, was a great way to ease back into in-person comic conventions. It was so wonderful to see friends in person finally! I had the good fortune to moderate two excellent comics-focused panels.

Creating Comics for Kids
A fun and heartfelt conversation that really showed how much work, love, and hope these creators put into their books.
Mary Bellamy (Faux Facts, Ah Heck!!), Sarah Kuhn (Shadow of the Batgirl), Shannon Hale (Diana Princess of the Amazons, Real Friends), His Excellency Gene Yang (Superman Smashes the Klan, American Born Chinese), and Brady Smith (Louie and Bear in the Land of Anything Goes)

Teaching Comics Literacy
Huge thanks to this panel of outstanding educators -- I learned so much from each of them! It was fascinating to see how they use the medium of comics in unique ways with their students.

Derek Heid (teacher, ELA 9/AP Literature/Critical Studies of Comics, Temecula Valley High School), Robert DeFrance (instructor, Long Beach City College), Jennifer Naumann (teacher, 7th Grade ELA), Mary Ellen Stout (lecturer, San Diego State University Department of History and Women's Studies; founding member of Comics@SDSU), Neil Kendricks (artist, filmmaker, writer, photographer, educator, San Diego State University)

Resources from this panel:

Derek Heid has made a TON of resources available in his Google Drive for Critical Studies of Comics. You will definitely want to take a look!

Below are some sample slides from this panel and a link to download the entire deck. I hope you find something to inform and expand the ways you use comics with your students.