First Blog Post! Romeo and Juliet in comics...
Hello and welcome!
I really loved my time on Twitter and met so many amazing people in the comics, pop culture, and education space. Now, we have to post to so many other social media apps and it just seems like we don’t have the same connectivity. I am on Bluesky, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, (you can find me @historycomics or Teaching with Comics on Facebook) and more…. I thought I’d give blogging a try. I’ll post weekly here - comics and graphic novel reviews/suggestions, successful lessons from my classroom - I just don’t want to go down the Teachers Pay Teachers nightmare. That being said, I will set up a SMALL payment structure at some point in the future… comics are EXPENSIVE! LOL. My email is historycomicsguy@gmail.com if you ever want to get into touch, bring me out for an inservice, guest lecture, Keynote, etc. I have presented at many comic conventions, libraries, school districts, museums, education and tech conferences, guest lectured at universities… it’s been an amazing journey.
My first book, Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels, published by Routledge, is Eisner nominated and available in all the usual places. I’d be honored if you’d purchase a copy and maybe even leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon. This book is a life-long work that shares many ideas I have successfully implemented in my own classroom - focusing on using comics and pop culture to create empathetic analytical readers and writers across the curriculum.
Now - for my first post - I went to the comic book store today and wanted to share two books that really stood out to me. I often talk to teachers about the power of comics and graphic novel adaptations of prose that add much meaning and depth, help with built-in scaffolding, language learners, and so much more. Comics allow us to reimagine traditional stories - and open student minds that personal interpretation is valued - that their opinion, based on evidence, is a welcome addition to the classroom. Shakespeare has always been a great example of stories being adaptable across time and circumstance - take Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla for example! This comic, published by IDW Comics - written by Adam Tierney, art by Sean Peacock, lettered by Brian Kolek, and edited by Jake Williams - is something that would have highly engaged me as a student - as it did today as an adult and educator. Imagine, after reading Rome and Juliet, you encourage students to reimagine the story in a unique way. Have students read this comic - you can even share a few inspiring panels on the Smartboard. The original text with, well, Godzilla mixed in! It’s just awesomeness. Then you can have students create their own comics around their own interpretation - it could be an alternative ending or scene, an additon to the story, set on another planet, time period, etc. By being open to this zaniness, you can create authors in your classroom and help engage creativity. You can have a look at some sample panels below.
This also reminds me of an amzing adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by THE Stan Lee, Terry Dougas, Max Work, and Skan Srisuwan - published by 1821 Comics - ISBN 9780983935018, titled Romeo & Juliet: The War. The Montagues and Capulets fight against one another in a futuristic world - their families unable to get along because one is genetically modified with artifical DNA, the other is modified with cybernetic additions.
Imagine asking students to throw in a Godzilla like monster into their own adaptations. To ask why these two families would not be able to get along in today’s world…. or on a completely different world.
The other comic title I bought today is Moonstar form Marvel Comics - by Ashley Allen, Edoardo Audino, Arthur Hesli, Clayton Cowles. This current ongoing series tells the story of the Native American character, Moonstar, who is part of the Cheyenne Nation. The artwok is just stunning. I share this because I decorate my classroom with much purpose - I want all of my students to see themselves in my artwork, literature, posters, videos, music, etc. We all deserve to see ourselves in our heroes. I will be hanging these two comics in my classroom right away. I’ll post more about the power of representation in comics in a future post.
If this is the sort of blog you’d be interested in reading and sharing, please comment below. Let me know what you’d like me to blog about next time….
