From Playing to Creating

“Imagine it, create it.” - Toni Morrison

When I was about ten years old, I decided to draw a comic. Up to that point I had spent my free time watching TV, reading comic books, and building model kits. I had tried my hand at making a comic book once before, two issues of my own Star Trek comic book. This time was different. It was my own creation and I wasn’t tracing panels from other comic books. Where did this come from? It started with playing outside.

Playing at the neighborhood pool one day, my friend and I pretended that we were defending Earth from an invasion from Mars. We sat on the ground and threw our beach blankets over our heads. Instant jet fighter cockpit. Then we took off and blasted flying saucers out of the sky. We were good, but not good enough. The Martian leader got away to fight another day. 

I named the Martian leader Green Cheese. That’s right, Green Cheese. As in “the moon is made of geen cheese.” But he’s from Mars. Kid logic.

Instead of fighting the Martians again ourselves, we started acting out their adventures with toys. We built airplanes, flying saucers, and a base to be destroyed. When the carnage was complete we rebuilt everything and started over. This was my first exposure to what would become one of my favorite childhood toys, Lego. 

To add to the fun I took some pieces from a board game and used them as the Martians. They fit perfectly in little spaces I made in the ships. 

  

Pretty soon the storyline changed. After a few attacks we modified things. The Martians were no longer the bad guys. They became good guys exploring strange new worlds.

While that was fun, it came to a point where I wanted to do more. I now had the desire to draw comics about Green Cheese the Martian. I found everything I needed from my school supplies. I grabbed pencils, loose leaf notebook paper, and a ruler. I drew eight panels on a page then filled them in with a title, art, and word balloons. One page, one story. It was some crude, poorly drawn, silly stuff. But it was so much fun. As soon as I finished one, I got busy on the next one. I started experimenting with panel sizes. One page stories turned into longer stories, each page ending with a cliffhanger. 

No doubts, no hesitation. Just the drive to create. That’s something I’m trying to recapture these days. 

Next: Going monthly!