Book cover of Making Comics

Book description

Hello students, meet Professor Skeletor. Be on time, don t miss class, and turn off your phones. No time for introductions, we start drawing right away. The goal is more rock, less talk, and we communicate only through images. For more than five years the cartoonist Lynda Barry has been…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Making Comics as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is an excellent textbook to get readers and comic makers of all experience levels to loosen up, think deeply and personally, and make better, more confident comics. It’s warm but practical, smart but approachable, deep but unpretentious. This is a comics veteran generously sharing both her knowledge of comics and teaching, as well as her own methods for drawing, brainstorming, and writing. It’s an incredible resource and one I often find myself quoting and recommending to my own students. 

Would you like to try your hand (literally) at being creative? This book is your personal class on how to draw—and write—comics. You can be a kid again. As the author says, “Stories show up on their own when kids draw—the drawing itself propels the story, changing it in a living way.” And you don’t have to know how to draw! In fact, expertise can be the enemy of creativity. From the book: “It’s hard for something original to make it past ‘already knowing how.’ Being good at something is its own curse…” Have fun!

From Keith's list on The best books on the creative mind.

If you love Making Comics...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like Making Comics?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Making Comics.

Browse books like Making Comics

Book cover of The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain
Book cover of The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms
Book cover of The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

170

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Making Comics, you might also like...

Book cover of Sexy Selfie Nation: Standing Up for Yourself in Today's Toxic, Sexist Culture

Sexy Selfie Nation by Leora Tanenbaum,

The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.

Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…

Book cover of In This Together: Connecting with Your Community to Combat the Climate Crisis

In This Together by Marianne E. Krasny,

In This Together explores how we can harness our social networks to make a real impact fighting the climate crisis. Against notions of the lone environmental crusader, Marianne E. Krasny shows us the power of "network climate action"—the idea that our own ordinary acts can influence and inspire those close…

5 book lists we think you will like!