Every year since 1998 the New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus has performed a series of concerts. This year they invite the audience to go behind the scenes and see how the program is chosen, in an evening of music laced with theater called Putting It All Together. Luc Andre Roberge, NHGMC’s Artistic Director, said in a recent Zoom interview that the chorus will portray the path from brainstorming songs to turning them into a show.
“Let’s get the audience to experience what it’s like to put this whole thing together,” he said. This year they will again perform four shows, one each in Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Stratham, along with several outreach shows across the state at assisted living facilities and other places.
Selections in the upcoming concerts include Ike & Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary,” with the slow-groove first part performed in the program’s early set and the rocked-up “nice and rough” section in the second half. The program also has “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman, a medley from Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, and a song most will recognize from The Big Bang Theory, Barenaked Ladies’ “The History of Everything.”
The show closes with “Why We Sing,” a song that NHGMC President John McGeehan called “very meaningful” during the same interview. “Even when you don’t understand someone’s language, you can still get the emotion and the feeling and the expression through their music,” he said. “There are few things out there that are like that. I think that’s a really powerful statement to leave our audience with.”
Though it’s a musical entity, NHGMC has higher aims.
“Part of our mission statement is to share the joy of music with the residents of New Hampshire, but also to be representatives of the LGBT community, give it a positive image,” McGeehan said. “I think that’s really important, especially now.”
Roberge noted that at the chorus’s first performance, some members asked that their names not be listed in the program, while others wore dark glasses or hats to obscure their identities.
“It was a very different world in 1998 than the one we live in now,” he said. “People didn’t go about telling people that they were gay. One didn’t really even come out, certainly not in the state of New Hampshire.”
Thankfully, that’s changed. The Granite State legalized same-sex marriage in 2010. In 2018 Gov. Sununu and Rep. Chris Pappas joined to celebrate NHGMC’s 20th anniversary. Last year Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig signed a proclamation declaring New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus Day in the city. And one recent fact in particular stands out for Roberge. “Less than half of all our concert attendees identify as gay,” he said. “That says there’s a lot of acceptance in the state.”
Roberge was a charter member of NHGMC and became Artistic Director in 2000. He co-leads the chorus with Principal Accompanist Gary Finger. Among Roberge’s memories of his tenure, the one that stands out as his favorite isn’t musical. While in his 30s, he came out to his parents, urged by fellow chorus members who thought they should see him sing a solo rendition of “Old Man River” at an upcoming concert.
Though he had a good relationship with them that included strong support for his music, Roberge worried that telling them his truth would damage it. His mother cried upon hearing the news, but not for reasons he’d feared.
“‘How many concerts did I miss?’ was her question to me,” he said. “She was so upset that she’d missed all that time — five years with the chorus at that point.”
Immediately, she and her father left the house for a series of face-to-face visits, ultimately inviting 30 friends to the concert. “And all of them came,” Roberge said. “It truly meant it was a non-issue. It was a very moving and touching experience. Not just for myself, but for the chorus, and anyone that attended that concert.”
The wonderful affirmation still makes him smile.
“I ended up, living in the state of New Hampshire, having an excellent coming out story, with an organization that believes we need to show that we are just average people,” he said. “That’s a very positive experience that I had with the chorus.”
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical When: Fridays, 7:30 p.m., Saturdays, 2 & 7:30 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m. through May 12 Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester Tickets: $28 and up at palacetheatre.org
Featured Photo: Austin Mirsoltani and Rachel Gubow in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Saturday, May 4, is a double celebration for comic book and pop culture fans — it’s May the Fourth (the annual celebration of the Star Wars universe) and Free Comic Book Day, the annual celebration of all things comics-related. We take a look at local plans for this day as well as next weekend’s Kids Con New England on Saturday, May 11, in Concord — a comic book convention for the younger comic book fans. We also talk to a few artists about their work and get advice on how to get started drawing your own comics.
Return of Free Comic Book Day
These are the comic books you’re looking for
By Zachary Lewis zlewis@hippopress.com
On Saturday, May 4, comic book stores across the globe will celebrate Free Comic Book Day to honor Marvel, DC, Dynamite and all things pop culture related to the medium. The free comic books that eager participants can acquire include titles from X-Men, Hellboy, Jonny Quest, Pokemon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Spiderman, Archie Comics, Popeye, Doctor Who, Flash Gordon, and Star Wars, just to name a few.
Locally, Double Midnight Comics, which has stores in Manchester and Concord, and Jetpack Comics and Games in Rochester will be hosting elaborate shindigs for fans, Merrymac in Merrimack will host some artists and shops like Collectibles Unlimited in Concord and Pop Culture in Raymond, among others, will have selections from the Gold- and Silver-tiered free comics available for the holiday as well as lots of sales. Depending on where you are and what level of party you want, New Hampshire has your Free Comic Book Day fix covered.
Double Midnight Comics
Double Midnight Comics is ready to use their Willow Street location in Manchester at the Factory for Free Comic Book Day.
“They gave us free rein of the whole campus so we’re just going to have fun with it,” said Chris Proulx, co-owner of Double Midnight Comics along with his brother, Scott, and best friend from high school, Brett Parker.
“We’ve all been big comic book guys. Scott and I got into comics in the ’80s. Marvel had a G.I. Joe and a Transformers comic book that tied into the cartoon, which was tied into the toys, so we got sucked into that and eventually made our way into the Marvel Universe. I met Brett in high school and he was like, ‘You’ve got to read the X-Men,’ and I was like, ‘OK,’ and then became obsessed with the X-Men.”
Naturally all three are excited for the annual celebration that started on May 4, 2002.
“Over the years [it’s] turned into a big party … have a lot of fun, geek out over the day. Up in our region the fans are pretty blessed to have some awesome stores that do it big…. We like to have fun with it.”
Weekly events that occur on Saturday will still go on, “but they’ll kinda be shrunk down for the day.”
So which comic books are free? Can I get that Superman Action Comics First Edition behind adamantium-infused glass for free?
“I’ll have people go, ‘I can get that $3,000 comic book for free?’ No, no, no, they [comic book publishers] make specific books for the day meant to be something new readers can get into. A full list of the comics can be found on freecomicbookday.com. We usually have extras that we throw in,” Proulx said. “We get people that travel from out of state for this.”
Comic book storylines are a lot like Legos. Sure, there is the preset factory-made form, which is a lot of fun, but the ability each new comic book has to morph characters into different versions of themselves, such as a Batman in Victorian-era London, offers endless possibilities and is the perfect treat for the imagination and allows readers to really make the stories their own, and is one of the reasons why so many people become enamored with the limitlessness of the medium.
Fans are so enamored that people start lining up the day before.
“It’s our busiest day of the year. One of the fun things that happened over the years is people started camping out for it…. It’s a cool little community event that happens there. The first person in line gets a special prize. The first 10 people in line get prizes. There are prizes for being in line. We’re pretty generous with it because we know if you’re going to spend a day waiting, you don’t want to be like, ‘Here’s an extra comic book,’ like, it’s pretty substantial,” he said.
On top of the possibility of winning cool swag just for standing in line, there are more activities than you can shake a magic-imbued stick at. These include lightsaber training on the lawn, and cars from movies that could take you back into the future or away from running T-rexes along with other signature vehicles throughout the complex. There will also be droid racing, live music from the Clemenzi Crusaders, face painting, representation from New England Kids Con, and a mobile video game truck called Gamer Sanctuary as well as a costume contest. Participants can even learn to shoot as poorly as a Stormtrooper.
Free Comic Book Day would not be complete, though, without a cinematic universe’s allotment of comic book artists.
“They will have tables, some of them will be sketching, some of them will have comic books for sale, some of them will have art prints for sale. It varies by artist. Some of them will have free things to give away,” Proulx said. Artists scheduled include Misty Martell, Ed Smith, Erica Fog, Craig Holland and others. A full list of artists and vendors — there are more than 40 — can be found on their website.
Getting to dress up like your favorite character is another aspect that is a huge plus for fans, even if they are not competing for the glory of best cosplay.
“We do encourage people to come in costume. Kids, if they want to dress up, if you want to dress up your dog, just come have fun. Families coming together in costume, it’s really neat,” he said. There will be prizes as well, although walking around as the Mandalorian all day is already a win.
Another win is that the non-stop comic book action occurs all day, from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.,and the labor involved is totally worth it for Double Midnight Comics.
“It’s our favorite day of the year. It’s a lot of work…. We love doing it, we love getting the community out together. Bringing another positive event to the city and we just love our new home here at the Factory because they get it and they let us have fun with the event,” he said.
Merrymac Games and Comics
Artists attending include Tabatha Jean D’Agata, Todd Dezago, Craig Rousseau, Jesse Lundberg, Mike Norton, Joseph Schmalke, Chrissie Zullo Uminga and Christopher Uminga.
“They’ll be here from 10 to 3 signing books, doing sketches,” Bob Shaw, manager of Merrymac Games, said. Apart from personal projects, some titles they have worked on include stories from Marvel, DC, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Star Wars, among others.
The store will be handing out comics and having a small sale, 20 percent off most things in the store besides Magic Products.
Jetpack Comics and Games
In Rochester, Jetpack Comics and Games will be blasting off with the celebration as well.
“We definitely do Free Comic Book day a little bit different than a lot of places. I know at one point we had the biggest one in the world because we spread it out all over town,”said Rich Brunelle, manager of the store. They, “try to make it bigger every year.”
“These days we end up having it all around town where we have a list online, a big map of all the businesses that are involved where you can take a trip to each one and get some additional free comics, which is a neat idea.” In comic book town, every establishment holds a possibility to find your next favorite comic, or even your first.
This will be the last year Jetpack Comics organizes the event for the whole town. The owner “wants to mix it up and try something different,” Brunelle said. They want to put more focus on bringing in artists and the other great aspects of FCBD, but they hope businesses around Rochester still decide to take part. With great power comes great responsibility.
Jetpack Comics. Photo by Stolen Soul Photography.
“It gives a good chance for all the local businesses to get some new eyes on them. It’s definitely an interesting way to do it because the town has definitely embraced it over the years. There are signs on the edge of town and every road leading to downtown warning folks a week ahead of time of Saturday, May 4, there’s going to be costumed heroes and villains in the streets. So everyone knows that that’s a big day in Rochester here. We usually bring in at least a few thousand people to downtown,” Brunelle said.
Their biggest year was when they had Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, signing together at the event. Although that record may get broken this year.
It all starts at 10 a.m. but there is a way to start sooner and bypass the inevitable line by opting for a VIP pass.
“In addition to getting you a big bag of stuff right off the bat, you also get to skip the lines. Those VIP customers get to come in an hour early,” Brunelle said. “It’s pretty cool for them because for a little bit extra cash you don’t have to wait in a big line, and our line is definitely pretty long on Free Comic Book Day, but we have it down to a science these days where even times when the line goes from the shop and wraps all the way around the block where it’s like hundreds of people we have a great system that moves them through the shop really fast and an awesome crew that knows what they’re doing so we get people through the line incredibly fast these days, it’s pretty awesome.”
A large amount of action goes down at the Governor’s Inn, where participants can interact with comic book artists and vendors, live music will be played, and the ever popular cosplay contest happens at 4 p.m.
“Over the years that’s become a huge thing for us,” Brunelle said.
First, second, and third place winners will be chosen from categories that range from 0-17 and 18 and older. “All the prizes are different denominations of Jetpack Comics gift cards and we have a judges choice and host choice as well,” he said.
The construct and build of the attire runs quite the gamut.
“We have everything from people that have spent thousands of dollars to get a movie-accurate costume to kids that have literally built theirs with stuff at home. We realized pretty early in this [that] it’s not quite fair … we try to break it up and have a whole bunch of categories so that everyone gets spotlighted, a bunch of prizes, and it’s so fun,” Brunelle said.
“We had an almost realistic Master Chief from Halo a couple of years ago. We had some great Thors, there’s always a bunch of awesome Harley Quinns, Deadpools that show up as well as characters from popular animes these days. There’s been some spectacular Demon Slayer cosplays the last couple years…. It’s always cool to see what people come up with because our folks down this way are quite creative. We get some interesting costumes every year,” he said.
Before the caped crusaders take the stage for the contest a band composed of Jetpack Comics interns called Spectre Moose will perform to welcome in the attendees and contestants. They’re also podcasters — the band members, that is.
“They do a show called the Geek Gossip Podcast and they are like superstars, they’re teenagers, they do everything,” Brunelle said. Another band will perform after the cosplay contest for the afterparty.
A common thread these comic book stores share is the sense of belonging and understanding. “We have a lot of people who come in that don’t have any people in their life that want to talk comics or movies or TV shows and so they come in here and they know they’ve got a community they can chat with. I probably read way too many comics but all my customers like recommendations and like to know what’s good and what they should be reading so I try to keep up on a ton of it,” Brunelle said.
An older cousin introduced him to comics, but it was a major event like FCBD that led Brunelle to that comic book life.
“The Death of Superman was what got me into comic shops every single week. Back in the ’90s they tried to do all kinds of crazy events that would drag people in and that’s like one of the craziest ones of all time,” he said.
“We have like a mini-convention hall over there so we have a bunch of local guests as well as big-name guests that work on mainstream comics, and that ends up being a big focal point for everyone during the day … you get to meet some folks that are doing the comics you love,” he said.
“We have Paul Pellitier here this year. He’s well known for working with DC and Marvel … currently working on some of the new G.I. Joe stuff.” Others include Chris Campana, Gregory Bastianelli, Jeannine Acheson, Tom Sniegoski, Rich Woodall (who, “may be the hardest-working man in comics,” according to Brunelle), Vero Stewart, Jeremy Robinson, Mark Masztal and Jeff Kline. More information about these artists can be found on Jetpack’s website.
“This year is just the widest berth of different genres,” Brunelle said.
No matter which comic book party you attend, the organizers say, you’re going to have a good time.
“I honestly think this is the best year of Free Comic Book Day books in the history of the event…. People are pretty excited. It’s a great free day for the whole family and if you want to take a nice walk around town you can end up with a giant bag of free stuff, all kinds of comics to read,” Brunelle said.
Free Comic Book Day
Find a list of comics, some with previews of their FCBD book, additional locations, and more at freecomicbookday.com.
Collectibles Unlimited 25 South St. in Concord, collectiblesunlimited.biz, 228-3712 When: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store will have the free comics to hand out with no need to purchase anything, although the store will be open for regular business.
Diversity Gaming 1328 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, diversitygaming.store, 606-1176 When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. They’re collaborating with the Hooksett public library by giving them free comics to hand out. The store itself will have a big mix of free comics, a storewide sale on 700 Funko! Pop figures for $5 and a Star Wars sale as well, according to Diversity Gaming.
Double Midnight Comics 252 Willow St. in Manchester; dmcomics.com, 669-9636(XMEN) When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 341 Loudon Road in Concord; dmcomics.com, 715-2683 When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jetpack Comics and Games 37 N. Main St. in Rochester; 330-9636(XMEN), jetpackcomics.com When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. VIP passes range from $15 to $54.99
Merrymac Games and Comics 550 D.W. Highway in Merrimack, merrymacgc.com, 420-8161 When: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Pop Culture 66 Route 27 in Raymond, popculturenh.com, 244-1850 When: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Free comics that are offered for Free Comic Book Day. There will be multiple sales on graphic novels, Pokemon cards, magic cards and more. All non-framed posters will be two for $25. All statues will be half-off, Board games will be 25 percent off, any comic books that are $10 or more will be 25 percent off and all cornhole sets (featuring the Hulk, Spiderman — “we have nerdy ones, all that stuff”) will be $50 off the listed price, according to Pop Culture.
For the younger fans
Kids Con brings in today’s readers, tomorrow’s creators
By John Fladd jfladd@hippopress.com
Photo from Kids Con New England.
Emily Drouin is the creator, organizer, owner and promoter of Kids Con New England’s, which hosts a spring event in New Hampshire and a fall event in Maine.
This year’s Kids Con NE in Concord will feature a exhibitors, cosplayers, authors, artists and more.
“It’s a fun-filled one-day show,” Drouin said. “Parents know that this is a safe place and that all the material is family-appropriate.”
A dozen writers, illustrators and cartoonists will lead workshops like “Learn to Draw Robots,” “Sketch to Superhero Creation,” “Draw Anime Chibi-Style Characters,” “Superhero Mask-Making,” “Pokemon Crafts” and many others. Perhaps the biggest name among the guest authors and artists is William Patrick Murray, the creator of Marvel Comics’ The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
Other Kids Con activities include “Jedi Training with Calm Passion,” a magic show and a rock concert, which is followed in turn by “Superhero Training.” (Drouin said that Jedi Training is the runaway favorite among children.) There are also storytimes and sing-alongs and children’s improv classes. Drouin’s favorite part of the day — as well as most parents’ — is a cosplay contest.
Cosplay — when a fan dresses up as their favorite character — is one of the highlights of adult comic conventions. For kids, it is a dress-up dream come true. Given the scope of children’s imaginations, costumes can run the gamut from your standard Captain Americas and princesses in pink to indescribable alien life forms or whole families dressed to a theme.
“I am in awe of the costumes in the Cosplay Contest,” Drouin said.
For children who get too wound up, there are supervised areas outside where they can run around and scream.
“That’s really popular after Jedi Training,” Drouin said.
In addition to all this, there will be tables set aside for table-top games, a trailer to play video games in, and the vendors drawing caricatures, painting faces and selling toys, children’s books, comic books, posters and memorabilia, and more.
Kids Con NH 2024 Where: Everett Arena, 15 Loudon Road, Concord, 228-2784 When: Saturday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets: $15, $12 for seniors 65+ and military. Children under 5 get in free. Kids under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult guardian. Tickets can be purchased at the door or through Kids Con’s website. More info: kidsconne.com
Telling a visual story
Ed Smith discusses his projects
Ed Smith is a comic book artist from Bedford who will be at Double Midnight Comics on Free Comic Book Day (Booth 27). He has worked on numerous titles including Tellos, Danger Team, a Giant Girl Adventure Series spin-off, and a project with his wife called Skies Over Gutenberg, among many, many others.
Is there a difference between working on commissioned work versus a personal project?
Ed Smith. Courtesy photo.
When you’re working on commission work usually it turns out that the client gives you free rein. You should always have your own individual set of standards so ideally doing commission work to someone else’s standard is only going to be slightly different than working on your own projects. There’s always that level of personal investment, you know — when you’re working on something near and dear to you it’s going to be a little bit different than if you’re working on something that’s near and dear to someone else. It really depends on the individual artist’s ethics. Mine personally, I find there really should not be a difference. I always do my best to involve myself in projects that I would want to be proud of in the future. I try to bring that same level of emotion to every project that I work on.
Do you have a specific color scheme you like to use?
Not particularly. Honestly it depends on the project. I try to use the colors that will work best for what the mood of the overall project is. You want to match colors that are in line with what it is that you’re working on. You don’t want to use drab and sad colors for something that’s supposed to be bright and cheery and make everybody smile. I do my best to kind of read the script or understand what the project is about and choose my colors accordingly.
How did you get into comics?
That’s a really good story. I grew up liking to draw. I grew up watching a lot of cartoons. I actually found my first comic book when I was a little guy. I found it when I was at school having breakfast one morning and ever since then I got more or less hooked because it was a Batman comic book. At the time I watched a lot of the Super Friends, so seeing Batman in a comic book just having adventures that were different than what I was seeing on the screen where he was surrounded by other superheroes, it just seemed a lot more adventurous to me. It was a lot more personal. I don’t know if I drew parallels from it or what have you, it was interesting to see Batman having his own individual adventures and it just inspired me and energized me to pick up my crayons and my pencils and whatever was around the house and just draw. My mom at the time kinda saw what I was doing and she would sit me down at the kitchen table and she would cut open paper grocery bags and we would use markers, industrial markers that my dad had brought home from work and she would show me how to draw things. The standard cube, turn the cube into a house, and then the house had the chimney with a curlicue of smoke, the three circles for Mickey Mouse’s ears, little flowers, things of that nature, she would teach me to draw them and I just kept going at it and over time it just developed into a little bit of skill. I just really kept at it. It was something that made me happy, drawing pictures, making everybody else smile while I’m drawing pictures. That’s really where it went.
Do you have any particular favorite screen adaptations of comic book stories?
Man, you know there are so many that I just can’t choose one…. Not because I’m trying to be wishy-washy and I realize that this article is going to go to print and different fandoms have different volatile reactions or supportive reactions to choices, but there are a lot of movies out there that you just wouldn’t believe were comic books and they are great cinematic movies. 300. 300 is a Frank Miller book that was based on old Greek legends and history. Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks, that was a really good graphic novel. There are just so many that people overlook as being true comic book movies that it’s hard to choose just one. I like what they’ve done with the Tom Holland Spiderman movies. They took old Steve Ditko and Stan Lee’s premise of Peter Parker being this high school nerd and they’ve made it really contemporary. They took it and really put him in today’s society…. A huge fan of Captain America, so I like what they did in the Captain America movies. I like Shazam as well and I think Zachary Levi does a great interpretation of a child being given some pretty great powers and having to deal with those…. I can’t put my finger on just one of them honestly.
What do you like about Free Comic Book Day?
People will show up for free books and they’ll be introduced to things they’ll grow to like and get attached to, and they really don’t understand that all of that harkens back to cave paintings. When you’re a comic book artist one of the things you strive for is to be able to tell the story without the word bubbles or the sound effects. You really want to be able to make a visual story that doesn’t need words but the words support the pictures. That goes back to when cavemen didn’t have a fixed language and they communicated on cave walls to record their history…. When you pay attention to comics, they’re pretty deep, they’re pretty in depth. There’s a lot of psychology that goes into really good comics. There’s a lot of visual representation and subtlety in storytelling that people just overlook. It’s great to watch little kids come in and unknowingly just become fans of something that’s a lot bigger than them and it’s actually a part of history and modern culture. — Zachary Lewis
Meet Ed Ed Smith will be at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester (Comic Con Booth 27) on Free Comic Book Day. See dmcomics.com.
DIY comics
Marek Bennett explains how to make your own
By John Fladd jfladd@hippopress.com
The thing about drawing comics, Marek Bennett said, is it’s more about leaving things out, rather than putting them in.
Bennett — a cartoonist, the author and illustrator of the Freeman Colby series of graphic novels, and art educator — frequently teaches cartooning workshops to adults and children. Working with children is usually more straightforward than it is with adults, who get self-conscious and intimidated, he said: “It’s much easier for adults to make comics if there are a few kids scattered around the room.”
“Older people end up using simpler pictures,” he said, often stick figures. “I have to remind them that even if a comic uses stick figures, it’s still a narrative.”
Children, on the other hand, feel less restricted about what they include in their comics. “[When I work with children] I start with a stick figure and ask the kids to suggest three details to add to it.” Because Bennett is often a novelty in a classroom full of children, many times they want him to draw himself. He will start with a stick figure. “Then when I ask them for three details, they always name the same three — a hat, a beard, and glasses.” That gives them a framework for their narrative.
The simplicity of the comic medium, he said, is what makes it so powerful and accessible.
“It allows an idea to be as clear as possible,” he said. “A sequence of images is exponentially more powerful than individual pictures. It’s more than the sum of its parts. By limiting the amount of detail, we open ourselves to a more intimate understanding of each other through our art work.”
One of the reasons comics are so well-suited for kids, Bennett said, is that there is such a low barrier to entry. “Unlike video games, sports, or musical instruments, kids and their parents don’t have to invest any money on something a kid won’t be interested in the next week.” If they have a brown paper bag and a crayon, they can make a comic.
Comics make sense to kids, he said. “All my life, I’ve drawn pictures. I would show them to adults or other kids, and they’d ask, ‘What happens next?’ So I’d draw a picture of what happened next, and then what happened after that. The next thing I knew, I’d have a complicated, sequential narrative. That’s a comic.”
The best way to start cartooning, Bennet said, is to put together a booklet and draw a series of boxes on the pages. “Start with a box at the beginning, and a box at the end, then work with them to fill in the details in the middle. Start with a simple character — a rabbit, or a stick figure, or whatever. I had a kid tell me once that he wanted the story to be about him and he said, ‘I want to be a dolphin!’ I asked him why, and suddenly he had a narrative.”
If all that is a little overwhelming for a particular kid, he said, break it down even further. “Use a sketchbook or a drawing pad and have them draw one picture per page.” Then, like the adults in Bennett’s life when he was a kid, guide them along with “What comes next?” questions. “They’ll end up with something like a flipbook. That’s still a story told with sequential pictures; it’s still a comic.”
Bennett said that when he works with groups of children, they will often start with eight-page mini comic books. With minimal guidance kids quickly start addressing some fairly sophisticated concepts.
“They’ll break into pairs or small groups,” he said, “and ask each other who their readers will be and what kind of story will those readers like. It’s empowering; they get to try ideas out on test readers and how to refine artwork and tailor it for the community.”
One of the powerful aspects of comics for kids as creators is the immediate feedback they get and a sense of achievement, Bennett said.
“They see themselves as part of a reading community. Making comics is an entry into graphic novels, which is an entry to reading anything.” If you told a child that they could write a 500-page graphic novel, he said, “they’d be completely intimidated. But if they draw a page a day, with six panels to a page, that’s 3,000 images to tell a story.”
Ultimately, Bennett said, comics are a way to know someone better. He tells a story about leading a cartooning workshop in the United Arab Emirates. The adults he worked with were confused at first; comic art is not a traditional part of their culture. As Bennett led them through the “What next? What next?” process, they became more and more enthusiastic. “One of them told me, ‘This is a way to understand somebody’s heart.’”
More Marek Find out more about Bennett’s works and where he is headed to teach and talk comics at marekbennett.com.
More from the Vampiverse
Jeannine Acheson and Tom Sniegoski discuss their new work
Massachusetts-based Jeannine Acheson and Tom Sniegoski, the writing duo behind Vampirella: Dark Reflections from Dynamite Comics, which has a release date scheduled in June, discuss their process.
What comes first — the picture or the words?
Jeannine Acheson. Courtesy photo.
Jeannine Acheson: The ideas come first, the story comes first, I think in my head anyway. And we start by writing everything out. The plot, the characters, we start with that and it’s kind of a step-by-step process. Now we’re working on a graphic novel and we’re laying things out and that’s where the pictures come in, for me anyway. Although, I feel like you’re [Tom] more fluid in that.
Tom Sniegoski: When I think of an idea, a lot of the time, especially for comic ideas, imagery is what drives the process. It’s kind of like, ‘Oh, that would be really cool. This could be a good moment in this kind of story if you had this kind of thing.’ There’s a lot of that, but what Jeannine says, we do sit down with a notepad. In the earlier stages it’s just notes. It’s just ideas. It’s almost like a gigantic puzzle that slowly starts to get pieced together so you’re in your proper order by the time you get all your ideas, hopefully, you see the logical story progression and then from there it will go to the next stage … breakdowns, stuff like that.
Tom Sniegoski. Courtesy photo.
How did the collaboration for Dark Reflections, which is coming out in June, come about?
JA: That one was born from the Vampiverse, which we did for Dynamite in 2021 or 2022.
TS: Yeah, I think that’s 2022.
JA: And that is one of the stories from the many threads of the fabric that are the Vampirella stories in the Vampiverse, and this one focuses on a downtrodden Vampirella and Lilith, a daughter of Vampirella, of a Vampirella. It just kind of came up from there because we thought she was an interesting character [and] we wanted to explore what she had to say.
TS: The concept of the Vampiverse is the fact that the character, Vampirella, exists in many different realities and different forms so there’s like, we call them the threads, so every thread is a different story and a different Vampirella. So you could have a western Vampirella and a sci-fi Vampirella, an animated cartoon Vampirella, all these different stories. What it does is allows us to tell as many stories as we can think of with these different kinds of Vampirellas while keeping things fresh. It’s not the same character, she’s slightly different in all of these worlds. Dark Reflections is just another Vampirella in her world interacting with that character who is actually her daughter of a deceased Vampirella. It was fun to do. It allows us to do so much. We’re not completely rooted to continuity, a specific continuity. It allows us to play with that continuity if we wanted to, or ignore certain aspects of that continuity. It’s fun.
What draws you to a particular story?
TS: What draws Jeannine is that I say, ‘Hey, I got an idea.’
JA: Exactly, I can do that.
TS: ‘What is it this time?’ Honestly, you never know. A lot of the times, things just kind of click. You might see something in the news, you might read something in a newspaper, you might be walking around your kitchen and you trip and all of a sudden there’s just this germ of an idea that you then see if it’s worthy. You give it a poke, kick the tires and you start to expand on that idea. A lot of the times, Jeannine will get a text that just says, ‘got an idea,’ and I’ll give her a sentence and I gauge her reaction on the sentence whether we should probably continue to try to develop it or not.
JA: Sometimes it feels like things that come to fruition are things that keep coming up for us. They kinda won’t leave us alone. We have another comic coming out in July and that idea was born about four years ago and it just kept coming back to us and every time we’d be working on something else, this idea would just come back to us and we’d say, ‘Oh, remember that one that we talked about, that old lady living in the nursing home?’ and they just keep coming back and kind of keep expanding. We think about new facets to the character or different things that they could be involved in. The ideas get insistent, they have to be told I think.
TS: You know it’s a good one when it won’t leave you alone and you should pay attention to it. As a writer, here’s some writerly advice: If it keeps coming back it’s probably good and you should keep developing that idea.
Is there an IP or storyverse that you’d like to work on that you haven’t yet?
TS: The thing is, my dream character was Hellboy and I write Hellboy now, so I got that one out of the way.
JA: I don’t know if I have a dream one. Honestly, I think since I started writing with Tom my life has been a series of ‘yeses.’ There’s nothing that I’ve said no to with respect to writing. ‘You want to write Vampirella?’ Well, I’ve never written that before but sure, why not? We finished a novel together during the pandemic. For me, I’m very new to this whole world of comics and writing so I come along for the ride, I say yes to everything.
How does collaboration work between you two?
JA: Most of the time we work in Google Docs over Skype. A couple a days a week I go to his office on the South Shore but all the other times I’m here at my home office on the North Shore. We generally, I would say like 99 percent of the time, work on things together in real time. Occasionally Tom has work outside of our work and I have a little bit of stuff myself. Occasionally he’ll have to go to a meeting and I’ll say I’ll try laying out these few pages and finish up this scene. Sometimes it works OK, sometimes it has to be revised, but I’m still learning. Most of the time it’s literally a team effort. Somebody will write a sentence, somebody will tweak it, somebody will write another sentence, somebody will tweak. It’s very much in real time, writing together, almost all the time, everything.
TS: It’s interesting. I’d never worked that way before. I was solo for many, many, many, many years, so it’s very interesting to spend as much time working on so many different things with Jeannine. I’ve worked with Chris Golden, I’ve worked with Mike Mignola, I’ve worked with all kinds of people. Those relationships are kind of like, you discuss the project, you kinda know what you’re doing and everybody goes to their separate corner and does their own thing. Whereas working with Jeannine, and I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that she’s still learning a lot of this stuff since she’s so new to comics and book writing that we spend a lot of time talking about the process….
If someone stops by your booth on Free Comic Book Day, what can they expect to encounter?
TS: Jeannine will most likely be asleep.
JA: No, you’ll probably give them a hard time.
TS: Never.
JA: Honestly, this will be our third or fourth [FCBD] together at Jetpack Comics in Rochester. Hey Ralph! For me, It’s so exciting just to meet people that enjoy comics. It’s so cool. I think the first Free Comic Book Day we gave out, did we give out posters?
TS: Yeah, we had Vampirella, Vampiverse posters.
JA: Yeah, and that was so cool. It was so exciting to see people who were excited about Vampirella and loved the character and liked the new take we had to come up with. I think it’s exciting for me just to talk to all the people who are interested in comics. We have stuff for sale, but, you know.
TS: We bring like stock of stuff and people buy it, we autograph it and it’s fun. It’s very fun.
JA: It really is, it’s wild. I especially love seeing the families that come in. Parents with their younger kids or like grade-school kids, I think that’s fabulous. I think that’s so cool. Training the next generation. — Zachary Lewis
See Jeannine and Tom Jeannine Acheson and Tom Sniegoski will be at Jetpack Comics’ event at the Ballroom at the Governor’s Inn in Rochester. See jetpackcomics.com.
The 2024 New Hampshire Farm, Forest and Garden Expo starts today at the Deerfield Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and continues Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Consult with experts, run machinery, attend workshops and more. Tickets cost $10 for adults; children 12 and under can attend free. See nhfarmandforestexpo.org.
Friday, May 3
“Petals and Pedals” is the theme to this month’s First Friday in downtown Concord, which runs today from 4 to 8 p.m. Look for live music, a planting party, a roller derby meet & greet, a bike ride and a guided tour of bike fix-it stops in Concord, food trucks, yoga and more. See intownconcord.org.
Friday, May 3
See Wheatus, the band known for its 2000 release “Teenage Dirtbag,” at 7 p.m. at Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St. in Manchester; jewelmusicvenue.com). Tickets cost $20.
Saturday, May 4
Doughnuts! Fresh produce! Locally made cheese! Doughnuts! The Concord Farmers Market returns for another season of outdoor offerings — including, did we mention, doughnuts? The market kicks off the season today from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Capitol Street next to the Statehouse lawn. Shop your way through the harvest season — the outdoor market runs through Oct. 26. See concordfarmersmarket.com for a list of vendors.
Saturday, May 4
The New England Racing Museum (922 Route 106 in Loudon, 783-0183, nemsmuseum.com) will host this year’s New England Racers Reunion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will feature a variety of race cars and race motorcycles for outdoor display and showcase racing exhibits. Admission to view the outdoor event costs $5 per adult. Admission for the indoor museumcosts $15 for adults. Kids under 12 get in for free.
Saturday, May 4
The 3rd Annual Run the Rail Trail 5-Miler begins at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, 669-4820, aviationmuseumofnh.org) at 9 a.m. Participants can run or walk on a winding route through North Londonderry. Register through the Museum’s website.
Saturday, May 4
The Souhegan Valley ‘Happy Hour’ Rotary Club will host its annual Kentucky Derby party at 3:30 p.m. at the Gate City Casino (55 Northeastern Blvd. in Nashua, 943-5630, thegatecitycasino.com). Come dressed to the nines for a chance to win the Best Dressed Contest. Soel Sistas Food truck will be on site. Tickets are free, but donations are welcome.
Wednesday, May 8
The Rock and Race 5K in Concord start at 6 p.m. in front of the Statehouse at 107 N. Main St. and raises funds for Concord Hospital Payson Center for Cancer Care. The event includes live music from 12 bands. Registration costs $30. See gsrs.com/node/5071.
Save the Date! Saturday, May 11 The New Hampshire Renaissance Faire runs Saturday, May 11, and Sunday, May 12, and Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 80 Martin Road in Fremont. The Faire brings together education and fun for the whole family. Merchants are mainly local artisans with an emphasis on handmade items including costumes, jewelry, pottery, herbals, weaponry and more. Entry is $20 for adults and $15 for children 6 to 12; children 5 and under are free. See nhrenfaire.com.
May is National Bike Month and May 7 is National Ride a Bike Day. The Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire has more than 20 bicycle-related events scheduled on its calendar for May (bwanh.org/calendar). There is a Tour de New Hampshire bicycle tour of Manchester rail trails on May 11. The Hooksett Riverwalk Trail will have its grand opening this month. S&W Sports in Concord will host Concord’s annual Bike Swap, and Veterans Count (vetscount.org) will hold its sixth annual multi-route ride in Nashua to honor New Hampshire service members, veterans and their families.
QOL score: +1
Comment: According to the New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition, there are more than 380 miles of rail trails in the state.
Helping more people enjoy the game
Fisher Cats fans with sensory issues have another tool to help keep them from being overwhelmed at games. According to an April 25 press release, the team has partnered with Home Base Transportation (homebasenh.com), a New Hampshire-based organization that provides reliable transportation to children and adults with special needs, to provide KultureCity Sensory Bags to Delta Dental Stadium for the 2024 season. According to the announcement, “The program began at Delta Dental stadium on April 23 and will run indefinitely. Sensory Bags include items that can help lessen sensory overload for both adults and children such as noise-canceling headphones and fidget tools. Individuals who may feel overwhelmed by the environment can check out Sensory Bags at Guest Services, where weighted lap pads will also be available.”
QOL score: +1
Comment:“It’s important for us to create an environment that is inclusive of everyone,” said Fisher Cats official Stephanie O’Quinn.
New Hampshire house prices way up
New Hampshire Business Review (nhbr.com) reports in its April 26 issue that the prices of houses in the state have outstripped the growth of household income over the past five years. Citing statistics from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, “The median price for a single-family house in New Hampshire rose from $283,000 in 2018 to $470,000 in 2023, a 66 percent increase in five years,” the article says. “The most recently available data suggests household incomes in New Hampshire grew much more slowly than the price of a house. Between 2018 and 2022, median household income in New Hampshire rose 20 percent.” The Business Review cites the increase of working from home, a limited supply and high demand as possible reasons for the remarkable rate of housing inflation.
QOL score: -1
Comment: According to the same article, Coos County has had the highest rate of growth in house prices, at +103.5%, but Hillsborough County has the highest average sticker price at $490,000.
QOL score last week: 60
Net change: + 1
QOL this week: 61
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?
The Big Story – It’s take your pick for the week’s top story between (1) the Patriots following a boring but common sense path to fill their biggest needs during the weekend’s NFL draft, (2) the Bruins taking care of business to grab a commanding 3-1 in their playoff series with the Maple Leafs, and (3) the seen-this-script-before no-urgency way the Celtics were their own worst enemy again via their unfocused Game 2 loss after taking a 1-0 series lead over Miami, followed by a backs-against-the-wall Game 3 rout of Miami on the road.
Sports 101: Name the Top 5 leaders for most triple doubles in NBA playoff history.
News Item – Gotta Love Those Playoff Endings: Game 2’s in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs was great ending theater with JamalMurray’s sideways step back to shoot over 7 foot AnthonyDavis’ solid D to give Denver a win at the buzzer, and the coming back from the dead by scoring eight points in the final 27 seconds by first smothering TyreseMaxey on the inbounds pass to steal it in front of their basket, getting two o-rebounds before seeing the game winning three drop, followed by a great IsaiahHartenstein block of a sure game winning lay-up by the streaking Maxey.
News Item – Five Thoughts on NFL Draft:
History says three of the six QBs taken in Round 1 will be busts.
In taking a QB, WR and left tackle the Patriots drafted to fill their three biggest needs in rounds 1 through 3. It’s an improvement over the haphazard way Coach B did it. Now, how good are the talent evaluation skills of EliotWolf?
I hate to sound negative, but the description of Ja’LynnPolk — not a burner, but more than makes up for it in physicality in one-on-one battles — sounds an awful lot like what they told us N’KealHarry was supposed to be.
The Patriots need to come away from this draft with at least four solid long-term NFL players. Hence my desire for a trade down because it would have enhanced the likelihood of that this year and next.
I’m with everyone else — Atlanta drafting a QB (MichaelPenix) after giving KirkCousins a four-year deal and $100 million guaranteed seems nuts.
The Numbers:
65,162 –largest crowd in New England history to see a soccer game when worldwide star LionelMessi didn’t disappoint by scoring twice and assisting twice for Inter Miami in their 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.
… Of the Week Awards
Do the Math Award: Usually when someone goes 4 for 4 before May 1 the batting average takes a huge leap. And in the case of CeddanneRafaela’s 4-4, 1-homer, 7-RBI day on Saturday it did. But since he ended the day hitting .191, it tells how far below the Mendozza line the struggling rookie was.
Why Can’t We Get Guys Like That Award – Mookie Betts: The latest reminder of what a titanically stupid move trading MookieBetts was is that he left April as the leading hitter in baseball at .387 while playing 24 games at shortstop and another 14 at second base.
Random Thoughts:
Given my discontent with the Patriots’ unimaginative approach to the draft, here’s the question I wished was asked on March 15: What would DannyAinge do if he had the third overall pick?
I know how good KawhiLeonard is, but if I’m a GM I’m not interested in him because he constantly creates uncertainty by always being hurt.
Sports 101 Answer: The playoff triple double leaders are Magic Johnson (30), LeBron James (28), Nikola Jokic (18), Russell Westbrook (12) and JasonKidd (11).
A Little History – Celtics Playoff Triple Doubles: Just six Celtics have done it. LarryBird and, yes, RajonRondo are the all-time leaders with 10 each. Next is JohnHavlichek with 5 followed by BillRussell (3), while PaulPierce and JaysonTatum each did it once.
Final Thoughts – Sports Tastes Changing: Despite what some think, sports interests change. With no better example being that in the first 50 years of the 20th century boxing, horse racing and baseball were by far the most popular spectator sports in America. On the flip side are two vivid examples seen in the last two weeks of newer sports gaining traction with the public that few would have predicted a decade ago.
The first was the TV audience for the women’s national championship basketball game being larger than the one for the men’s title game. Second was seeing 65,000 at a regular season New England Revolution soccer game when Messi came to Foxboro on Saturday. Not saying it’s good or bad. Just that they represent astonishing examples of how interests are evolving in the U.S. sports culture.
Jennifer Banney, a physics teacher at Bedford High School, was recently named the recipient of the Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical award by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, which gives a teacher a year off with pay and a materials budget to bring a great educational idea to fruition, according to a press release.
How did you get interested in science?
I loved computers from a very, very young age. My degree is in computer engineering. A lot of what I learned in that degree was very science-based. It kind of took me into teaching science naturally once I graduated.
Why is problem-solving important in life and how does high school physics help instill that into students?
One of our main jobs as teachers is to … teach them to be problem-solvers. I cannot predict, with how fast the world is changing, the actual knowledge my students are going to need in 10 years. What I do know is that there are going to be problems and there are going to need to be solvers. That’s really what I’m looking to do with my students, making them the kind of people who can come up against a problem, not know the answer, back up for a moment, and think their way through it. I think high school physics is the perfect place to do that. We integrate hands-on projects with mathematics and we do try to get kids to work through problem-solving, where there’s not just one answer to what we’re going to end up doing at the end. We’re looking for them to develop their own way to get there and that practice just of not knowing how I’m going to get there and working your way through it is incredibly important.
What do you hope to accomplish during the sabbatical?
My sabbatical project is developing tabletop escape-room-type games that students would have to use their physics knowledge to work through. I’m envisioning students solving a mystery or working through finding a treasure, or something like that, but having to figure out the angle we’re going to launch something at so it hits something over here, or designing a circuit to open up something. What I envision students doing is working in collaborative groups to work through these problems in a really engaging way. The same way if you’ve ever gone to an escape room with your friends it’s just really fun. You have all these things — you don’t even quite know what the problems are at the beginning, you have to figure out what the problems are, you have to figure out how to solve them and it’s just fun, engaging, and I’m hoping that really makes kids want to delve a little more into science.
Would you like to explain how science can be loud and/or messy?
Yep. Well loud, we have a unit we do in our science class all about sound. We have kids really investigate different frequencies of sound and where they resonate and a bunch of other things and it is definitely the day in my classroom that I may take a pre-emptive Advil ’cause I do have a lot of noise going on. My classroom is kinda messy. We build things, they spill out into the hallway sometimes and we have cars racing down the hallway and that kind of stuff. But I think that’s where real learning happens for kids. It’s where things get cemented in their head when they’re doing those hands-on activities that aren’t just them quietly sitting at their desks. So it can be a little loud and a little messy, but I think it makes it a little fun.
Will you miss the classroom?
Yes, I do actually think I’ll miss the classroom a lot. I am planning to work with a lot of different New Hampshire teachers. I already have a lot of people signed on who are interested in being play testers for what I am going to be doing. I actually see myself traveling to a lot of different classrooms in New Hampshire throughout the year to watch kids interact with what I’ve built, see what works, see what doesn’t work, and really keep in contact with a lot of different teachers…. I absolutely plan to have a website where teachers, in the future, after everything is designed and produced, they’d be able to download everything and use the games in their classroom.
