MPL Comics Club practices with the pros

Comic artists Dave Russell and Chris Lambert offer advice to the MPL Comics Club.

The Mentor Public Library Comics Club got some advice from the professionals on Tuesday.

The Comics Club met comics writer Chris Lambert and artist Dave Russell at the Comics and Friends shop in Great Lakes Mall. They offered tips to the kids on how they could move their ideas from their minds onto the page.

Abby draws a one-page story during our Comics Club meeting Tuesday.

Our Comics Club is for any 8- through 12-year-old who likes to read, talk about or draw sequential art. Not just superheroes either—we love everything from Spider-Man to Lumberjanes to American Born Chinese.

At a typical meeting, the kids talk about a special theme. In January, we're showing how artists use real-life models as a way to improve our art. So the kids are going to help one another by pretending to fly and leap through the air while the others draw them.

We close out each meeting with free time for the kids to draw or read. We also share the graphic novels and comics that the kids can find in our library’s collection.

Tristan sketches his comic before adding details with the colored pencils.

The next Comics Club meeting will be 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, at our main Branch. The club is free to join. However, we do ask that parents or guardians register their children beforehand.

To register a child for the Comics Club, visit our online event calendar or call the library at (440) 255-8811 ext. 221.

Chris Lambert looks over Molly's drawing and offers some helpful tips.

For more photos from our Comics Club meeting, visit Mentor Public Library's Facebook page.

MPL Comics Club is learning from the pros this Tuesday

Silvanna and Abby draw their own comics during out Comics Club meeting at Mentor Public Library.

The young artists and writers of our Comics Club will be learning from the professionals during their get-together this Tuesday.

Instead of our Main Branch, our Comics Club is meeting at 5 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the Comics & Friends shop in Great Lakes Mall. They, they'll meet local artists and create their own comics.

Our Comics Club is for any 8- through 12-year-old who likes to read, talk about or draw sequential art. Not just superheroes either—we love everything from Amelia Rules to Batman to Bone.

At a typical meeting, the kids talk about a special theme. Then we introduce the kids to graphic novels and comics that can be found in the library’s collection.

We close out each meeting with free time for the kids to draw or read.

Once again, the next Comics Club meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at Comics & Friends. The club is free to join. However, we do ask that parents or guardians register their children beforehand.

To register a child for the Comics Club, call the library at (440) 255-8811 ext. 221.

If your kid loves comics, they'll probably also like the comics collection they can download for free on Hoopla.

Haniska reads Tinkerbell at our Comics Club meeting.

Read DC, Vertigo, Dark Horse & Image comics for free on Hoopla

Read Neil Gaiman's Sandman and more for free on Hoopla.

We've talked about Hoopla before. It's a cool digital service we offer that lets you stream music, TV shows and movie anywhere and at any time for free.

It's also gradually accumulated one of the best comics collections that you can read for free.

We've mentioned Hoopla's comics offerings previously; but, since then, they've added comics from DC, Vertigo, Image and Dark Horse to their collection. That means you can read some of the best comics ever written and drawn from the comfort of your home (or anywhere else.)

Here are 10 of our favorites from their collection—which, not to belabor the point, you can now read for free.

1. Sandman: I don't think I'm exaggerating when I call this the most celebrated comic series ever. The stories of Dream and his ageless siblings won't just change the way you look at sequential art. They'll change your perception of everything from Shakespeare to Thor to Death herself.
2. Invincible: Every comic writer is trying to create the next Spider-Man, the snarky teen hero with great power and greater responsibility. Robert Kirkman, with Invincible, comes closer to recreating the magic than anyone else. (You may have heard of Kirkman's other series, Walking Dead, which is, by the way, also available on Hoopla.)
3. Fables: What if Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf, Little Boy Blue, Cinderella, Pinocchio and all their other fairy-tale friends were living undercover in New York? Judging by Bill Willingham's opus, Fables, it would be endlessly entertaining.
4. Hellboy: Hellboy takes the story of Ragnarok (an unavoidable apocalypse) a step farther. Now, not only is the end of the world coming, it will be the hero Hellboy's fault. If that sounds depressing, then you'll be surprised how much humor Mike Mignola can fit into his story of well-intentioned (but doomed) misfits.
5. Y: The Last Man: Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra tell the story of Yorick, the last man on earth. During his odyssey, he tangles with pirates, secret agents, misanthropic biker gangs and an unhygienic monkey named Ampersand.
6. Saga: If you liked Y, double-down on Vaughan and read his epic about literal star-crossed lovers. Two fugitives from warring worlds fall in love and flee their respective governments (and a bunch of bounty hunters,) while trying to raise their infant girl.
7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: You loved the show and weren't ready for it to end. Fortunately, the story continues in the comic. And there's no squabbling over what is or isn't canon, because the comics are overseen (and often written by) Joss Whedon himself.
8. Suicide Squad: Do your research now before the movie blows everyone away. Suicide Squad is the story of C-list villains forcibly enlisted into a government black-ops group. And, as you probably guessed from the title, the whole team almost never makes it back.
9. Watchmen: Not an exaggeration to call this one of the most important comics ever. Alan Moore wrote a story that changed how a generation perceived the violence, morals and "heroics" of superheroes. Watchmen and Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns forced comics to mature as a medium. They also happen to be really good stories.
10. Batman: The Long Halloween: The best Batman story ever. That's just my opinion and your mileage may vary, but you can read it for free to see if you agree.

Fair warning: As you probably gathered from some of these descriptions, these titles aren't all appropriate for your young ones. For the younger crowd, I'd recommend the Fraggle Rock or Adventure Time comics. (Both of which are also free on Hoopla.)

So get reading, and don't be shy about telling us your favorite reads on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.