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.