Kids Love Comics Day Photo Diary

As promised, here's some pics I took of last Saturday's event at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. Below is the entrace to the second floor gallery, where most of the events were held. They had lots of tables with free comics splayed out:


This is the sales table, where you could buy books by the various cartoonists:


Here we see Jane Fisher-Smith, writer of "WJHC," talk about turning personal experiences into comics:


Todd Webb was on hand, doing caricatures of people in crayon. Here he is doing one of my daughter:



And the finished product:

They had original art on display in the hall:


Organizer of the event and Amelia Rules cartoonist Jimmy Gownley:


Of course, for my kids, comics couldn't compete with the science museum next door. Not when it has hand-operated dinosaur machines!


Overall, the event seemed to go well, at least for the little bit I was there. Gownley certainly seemed pleased with the turnout. My one gripe about the show was that there really wasn't enough for younger kids to do. I understand the event was geared towards older children, but still, they could have had more interactive features. Set up a table with some crayons and paper. Have half-done strips laying around and ask the kids to finish them, then post the results on the wall. Have a felt board up with maybe some characters from Amelia or Buzzboy and have the kids make up stories using them. There needed to be more hands-on, crafty stuff going on. After all, while the older kids might not mind the absence, many of them have younger brothers and sisters who get bored real fast.

Still, it's the first time they've tried something like this and it's hard not to view it as a success, all things considered. Here's hoping it comes around again next year.