Mile High Comic

Pow! Comic Book Classroom project takes on illiteracy in metro schools

As a lifelong, self-described comic-book nerd, Charlie LaGreca remembers first grappling with the concept of antimatter when he was 8. And it ka-blew his mind. Thank you, Fantastic Four.

The next time he came across the word was in a high school physics class.

"Just think about all the words you first learned through comic books," said LaGreca, an accomplished cartoonist, actor and member of the nerd-rock band H2 Awesome. His list includes "submarine," "laboratory," "ubiquitous" and "villain."

"So, really, what better way to promote literacy and vocabulary among underserved students than through friendly learning tools like comic books and graphic novels?"

That's why LaGreca helped form his Comic Book Classroom literacy program, which is opening up the ability to read to at-risk metro Denver kids using a visual medium that may be more inviting than traditional textbooks.

LaGreca and his team go into participating schools once a week for eight weeks teaching the basics of the craft — starting with the comic-book language like, "What is a thought balloon?" They teach story, structure, character and the natural rise and fall of plotlines — essential storytelling elements that can help students in other classes. By the end, all the kids invent their own original comic book.

"I remember the first time I came across 'Captain America' on the floor of my brother's closet," LaGreca said. "To a little kid, that not only opened my eyes to a new world but to reading itself."

Comic books have been an essential part of American pop culture since 1932, first peaking in the early 1950s with archetypal superheroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and captains Marvel and America. But the comic-book medium is blowing up again all over American pop culture. A major comics convention could draw upward of 15,000 attendees in Denver next summer.

LaGreca believes a new golden age for the form is upon us, thanks largely to the cinematic success of counterculture graphic films like "Watchmen" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." "Captain America" is ruling the box office today, and a year from now, it may be "The Avengers" doing the same.

"Comic books are finally becoming legitimized as an art form," LaGreca said, because "they now have the technology to make these stories come to life the way they were really intended."

LeGreca created Comic Book Classroom two years ago with Frank Romero, former manager of retail operations for Mile High Comics; Christina Angel, who teaches a comics course at Metro State and Arapahoe Community College; and Illya Kowalchuk, who has a master's degree in integrating creative arts into classrooms.

TuesdayArtGroup: Mile High Comics and Comic Con 2011

I'll start this year's convention report by mentioning that there is a huge controversy over the decision of the convention committee to completely alter both the price, and the availability, of 4-day passes for next year's show. As I understand it, 4-day passes to this year's show were priced at $105, and were available beginning at last year's preview night. The price has risen to $175 for this 2012, with only 2400 tickets per day being made available at a specially constructed stand in the huge Hyatt hotel next door to the convention center. Pricing considerations aside, the fact that people had to line up in the Hyatt at 6 AM this morning to get next year's passes has some of the most loyal fans of the San Diego convention absolutely livid. I have become quite used to hearing from my fellow comics dealers that they believe that the members of the convention committee categorically ignore their needs, but this is the first year that I have had those same sentiments echoed by members of the general public. Never, ever, have I seen so many angry fans at this convention... Before you get the wrong impression, I do want you to know that everyone who is at the show appears to be delighted with being here. Their resentment stems solely from the fact that many of them have been supporting the show for a decade, or even longer, and suddenly they are being denied easy access to future tickets. I certainly empathize with their anger, as we comics dealers have been forced to live with a rapidly diminishing role and importance in a convention that we helped to nurture during it's formative years. That having been said, circumstances do evolve, and the San Diego convention that exists today is a unique enterprise that draws in a worldwide audience. It is precisely that intense popularity and resulting demand for tickets that has caused 4-day passes to now sell for upwards of $500 each (!) in the online secondary market. With the convention committee well aware of that secondary market pricing, is it any wonder that they are raising their own prices, and limiting purchases of 4-day tickets to two per person? As sad as this change may be, the simple truth is that there is vastly more demand right now for tickets to the San Diego convention there there is supply. That being the case, it is almost inevitable that ticket prices would rise, and that availability would decline. Sometimes, change sucks...

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