University of Brasilia - UNBInstitute of Arts - IdA

Department of Visual Arts - Vis

The importance of Comicsfor Education

Mauro Cesar Oliveira Bandeira

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Brasilia, December 2007

University of Brasilia - UNBInstitute of Arts - IdA

Department of Visual Arts - Vis

The importance of Comics for Education

Mauro Cesar Oliveira Bandeira

Completion of course work of Plastic Arts,Qualification Degree, Department of

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Visual Arts Institute of ArtsUniversity of Brasilia.

Advisor: Prof. Cristina Azra Barrenechea

Brasilia, December 2007

SUMMARYApresentao......................................................................................pg.3Objetivo..............................................................................................pg.3Justificativa.........................................................................................pg.3TheoreticalFoundation ................................................ .....................pg. 8Proposal for Creating a WorkshopSequential Art at theUniversity .............................................. ......... pg.20Comicsworkshops ............................................... ........................... pg.31Concluso...........................................................................................pg.32Bibliography ................................................. ....................................pg.35

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Presentation

This study discusses the importance of comicsfor education and proposes the discussion of thedevelopment of a discipline Creation in Sequential Art(comics, strips, cartoons, cartoons, vignettes) in thecurriculum of undergraduate courses in Arts VisualDesign and Communication.Goal

This project seeks to reflect on the importanceof the use of comics in education, in its differentpedagogical possibilities.

This project explores the potential and to openup a space in college to college critically discuss theneed to create courses aimed at training in SequentialArt.

Justification

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The choice of the theme of this monograph isdue to the fact that I always enjoyed reading comics. Ibelieve, as I do, children and young people would alsolike to learn more about techniques of how to producetheir own comic strips.I think about a lot of possibilities to see the Comics - HQ- as an area of great importance for training in all levelsof education: primary, secondary and higher. I am veryoptimistic at all that I intend to design and put mydreams and goals to achieve them in the future. I knowthere are many bureaucracies and lack of will largely ofpeople who only believe in the financial performance ofany enterprise, and we live in a world of appearancesand status.

As everyone knows the comics are for fun andentertainment, but its use is still low as a vehicle forresearch and teaching.

In elementary and secondary education, comicsare not yet included as program content in schoolcurricula, and even as a teaching methodology to teachother subjects such as English language, mathematics,geography, etc.

It is observed that in the age groups ofelementary and high school there FMCG comics forstudent audience. Comic books help children and youngpeople to consolidate their reading habits andunderstanding of ideas, not to mention the potential ofcomics in working curricula because of its wideacceptance.

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If we can observe that children and young people havevery ingrained habits of reading comic books, it can besaid that this interest is being slightly tapped by theschool.

Sequential art is not yet present in theclassroom, as a language that helps to integrate thecurricular content with the culture, the language and theinterest of children.

The experiences that are observed here andthere are still too timid in opposition to the great needand the great potential of this language that has acaptive audience among the young.

In schools, some Portuguese-speaking teachersuse comics to work different content and teachingstrategies. When this happens, interest in the textsupported by sequential art images is common amongstudents of different ages and cultures.

Due to a number of favorable factors to thedidactic use of comics in the classroom, we see a greatneed to integrate this language as content and as ateaching method in elementary schools.Already in secondary schools and higher there is agreat demand for courses and disciplines in SequentialArt Creation that will promote the formation of comicartists, cartoonists, cartoonists and to supply a growingdemand for professionals in this area. None of theseareas is being supplied in accordance with a potentiallabor market and the huge creators of educationalopportunities in Sequential Art in our nation.

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Apparently, the language of sequential art not find thewide recognition in higher education courses in Arts,Communication and Design, as we found oftenmandatory or elective courses that deal in training skillsin the creation and production of "sequential art". Atmost observed isolated initiatives in the academiccurriculum, or extension projects, and even then with amainly theoretical approach.

As well as the Fashion, the Sequential Art hasnot earned his place in the undergraduate curricula andin the curricula of vocational or technical courses.

However, we can say that the comics enjoy anappreciation of the public. But despite constituting avery popular language, this art seems marginalcompared with the institutional support they receiveother Arts.

We know that the stories in Brazilian comics arenot recognized as literature, but in this case I see that agreat injustice is not to consider the work of ourdesigners as literary works.

We noticed a need to value the Sequential Artpromoting this language to the status of otherArts. Currently comics are considered the ninth art,without however enjoy the status of eight other artisticlanguages.

At a future time I intend to develop a workshopfor teaching creation of comics. Your planning is stillunderway. The workshop planning as a whole, I willclose not encouraging as new researchers add more

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ideas to thereby improve the initial idea that is still anembryo.The university project of comics is very utopian, but wemust face it seriously sometimes madness is necessaryfor something to go forward, normal people are verylinear do not go beyond formal logic and reasoning,which even we want to go against these false moralrules imposed by capitalism. One of the main laws ofcapitalism is that without money one is no one to goagainst this satanic principle, we will create a universitywithout any money, what we'll do is show talents ofthese people have not had the opportunity to get in a"normal" university.

Every educational system is intended to provideopportunities for richer and better prepared andtherefore eliminate those who are outside thatsystem. This educational logic is guided throughout thesystem, for it is broken it takes people to sympathizewith that because we must accept everything thatcomes to us to rule, to take our opportunities, this workis being harshly criticized by some alienated studentsand They are inserted partly because the arts do notreceive investment from the government why they donot see interest in his teaching.

Artists must be aware of his lonely struggleagainst all prejudices. This social class division systemconsiders us unable to carry out any project, so we willcommit ourselves to do so without help from anyone we

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do not need comments from anyone, we just rescuepeople through sequential art. We're not worried aboutwhat others will speak of us, because we want to beindependent of that antiquated educational system thatcriticizes us, we do not know of silly competitions andunfounded criticism and so we will go ahead with ourproject.Comic strips have an incredible power to passmessages on complex and complicated events. Nowonder that the cartoonists use to describe politicalevents only with a frame. Let's say someone does notunderstand anything about what is happening in theworld and suddenly see a cartoon of a cartoon politicaland suddenly it seems like magic, understands quickly.

Theoretical Foundation

Our Brazilian educational system needs tocreate a more modern and inclusive learningsystem. Therefore, the use of comics can also beconsidered as a means of adult education being literate.

The use of the image associated with the textcan facilitate and learning why people need not read tounderstand what a drawing means, and at the sametime they begin to want to learn to read.

Education in Brazil is still a privilege of the few,and emerging nations such as South Korea and Chileare investing a lot in education and are already having

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return why these countries are in constant technologicaldevelopment.

Brazil can not miss this chance to become acountry with high educational fees, and will have thesupport of all available educational resources, we haveto use more the media and the various languages,mainly the comics as a means of literate population .

The ideas of this project seek to show theimportance of comics for education, they need to bevery clear for everyone to understand the importance ofcomic books to the University, there are many paperstalking about this very topic related to comics ineducation.

There are few books in libraries to research on"sequential art" but we can find some scientific articleson the Internet on this topic.The language of comics as a means of expression ofstudents in the educational process is still very littleused. This could be a way to work the writing of childrenwho are learning not only to read but also to write.

In the course of Visual Arts Degree we have nodiscipline called "sequential art". It could help usdevelop creative techniques in sequential art, and alsoteaching methods to use them in education.Will Eisnerhimself has taught this discipline in the College of Artsin New York. In Japan the profession of manga comicbook is tradition because in that country there is a wideprint comics.The Departments of Arts Universities should have adiscipline of sequential art practice and a print line for

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the work already completed, because there is a greatinterest of several college students to perform work inthe language of comics.

The success of Japanese comics shows thatthe influence of manga is so strong as to influence thelanguage of a country as powerful as the UnitedStates. Some Japanese words have been incorporatedinto the English language through the Manga with manyaspects of Japanese culture are known through itsreading.

You can use the comics as a means of literacyand preparation of teaching language books, we canuse them to facilitate memorization because, accordingto some research our brain retains more informationassociating images and emotions.

The increased use of comics in the university topromote interdisciplinarity in different areas whichhitherto were not interconnected.

The use of comics as a means of linking theareas of academia with each other and with societymake the university more democratic and more open tonew ideas. If every department of the university hadtheir own comic artists to put on paper, in drawings andtexts, theories and concepts more accessible, we wouldknow more easily what courses are proposing to societyand what are the ideas being discussed in academicareas.

We know there is a certain prejudice against thecomic, but there is no scientific evidence that says thatcomics prevent young people from reading other

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books. Contrary to popular belief, many adultsinterested in reading and writing as children preciselybecause of the drawings of comics.Let's add a quotefrom the book by Will Eisner: "In modern times, the newspaper daily stripand, more recently, the comic magazine is themain vehicle of sequential art. As became evidentthe potential this way, better quality and a moreexpensive production was introduced . This, inturn, resulted in publications showy, in colors thatattract a more refined audience, while the comicbooks in black and white printed on good qualitypaper also found their clientele. " (EISNER, 1977)

The language of comics continues to gain momentumas a valid form of reading. The first comic booksappeared around 1934. They generally contain arandom collection of short works. When examining awork in comic books as a whole, the provision of thespecific elements takes on the characteristic of alanguage. The vocabulary of Sequential Art hasdeveloped continuously in the United States. Since thefirst appearance of comics in the daily press at the turnof the century, this popular form of reading found a wideaudience and, in particular, became part of the initialliterary diet of most young people.Comics communicatein a "language" that make use of the common visualexperience to the creator and the public. One canexpect modern readers an easy understanding of themixture image-word and the traditionaldecoding text. The comic may be called "reading" in a

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broader sense than the commonly applied to term. Thereading learning has strongly supported thecomics. Tom Wolf, writing in the Harvard EducationalReview (August 1977) comments:"During the last hundred years, the reading theme hasbeen directly linked to the concept of literacy; ... learn toread ... has meant learning to read words ... But ...reading was gradually becoming object closerexamination. Recent research shows that reading wordsis only a subset of a more general human activity,including the decoding of symbols, integration and theorganization of information ... In fact, one might thinkreading . - in the broadest sense - as a form ofperception activity Reading words is a manifestation ofthis activity, but there are many other readings - figures,maps, diagrams, circuits, musical notes ... "(Wolf,1977) .

The comics can help in the perception of ideasthereby improving understanding, an idea put on papercan be developed not only with writing if it has imagesand a lively story.

The future of Brazilian education needs to betaken seriously and the production of comic books atthe University of Brasilia serve to employ manyillustrators who may enroll for the preparation of storiesand illustrations for books and theses.

The University should look forward and aim fora more inclusive society. For this process to effect thestudents themselves need to show their hidden talentsand show society that we are willing to overcomechallenges in this millennium.

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It could create a sequential Art Centre ofExcellence? That's question. There is a need now fortheir creation, these questions are difficult to answer,but if you look at most of the world's richest countries,the US and Japan are the largest producers of stories intoday's comics. The comics that are produced in thosecountries help to spread the culture and the interests ofeach country. I see that there is an incentive for thesecountries to maintain a full disclosure of your comicsand your licensed products, and cartoons.The comic books are cultural manifestations of thesecountries and certainly more influence the younger agegroup. It is no coincidence that these stories arereinforced cultural values of these two companies andother stereotypes, for example, the woman portrayed inthe comics, as in the book of Selma teacher "Woman tothe Square.":"They are many, but are like copies of one original, one-note samba.Change the names, the clothes, the sets,but deep down, or rather inside their gestures, mannersand speech or silences, faced with re-designedcharacters based on those existing in children'sliterature, mythology, in tales Finally, in the narrativesdescribing women as a shadow of some male hero." (OLIVEIRA, 2007)

When reading the book of Selma Oliveira, wecan see that the stereotypes are a point to bequestioned on the values that are conveyed in thecomics: "Eva, one that was not created for himself, butfor the company of Adam. Mary, mother and virgin

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sanctified. Aphrodite, goddess of futile beauty andlove. The Little Mermaid, who gave up his kingdom bythe devoted love of a mortal. Sleeping Beauty, whoseliberation depended on a prince's kiss. Stories abound,but all seem to end under male guardianship"(OLIVEIRA, 2007)

Innovative comics could be created avoidingexplore stereotypes, and change a little bit of focusmaking comics with short importance of issues forsociety in general and make the comic a more coherenttool for our day.

It is necessary to pass positive messages toyouth not only explore the comic side of comics, butpropose innovative ideas through this language. Wecould make comics emphasizing the importance ofBrazilian culture to the world. We could do talkingstories about noble themes.

Comic strips are a very efficient means ofspreading ideas and there are a very large amount ofstyles and artists in various countries, but many of thesestories are not known here in Brazil. Could there be agreater exchange between creators from differentcountries that produce comics and that are unknown tothe Brazilian public. If there were more dialoguebetween comic artists from different countries, therecould be a greater access to these works and increaseddistribution worldwide.

Therefore we will have more respect for societyif she used the comic to talk about the importance of

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research that are developed at the University, this allbased on this quote from Will Eisner."In the arena of visual instruction - or application ofsequential art to teaching something specific - thelimitations that plague the comics purely forentertainment are less extenuating There are two formsof instruction comics, the comics' technicians." And"conditioners attitudes." (Eisner 1977).

There are purely technical comics, in which theprocedure to be learned is shown the reader's point ofview. They give instructions on execution of taskstypically associated with mounting and equipmentconcert and are much more effective than theinstruction manuals or instructional books that have onlytext.

"The performance of these tasks is itselfsequential nature, and the success of this art form as ateaching tool is the fact that the reader can easilyestablish a relationship with demonstratedexperience. For example, best way to expose aprocedure is to do it from the reader's perspective.Thelayout of the comic, the position of explanatory text onthe page - everything is calculated to engage the reader"(EISNER, 1977).

The impact of cartoon and comics is moreinfluential than one may think, there are a number offacts that lead people to identify with theselanguages. For example, "The Simpsons" is a cartoonthat illustrates this phenomenon in sequential art thereare many strips, cartoons and cartoons that arecontemporary cultural expressions and absorbed much

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of what we live today. "The Simpsons", despite being acartoon was created by a cartoonist and shows ananalogy with the comics.

Figure 1

Figure 2

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"The Simpsons comes of age rocked by aseries of paradoxes. Built in 1987 in a format associatedto children with pre teen Bart as the first protagonist, theseries was instrumental in the recognition of the cartoonas an adult entertainment, to take Homer patriarch tothe center of the spotlight after a couple of years on theair. So, inspired a trend animations, series and filmsabout dysfunctional families. Designed by cartoonistMatt Groening with a libertarian spirit, The Simpsonswas a major contributor to the construction the Foxtelevision empire, the most conservative of the NorthAmerican networks. Starring Homer Simpson, an anti-intellectual, was studied by philosophers, religious,psychologists and scientists.

Figure 3

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Produced within the commercial television andmerchandising logic, it has become one of the greatestartistic achievements of the past 20 years. That's right:the answer to the title of this article - The Simpsons isart? - It is a resounding "yes." The most commoncompliment to the series is that it captures perfectly theZeitgeist, the spirit of our time. And you can not denythis fact: to create a starry design for a guy consumerist,apolitical, addicted to TV, and satisfied with ignorance,Groening made an accurate picture not only of theaverage American, but a certain global standard at theturn Millennium - it was not for nothing that thepresenter William Bonner defined the common viewer ofthe National Journal as a Homer Simpson. (BRAVO)

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All of this is fact. But then the talent Groening could bereduced to the successful caricature. The Simpsons isan art form because it goes beyond, and creates auniverse with particular rules based on an exaggerationof the real world, but created with such complexity andconsistency that ends up influencing decisively in thereality in which it inspires. Author of The Gospel According to the Simpsons,the journalist and American writer Mark Pinskycompares, in an interview with Bravo !, the work ofGroening to the Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch(1450-1516) - portraying the sins and religious fearsMedieval man in fantastic and diabolicalcompositions. Today, when we think of the Middle Ages,it is common remember the Bosch vision (thatanticipates surrealism in some moments) as a revealingrecord of that period. In the future, possibly they willlook at the cartoon Groening as a reliable translation ofour time. In other words, The Simpsons is a product oftoday's world, but the world today is also a product ofthe Simpsons.One of the most anticipated cultural products of the lastdecades, The Simpsons - The Movie is a good exampleof the method Groening and his team: they take atopical pressing issue (environmental issues) and giveyou a deranged fictional treatment (Homer accidentallypollutes the river of Springfield with toxic waste from theplant where he works, losing his job, leading to theevacuation of the city and putting the entire planet atrisk); but as the drawing satire usually need, the result

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leads to relevant reflections on reality. It would beabsurd if a survey revealed that people betterunderstand the nuclear danger with the Simpsons thanthe Chernobyl accident. "

This cartoon appears to be in fact a work of artthat depicts our age as some painters of the MiddleAges portrayed his time in his paintings.

But some people can not understand the spiritof our time captured in comic books and cartoons. Whycan not we use this means of expression at theuniversity and in Education? There could be more researchers and designers ofcomic books in universities. For this to create a studyarea for Sequential Art which will be the teaching,research and production will be required.Will Eisnerhimself ministered this discipline at the University ofNew York.Comic strips could be popularized in academia shouldrethink the role of sequential art in the universalizationof knowledge as propagator of new ideas coming inresearch settings. The use of images mixed with text isnot new as Wil Eisner says this quote:

"The comics deal with two important communicationdevices, words and images. Certainly it is an arbitraryseparation but that seems valid, since the modern worldof communications such devices are treatedseparately.In fact, they stem from the same origin, andthe skillful use of words and images are the expressivepotential of the vehicle. This special blend of two distinct

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forms is not new. They were made experiments with itsjuxtaposition from the earliest times. The inclusion ofinscriptions, employed as statements of the peopleportrayed in medieval paintings, was abandoned,generally after the sixteenth century. Since then, theefforts of artists to express statements that were beyondthe decor or the portraits of production were limited tofacial expressions, postures and symbolic setting. Theuse of inscriptions reappeared in pamphlets and popularpublications in the eighteenth century. So the artistswho dealt with the art of storytelling, intended for massaudience, sought to create a Gestalt, a cohesivelanguage to serve as a vehicle for expression of acomplex of thoughts, sounds, actions and ideas of aprovision in sequence, separated by staff. Thisexpanded the possibilities of simple image. In theprocess, he developed a modern art form we call comicbooks (comics), and what the French call bandedessine. "(EISNER, 1977.)

On the Internet we found several interesting sites thatteach how to create comics. They are very impressivetechniques that comic artists use to develop both thescript as the sequences of each frame.

The comics are very dynamic and have changed a lotsince its inception. They have incorporated manyelements from other related areas such as: cinema,literature, and science fiction etc.

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The university needs to have a fresh look on the subjectof comics. Today this issue is being increasinglycommon so there is possibility to take another stepforward in the future, because universities areincreasingly interested developing technology to makecomics. So it would be accurate to the creation of acomic university here in DF forming sequential artprofessionals sometimes lack. When the university orpublishing need these professionals there is a strongorganization around the comic book productions toovercome the difficulties that the labor market. The mostcommon comment from related fields on theprofessionalization of the comic book is that "comics donot give money." There is some truth to that statementbecause we live in a society where money runs severalareas and everything revolves around theacquisition. Culture is always put into the background,or even last plan, but there is still a hope of creating thecourse of sequential art in the Department of Visual Artsat the University of Brasilia-UNB.

Proposal for Creating aWorkshop in Sequential Art at

the University

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Many people do not believe in a University ofSequential Art because these same people would notbe interested in its creation because the comic bookartist profession does not give status or recognition bythe population. Even the idea of a comic book workshopwas created with the purpose of promoting anexperiment to try to put theory into practice becausesometimes talk too much and act little, so we decided tosee if this project is even feasible, even if not officially inUniversity for now this is the first step towards therealization of this dream, and this project is just a firststep.

We know the difficulties at the beginning and also thesubject of our lack of experience is really a challenge,few people believe in the ability of people to overcomethe problems that are posed by life know it'scomplicated the project off the ground, but I hopeeverything it will work.

The idea of the comic book workshop of creation wascreated on that date 05/10/2007 where I and some finearts freshmen a few more students from other courses,decide to make fanzines in empty rooms that had noschool to find a specific location. Some students foundthe ingenious idea, but the first day of class no oneshowed up, but I think this happened because of theholiday weekend. The project at the University ofcomics was prepared in the PI discipline

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"interdisciplinary project". The project name developedis called "University of comics" whose goal is to be asocial inclusion project and a culture space for thecommunity. The University of -UQ comic transformthe Federal District in a large arts development polewhy this university courses exist in Sequential Art,Animation, Film production, illustration books,electronics Art, Design courses, Publisher of booksamong others.There will also be a library with updated books onart, will have a gibiteca and a video library wherethey will be stored all the jobs that will be producedby UQ. Purpose of the University is the appreciationof the artists of the Federal District that will be anevent that will take place a large auditorium whereother artists who are not of Brasilia will be invited asspeakers.

The Federal District and the surrounding areahas great talent in sequential art area, however, donot have financial support and do not have to publishtheir stories because publishers do not see financialreturns and therefore amateur comics designershave a chance to expose their work to a wideraudience and has the interest to know new jobs.

Seeing the difficulty of these artists UQ willprovide the stories in their comic books are publishedfor free, but in return they will leave a few copies ingibiteca of UQ which can be read by readers andresearchers.

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The gibiteca of UQ will be a space open tothe public who can read the comics produced by theDF artists and surroundings, and these artists willmay also be associated with UQ for exhibiting theirworks. The University of Comics will offer courses forthose interested in learning techniques of makingcomic books. The curriculum will be no disciplines toform designers, writers, art finalists etc.

We will be great researchers of this subject,because we will train every day to perfect our art andnot easily give up before the daily tribulations. Anymaterials that find such as: books, articles, sites ,magazines, etc. on the theme comics will be archivedfor reference.Already I started doing this little librarybecause it takes research materials.

From now on I will take more seriously theresearch to develop the University of Comicsproject. In my assessment, perhaps I not had asatisfactory result so far for lack of commitment anddedication know I should not write this in themonograph, but I will be true to myself, and foundthat when we do not work seriously on a survey itends up not getting good.

I need to further explore my ideas and write withmore desire will have no more fear of makingmistakes, going forward I have to lose my phobiasand complexes, will walk and learn from thesefailures and successes and failures, because that'show you become more experienced . I was always

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afraid of running any enterprise to place me in animaginary comfort zone, but from now on I amconvinced that such a place of peace does notexist. Life is a matter of struggle and survival of thefittest, so I decided to better improve my project andtherefore this monograph.

Any idea you have will be put on papermercilessly, as I said sometimes I'm afraid of makingmistakes that's my biggest dilemma when we haveeverything to make a monograph getting better justby accommodating us. The success of the comicbook workshop is a good sign if all goes well, will bea major victory for execution of this project, if anyonehelp me I will not be desolate, but try to improve theproject.

If it depends on me will be all right, so I willwrite down everything that happens going forward, ifpossible will film and record the comics workshopclasses to make them more profitable andincreasingly comic books will be produced bystudents.

Overcome all that happens we can not rewinda moment so decisive in the Department of Arts, IDA,so prepare lessons thoroughly'll note all the lessonplans as I learned the discipline of SupervisedInternship.

From now I feel that everything will workout'm more consistent ideas than at the beginningwhen I started writing this monograph. I spent sometime without writing anything lost valuable time and

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so I can not make that same mistake, my counselor,teacher Cristina Barrenechea, to say I'm a studentsurprising why some people think I do not doanything and do not believe in my ability to performwork. Fortunately I know that my character toovercome challenges and let other people gapingwith my ability and willpower to go out winning in theend, I say this with facts, I was the first student to dothe monograph in my class and not only that ourcourse evening art made the best performance of allUNB.

We have many talents that unless we developthem ended up not taking the victory in the decisivemoments, I completed thirty years on 24/10/2007 Ihave three decades of struggles and challenges andI can say for all who want to know what was always athe best students always distinguished myself in thestudies managed to win when many did not believeme.My project "University of Comics" will work out why itwill be just another challenge will be overcome witheffort and dedication, I have watched a comicworkshop at the Catholic University of Brasilia-UCB,do not remember the teacher's name now but I kept aphrase that she said is so. "Brazilians can be thebest at what they do not only in football are the best,the Brazilian will make of comics what they did withthe football."

This encouraged me to write this monographon comics did not choose this theme only find it

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interesting but because I believe in the potential ofBrazil and Brazilians to make a sport in a show andfor sure we will make the Brazilian comics true worksarts, after all it's no wonder they say that God isBrazilian.

The Brazilian culture is very rich and diverseand poorly publicized abroad for which only show thenegative side of Brazil, we know that there are manyproblems in this great country, but what is thecountry that has no problems? The comics shouldshow the Brazilian culture, which was shownspontaneously, as in Japanese manga. Because onlyspeak of poverty and violence, it is that in Brazilthere is only poverty and violence?

We could talk about important facts for thecountry as the beginning of colonization thediscovery of Brazil, the major events that marked thehistory of Brazil. We could talk about the culture ofthe Indians, Africans, immigrants, there arenumerous topics unexplored. For example, there is atendency to make cartoons of politicians in Brazil isalmost a tradition, but why can not we write aboutmore positive things about what went right there.

The culture of doing comics can not besummarized as the one critical issue, we need toportray the potential of a people, of a continentalcountry, our cultural force can not be missed but wewill be hitting a button only.

I know it will be hard to write comic bookswith themes that Brazil is a winning country why

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some people despise our ability to be a great countryin the world would rather believe that we are inferiorin our ability to execute large cultural achievements.

The dynamism of the Brazilian people isspectacular because although we live harsh financialcrises and do not have a good education system,hospital, public transport, etc., we still have the hopeof better days and we are very optimistic even wheneverything goes wrong for us as they say the popularsayings: "up and shakes the dust"; "Ball forward" ofmany, this is characteristic of the Brazilian peoplethat should be explored in the comics, not onlyfailures and our problems with politicians. It seemsthat some people are accommodating and believingthat Brazil is like that and the poor quality of ourpolicy is normal, and that we will never change ourdestiny.

Let's change that mentality or that start in thecomics, we educate our youth that we are a winningcountry and we need not emigrate from Brazil abroadto be successful out there as many Brazilian talentsdo, starting with designers comic that even changedtheir names from Brazil to be accepted by foreigncountries that discriminate Brazilian immigrants justexploring your artwork and then selling them to Brazilas if we were a country that does not know to valuetheir own children, the children this nation. BecauseBrazil only values its artists after they are successfulabroad?

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We should stop this kind of attitude that onlyharms our image, I think even this behavior could bestudied in our culture; the depreciation of its citizenswho are always placed as deeming second categoryof artists as "good" only those who have studiedabroad and who somehow managed to succeedoutside their country of origin.

In the Federal District do not have a publicuniversity of comics, some people might say thatthere is no such need because there are other moreurgent priorities such as reform schools, invest inhealth or safety etc, but this kind of thinking is toosimplistic and treats question with very little case. Ofcourse we must invest in basic needs of society nodoubt, but this is just another excuse to leave thingsas they are, that is, we get both, or without both, wedo not have health or education, or security andmuch less we will have a university only tocomics. Let's leave it the way it is, according to thesepragmatic people and they do not want to invest incultural production. We can not be mixing things up,every segment of society needs to be valued, can notthink demagoguery.

The construction of Brasilia in Brazilrepresented a symbol that Brazilians are able tobuildings and creations, which was once a desertand where was away from it all with just this spirit ofthe Brazilian people can build a framework forcreating new stories comic representing a new storyfor Brazil in this millennium.

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Let's dream a little more and forget what ailsus and focus more on what we are best, for example,our famous "creativity" which now turned into apositive difference to the nations, because only themost creative and inventive managed to spectacularresults in this new world of technology andglobalization.

We will be good creators of comics becausewe've always been good at being creative and makea good comic script you must have thesequalities. That the Brazilian people has mainly tospare the most humble people who can not afford topay a private school.

I want everyone to know that if we onlyquality education only for those who have thefinancial means to have access to these schools,Brazil will always be an unequal nation and alwayswill be an underdeveloped country forever. So I wantto use the University of Comics to improve the levelof education of the Federal District and surroundingareas and if all goes well, if there is even animprovement in the quality of education throughsocial inclusion, the project will expand to otherregions Brazilian. But first let's make the DF on anisland of excellence where everything will be of highquality such as education, transport and sanitation.

The University of comics and his team ofqualified professionals will do stories about what theDF's problems today, but it will have the technicalsupport of experts in each area for the stories tell the

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facts truthfully, therefore readers of these storiescomics that were once lay various issues will becomeincreasingly conscious with their citizenship.

I say this because of the ease of which thecomic facilitate learning as this excerpt in English ofthe book "Dream Japan": "For translator, or an interpreter, or anynonnative speaker who aspires to true fluency inspoken japanese, reading manga is one of the bestways to keep up with the many changes que areconstantly occurring in the Japanese language. Thelanguage in manga is alive and closer to the "street"than one finds in other printed media and it is asource of many new expressions. Because of Theirvisual nature, Manga Also can be an excellentlanguage learning resource for beginning students ofJapanese. In what is surely one of the mostinteresting experiments in American publishing inrecent years, in 1990 Vaughan Simmons, anAmerican in Atlanta, Georgia, redbourn this idea toits logical conclusion and Mangajin Began publishing,the magazine que uses manga with explanations toIngls teach Japanese language and culture; Whenreaders take of struggling with unfamiliar kanjicharacters, They can relax and enjoy the Inglsexplanations or the pictures. "

One might think the following perspective: ifthe Japanese sleeves made tremendous success inpop culture and many readers became interested in

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aspects of Eastern culture because this form ofreading, perhaps Brazil could use not only the mangastyle but different comic styles to portray their cultureas well. We see Brazil as a power in the creation ofcomics along with Japan and the United States andEurope.

Many designers of comic books have trouble findingspace in the market because of competition fromforeign comics, which in a way is a massacrebecause Brazilian publishers only publish what isprofitable and do not believe in the national comicbook potential.

To go to a newsstand magazines now only meetforeign securities as one of the few magazines innational comics that managed to remain in themarket was the class of Monica Mauricio de Souza,also have Ziraldo on a smaller scale.

I see this with great pride, although I congratulate theMauricio de Souza by being able to maintain thismarket and be an example of success, but noted thatthe situation of the national comic is very excludedand not taken seriously within the university while atraining camp.

We can not settle for this situation, because Braziliancomics are in total abandonment by the governmentand many people despise this great means of

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communication and being very badly used? I writethis monograph why I believe that there will be signsof improvement for this segment, I'm just starting toresearch the subject but it's good we think positivelyfor the future.

The comics will contribute a lot to the neweducational system that will arise and introduction ofdistance education over the Internet will be a veryhigh demand for these professionals of the drawingarea.

So we will have to prepare these people to becomethese professionals in the future to start with thissmall comic workshops to gain experience inproducing comics with this also read several booksthat talk about it.

Gradually creating small comic books, but constantlyeven though there are well made earlier by the goalnow is not be the best but we have a good base andextensive experience.

For now I try to read some sites that talk about thissubject and am getting some books and handouts aswell as writing and drawing some simple stories thatnothing resemble a professional job, but as thesaying goes "Better than drip dry." It will be better wecreate our simple stories and amateur than standing

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still without action only criticizing and doing nothingto change that.

If each of help in any way we could contributeto the strengthening of the national Gibi, becausehistorically had some comic value:

"As the story in North American comics ismarked by the appearance of yellow boy in aSunday supplement in 1895 in Brazil, accordingMoacy Cirne (1990, p.16), the first comic waspublished in 1869 in the journal Vida Fluminense. The Adventures of Nho Quim told in episodes,the misadventures of a simple man from thecountryside. Although there were stories ofpublications such as Nho Quim, politicalcartoons and caricatures, the year 1905 iswithout doubt the most emblematic because itwas on October 11 that the publisher releasedthe Mallet The Tico-Tico magazine, firstpublished devised specifically for children . TheTico-Tico was a magazine in color and wasbased in the French magazine La semaine deSuzette, which was published in Brazil under thename Felismina. The magazine featured twosections entitled "Grandpa Lessons" and"Correspondence of Dr. Know Everything" andthe stories of Chiquinho. Considered a typicalBrazilian character, Chiquinho was actually aBuster Brown version. The story was adapted forthe Brazilian reality through national authorsarguments that, at one point introduced a

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character that never existed in the Americanoriginal: Black Benjamin. Not to mention theparticipation of Mutt and Jeff as supportingcharacters in some stories Chiquinho or Zmonkey, created by Alfredo Stomi in 1908. Allsuch adjustments were signed by Brazilianauthors, which, according to lvaro de Moya(1993, p. 35) led Chiquinho to be erroneouslyregarded as a typical domestic comic for manyyears. The Tico-Tico also published, with noadaptation, stories like The Curious Mouse(Mickey Mouse), Felix the Cat, Chiquita(Becassine) and other hqs.Embora Chiquinhowas an adapted success, the magazinelaunched many genuinely Brazilian characters:Tinoco, the hunter of wild beasts; Ball; ChicoMuque and Scrape Baron and the famous Reco-Reco, sweepstakes and Olive. In 1934, itlaunched the Youth Supplement of thenewspaper The Nation, which is considered bytheorists the triggering of comics in Brazil. Tocompete with the Supplement, Roberto Marinho,O Globo School in 1937, and the comic bookmagazine in 1939, which became synonymouswith comic books. Other magazines werepublished.

Comic workshops

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The revival of the production of comics at first seemedan easy task, but it is not. A phenomenal effort for thisto happen would be needed, starting with the lack ofincentives from the government and comic artiststhemselves do not know how many of them work as ateam and think only publish a few stories to make themknown in their circles of friends. But working this way donot aim to produce comic books periodically and delayof a comic book production process. You have to find away to overcome this slowness by some comic artistswho, acting without enthusiasm in the production ofcomics end up not contribute to the comic book industrymomentum in Mexico City.

There is also some competition between the authorsof fanzine that ends up being detrimental to the revivalplan of comic book creation culture, but the public eventhough reduced interest have to know the localproduction of stories in the Federal District. The projectitself can count on the support of the university andsome research agencies, the space may be assignedby the government or those interested in the project.

However much fight the teaching of project execution asdo stories in comics more problems arise and need tobe solved. In the beginning should be made somechanges and have a greater commitment to production,but what matters now is the acceleration of productionof HQ and the project creators put their hands dirty to

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serve as an example for future contributors to thisproject HQ production.

CONCLUSION

The DF culture needs this space to provideopportunities for young people who are interested in thesequential art. You have to deploy as soon as possiblean educational alternative to the new generations thatarise, there is a great criticism of the comic saying theyalienan young people, but the production of storiesthemselves can serve as a mirror to themselves.

The comic book industry strongly support thesenew talents will emerge from these workshops and thisrequires a serious dedication while some students ofarts, communication, and industrial design that are gooddesigners in comic books, but who do not teach inworkshops comic technique of sequential art. Manyyoung people are lost in drugs and engage in crime, wehave to provide the comic workshops urgently to rescuethe youth of this world of marginality, but for that tohappen you need a real unity among comic artists whoare very disunited and that disunity favors that youngpeople play to wrong paths. The young do not want tobe consumers of comics, but also want to produce theirown stories.

It is very sad to see how this world here in Mexico City,people think that being successful is to pass at a public

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university and pass an open competition, because welive in a materialistic and individualistic world. Manystudents do not want to offer anything in return for thecompany that financed his studies in these publicuniversities. There is a very strong ingratitude amongcollege. Will we rescue our youth today are noprospects? It is necessary for us to college, we engagefor a better world and a more just society.

The idea of creating a comic shop may seem likesomething more surreal and utopian in fact, what thiscapitalist system provides only an alienating massculture, despite the comic arise of mass culture it can bethe antidote to this system oppressor, if this projecttakes place right in the future, young people will benefitand feel proud by producing their own comic books.

The towns on the outskirts of Brasilia will be become afertile granary of new authors of comic books, theuniversity has to go forward in these cities forgotten bythe government, we will be great comic artists, the DFwill boast of its production HQ, although today we havealmost no manufacturing, there is a great interest ofuniversity students in learning these techniques ofsequential art.

The Federal District may be known on the internationalscene as new option of comics and will have captivatedmany admirers this sequential art developed in Brasiliatotally opposed to the capitalist comics that are out

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there on the newsstands, already almost forgotten byreaders who They are looking for new stories. The DF isthe ideal setting for these new productions.

The Sequential Art can be used at all levels ofeducation, including higher education. One possibleapplication might be to develop comics to perform in amore accessible language skills that are in scientificarticles and theses defended to make them moreunderstandable to the lay public. I would like to createcomics with academic subjects University, aiming toarouse the curiosity of others outside the university, sothey have an easier time understanding how auniversity. Would you like to stories with academicsubjects for children to identify with the university todayand the knowledge circulating in it, not just with merescience fiction that is the subject more present in thecomics.

The university is seen as inaccessible to theyouth of the society only that it does not proposeinnovation in its way of disseminating theirknowledge. With the new media, we know thatnewspapers and magazines are used to exposeacademic papers, but why can not we use comics forthat task?

I do not know if anyone has had this idea, but Isuggest that this increased attention to becomeacademic theses in comics, because with the use of thedrawings associated with the text certainly can improveand understanding of numerous theses.

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The university can assist with the talent ofyoung comic artists that may arise among his students,just missing an incentive for this to happen. Forexample, the department of Visual Arts could have agibiteca with comics writers consecrated for reference.

The development of this project can be apioneering work to encourage the development of comicstories. Everything is possible for realization of thatdream, to make the University of Brasilia a comic bookproduction center.

I would greatly appreciate all admirers of the artof creating comics so that one day we can have our ownUniversity of Comics. Sequential Art discipline is only asmall step if we are happy to just have a discipline weare not aiming properly for our cause which is theconstruction of a large University Center Storiesproduction comics, this was my initial motivation to dothis in the project.

Bibliography

EISNER, Will, Comics and Sequential Art, 2ndEdition, So Paulo: Martins Fontes, 1995.

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CIRNE, Moacy, Bum! The Creative ExplosionComics, 5th edition, Petropolis: Voices Publisher 1977.

OLIVEIRA, Selma Regina Nunes, Women Squared:female representation in American comics:continuities and resonances (1895-1990) , Brasilia:Editora Universidade de Braslia, 2007.

Internet sources

http://www.eca.usp.br/agaque/agaque/ano2/numero2/artigosn2_1v2.htm

Day: 31/10/2007 Time: 16:23

http://www.comciencia.br/reportagens/2004/10/13.shtml

Day: 31/10/07 Time: 16:36

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_DesenhadaDay: 31/10/07 Time: 16:38

http://www.fanboy.com.br/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=156

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