Comic book artist to teach 2 week class here

Graphic artist to teach two-week comic book class this summer

By ALANA PERSSON, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA  — The captivating stories and images of Spiderman, Batman and The Fantastic Four are about to come to life in Laconia this summer, as artist Steve Geiger conducts a two-week summer program beginning on Monday, July 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Laconia Middle School.

Geiger has spent the last 20 years working as a professional artist in the comic book field. During his career as an artist, he has influenced many comic book publications while in his position of managing art director of the Marvel Entertainment Group. Some of his regular publications have included Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk , Bloodshot, Scion, Lorelei and Samuree. On Saturday, July 1, Marvel will release Geiger’s latest Spiderman comic book.

The experience that Geiger has gained while working in the illustration field has inspired him to create his own enterprise, The Evilgeiger Empire, and conduct workshops for interested youth. Typically, Geiger conducts workshops around his hometown of Buffalo, New York; however, he is coming to Laconia thanks to the help of Laconia locals Scott and Beth Vachon.

“This workshop is going to be great, but I don’t think a lot of people know that it is happening,” said Beth Vachon, assistant program director at Project Extra. “I hope that more people take advantage of this incredible opportunity.”

The program will run two weeks and is open to both middle and high school students. High school students will have the workshop on Monday’s and Wednesday’s starting on July 10 and middle school students have workshop time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon starting on July 11.

The first session of the course will allow students to build a character, pick a setting, and create a story idea for their own original comic book. This initial creation will segue into the second session, which will promote more details that go into character development and storyline. By the third session, the story will breakdown in a sequential graphic layout, which incorporates all of the prior developments of character, plot and setting.

During the fourth and final session, the students will individually meet with Geiger to receive feedback and finalize the layout. Once this has been completed, the students will have two weeks to complete their comic books outside of the classroom. Geiger will still be in communication with students during this two week period to provide guidance, support and feedback. At the end of the two weeks, students are to send in their completed comic book to Geiger for publication.

Each student will complete the program with their own set of professional Copic markers and a copy of their own published comic book. The finished book will be graded by a local English teacher and has the potential for classroom credit in the fall, according to Vachon.

The program is $150, which includes the published books and the markers. The workshop has been open to surrounding Lakes Region school districts. Scholarships are available for Laconia students only. To register for this program visit laconiamiddleschool.coursestorm.com. For more information contact Christine Gingerella or Beth Vachon at 524-5710.

Some of Steve Geiger's artwork.

Steve Geiger has been a professional artist in the advertising and comic book fields for more than 20 years. He's been a regular artist for comics like Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk, Bloodshot, Lorelei and Samuree. The Williamsville, New York, artist will conduct a two-week class at Laconia Middle School this summer on how to draw a comic book. (Courtesy photo)