Comics Come to Life at Concordia

By Mr. Jordan Williams, MS/HS Librarian

Concordia's middle school buzzed with creativity recently when Canadian-British cartoonist Matt Smith visited for a hands-on comics workshop that had students drawing, laughing, and storytelling all at once. 

Matt is best known for his humorous autobiographical series Smith vs Smith, which draws on his experiences living and working across the world — from Malaysia and Japan to Kuwait and his current home in Glasgow, Scotland. He has taken his comics workshops to schools, conventions, and art galleries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and Concordia's students got to experience that same energy firsthand. 

Every middle school student had the chance to participate. Matt walked students through the fundamentals of comics — panel layout, visual storytelling, and the core elements that give sequential art its structure — making what can feel like a complex craft feel accessible. From there, he led students in warm-up character drawing exercises focusing on expressive characters. His lesson culminated in each student creating their own six-panel comic. For many, it was their first time approaching storytelling through a visual structure, and the results were as varied and imaginative as the students themselves. 

A standout moment was watching Matt draw live, demonstrating his process both with traditional physical materials and digitally using Procreate. Seeing a working cartoonist build a comic from scratch gave students a real behind-the-scenes look at how published work actually comes together, perhaps piquing interest to explore the field and craft themselves.