JewCE: A Convention That Teaches Comics
by Frank Martin
One of the hardest things for publishers and creators to do across the board is to get the younger generation interested in their work. Kids are notoriously difficult to impress, especially in today’s world filled with screens and content. Comics are a natural medium for them to gravitate towards, but first they have to get interested in it. One would think that conventions are a great place to expose kids to comics, which is true to some extent. But it’s usually all superficial — involving the characters, not the creation of the medium itself. This is one aspect JewCE excelled at.
Jews are very good at emphasizing young education. This was on full display during the convention. The event took place at the Center for Jewish History to coincide with an exhibit on Judaism, Jews, and comics. A good portion of the exhibit was interactive, encouraging kids to play dress up and take pictures in front of large comic covers like they were the characters. But the experience went beyond fun photography. There was also a whiteboard and other comic creating tools that allowed kids to experiment with creating art and their own stories. Outside of the exhibit, the convention also had a workshop that allowed kids to get a lot more hands on with creating their own stories. The workshop room was filled with kids of all ages working on their own tales while laughing and sharing them with each other.
This kind of hands-on approach is absent from many conventions, especially ones that are much larger. Comics are an interesting medium. When holding up a comic book, readers don’t often realize just how much work goes into its creation. Other conventions don’t put a large emphasis on the creation process, and they definitely don’t do it with the goal of teaching and educating the next generation. Even if kids don’t want to be creators themselves, understanding the process and the tools allows them to grow an invaluable appreciation for the medium. More conventions should learn from JewCE’s example.
