Monday, January 22, 2018

Fighter Pilot

I decided to try my hand at creating a comic book for my grand-kids. My goal is to have 22 pages printed on my 11 by 17 printer  so it folds to a standard 8-1/2 by 11 inch graphic novel.
I want to tell the story of my dad and his adventures during WWII.  I hope to convey the challenges and accomplishments of the greatest generation to my grand-kids by telling stories about their family members. I hope they form a personal connection to history.

I have no idea how long this will take. I have a few pages almost done. This one is the first that seems to be coming together. I'm not much of an artist. So choosing colors and layout is a learning process. I'll probably change this page several more times before I am satisfied with it.


One of the planes my dad flew was the P47 fighter made by Republic Aircraft Co, in Long Island NY. But... his dad worked at Douglass Aircraft company in Ohio. My grandpa was not at all happy about his son flying a competitors plane.
I'm struggling with putting this whole story together and giving it a sense of adventure that will keep grand kids interested.

I suppose my own kids will find the story interesting and help the grand-kids learn a little history.


Below is not a page in the book. Just some of the scratch area in Image Composer that shows how I did the drawings and a couple of dads old 35mm slides that served as guides for my drawings.

If you have done any stories written for children about their ancestry, I'd love to hear about them.