Robyn Warhol's Graphic Memoir Class Creates Stunning Comics

“Graphic Memoir,” English 5664 in the Spring of 2016, is a course on autobiographies written and drawn by comics artists. All the students (half of them graduate students and half advanced undergrads) had to produce a one-page comic about their lives. The graphic memoir could cover just a few minutes or a whole lifetime or anything in between, and it was supposed to demonstrate what students had learned about form, style, and “grammar” in comics. The following collection includes the work of students who agreed to share their comics online. Professor Robyn Warhol reports that this was her most fun assignment to grade in over 30 years of college teaching. For final projects, some of the students are doing larger-scale graphic memoirs and others are doing research papers using primary materials from OSU’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum and Library.