Saturday was Mini-Comics Day at my local university library. I really enjoy making mini-comics, especially as the limited nature of my artistic talent works very well with the limited nature of the format. At last year's Mini-Comics Day I debuted the first of my very-slowly-ongoing Shakespearean What-Ifs series. I was tempted to continue my work on that series at this year's event, but decided to take a break from Shakespeare and tackle another great Anglo-Saxon classic.
Yes, it's Beowulf time! Before we proceed, I must admit several things:
I never had to read Beowulf in school. (What's up with that, Mrs. Graff?)
I have never seen any of the films based on Beowulf.
I have never read any of the novels or comics based on Beowulf.
I first read Beowulf about two weeks ago, when, on a whim, I picked up Seamus Heaney's translation of it in a local bookshop.
My only previous exposure to Beowulf consists of a couple episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, in which Xena helps Beowulf kill Grendel because Beowulf can't handle it on his own.
So, you must realize that I am in no way well-versed (unintentional pun alert!) in all things Beowulf. Having said that, I think I managed to capture the essence of the epic in the following pages:
If you want to print out and fold your very own Tiny Classics edition of Beowulf, download this pdf, print it out at full scale, and then follow these incomprehensible instructions to fold it into an adorable little mini-comic. To see more of my mini-comics, go here.
To learn more about the extremely fun art of mini-comics, check out these resources. Mini-comics are super-fun to make and distribute. Don't let your perceived lack of artistic talent stop you from giving them a try. If I did that, I would never have started this website in the first place. Stick-figure mini-comics for everyone!