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Raina Telgemeier talks about her collaboration with Scott McCloud for next year's The Cartoonist Club

Now a book to help those younger enthusiasts make comics.

Cover for The Cartoonist Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud. — Image credit: Scholastic

Features by Gary Catig, Contributing writer

Published on Wed Jul 03 2024

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The rise of children's graphic novels has also sparked an interest in how to make comics from younger enthusiasts. Unfortunately, there are no books in the market that can instruct kids on how, but there may soon be an answer on the horizon. The Cartoonist Club is a project from comic superstars Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud.

This year’s ALA Annual Conference was the first time Telgemeier publicly spoke about the upcoming title. She was always wanting a book like The Cartoonist Club since her career began, but it did not exist. Well, then she would make it herself.

When she was still learning about the medium, she read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics and Making Comics, but the material there is above a middle-grade level. But she has extensive experience working with that age group, so Telgemeier reached out to McCloud for a collaboration. “This is sort of taking everything he is good at and everything I’m good at, and mashing our weird brains together.”

The result is the story of four middle school kids who have interest in comics through their own unique ways. They form a club under the mentorship of their school librarian so they can pursue their passion. Instead of teaching the reader with step by step directions, the learning is done in a way that they can figure it out themselves.

The Cartoonist Club releases April 1, 2025.

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here's a guide to how (and where) to read comics online. If you're looking for the best comics in recent memory, check out the Eisner Awards winners and the Harvey Awards nominees. And if you like free comics, here's everything we know about Free Comic Book Day 2027.