Creator Notes

Hi. we are Lena and Kristina, seniors at Menlo School. Kristina used to read Calvin and Hobbes with her brother when she was younger, and Lena's favorite comics are Archie comics. We have always liked to draw but haven't taken many art classes. We really enjoyed the opportunity to just draw for a few days and experiment with different media and styles. We learned a lot of comic techniques from Ms. Xia's presentations and tried to incorporate them into my comic. We have enjoyed art since we were young and really love drawing and writing -- two interest that come combine perfectly.

Our comic is about a monster, Max, who was born orange in a tribe of grey hunters. He isn't scary like the rest of them and doesn't want to hurt anything so he runs away to the city. In the city people are scared of him so he makes a nest of leaves under a bridge. A cat named Lady finds him and at first tells him to leave but then shows him how to fish. Max overcomes his fear of water and catches a fish, indicating the point where he finds a place and people that will accept him. We were inspired by the character of Max. We found him online and because he wasn't scary like a lot of other monsters, we were inspired to write a story about how he isn't scary. I think the message that readers should take away about finding people that accept you for who you are without having to change is really important. I am especially proud of our depth perspective in this comic, especially of the bridge and city. Additionally I really like how we portrayed Max because he looks very sweet and sad.