Comics’ Creators Serious About Their Messages

Draw one oval for the head, another two ovals for the shoulders, a large one for the rib cage, two cylinders and a circle to make an arm or a leg and a square box for the hips. Fill in the empty space and there you have it: a skateboard-toting alien, or a limp dead body, the unfortunate victim of an over-aggressive toucan.

Gabriel Gutierrez, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, can’t stop drawing. He scribbles while he talks, doodles on his homework and etches figures in his spare time.

He’s one of the co-producers of a unique cartoon book created at the Watts Towers Community Center.

For nearly two years, Gabriel and 14 other inner-city children have gathered every Saturday to work with an established comic artist, learning how to ink, draw and script their own stories.

The result is the newly published “Tales From the Kids,” funded by a grant from the city of Los Angeles’ Cultural Affairs Department.

The publication, coordinated by artist David Brown, an art director for a Westside marketing firm, tells real-life and occasionally surreal stories that encourage youths to solve problems peacefully and to stay away from gangs and drugs.

Ten thousand copies of the book are being distributed through the Los Angeles Central Library and in schools and community centers around the city.

There are no superheroes or supervillains in “Tales From the Kids,” just ordinary teachers, parents and teenagers grappling with everyday problems.

The star of 14-year-old Chad Scott’s story, Kaptain Kid, is not that big and not real strong, but he manages to avoid a number of obstacles--gang members, alcohol and other drugs--to get to his destination: the library.

“He’s a representative of kids,” said Chad, who created the character when he was in fifth grade and has drawn several scenarios. Among the challenges are walking away from bullies, something Chad said he and his friends have forced themselves to do.

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“Some kids make some real dumb choices when it comes to some things,” added Adolph Augustus, 12, whose friends call him B.J. His comic book piece warns other youths to wear a helmet when they ride a skateboard.

B.J. came up with the idea for his story the hard way: “I like to skateboard, but sometimes I fall a lot.”

Gabriel’s segment is a psychedelic piece called “The Bad Trip.” In it, a young girl takes a handful of pills and starts seeing visions--oversized flying needles that attack her, evil creatures that chase her--until she finally awakens in a hospital bed, where a nurse tells her that she’s lucky to be alive. In the end, the girl pledges never to take drugs again.

In the drawing class, the children, who are between 8 and 16, comment with the sophistication of veteran artists on one another’s ink work and texture. The participants, who volunteered for the class after responding to a notice from the Watts center, work in pairs or individually, experimenting with different characters.

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Brown is less concerned with training future artists than showing youngsters that there are other options than a life on the streets.

He has always loved reading comics. As a child, he was a fan of the Black Panther, an African prince who roamed the streets of New York stomping bad guys.

Brown got into the comic book business after the Los Angeles riots. In 1994, he created the L.A. Phoenix, who rose from the ashes of the riots’ fires and uses nonlethal weapons to protect citizens and stop the evil Tagger from vandalizing buildings.

He published 10,000 copies and two editions of his comic book, which was funded by the Cultural Affairs Department. The project received money from the department’s Arts Recovery Fund, created to encourage artists to heal the city. A third edition of L.A. Phoenix will be released this summer.

The class has already started designing its next comic book and Brown is looking to acquire corporate sponsorship for his work with the group and to create a weekly comic strip written and drawn by young people. He also wants to get young women involved in what is so far an exclusively male class.

The students, none of whom had any formal art training, appreciate Brown’s mentoring.

“He’s given me encouragement and he’s given me the opportunity to use the right tools,” Gabriel said.

Says Brown: “It’s not about making comic books. It’s about giving these kids opportunities.”