Teaching comics in class: Between mainstream and the alternative

Since the turn of the millennium Swedish mainstream comics have moved from traditional towards the alternative, with best-selling artists working with autobiographical, political and feminist comics. A part of this development is credited to Serieskolan i Malmö/The Comics Art School in Malmoe, which was founded in 1999. The idea of educating comic artists initially met resistance within the field, and leading experts and artists proclaimed their distrust in the concept of comics education. However, this notion is, as this article explains, false. The majority of successful comic artists have undergone some kind of artistic training before entering the field, either by attending art or design schools, through specially designed courses within the studio system, or by studying at comic educational institutes, such as the SVA – The School of Visual Arts – or The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. The experience of teaching comics in Sweden during the last fifteen years shows that comic schools educating comic artists not only educate their students in the craft of making comics but also function as a platform for collaboration. By introducing courses on comics at university level in Malmoe (often called ‘the city of comics’), the mix of theory and practice creates opportunities for scholars, artists and practitioners to gain new knowledge.