DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Aiea Intermediate School art students displayed their work during a recent class session. Counterclockwise from the front, they are Jayde Tandaguen, Annie Orial, Kealii Kalua, teacher Roy Chang, John Henry, Adam Archambeau, David Canare and Jeffrey James.

Cartoonists

Young artists from Aiea Intermediate
are serious about making fun

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By Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.com

A while ago, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin began "Strip Show" in the Sunday Mauka-Makai magazine, providing space for local cartoonists to display their work. We get something different every week. The primary reason was to encourage cartooning as another method of local storytelling.

One of our regulars, art teacher Roy Chang of Aiea Intermediate, challenged the kids in his classes to submit pieces. We got several dozen, and of these, we chose the five shown:

>> Jeffrey James' "Stewart's Life," about a common rite of adolescent passage.

'STEWART'S LIFE' / JEFFREY JAMES

>> Annie Orial and Kealii Kalua's "The Poet Girl," about high-falutin' miscommunication.

'THE POET GIRL' / ANNIE ORIAL AND KEALII KALUA

>> Adam Archambeau's "Bad Kitty," in which natural instinct triumphs over good intentions.

'BAD KITTY' / ADAM ARCHAMBEAU

>> John Henry's "Love," a parable of misdirected hubris.

'LOVE' / JOHN HENRY

>> Jayde Tandaguen's "Dreams," our favorite, which slides in and out through levels of perception.

'DREAMS' / JAYDE TANDAGUEN

We colored the strips (and helped a little with some lettering), but they're presented here pretty much as the kids drew them. There were many other interesting strips, as well.

OK, they aren't polished. They do, however, show innate storytelling ability, as well as give a glimpse into what's on the minds of 12- and 13-year-olds today: fear of embarrassment, a curiosity about the world, the desire to be both an individual and also to fit in comfortably with peers.

"The kids tended to want to do strips that were similar to other things they'd seen, but the assignment was to write about their own experiences or thoughts," Chang said. "Don't make jokes, make stories. The strip was to be an extension of themselves, and that made them nervous.

"But once they got started, they really got into seeing what the other kids were saying. It clicked and they really went for it. They invested themselves."

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Teacher Roy Chang helped students, from left, Adam Archambeau, Kealii Kalua and Annie Orial with their cartoons during a recent art class at Aiea Intermediate.

Chang prepped the kids by going over some of the classic newspaper strips, such as "Calvin and Hobbes." He was surprised at first that most of the kids had no concept of cartooning as a historical art form.

"'Calvin and Hobbes' was ancient history to them," Chang said. "They'd never seen it before -- and they were delighted by it.

"They developed an appreciation for the craft and devotion that goes into making a comic strip. It was far more work than they thought."

And the hardest part ...?

"Oh, lettering," he said. "They really sweated over lettering, doing and redoing it, and sometimes it was just not legible. Ironically, they're taking calligraphy now, and their lettering is getting pretty good!"

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