Comics and Graphic Novels BA (Hons)

Teesside University

Available for September or January intakes.

To apply for January 2024 intake, amend the cycle filter to 2023-2024, select the option for January and remember to use point of entry 1. If you experience any issues adding your course choice, please contact UCAS Customer Services on 0371 468 0 468.

Course overview: Through this degree, we aim to produce a new breed of storytellers, each with their own individual, formidable voice. The course covers and caters to all styles of cartooning, from manga to journalism, adventure to Amerimanga, superhero to memoir. 'Words and pictures are yin and yang. Married, they produce a progeny more interesting than either parent.' Dr Seuss. Creating comics is more than a job - it's a vocation. We live in a golden age for the comic book, in which Far Eastern manga is now part of the popular culture of the West. We have seen a graphic novel awarded the Pulitzer Prize, 50c funny books of the 1960s turned into iconic, billion dollar franchises and the internet change the way we make and read comics forever. The combination of words and pictures can produce something more powerful, more exciting and more personal than either alone. The mastery of communication through words and pictures is at the heart of this course. We aim to produce a new breed of storytellers, each with their own individual, formidable voice. You emerge as experts at communicating through cartooning, understanding how the medium works from the technical aspects of perspective, composition and figure drawing to the founding theories of modern literature. Comics are also entering into more mainstream areas of advertising, marketing and public relations - anywhere where a message needs to be communicated in as unforgettable and universal a manner as possible.

Top reasons to study this course

1. Creative expertise: we're proud to be recognised as an Apple Distinguished School for 2021-2024 for our pioneering commitment to digital teaching and learning, and we're Europe's first Adobe Creative Campus.
2. Industry-standard facilities: develop your own personal cartooning style using the latest technology including iMacs and Wacom digital drawing tablets.
3. Professional membership: we’re a member of the Association of Illustrators, giving you access to interactive talks, guidance on contracts and licensing, and your own discounted membership, equipping you with the tools to forge a successful career in industry or as a freelancer.
4. Industry experience: work on live briefs for a variety of organisations such as Streetwise Opera and the NHS, helping you build your portfolio of work.
5. Get published: have your work published in Viz comics including editing and typesetting the work of other writers. After the course: Expected career routes include self publishing, graphic novel publishing, advertising, marketing, public relations, journalism, brand management, publishing and graphic design.