Hidden in the middle of White River Junction, far from New York City, and even further from Gotham or Metropolis, the world of comic books has sprung a remarkable new storyline.
The Center for Cartoon Studies, a two-year graduate school of sorts for the study of print cartoons -- the first of its kind -- will open its doors to a class of 20 students in the fall.
Co-founders James Sturm and Michelle Ollie are committed to the idea that cartoons involve more than just drawing pictures on paper, a dedication that can be seen on the walls of the old Colodny building in which the school is housed.
Though the paint-stained construction site motif may not look like a classroom to the untrained or perhaps unimaginative eye, Strum and Ollie have actually transformed the former department store by painting the walls instead of using wallpaper and sawing boards instead of drawing on them.
"The building is done; what are you talking about?" Sturm joked. "But you should have seen it when we started."
When the school opens, Sturm said he plans to teach students a holistic approach to cartooning that de-emphasizes trade aspects and focuses instead on the artistic and expressive aspects of cartoons. He also acknowledges the practical value of learning the wide skill set involved in cartooning.
"With a whole page of comics, not only are you dealing with nine panels -- if you have nine panels -- but they all have to work together in harmony, and how the type is going to work, and you're also generating content, not just illustrating someone else's text," Sturm said. "So doing cartooning is much more difficult then a lot of other related jobs, so if you train yourself to be a competent cartoonist, you'll find work, you'll be prepared to do a lot of different things out there."
Courses at the Center for Cartoon Studies will include life drawing, writing, desktop publishing, history of graphic narratives and graphic design. They will be taught by approximately seven faculty with the help of a number of visiting artists.
The school has accepted 20 students for enrollment in the fall and hopes to have 40 students by its second year. The first batch consists of students in their early to mid-twenties with a diverse hometowns and backgrounds, including one Dartmouth graduate and some students who dropped out of undergraduate college.
Sturm said he expects the school to feed off the creative energy stimulated by Dartmouth, but also to contribute its own energy, especially to the community of White River Junction, a town that is still rebuilding after the railroad industry fell into decline several decades ago.
"The town is excited to see that we're going to have 20 people and their friends and family coming to visit and shopping at their stores and using their restaurants," Ollie said.
The cartooning industry also supports the school with donations from "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" co-creator Peter Laird. The school's advisory board includes a number of important cartoonists such as Scott McCloud, Art Spiegelman and Dartmouth professor Ana Merino.
Merino is a new professor in the Spanish department who has done significant research in the field of comic book criticism.
Art Spiegelman, celebrated creator of the graphic novels "Maus" and "In the Shadow of No Towers," spoke at Dartmouth this November, an event coordinated by Sturm.
