Nobody likes getting called on in class. ESPECIALLY when literally every single other person was raising their hand except you. Yet Mrs. Bridgman is a cruel mistress, so poor Louis has a date with the devil known as "performing in front of peers." He doesn't look like he's doing too hot at it yet, but maybe he'll perform better in next week's update...
Louis's classmate with the dark red hair and red nails (panels 7, 8, and 10) is a cameo of one of the characters from my short historical comic "L'Ordre de la Mouche", about historical ladies, cosmetic moles, and Morse code. You can read it by clicking on the Links section up above and going to my Facebook page. Of course, the character is a lot younger here, and there's also the TINY change that she's no longer a 1940s seafaring woman who's obsessed with makeup and gossip. But hey, that's just minor details, right?
School scenes are weirdly hard for me to draw because I was homeschooled for all of high school and haven't been in a proper classroom for quite a while. There are a lot of other great webcomics out there set in schools - my favorites being Gunnerkrigg Court and Bad Machinery, which are both excellent - but League of Fonts isn't one of them, so this is the only scene we'll have at Alfred Moss Charter!
Haha, I didn't think anyone would pick up on that - especially because I use a limited color palette for League, so most of the things that read as "black" aren't actually pure black. I'm glad you noticed my little visual joke, though!
Thank you so much! I really wanted to draw that sort of angle, and even use a bit of curvilinear perspective to make it feel even more warped, just to convey Louis's feelings. I'm SO glad you picked up on that, and that it resonated with you!! Makes me know I'm doing my job right :)
And yes, I've been a fan of Gunnerkrigg for years and have hung out with its creator at comic conventions before. He even drew Chapel for me once, years ago - it was a huge surprise and sometimes I can't even believe it happened!
Interestingly enough I've never had much of a fear of public speaking, but I did used to be a LOT shier than I am now (now i'm not shy at all). Doing theater is a great thing to break out of that cycle! I've never acted much besides doing improv in middle school, but I have a big respect for anyone involved in theater after I did costume design for a play festival last year.
I was so excited today because I knew you were updating :) I absolutely love the way you draw your anatomy and the facial expressions of the students - those details really do add to the experience. I've gone through Louis's situation quite a lot. I hope he'll come out of it okay!
Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you were excited -- it's always exciting for ME to post my comic every Wednesday, so I'm glad you're equally excited! And I'm happy you like the anatomy and facial expressions, that's never something I thought was particularly distinctive in my art so I'm glad it resonated with you!
Yeah, in a normal public school, the chewing gum in panel 8? It would not be tolerated. Nor the feet on the desk. That might be why that student is seated up front, so that he can be kept an eye on.
The teachers often wanted to seat me up front, but I had a good excuse: I was farsighted and sitting too close to the board made me uncomfortable (usually students would ask to be seated closer because they were nearsighted). If course, I tended to have good grades... when I cared enough,so even if I was always a source of potential trouble, I was not a constant source, and good grades can, to some degree, alleviate mischievous and sometimes disruptive (I asked pointed questions that often made the adults uncomfortable to answer, or simply ask things they didn't know HOW to answer).
Anyway, poor Louis. Still, learn to overcome your fears and fake confidence! You can do it!
Don't worry - the boy chewing gum IS a troublemaker, and he'll actually get yelled at next week ;)
The only time I was in a classroom with actual desks - my elementary school just had group tables, so everyone sat where they wanted - it was when I was an exchange student in Seville, Spain! I had to sit up in the front because it was the only space they had free, but I accidentally became the teacher's pet because I spoke both languages perfectly and I was good at art, English, and math. (Their math curriculum was a year behind what I was studying, so that was purely accidental).
Louis WILL learn to overcome his fears...in time, that is.
I went to two different high schools and I can say that, while at one, chewing gum was completely discouraged and you would get in trouble with 99% of the teachers for it even during breaks between classes, at the other, while chewing gum was still "officially" discouraged, 95+% of the teachers were perfectly okay with letting their students chew gum and no one cared about it during breaks.
That's so interesting! That kind of makes sense, though. From what I've heard from my non-homeschooled-friends, I feel like the schools (both public and private) where I live are fairly similar - they have rules in theory for things like cellphone use or dress codes, but don't necessarily enforce them in practice.
Haha, I feel old, too - given that I had just turned 14 when I started Chapel! It's weird to think I've had my work up on the internet for SO long, but it's also nice - I feel like my longtime readers are longtime friends who've gotten to watch me grow older!
Side note: ahhhh you like Gunnerkrigg too! :D Chapel and Gunnerkrigg have been my faves for the last several years!
And yes, I've been a fan of Gunnerkrigg for years and have hung out with its creator at comic conventions before. He even drew Chapel for me once, years ago - it was a huge surprise and sometimes I can't even believe it happened!
The teachers often wanted to seat me up front, but I had a good excuse: I was farsighted and sitting too close to the board made me uncomfortable (usually students would ask to be seated closer because they were nearsighted). If course, I tended to have good grades... when I cared enough,so even if I was always a source of potential trouble, I was not a constant source, and good grades can, to some degree, alleviate mischievous and sometimes disruptive (I asked pointed questions that often made the adults uncomfortable to answer, or simply ask things they didn't know HOW to answer).
Anyway, poor Louis. Still, learn to overcome your fears and fake confidence! You can do it!
The only time I was in a classroom with actual desks - my elementary school just had group tables, so everyone sat where they wanted - it was when I was an exchange student in Seville, Spain! I had to sit up in the front because it was the only space they had free, but I accidentally became the teacher's pet because I spoke both languages perfectly and I was good at art, English, and math. (Their math curriculum was a year behind what I was studying, so that was purely accidental).
Louis WILL learn to overcome his fears...in time, that is.