Drawing Words and Writing Pictures is a course on comics creation — for college classes or for independent study — that centers on storytelling and concludes with making a finished comic. With chapters on lettering, story structure, and panel layout, the fifteen lessons offered — each complete with homework, extra credit activities, and supplementary reading suggestions — provide a solid introduction for people interested in making their own comics.

Drawing Words and Writing Pictures was created by comics superstars Jessica Abel and Matt Madden and based on their classes at the School of Visual Arts. Series editors of the Best American Comics series and creators of a number of groundbreaking works, including 99 Ways to Tell a Story (Matt Madden) and La Perdida (Jessica Abel), Abel and Madden are always at the forefront of the comics industry.