Samone a.k.a. "UsaMiKo"

Until Pikes Peak Prep 9th grade student, Samone Roberts, walked into my office I knew nothing about Manga.  

A little bit of research told me that Manga is the Japanese word for comic.  Manga-style comic books, graphic novels and artwork are gaining international popularity. But here was one of our students who had actually taken her artistic talent to put together a comic story and artwork in Manga-style. Samone Robert has been drawing in Manga-style since she was nine years of age.

There are many characteristics that make Manga very distinctive. The largest thing that Manga art is known for is its characters. Manga characters almost always have large eyes, small mouths, and they also usually have abnormal hair color.  This type of comic book reads from right-to-left.  Most people would consider it backwards. In the early ‘90s, when Manga first came to America, comic companies would print the comics to read left-to-right like an American comic.  But most companies nowadays are printing them in their original format. Also, these type of comics are often done in black/white instead of color.

Samone’s story focuses on an agency whose main purpose is to defeat evil monsters called Ink Marks.  One agent, LiLa, while working hard does not accomplish much and she blames one of the most popular and successful agents Yumi.  The boss of the company requests that both agents co-teach a class for upcoming, new agents.  They now have to work together to teach others while defeating an evil monster.

Samone (AKA UsaMiKo*) will continue to expand on the project and is saving money to print copies of it.