History is her story, now! Writer and high-school student Kingsley Wallace recently completed Creating U.S.A.: The Original Melting Pot, with the help of Comics Experience’s creative services program, which packages and produces comics for a host of clients.
Written by Kingsley, with art and coloring by Juan Romera and lettering by Paul Allor, the comic is the second issue in Kingsley’s Creating U.S.A. series, designed to help students study for the State of Texas’ middle school standardized testing.
Kingsley then sought out middle schools in Texas with lower scores on the standardized tests, and offered the comic to them as a free resource.
“I love history,” Kingsley said. But “in eighth grade, my US History Class was the most boring class I have ever taken. I knew there must be a better, more exciting way to learn.”
Kingsley was an avid comics reader when she was young, particularly drawn to “superheroes and these creative, amazing storylines that I never imagined.”
So she combined her passion for history and comic books, and created Creating U.S.A.
Kingsley is also a longtime mentoring client of Comics Experience, after seeing Comics Experience founder and president Andy Schmidt speak at Comicpalooza, a comics and pop culture convention in Houston.
“I liked his style and work ethic, and I love his passion for history,” Kingsley said. “I know I have much more to learn and I can see an improvement with every issue. He is an amazing mentor and role model.”
The Original Melting Pot focuses on Colonial America, and the trials and tribulations involved in founding several of the thirteen original colonies. But there’s plenty of American History left to explore, and Kingsley shows no signs of slowing down.
“Working with amazing artists and mentors created a new passion in me to go from reader to author,” she said. “I find the process inspiring and an outlet for my creativity. I want to continue to research and learn more as I create more issues, especially for this project.”
