Twenty-four kids are scattered at the six tables in Mr. DeRosa’s art room, 276, using pencils and ink, all of them chatting with friends old and new, coming together to make beautiful cartoons. With just white paper and black lines, they create characters so vivid that they portray human emotions.

“I really like to draw and make comics and I thought it would be a good thing to do,” said Cutter Frost, a sixth grader, on why he joined the club.

The club meets every Thursday after school in Mr. Derosa’s room.

“I always do a comic book club in the schools I teach at,” he said.

Mr. DeRosa said that when he began the very first Comic Book Club it was at college level in Washington, D.C. When he started teaching full-time, he continued the club at other schools.

Mr. DeRosa explained that the budget cuts at past schools he has worked at called for a smaller version of the club, but that did not take away from the quality of the cartoons.

Published as cartoons within a school magazine, the pictures themselves were small but completely amazing. Past schools he had worked at had not been able to supply certain materials, such as drawing boards, but he continued the club with whatever could be supplied. Now, he says, the students in the club at Westport will be able to produce a larger comic overall.

One of the skills used in the final stages is an ink wash, which makes some aspects of the comics pop out more than others. The students in the club have the fortune of being able to use paper that will accept the ink better than papers in the past.

Many of the students joined because they had a previous love for drawing.

“I’ve been drawing since I was 11,” Cutter Frost said, smiling as he displayed his works. “I like to draw superheroes, cars, and vehicles.”

“You have more of a selection of what you like to do,” said Sam Leopold, a sixth grader, when asked if joining the Comic Book Club was more exciting than drawing by yourself.

A plus to joining the club is that you are able do it with friends, said eighth graders Grace Kennedy, Kalina Kinyon, Alisyn Kercher, and Imogen Barnes.

“You can bounce ideas off of them, and just talk,” said Imogen when the group was asked what the plusses were of being in the club with friends.

The club is currently accepting new members. If you’re interested, you can pick up an application from Mr. DeRosa himself. Entrance requires three pieces of work to be presented.

There will be two issues published this year. Watch for the club’s first issue to be out by late February. The second issue will be handed out at Bedford’s annual art show, where you can also view the club’s original storyboards, thumbnails, and character sketches.

Be sure to look at the works of one of the coolest clubs in school.