The Admirers of Illustrated Literature Club hosted a Marvel Con Illustrator class, where students had the opportunity to learn how to draw characters from the Marvel Universe, on Oct. 7.  

The illustrator class was led by an award-winning comic book artist, Will Sliney. Sliney has worked on titles such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, Defender and other major production titles. He showed the attendees how to draw characters like these, according to Julia Romano, assistant director of student development.  

Around14 students were involved in the class. Romano picked the illustrator thinking he would be a perfect match for the AIL club members and participants. The event was designated specifically towards members of the AIL club and other Marvel admirers.  

“I saw Will do a demo at a webinar and thought it would be perfect for the Admirers of Illustrated Literature (AIL) club,” Romano said. 

There was a lot of positive feedback coming from the students participating in the event, according to Anthony Tortorello, the Community Chair of AIL. 

“The students loved the event,” Tortorello said. “They asked Will about his job, how he got started, if he met the Avengers cast. It was such an honor to meet him.” 

Sliney allowed his audience to choose a Marvel character for him to teach them how to draw. The audience ended up choosing Marvel’s Daredevil, according to Samuel Melendez, President of AIL.  

“Will was able to show us the steps on how to draw a character, starting with a stick figure with a pose, and then adding on by drawing the joints and combining them together to create an outline for a hero, which he turned into Dare Devil at our request,” Melendez said. 

The purpose of the event was to give students who liked illustrated literature a look into the world of Marve, according to Melendez. 

Melendez was excited for the event because it intertwined with the overall purpose of the organization, to admire illustrated literature.  

“AIL’s mission is to unite people in their love for nerd culture. Anime, games, comics, we all come together to, well, admire the illustrated literature,” Melendez said.