Popular author Bentley Boyd visits Belvoir youth

Photo by Paul Bello
Comic book author Bentley Boyd discusses a comic strip with a group of Belvoir kids. Since 2003, Boyd has published more than 20 Chester the Chesapeake Bay blue crab comic books to help children with the state's Standards of Learning requirements.

Comic book author Bentley Boyd, well-known for his Chester the Chesapeake Bay blue crab character, visited a group of Belvoir kids recently at the Vernondale Community Center.

After introductions, Boyd showed them a blank sheet of white paper and quipped, "Look, the original my space page." Following a round of laughs, the author asked the young group one all-important question.

"Who here likes to draw? For me, I love to draw and I do it almost every day," Boyd said excitedly. "As I got older, I even found out that what I drew could help kids just like you learn about all sorts of things."

According to Boyd, that's what drove him to start Chester Comix. After a successful run of Chester comic strips, which were published as a weekly feature inside Newport News' Daily Press from 1997-1999, Boyd was given permission to reprint his stories into book format.

He officially started his own company in 2003 as a means of helping children with Virginia's Standards of Learning requirements. For Boyd, a former history major at Harvard University, being able to incorporate his character into stories about math, science, and history is what he enjoys most about his work.

"This is the best job in the world for someone like me," Boyd said. "I have a full-time job drawing a character that I love and that children can learn from. At the same time, I'm learning, too. I'm doing a book right now about ancient India and love going to the library and doing research on a particular topic. It's really a lot of fun."

So what advice does a professional like Boyd have for a group of kids who like to draw, but aren't sure if what they're doing is right?

"To not get discouraged and to keep practicing. That's how I started out," he said. "There's no right or wrong answers at this stage in the game. If the desire is there, kids need to explore what they're capable of. Their talents should have no boundaries. Just put the rubber to the road."

To date, Boyd has published more than 20 Chester comic books and was awarded the 2003 Virginia Council for Social Studies Friend of Education award. Several of his titles are available for purchase at Fort Belvoir's Van Noy Library. For additional information, visit www.chestercomix.com.