Middle-School Cartoonist Draws on Animal Insight

Crystal does not think highly of boys; she might reconsider when she gets older. "They're mean at school. And annoying. None are decent," she said, flatly. "And I'm not ready to have a boyfriend at this age."

At Pennington Middle School, Crystal's work is revered. Her visual arts teacher, Jill Holmes, said she admires Crystal for her reliance on the fundamentals.

"I like that she's using basic skills -- the concept of line and contour drawing," Holmes said. "She's showing her friends that you can achieve high standards at a young age."

Holmes said she learned about Crystal's work last school year while perusing her class journal entries. "It's not unusual to see students doodle, but I saw she had a copyright symbol next to her [doodles], the little 'c' with a circle around it, and 'all rights reserved.' It was so cute."

Crystal's schoolmate Alyssa Gates, 12, said that kids crowd around Crystal during lunch -- breaking the no-mingling rule, but whatever -- and pore over her albums of comics, giving her ideas and encouragement.

"We'll enter the cafeteria and get our lunches -- there's different stuff every day, we usually get the chicken -- and we sit down and talk for a little bit," Alyssa said. "Then we beg her for her comic books."

Alyssa has her favorite: "It's the one where Angel finds a bun warmer in the kitchen and sits on it. The owner comes in and scolds her, but Angel says, 'But you said it was a bun warmer.' "

Back at her Prince William home on a recent day, Crystal was able to use her time off from school to start writing new comics. She broke out some paper and her trusty blue ruler and began drawing each frame's margins. She flipped open her laptop, clicked on YouTube for music, and settled in.

First frame: Angel looks at Gwydon and says, "Gwydon, you stink." Second frame: Gwydon asks, "Why?" Third frame: Angel walks away and says "Just because," and Gwydon, with a blank expression to the reader, says, "I will NEVER understand women."