message. According to Faulkner 2009 in Yunus, et al. 2010 comic strips can spur stude
nts’ interest to write English. It is much more engaging way to practice language and creative writing than simply writing them out as words
alone on a blank page. In addition Clysdesdale 2007 says comics put learners at ease with the material. Comics do not make learners feel alienated
and distant from the material by struggling with language. A reader’s effort at comprehension is greatly reduced.
B. Review of Related Studies
This research is about developing comic strips as English writing materials for students of junior high school Grade VIII. These are some
previous studies related to the research. However, the related studies are not completely the same as this study. Those studies support much for this
research. One of the studies was conducted by Kristi and Purwati 2013. The
researchers studied implementing comic strips as media for teaching writing narrative texts for Grade X of senior high school. From the research, they
found that comic strips could be used as media for teaching writing narrative texts. The implementation of comic strips as media in teaching writing
narrative texts to Grade X is effective and going well. The comic strips can stimulate the students to get ideas for writing their narrative texts and
motivate the students to become more active in the learning process. From the results of research, students’ composition abilities became better after the
implementation of comic strips as learning media. It can be seen from their scores of first to third tasks in the first and second meeting. The students
mostly progressed positively in every aspect of writing. Another related study is conducted by Ramliyani 2010. The research
focuses on analysing the effect of using comic as media in teaching writing exposition texts for senior high school. From the research, the researcher
found that there were significantly different output scores between before treatment is given and after treatment is given. The result shows th
at students’ learning scores were increased after using comic as media for teaching
writing. Further, in conclusion, he explains that comic as learning media is more effective to improve the writing exposition text skill rather than using
the conventional text books.
C. Conceptual Framework
In order to meet the objectives of learning English, there is one thing that should be considered for creating a successful class. One important point that
should be considered is how to make a class interesting for learners. One way of creating an interesting class is by making a creative class. A creative class
means a class with a creative learning process and material. However, not all teachers are able to make a creative class. Some
teachers still use monotonous and less attractive materials. One of the less attractive materials is LKS or workbooks. Yet, there are many teachers that
still used workbooks as the only material used. It makes the learning process
