As a boy, he enjoyed the comic strip "Blondie," and, with his mother's help, he began drawing his own strips. Giblin once recalled, "I filled sketchbook after sketchbook with action-filled pictures drawn in boxes like those of the comics. Mother helped me to print the words I wanted to put in the balloons, and later I learned how to print them myself." Giblin also enjoyed going to the movies as a youngster; he once noted "My favorites weren't films made for children but spy movies set in Germany and Nazi-occupied areas such as
Casablanca. I also liked melodramas starring emotional actresses like Bette Davis and Greer Garson, especially if they took place in exotic settings . . . or had to do with World War II."
In junior high, Giblin worked on the school paper, which helped him overcome some of his shyness. He reminisced in his autobiographical essay in Sixth Book of Junior Authors, "Robert K. Payne, my ninth-grade English teacher, did more than anyone to draw me out of my isolation. Mr. Payne encouraged his classes to try new things, including a mimeographed class newspaper. And he was determined that I should not only contribute pieces to the paper but also edit it." Giblin continued, "I backed away from the responsibility at first, as I backed away from so many things then.
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