2007 In Review, Part 1

The end of 2007 is here, so it's time to look back at the progress the CCP has made. Some of the major accomplishments in the last year:

1. Motivating one of my students to start her own webcomic.

2. Hosting the first Comic Making Tournament, which was sponsored by Yale University, New Haven Reads, and several local businesses.

3. Winning a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

4. Reaching out to impoverished youths at the Dixwell-Yale Community Learning Center.

5. Starting the exploration of other educational uses of the project through the CCP Modules, thus laying the groundwork for future research ventures.

6. Inspiring Robert Anke to use the CCP in his classroom.

7. Receiving coverage from several local papers: the Yale Daily News, New Haven Advocate, and the New Haven Register.

8. Celebrating the 1 year anniversary with guest comics posted by various comic creators across the Internet.

9. A workshop at the Toonseum, heralding a return to form by the CCP in its new home town.

10. Keeping the comic site and blog regularly updated!

Overall, a good year. However, I am never one to rest on my laurels. I fully intend to make 2008 even better!

Site Updates

The FAQ page has been updated with current info, removing some of the out of date speculation.

The Links page has had a slight reorg to separate links related to places and organizations tied to the CCP from those that are simply relevant. Links to the Toonseum and Human Services Center have been added.

12/29 Workshop Part 2

This workshop used over 50 different templates from 32 different comics, a record for most template diversity in a single workshop. All of the templates were brand new, created for the next stage of the CCP's development. One of the benefits of using so many comics was that it gave me a chance to see which of those templates had the most potential.

As stated in Part 1, I was only able to collect a fraction of the comics created by the students, as most of them understandably wanted to take their comics home. Templates were divided into 4 groups of varying sizes for each stage of the activity, ordered by difficulty. 83 pieces were collected from templates based on 21 comics:

Applegeeks
Coffee Achievers
Cosmobear
Daisy is Dead
Goats
Jellaby
Little Dee
Lil' Formers
Narbonic
No Pink Ponies
Okashina Okashi
Penny and Aggie
Planet Karen
Planet Saturday
Questionable Content
Shortpacked
Sluggy Freelance
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Seasons of Constancy
Tracy and Tristan
xkcd

Comics used for the first time are in italics. This leaves 11 comics with templates that can't currently be assessed; I'll use them again in later workshops.

And Shine Heaven Now
Faking Life
Girl Genius
Lil' Mell
Piled Higher and Deeper
Phoenix
Something Like Life
Tea Club
Templar, AZ
Tsunami Channel
Venus Envy

I tried to include all of the "first generation" comics (OO, QC, ASHN, etc.) because I knew their content worked well. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to produce Chugworth, Krakow, Penny Arcade, Rob and Elliot, or SGVY templates for use this time. They'll be a priority for the upcoming HSC workshop.

Gallery Update

A small addition to the Misc. Gallery: a couple pictures of the new Can of Inspiration (which I used in the 12/29 workshop) and some additional fliers. One of the fliers was designed to be printed out and then folded into a triangle to stand on tables. It didn't work that well, unfortunately.

One thing I need to do for the second Comic Making Tournament is design a new flier that uses some of the recent comics who've joined.

12/29 Workshop Part 1

The 12/29 Workshop - the first in Pittsburgh - is over! Things went very well: 10 children in all of various ages plus their parents. With only an hour, I didn't have time to go over a lot of material, but I did manage to get through a free-form pacing exercise, a quick guide on how to read a comic, and the relationship of words and images. The children and their parents were highly entertained for the entire hour, with the CCP earning accolades from the adults present.

The Toonseum was a great sponsor. The curator, Joe Wos, likes the CCP and made a number of great suggestions I'll be incorporating into future workshops there. The pacing exercise, for example, was a suggestion he gave based on his own work teaching cartooning. He also recommended that the CCP be presented as a parent-child joint activity, which would allow me to reach even younger age groups than I have in the past.

I had a chance to meet Kelli Kane of Planet Saturday, the first CCP-affiliated webcomic artist I've met in person. It's nice seeing the people who've supported the comic project by lending their art!

I used ~50 different templates from various comics, though I was only able to collect a fraction of the total comics made (I'll have numbers later). There aren't any pictures or video, as the Toonseum requires release forms for those. I'll make efforts to get some images with later workshops.

As 2008 approaches, there are several plans for the CCP's future in Pittsburgh. Joe Wos proposed taking the CCP to a local community center, where they have a strong need for volunteers. In April, I'm working on holding a special health education event to coincide with National Public Health Week, in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

In addition to all that, there's still an upcoming workshop with the Human Service Center in Turtle Creek (which has been delayed due to construction) and work to research and quantify the CCP's effect on children's learning. And, of course, there's the Second Comic Making Tournament at New Haven on March 8, a chance for me to take what I've learned here in Pittsburgh and bring it back to the CCP's point of genesis.

Site Updates

The Links page has been updated to include a link and banner for Planet Karen. I also moved Shortpacked, Ghastly, and Planet Saturday to the top since they've linked to the CCP. The copyright notice on the bottom has been updated.

The About page has a quote from David Willis as well as links to the Shortpacked guest comics and a new Fleen mention.

Planet Karen Joins the CCP

Planet Karen by Karen Ellis has joined the CCP. With over 500 daily comics, I should be able to make quite a few good templates from her work.

Guest Comics

Some more CCP guest comics have been posted:

1. Ghastly posted the anniversary comic on his blog.

2. David Willis has posted both parts of the anniversary comic sent to him, Part 1 and Part 2.

Welcome to any new readers brought here from these two places! I hope you stick around and browse the archives.

12/29 Workshop Preparation II

The 12/29 Workshop will be from 2 - 3 PM. I'll be going to the Toonseum sometime this coming week to prepare by printing and photocopying the new templates.

I haven't gone through any unexplored archives yet, but I have managed to add some more comic templates. New ones since the last update:

Cosmobear
Ghost Hunters
I Come From Mars
Marilith
Planet Saturday Comics

I also expanded Penny Arcade, Shortpacked, and Hate Song's template selection. There are still a few archives I want to at least skim.

12/29 Workshop Confirmed

The 12/29 CCP Workshop is official. I recently confirmed it with the head of programming at the Toonseum. The exact time hasn't been set yet, but it'll be a single 1-hour workshop. Due to the last minute nature, the expected turn out isn't large - estimates put it at about 10-15 people, normal for the CCP but small by Toonseum standards.

The purpose of this workshop will be to get used to the Toonseum setting, as well as testing new material. I'll be going to the museum some time next week to prep materials (printing, photocopying, etc.). Future plans include larger (maybe longer) workshops, inviting local schools to the Toonseum for field trips, and community outreach on behalf of the Toonseum.

12/10/07 Module

As a final test of the CCP Module, I had students take comics home and fill them out for extra credit to their homework grade. The results were interesting: I collected fewer comics total, but those I collected were complete and generally of higher quality than those from class. This means the module may be best used as a take home rather than in-class work.

60+ comics were collected. Because this was a take home, no pictures or videos exist. I used templates from:

And Shine Heaven Now
Chugworth Academy
Coffee Achievers
Daisy is Dead
Dicebox
Dr. McNinja
Fans!
Flipside
Girl Genius
Hate Song
Jellaby
Little Dee
Lovarian Adventures
Narbonic
No Rest For the Wicked
Okashina Okashi
Penny and Aggie
Saturnalia
Seasons of Constancy
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Sluggy Freelance
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Comics that haven't been used before in a module are in italics. All of the templates were brand new, as opposed to the last two modules that mixed in templates from New Haven.

12/29 Workshop Preparation

While the Human Services Center had to cancel both workshops, there is a new hope: Pittsburgh's Toonseum, part of the Children's Museum, has expressed interest in hosting a workshop on 12/29. This is by no means definitive; details still need to be worked out. However, I am preparing for it as thought it'll occur.

Since my last post concerning preparations for the 11/20 workshop, I've gone through the archives of several more comics:

Coffee Achievers
Ghost Hunters
Goats
I Come From Mars
Lil' Mell
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Templar, AZ
Venus Envy

I still need to go through Planet Saturday Comics, Demonology 101, and Punks and Nerds, among others.

I've also been hard at work creating new templates. Here's a complete list of every comic that currently has templates (new ones since last time are in italics):

And Shine Heaven Now
Applegeeks
Awkward Zombie
Chugworth Academy
Coffee Achievers
Copper
Daisy is Dead
Dicebox
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Faking Life
Fans!
Flight (scanned in art from Kazu Kibuishi and Kean Soo)
Flipside
Girl Genius
Goats
Hate Song
Jellaby
Krakow
Lil' Formers
Lil' Mell
Little Dee
Lovarian Adventures
Mac Hall/Three Panel Soul
Narbonic
No Pink Ponies
No Rest for the Wicked
Okashina Okashi
Penny & Aggie
Penny Arcade
Phoenix
Piled Higher and Deeper
Questionable Content
Return of Stickman
Rob and Elliot
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Saturnalia
Seasons of Constancy
Shortpacked/It's Walky
Sluggy Freelance
Something Like Life
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Tea Club
Templar, AZ
Tracy and Tristan
Tsunami Channel
Venus Envy
xkcd

In addition to the new comics, I've also increased the number of templates for most of the pre-existing ones, such as Rob and Elliot, Narbonic, and Applegeeks. I still need to add templates for Ghost Hunters, I Come From Mars, and add more Dr. McNinja. As it stands, all the comics used in the CCP 2.0, except for a few, are set to be used again in CCP 2.5.

According to Excel, there are over 1050 different templates so far. It's doubtful all of the above will be used in the 12/29 workshop. Depending on how long I have, I may not be able to cover long-form stories, which will exclude several of them from use. Still, it's better to have more than I need just in case I underestimate.

Site Updates

The Links page now has links to the two newest comics: Planet Saturday Comics and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. Both comics are also now in the copyright info. Susan Douglas sent me a banner for Tracy and Tristan, which has been added.

The About page has a new quote from Kelli and Monty Kane.

11/7 and 12/3 Videos Removed

Due to some objections by the class participants, videos from the two Module sessions have been removed from YouTube.

New Comic Joins the Project

Pittsburgh residents Monty and Kelli Kane have agreed to allow the comic project to use Planet Saturday Comics! Kelli has also offered to help find new venues for the project to reach out to kids, including a local school district and the Children's Museum.

12/3 Videos

The two videos from the 12/3 Module have been posted:

Video 1
Video 2

Both of them have been added to the Video Gallery. Neither is very long; the camera's batteries were starting to run low so I had to keep them short. Images (20 of them) will follow soon.

12/20 Workshop Canceled

Unfortunately, the Human Services Center, in addition to changing offices (which canceled the 11/20 session) is going to begin construction of new classrooms and offices. As a result, the entire center will be closing later this week and won't reopen until sometime in January. This means the 12/20 workshop, which I had previously been assured would go without trouble, has to be canceled.

I'm currently looking for some other location to hold a comic workshop over Christmas break.

12/3/07 Module

The second Create a Comic Project module was held today with the same class as before. This should tell me whether comics can detect a change in knowledge. Many pictures and a couple videos were taken. They'll be posted soon.

25 templates were used and 73 comics were collected, somewhat less than last time. This is likely due to fewer people attending this class. Again, the module was met with great enthusiasm and humor by the students. Many excellent comics were produced. It's amazing how many jokes about this topic can be made.

Not every comic used in the first module was used again. As before, templates were divided between those used before in New Haven and brand new ones. Comics used in the module:

And Shine Heaven Now
Applegeeks
Dr. McNinja
Faking Life
Flipside
Girl Genius
Hate Song
Krakow
Mac Hall
No Pink Ponies
Penny and Aggie
Penny Arcade
Piled Higher and Deeper
Phoenix
Rob and Elliot
Shortpacked
Tsunami Channel
Venus Envy
xkcd

Italics indicate comics not used in the previous module.

As a bonus, the professor of the class was nice enough to allow me to use the comics as a "special extra credit" assignment. 27 templates - all brand new - were chosen for this take-home version of the module. We'll see how many students take advantage of it.

1-year Anniversary Round-Up

The Create a Comic Project's 1-year Anniversary has come and gone. It went rather well. Welcome to all the new viewers! I hope you enjoy your stay.

Here are links to the guest comics that were posted:

Strange Candy
And Shine Heaven Now
Dr. McNinja
Faking Life
Krakow
John Su (DevArt)

Fleen ran an article celebrating the milestone: "A Significant Anniversary."

I've updated the About page. It now has links to all the CCP guest comics that others have posted.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Joins!

A new comic has joined the CCP: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner! I'll definitely be using his one-panel comics in upcoming workshops.

Comics and Community Service, Part 3

(Read Part 2 here.)

Once the decision is made to commit to a service project and the type of project is chosen, the next step is to organize it. This means finding a location, choosing a schedule, and advertising. There is no way to describe in detail every possible scenario that can be encountered at this stage - this is meant as a general guide so that others can fashion their own comic service program, like the Create a Comic Project.

The selected venue can often dictate the success of a community service project. Types of venues include libraries, community centers, and art museums. The project ideas described in Part 2 were aimed at students in K-12, so a place that has regular attendance by school children is important.

Public libraries are generally the most diverse in terms of attendance. Most libraries have volunteer programs already in place, making it simple to get permission and advertise the program. Experience has indicated that children who voluntarily go to a library after school will tend to be a motivated group with open minds ready for learning. Be careful of children whose parents are using the library as a babysitter – they will likely not be willing to participate in any programs.

Don’t expect consistent weekly attendance in a library if it’s a multi-week program – kids will often wander in and out at varying times, so every week will have a different audience. It’s best to craft sessions as standalone lessons, requiring little introduction to previous materials, because new students will come and go.

The attendance of a library, as well as its resources, varies widely by neighborhood. Not all libraries are near schools, meaning they won’t have as many school age children in attendance. The best thing to do is ask the Children’s Department librarians who attends. They will often know what demographics they have in abundance.

The comic project was fortunate that the New Haven Public Library was in walking distance of several local schools, providing a steady stream of attendees within its target age group. In Pittsburgh, though, the main branch of the Carnegie Library only had very young children or older teens, due to its location, so the comic project wouldn’t have worked there.

It’s also a good idea to ask what sorts of programs a library is already running. If a library has a packed schedule filled with reading and art programs, it may be best to find another location. Likewise, librarians or volunteer coordinators may be able to say ahead of time whether a proposed project is too ambitious or if it fits their needs well.

Community centers are different from libraries in that they are can be more restrictive in terms of access. Youth oriented centers, for example, can require pre-registration by parents in order for their child to be granted entry. Centers also tend to have a closer link with the neighborhood, often being staffed and run by local residents. For example, the Dixwell-Yale Community Learning Center was aimed at the Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven, a predominantly African-American neighborhood on the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum. This can allow for deeper networking with the broader community.

A community center will generally have a roster of programs and events members can participate in, such as sports, computer classes, or tutoring sessions. A comic program will generally go over well if the center is in need of any kind of art programs. Like the library, there will generally be a volunteer coordinator on staff to make setup easier.

Unlike libraries, community centers will usually have a more regular attendance structure. Once parents know of a program and want their child to attend, they will usually ensure the child attends frequently. This can allow for a more structured program form, with each lesson building on the previous. The Human Services Center (HSC) serves the depressed region of Greater Pittsburgh, drawing students from diverse backgrounds. The HSC was designed as a daily program, where students are formed into classes and attend every day after school. Once a student signed up for an extracurricular activity, it was made part of their daily schedule, ensuring consistency in turnout over time.

Art museums are a potential third venue to explore. Shaenon Garrity has taught children at places like Cartoon Art Museum, for example. As with the previous two venues, be sure to find a volunteer coordinator to ask what kind of programs they’d be interested in running and what sort of attendance they get. If 70-something grandparents mainly attend the local art museum, it’s probably not where a comic project should be held.

The above three are not the only venues possible, of course. Robert Anke and Tycho and Gabe have brought comics into elementary schools. Many universities sponsor one-on-one mentoring programs that could be used for comic education. Faith-based initiatives use churches as bases of operation. Volunteer network sites – such as the United Way – provide lists of locations in the area seeking volunteers. Consult those and find the location that works best for the project.

When approaching a volunteer coordinator to apply for a position, remember to check state regulations on what clearances are needed such as criminal background checks. Write a clear and concise summary of the project to give to the administrator, along with a resume with any relevant teaching or volunteering experience. When the Create a Comic Project was first getting started, a 4 page summary of the project was used to highlight the important aspects of the program: who it was aimed at, what it would do, how it would do it, and what resources it’d require. This made it easier for the volunteer coordinator to explain it to the head of the Children’s Department and also allowed her to know what supplies to allocate for the project’s support.

Letters of recommendation pertaining to teaching and volunteering skills can also be used to bolster credibility. The more credible the project appears, the easier it will be to get permission. Remember when the project is finished to get a letter that can be used later on. If a letter is too much trouble, keep a record of who helped and their contact information so they can at least be used as a reference.

With the venue selected, the next step is to schedule the event. If the program is intended to be a long-term weekly or monthly endeavor, anytime during the year is suitable to start. If it’s going to be a one-shot or a limited series of sessions, try to time the event to periods of high turnout by students.

Based on attendance from the Create a Comic Project, the best months are in early spring (March and April): the weather isn’t preventing travel, but athletic programs aren’t yet in full swing. Holidays (late November through early January), deep winter (February), and the summer (June through August) are not good times to expect large crowds. (An exception is if the project is linked to a special summer program at a center or library.)

Come time to do the project, the basic advice for going to a job interview aptly applies: show up on time. Exercise good personal hygiene and grooming. Be polite to all participants (even the ones who are rude). Be sure to use “Thank you” in great quantities to the staff and administrators who assist. An impression of professionalism will ensure the project is invited back a second time and that any reference given will be glowing.

Advertising the program is vital to attract participants. Don’t count on parents or children finding out about new programs on their own. Fliers for in-house distribution are generally a good idea: they’re easy to create and display. Libraries will generally have a location where they advertise their upcoming events, be sure to get added to it. Hand fliers to staff who work with the target age group and have them hand it out to kids. Some libraries and community centers will have mailing lists; see if they’ll mail the flier to that list so parents are notified.

Once the project has gotten off the ground and is running smoothly, it’s important consider the local press. A newspaper article on the service project is a great way to let people all across the neighborhood know about it. It’s also rewarding to the venue, as it helps advertise their services.

Talk to the center’s public relations administrator – many service locations will have contacts with a reporter. Propose the article as a human-interest story; reporters like those because they’re easier to write than regular news and readers enjoy them. College students should consider approaching the school newspaper. Local papers will sometimes pay attention to university press for ideas. The Create a Comic Project, for example, attracted coverage from the New Haven Register after the Yale Daily News ran a story on it.

For more assistance organizing consult a general project management guide; it’ll contain many tips for planning that can help ensure things go smoothly.

Setting up a comic service project may sound arduous, but once a location is found the administration and staff will often be more than willing to lend assistance. The Create a Comic Project was made possible thanks to the invaluable assistance of several librarians. Other projects will no doubt encounter the same level of cooperation.

Support for comic service is not necessarily limited only to the institutions at the front lines. Creators who lack the time for direct intervention can assist through indirect service, a topic for a later essay.

Site Updates

There's a new piece of fanart up; it's one I made a couple years ago and forgot to put on there.

Comic Genesis news box is now on the front page. I'll be making a banner for it soon. I've added Google ads to the blog at the bottom and bellow the profile. Nothing flashy or obtrusive. Any money I raise from them will go to supporting the CCP's need for office supplies and such.

Comics and Community Service, Part 2

(Read Part 1 here.)

Increasing the involvement of webcomic creators with community service projects will serve to increase positive public perception of the medium. There are many things that go into planning a successful community service project. The first thing to consider is the type of activity.

Creating comics, like most art (drawing and writing), is often an individual effort. While collaboration is not uncommon, even when a writer and artist are working together, both often work independently at their respective tasks, communicating mainly where there's intersection. The key is to take what's normally an internal personal process of creation and adapt it to external activities.

Fortunately, there are a number of examples that can be drawn from for how to construct a successful comic service project. The most common way comic creators have engaged with their community is via education. While there are other ways to serve the community through comics (for example, Mike Rouse-Deane's Kid's Book Project raising money for charity), educational projects will be my focus here.

The first educational use is also arguably the most common: teaching others how to express themselves through comics, emphasizing the comic medium and comparing/contrasting it with other art forms. This is how Shaenon Garrity, Tycho and Gabe, and the Create a Comic Project have approached it.

In teaching how to make comics, form will often be emphasized over substance. What's important is that a child or teen understand the tools that go into making a comic. Once they've grasped the basics, it's expected they'll b able to improve their storytelling through self-exploration and practice. With the Create a Comic Project, for example, content is left entirely up to the student - the only guidelines involve instructions on how to utilize captions, thought bubbles, layout, etc.

A second educational use of comics is sequential art as a tool to deliver a message or theme. This is the style used by Michael Bitz's Comic Book Project, Penny Arcade Remix, Robert Anke's classroom activities, and the Create a Comic Project Module. Here, substance is the key, with comics simply being the medium of delivery. The Comic Book Project, for example, uses a single unifying theme each year that all children have to write about. The Create a Comic Project Module is even more generalized, designed to be integrated into any given lecture-centric course to give it an interactive component.

Both of these educational approaches are student-centered, involving active learning - that is, the children are directly participating in the creation of art and applying the general theories presented to them. A third approach to using comics educationally is student-centered and more passive: reading.

In the 90's, it was found that children who read comic books had better reading skills and were more likely to go on to read other forms of literature than those who didn't read anything. Essentially, comics work as a gateway to regular novels. Using graphic novels in the classroom to introduce reading to students, therefore, is an excellent pedagogical tool. Jeff Smith and Scholastic have been working on this for several years.

Reading projects are generally passive because students are absorbing information written by others. Directed discussions of the reading can enhance the experience. Point out how a creator used a particular scene transition or juxtaposition. Casual readers often miss small details. Teaching kids how to interpret and critically analyze comics can help them study professional works.

Each of these three educational approaches has advantages and disadvantages in terms of content, logistics, and feasibility. The first two are far more potent in terms of educational value, because the children are active learners, not passive recipients of others' creations. However, they also require a much greater time investment on the part of the instructor in terms of planning. Also, a reading program can be done in far more environments than an art program.

Some key factors to consider when choosing the form of the project are:

1. Time. How much time do you have to invest? How long do you want the project to last? If you have months, consider one of the first two. If you can only do an occasional Saturday afternoon, a reading project may be better.

2. Resources. This is largely dependent on location. To do either of the first two style of projects, you'll need art supplies, probably a photocopier, and probably a dedicated room. If you're in a poor neighborhood or a developing country, these things may not be available at the location you want to use.

3. Existing programs. Always check what other community service projects are active in your area. It's sometimes possible to merge your idea with theirs and share resources. This can provide the resources you need and save you time with infrastructure development. However, you may need to modify what you do to match the goals of the organization you join, making the second style (thematic instruction) a good one to select in this instance.

4. Audience. For young kids, making their own comics may be beyond their abilities, especially if they haven't learned how to write yet. Older children may scoff at the idea of a reading program as too simple. Know who you're targeting - and what population you have access to - when choosing an approach. (It's also important to consider whether you want a class or one-on-one tutoring.)

5. Your own teaching style. Not every student learns the same way and not every teacher teaches best the same way. Teaching style is intrinsically linked to your personality type. Some people want to be the center of attention, others prefer being in the background. Some prefer dealing with abstract terms, others with concrete examples. If you don't know your preferences, try some mentoring to find out. Experience is the best indicator of what works for you.

The first two types of programs require a personality that can deal with others. While the lecture component is minimal by design (the emphasis is on the students), you need to be able to oversee and consult with the students as they need help. The third style is more hands-off - you direct the reading, but students are largely on their own. Whether you prefer theory or application will largely determine how you structure the lessons: a theory person may spend time pointing out how panel order affects time perception; an applied person may focus on how good layout will improve a page's clarity.

Choosing what form of service to pursue is an important step to getting involved. The three types of educational projects outlined here (active learning with comic form; active learning with theme; passive learning with reading) encompass a broad array of potential projects. Not every detail can be addressed here, because everyone's circumstances will have special situations that only you can anticipate.

After selecting a type of project, the next step is to organize it. But that's a topic for later.

11/29 Workshop Canceled

Unfortunately, the Human Services Center is going to take longer than expected to shift its offices and classrooms. They had some times early in December available to reschedule, but that conflicts with my own schedule (finals).

As a result, only the 12/20 Workshop is currently planned. I may arrange for a second workshop 1/3/08 if I can manage.

In other news, I'm currently working on creating a research project based on the CCP in the field of health education (related to the CCP Module). If I'm fortunate, I may be able to start a formal study of the use of comics in health education in Fall '08.

11/7 Videos

The 11/7 module had three videos. They've been posted online and added to the Video Gallery page:

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

In other news, a couple site modifications. For one, I've changed the default font to Arial, which should make text a bit more readable. I've also added the Comic Genesis Newsbox below the blog on the main page. I'll be creating a CCP banner for the newsbox later.

11/7 Pictures

The Gallery page has a new subpage dedicated to the CCP Module. 20 pictures from the first event have been posted. The pictures have "streaks" in them as I modified them in sections to improve visibility. The camera I used (a new one) didn't do a good job handling the low light, so Photoshop had to be used to brighten parts. I'll try to do a better job taking photos in the future.

Additionally, the FAQ page has been updated with info on the Module.

Videos will be uploaded soon.

11/7/07 Module

The first run of the Create a Comic Module was a success! 25 templates were used, 81 comics were collected, and the students had fun. The theme for this module: statistics. Hardly kids stuff, but it's relevant to what the class was learning. There'll be a second one later in the month after the current unit is over.

By comparing the before and after comics, I hope to detect that the students learned something (I'm assuming they did, since the course is well taught). If I can detect this change in knowledge, it'll mean comics are a suitable medium for detecting learning.

The following comics were used in this very first use of the CCP in a university setting:

And Shine Heaven Now
Applegeeks
Chugworth Academy
Dicebox
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Faking Life
Krakow
Mac Hall
Narbonic
No Pink Ponies
Okashina Okashi
Penny Arcade
Phoenix
Piled Higher and Deeper
Rob and Elliot
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Shortpacked
Tracy and Tristan
Tsunami Channel
Venus Envy
xkcd

I wanted to use Questionable Content, but the photocopier I had access to can't handle 8.5x14" paper. Several of the templates used came from the previous run of the CCP, while others were brand new. The second module will use different templates with a slightly different comic roster.

Images were taken, as well as video. They'll be posted later.

Workshop Rescheduling

The 11/20 Workshop will not be occurring on the expected date. Turns out the Human Services Center has had to move their offices to a new building with little advanced notice, so the whole place will be closed for a few weeks during the transition.

Right now, the workshop is tentatively scheduled for 11/29, the CCP's one year anniversary date. More on that when I have confirmation. The 12/20 workshop will proceed as scheduled.

Create a Comic Module

Announcing a new Create a Comic Project related endeavor: the Create a Comic Module.

Unlike the sessions and workshops, the module is not designed to teach now to make comics. Instead, its goal is to use comics for other educational purposes. For example, when the CCP first began, I used it as a classroom activity to teach English, not how to make comics. In some ways, you could say this is the CCP returning to its roots.

Thanks to research by educators, it's known that adding interactive art components to things such as English and History lessons can improve the knowledge retention of students. Likewise, children who read comics and graphic novels at a young age generally have higher literacy levels than those who read nothing. The purpose of the CCP Module is to explore other areas where integrating comics can improve educational activities.

There are currently two planned uses for the module, both related to first establishing efficacy. The first use of the module will occur this Wednesday, 11/7/07. I'll be using several templates from the CCP to test if a change in student knowledge can be detected simply through comparing before-after comics. Wednesday will be collecting the "before" sample. I'll be collecting the "after" sample sometime around 11/26/07.

The second planned module is planned for sometime next spring or possibly next year. The idea is to enhance a health education program by adding an interactive component. This will be a formal analysis, comparing students with and without the module to quantify its effects. The details for this have not been finalized.

The CCP Module is the next logical step in boosting the CCP from a classroom activity, to an afterschool program, to a full fledged academic venture.

Comics and Community Service, Part 1

Something that has always impressed me from organizing the Create a Comic Project (CCP) is the level of support it's received from the general webcomic community. I've contacted dozens of creators, asking them permission to use their comics to teach urban youths, and received overwhelmingly positive replies.

This reflects well on the attitudes underlying today's webcomic culture: the "me first" attitude prevalent in many parts of the entertainment industry have not yet become widespread among webcomic creators. This is likely due to what Ryan North said was the "humbling" experience of being a star in the Internet, but being a regular guy in the real world.

This also indicates an as yet untapped potential among creators: a move towards greater real world visibility through community outreach by volunteering. As Scott McCloud noted in Reinventing Comics: "public perception matters." And there are few things that can create a positive public perception better than community service.

As popular as webcomics have become, they are still far from the mainstream and are subject to the same shadowy misconceptions that have dogged all comics since the 1950's. The anti-comic fervor of that period can be kept from repeating itself if comics increase their public visibility. A preemptive strike of good will, so to speak.

Imagine if, for example, a child's first exposure to comics was through a "how to make comics" program run by a local creator. How would they grow up perceiving the motivations behind the comics they like? What about that child's parents: would they be more or less likely to treat comics with disdain if they saw their child's literacy and creative expression improve thanks to a comics outreach program?

There has been some work in this area over the decades, both from print and online creators. Bill Watterson authorized a teaching guide using Calvin & Hobbes. Jeff Smith has worked with Scholastic to bring graphic novels into the classroom. Michael Bitz of Columbia's Teachers College started the Comic Book Project with the help of Dark Horse.

On the webcomics side, Shaenon Garrity has been volunteering with children since the late 90's at libraries and the Cartoon Art Museum. Tycho and Gabe have written of their exploits in the classroom. Mike Rouse-Deane is raising money for charities with projects like the Kid's Book Project. And, of course, there's the Create a Comic Project.

Despite these efforts, though, there is more that can be done. As large the the webcomic community is, it should be possible to have volunteer events become the nationwide (worldwide?) norm, rather than the exception. The community should begin shifting its attention from "24 hour comics" and toward "24 hour comic volunteering."

ComixTalk Blog

To try and increase the CCP's Internet footprint, I've started a CCP ComixTalk Blog. It'll mirror some of the major content of this blog. Check it out!

11/20 Workshop Preparation V

In addition to making templates, I've also been working on the lesson plan for the 2 hour workshop. I'm going to start with the basics: how to read the comic, panel order, not cramming too many words into dialogue bubbles, etc.

Another point I like to make is connecting words to images. While it seems obvious that words and images would go hand-in-hand with children, many kids don't bridge the two by default. This is often because they focus so intently on what to write, they forget the broader context.

One way to remind them is to go through an example of exactly how what they write can affect the whole mood of a scene. I find when it's made clear, the students will pay more attention to both halves of comic composition.

For example, here one template I'll be using. It's from Jellaby by Kean Soo.



First, I ask the students what's happening. It's also best to have students describe it rather than telling them, because sometimes they can interpret scenes in a way you never thought of. But if they're told by the instructor, they'll take that word as gospel and that shuts off any further inquiry on their part. This is part of the power of the Socratic method, in my mind.

After I get a description of what's being shown in the image, I then ask them to try and explain it. You have a girl reading something, followed by her classmates glaring, and then she gets nervous. What was she reading? And how would that affect why her classmates are glaring at her? I then give each student a comic of their own to experiment with.

That's a sample of some of the material I teach the students. The key components to my teaching style: let them provide the answers and follow up with hands on practice of the concept.

Gallery Update

A small update: I added the flier I used to advertise the first Comic Making Tournament to the Misc. Gallery. The two workshops in Pittsburgh won't need advertising, so there won't be new fliers from them. However, the second CMT will have some new fliers. I'll add them when they're done.

11/20 Workshop Preparation IV

In one month, the CCP will be celebrating its 1st year anniversary. I can't say there'll be anything special to commemorate it (beyond maybe a few announcements to some webcomic blogs), but I've generally thought of the 11/20 workshop as the anniversary celebration.

I've managed to go through the following archives:

Flipside
Lovarian Adventures
Narbonic
No Pink Ponies
Phoenix
Piled Higher and Deeper
Seasons of Constancy

I also did a second run through on Applegeeks. I still need to go through Nothing Nice to Say, Coffee Achievers, and Stubble.

Since my last post, here are the comics I've put together templates for:

Applgeeks
Dicebox
Narbonic
No Pink Ponies
Penny & Aggie
Phoenix
Piled Higher and Deeper
Saturnalia
Seasons of Constancy

I've also made additional templates for Copper, Strange Candy, Tsunami Channel, and Tracy and Tristan. I'm working on Lovarian and Flipside, and I need to do a second pass to increase the number of templates for several of the comics I've already done.

This means the master list of comics with templates ready to use now looks like:

And Shine Heaven Now
Applegeeks
Awkward Zombie
Chugworth Academy
Copper
Daisy is Dead
Dicebox
Dinosaur Comics
Faking Life
Fans!
Girl Genius
Hate Song
Jellaby
Krakow
Lil' Formers
Little Dee
Mac Hall/Three Panel Soul
Narbonic
No Pink Ponies
No Rest for the Wicked
Okashina Okashi
Penny & Aggie
Penny Arcade
Phoenix
Piled Higher and Deeper
Questionable Content
Return of Stickman
Rob and Elliot
Saturnalia
Seasons of Constancy
Shortpacked/It's Walky
Sluggy Freelance
Something Like Life
Tea Club
Tracy and Tristan
Tsunami Channel

Phew. Needless to say, I don't expect to use every template in the first workshop. But I do imagine a large chunk of them will have been used after the second tournament.

New Templates Posted

15 new comic templates have been added to the Templates page. If you're interested in doing a CCP of your own, feel free to use them (just be sure to give credit to both the source and here). I also tweaked the About page a little.

In other news, The Webcomic List now ranks the CCP at #107. Not sure how the CCP jumped 800+ spots in less than a day. My guess is a technical glitch. But it's a nice number to look at, nonetheless.

Site Updates - New Banners!

At long last, I've finally gotten around to creating a new banner for the website. This one is a better reflection of all the different comics used in the CCP. I gave special emphasis to the titles that I used extensively in the first round of regular sessions: OO, ASHN, QC, Krakow, Mac Hall, Chugworth, Shortpacked, and Dr. McNinja.

The Links page also has several new banners you can use to link to the CCP. These new banners are more standardly sized than the previous ones: 468x60 and 200x40. There are two animated banners, as well.

11/20 Workshop Preparation III

With the workshop one month away, I'm on track to have things done on time. Since the last update I've only managed to go through the archives of one new comic, No Pink Ponies. However, I've managed to create a fair number of templates with comics whose archives I've gone through.

My aim with the 11/20 and 12/20 workshops is to get as wide a variety of comics as possible in the activity. So I've been creating templates in 10-20 count blocks, making a set of templates from one comic and then moving on to another rather than spending all my time on one.

If the workshop were held tomorrow, here's what I would have:

And Shine Heaven Now - 64
Awkward Zombie - 15
Chugworth Academy - 26
Copper - 5 (in progress)
Daisy is Dead - 28
Dinosaur Comics - 1 (of course)
Faking Life - 3
Fans! - 10
Girl Genius - 30
Hate Song - 20
Jellaby - 53
Krakow - 10
Lil' Formers - 10
Little Dee - 25
Mac Hall/Three Panel Soul - 20
No Rest for the Wicked - 32
Okashina Okashi - 24
Penny Arcade - 10
Questionable Content - 67
Return of Stickman - 1
Rob and Elliot - 23
Shortpacked/It's Walky - 46
Sluggy Freelance - 5 (in progress)
Something Like Life - 5
Tea Club - 30
Tracy and Tristan - 1
Tsunami Channel - 1

While that looks like a long list, I still have many more comics to go, such as Saturnalia, Dicebox, and Penny & Aggie. Also, many of the above numbers will increase later on.

Site Updates

I've updated several pages:

The About page now has a link to the ASHN guest comics.

The FAQ now includes a new section on Taiwan, containing previous questions and some new material. I added information to what was left in Misc., such as some of the books and papers I've consulted in developing the CCP.

The Links page has been modified to try and reduce scrolling a little bit. I've also added a link to the Kid's Book Project, an excellent community service project involving webcomic artists. Kudos to Mike Rouse-Deane for organizing it!

Edit: The Fanart page also has some additional submissions.

ASHN Guest Comics

Welcome to everyone coming here from ASHN. Feel free to look around; I hope you decide to read regularly. Comics update M-F, and sometimes on Saturday.

For those not aware, a series of CCP guest comics have been posted to And Shine Heaven Now's comic site. These comics haven't been posted here before and won't be for a while, since they were made towards the end of the New Haven sessions. So go read them for some additional CCP goodness!

Site Update

I've updated the About page. It now includes quotes from the various emails I've received about the CCP. I thought it might be nice to share some of the good things other comic creators have had to say.

11/20 Workshop Preparation II

I've gone through several more archives, further increasing the amount of material I have to work with. I've been giving priority to comics whose creators expressed an interest in seeing the results of the CCP.

Additional omics whose archives I've gone through:

Annie
Dicebox
Emo
Jellaby
Rip & Teri
Templar, Arizona

I'm currently working on the archives of Seasons of Constancy, Flipside, and Lovarian Adventures.

I've also begun creating the blank templates I need as teaching material. Creating templates is relatively straight forward:

1. I crop the image to eliminate any excess white space. This allows the comic to print at maximum size, giving students more room to full in the bubbles.

2. I delete the text from all dialogue and thought bubbles and captions. This is where my tablet comes in handy, since it makes it easier to erase when the text is close to the bubble lines.

3. I erase any embedded dialogue. I generally choose comics that don't have much of this, but sometimes a comic will be so good I'm willing to deal with a little bit. I leave in sound effects.

4. I erase copyright and title info. This is to prevent the kids from trying to track down the originals, some of which aren't appropriate for the age group I teach.

Generally, I try to keep comics together by arc (something I didn't do very well when I first made templates). Since these workshops are only 2 hours each, I won't be using any long arcs, just short 2-3 comic mini-arcs.

Comics I've finished making templates of:

Chugworth Academy
Daisy is Dead
Fans!
Faking Life
Jellaby
Okashina Okashi
Tracy and Tristan

I'm currently working on Questionable Content, Shine, and Mac Hall. Saturnalia sent me hi-res comics, so I'll also be using those. I'm still waiting on hi-res comics from Goats, which Rosenberg promised.

Optimize Prime

I recently learned how to do macros (actions) in Photoshop. This allowed me to simplify several of the common command sets I've been using to make CCP comics.

One of the first things I did with the newfound efficiency: convert all the PNG's in the archives to indexed colors. This has cut the file sizes by more than half. So at long last, the site can finally be declared modem friendly, though some comics are still over 200 kB.

Blog to the Front

A redesign to the main page. Since the CCP Blog has many site updates, as well as some of the week-to-week going-ons of the project, I think it's worth spotlighting on the main page to make sure people notice it.

If you're seeing the blog for the first time, be sure to go through the archives. I've posted a lot about the New Haven sessions, workshops, and tournament, as well as about the work to get the CCP started in Pittsburgh.

CCP on The Webcomic List

The CCP comic site is now part of The Webcomic List. It's generated a fair bit of traffic for the site so far, which I appreciate. The site can't quite seem to break the 1000 rank, though.

I'll probably post to the TWC's forum later on when I have time, since it looks like they attract quite a few up and coming webcomic artists.

Edit: Spoke too soon. The comic recently hit #959. Not bad for a relatively minor site!

11/20 Workshop Preparation

I've slowly begun working on creating the materials I need for the 11/20 workshop. The very first step is both simple yet very time consuming: going through the archives of every participating comic and identifying comics that can be used.

My criteria for picking usable comics:

1. Large dialogue bubbles. Small bubbles are too hard for the kids to fill in, so I avoid them.

2. Little or no embedded text. By "embedded text" I mean anything outside of a bubble or caption. Sound effects are all right, but things like whispered dialogue and such can look bad.

3. Connected bubbles. I've found that bubbles that freely float and aren't connected to a character don't work well when emptied of text.

4. Content. Things like racy outfits or a character with an extended middle finger disqualify a comic from being used. I also select against alcohol consumption and smoking.

One thing that helps assemble comics for use is to be familiar with their archives ahead of time, i.e. go with comics you know. This is the tactic I used in New Haven. This time, I decided to branch out and ask some webcomics I hadn't read regularly, but which I knew through reputation.

Of the 60+ webcomics currently participating in the CCP, I've collected comics for use from:

And Shine Heaven Now
Applegeeks
Awkward Zombie
Chugworth Academy
Copper
Daisy is Dead
Faking Life
Fans!
Girl Genius
Goats
Hate Song
Krakow
Lil' Formers
Little Dee
Mac Hall
No Rest for the Wicked
Okashina Okashi
Penny & Aggie
Penny Arcade
Questionable Content
Shortpacked
Something Like Life
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Tea Club
Three Panel Soul
Tracy and Tristan
Tsunami Channel
xkcd

So I still have a ways to go before I start making templates. 2 months and counting!

SIte Updates

The Links page has been updated with current banners. The copyright notice has been expanded. Also, the FAQ now has a little info on the new workshops.

More Additions to the CCP

Several more comics have joined the CCP:

"Demonology 101," "Ice," and "Zombies Calling" by Faith Erin Hicks
"Flipside" by Brion Foulke

I need to take some time to count up all the new comics that have joined. I think I've more than doubled the number, though it could be as much as triple or quadruple at this rate.

Lovarian Adventures Joins the CCP

Lovarian Adventures by Geejay Fua has joined the CCP. It's a good fantasy webcomic, which helps me expand the selection of templates in that genre.

The CCP's New Location

A location to host the comic project has finally been found: the Human Service Center Corporation. The HSC is a community center that serves Turtle Creek, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The CCP will be part of the Youth Learning In a Fun Environment (LIFE) program which is aimed at elementary school kids.

The area itself was hard hit by the steel industry collapse of the 1970's. The directors told me that some of the people in this area are still unemployed from that period. A lot of the schools are in poor shape and many families only have a single parent. So there's a real need for extracurricular programs that can help kids.

I talked to the people there today and they are very interested in having the CCP there. They have dedicated classes of students I can instruct, ensuring a steady 15-20 kids every session. This is in contrast to the New Haven Public Library and Dixwell-Yale Community Learning Center where attendance was whoever showed up. Having a regular class I interact with will be very nice.

I'm going to work with them to have two workshops: one in November to celebrate the 1 year anniversary and another in December for the heck of it. Each will be with a different class of 15-20 students. The workshops will be designed to be similar and serve as an introduction, condensing the material of the regular sessions.

HSC has a special youth summer program that I'll work with in July and August 2008 that serves 150 kids; this will be when the weekly version of the CCP returns. I may even host a third Comic Making Tournament to wrap up the summer version. Then in September 2008 the normal Youth LIFE program begins again with 90-100 students. Weekly CCP sessions will continue.

The CCP Gets Nifty

A new comic has joined the CCP. But not just any. This is one of the largest webcomics on the Internet and the first one I ever knew existed: Sluggy Freelance.

I still remember when, in 1999, a friend of mine showed me a webcomic that had a rabbit wielding a switch-blade. It was different from any other comic I'd read at the time. It wouldn't be until 2001 that I started reading it regularly, but it's still the first webcomic I was ever exposed to. So I am very happy to have it on board, so that other kids can behold the nifty!

More Comics Welcomed to the CCP

Zacc has agreed to allow his comics to be used in the CCP: Animenifesto and Phoenix. I met Zacc many years ago when we posted on the same webcomic forum, so it's great to have him helping me with this.

Site Updates

A few updates to the website: the Links page now has links to all the webcomics that have signed on so far. The copyright notices on the bottom of the main page and links page have been updated, as well.

The About page has some new info: a link to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven's press release about giving the CCP and other projects money, and some links to where the CCP's been mentioned on the web, such as the "Daise is Dead"comic.

A Trio of New Comics for the CCP

Three new comics have joined the CCP:

"Templar, Arizona" by Spike
"Tea Club" by Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang
"Seasons of Constancy" by Bryan Wong

These and the others will all feature prominently in the coming workshops and CMT II.

Comic Making Tournament II: Planning Begins

This is the 100th post to the CCP blog. I hope it's provided useful information. I'm going to try and record the steps that go into making a tournament as they happen, unlike before when I waited until afterwards to write them down.

Right now, I know I have $1300 to use to fund the second CMT thanks to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. The bulk of this money will go to purchasing prizes for the tournament. Right now, I'll looking at getting mostly graphic novels based on webcomics, such as the Flight anthologies. I'm also looking at other webcomic merchandise like mugs and t-shirts (Questionable Content and Dr. McNinja in particular have excellent shirts).

Transportation will be an issue. Since I live in Pittsburgh, now, I may have to use some of the money to fly back to New Haven for the event. I am, however, looking into getting support by some University of Pittsburgh groups. That should maximize the funds I can invest into rewards for the kids.

At the first tournament, the two long-form events were not very well received, so I've decided to cut them. This will leave three events: Short-form Pre-drawn, Short-form Original, and Speed. I'll budget more time to each, allowing students to make more stand alone comics and to see how many they produce when motivated to go fast.

I'm also planning on unveiling a fourth event based on a CCP related project I've been working on for several weeks: a comic project game. The game is still in its early stages (I have yet to assemble all the materials, let alone playtest), but I hope that by the time fo the CMT it'll be ready to feature. The game itself will be worked in as a competitive event to take place after Speed.

CCP Anniversary Workshop

In case you're wondering why I'm acquiring all these new comics when the CCP has been on hiatus, it's because I'm preparing for upcoming events. One of these is an anniversary workshop that I'm planning for November 20, 2007. It's not precisely one year from the start, but close enough.

I've talked to the Carnegie Library people and will be working on finding a proper venue. Two of the libraries I approached (a branch near my home and the main branch) do not have any significant grade school population; they only have very young kids (toddlers) or older teens. The reason for the difficulty is demographics: while the New Haven Public Library had several elementary schools nearby, the two libraries I talked to apparently do not.

Fortunately, the librarians did tell me there's an interest for more programming. Once I fill out the volunteer application form and submit a summary of the CCP, they'll be working with me to find a library that has sufficient numbers of children for the CCP to run.

The librarians also suggested trying an alternate approach in case they can't help me: use the University of Pittsburgh's own community connections to reach out directly to schools. It's been a few years since I was last in a classroom as an instructor, but this might be a good approach based on Tycho and Gabe's experience.

Additionally, I'm hoping to run a second workshop the week of December 17, 2007 with a holiday theme. I'm also working on laying the groundwork for the second Comic Making Tournament in March.

More Comics for the CCP

Another set of comics have joined the CCP:

"Applegeeks" by Hawk and Ananth
"Stubble" and "Punks and Nerds" by Josh Mirman
"I Come From Mars", "Ghost Hunters", and "Vampire Overlords" by Eunice P.

Unfortunately, I also had my first "please do not use" letter. It was surprisingly from a comic done by an English teacher in Japan, so I had been expecting a positive reply. Fortunately, there have been more than enough positive responses to make up for the loss of one potential participant.

Another Group of Comics Joins the CCP

A lot more than just two webcomics have joined the CCP this time around. Several of these are big name webcomics, too.

"Piled Higher and Deeper" (aka PhD) by Jorge Cham
"Little Dee" by Chris Baldwin
"Annie" and "Emo" by Nate Lee (in addition to Faking Life)
"Jellaby" by Kean Soo
"Saturnalia" by Space Coyote

And there are still more to come!

Daisy is Dead CCP Tribute Comic

Image my surprise when I went to read today's installment of "Daisy is Dead" and found a comic paying tribute to the Create a Comic Project! Thanks!

Two by Two They Join the CCP

Another pair of huge names in webcomics have joined the CCP. The first is Kazu Kibuishi, the man behind Flight, who has granted me permission to use Copper and Clive & Cabbage in the CCP. The second is Jonathan Rosenberg of Goats fame.

To paraphrase Nietzsche: "What is happiness? The feeling that [content] increases!"

Another Pair of Comics Join

Two more comics have agreed to be part of the CCP:

"Awkward Zombie" by Katie Tiedrich
"Daisy is Dead" by Lindsay Smith

Still awaiting word on some of the larger webcomics I asked.

Links Page Updated

The CCP's Links page has been updated with links to all the comics that have joined so far. I'll be updating the copyright info blurb, as well, later on.

Dicebox Joins the CCP

Jenn Lee's Dicebox is the newest addition to the CCP roster.

This makes 13 new comics that have joined the CCP in the last month, ensuring I'll have plenty of new templates to use with my students this November and December.

Two More Comics Join

Two more comics have joined:

"Hate Song" by Fred Grisolm
"No Rest for the Wicked" by Andrea Peterson

Both present very unique art styles that I'm sure my students will enjoy. Peterson's take on fairy tales is especially attractive.

More Comics Join the CCP!

In a continuing wave of sign-ups, a several more comics have joined the CCP:

"Narbonic" and "Smithson" by Shaenon Garrity
"Nothing Nice to Say" and "The Coffee Achievers" by Mitch Clem

Given my love of mad scientists, it's great to have Narbonic on board. And Clem's work further expands the variety of art my students will be exposed to. With luck, there will be even more additions to announce in coming days!

Another Big Name Joins the CCP!

Phil Foglio have endorsed the CCP by offering the archives of Girl Genius for use in the CCP! With so many big names in webcomics lending a hand, I think the next CCP will be its greatest so far!

T. Campbell Approved!

I've long been a fan of T. Campbell's work. "Fans!" was among the first webcomics to catch my attention and I stuck with it until the end. Campbell himself is also one of the top luminaries in the field of webcomics, standing side-by-side with Scott McCloud in terms of general knowledge.

So it's with great pleasure that I can announce Campbell has given me permission to use his entire body of work in the CCP, including Fans!, Penny & Aggie, and Rip & Terri (I'd also use Divalicious!, but since that's technically owned by TokyoPop, I don't want to risk offending them).

No Pink Ponies Joins the CCP!

I've been working on getting more webcomics involved in the CCP before I launch it's third incarnation here in Pittsburgh. No Pink Ponies is the latest to agree to participate.

Lil' Formers Joins the CCP!

A new webcomic has granted me permission to use them in the CCP: Lil' Formers by Matt Moylan! I'll use his comics in my planned 1 year anniversary CCP one-shot, currently scheduled for sometime in December.

Comic Project ROC: October, November

The final two months have been added to the archives: October and November. After a wait of over 2 years, all of the original CCP comics are finally online.

Comic Project ROC: July, August, September

The theme of trios continues: July, August, and September have been added. There are now over 300 ROC comics in the archives. Only 2 more months remain.

Comic Project ROC: April, May, June

Another three month update to the ROC archives: April, May, and June. There are now a full year's worth of ROC comics.

Comic Project ROC: Janurary, February, and March

Three more months have been added to the CCP archives: January, February, and March. This has now doubled the total number of comics available.

Comic Making Tournament Part 4: Conclusion

This is the fourth part of a series on the CMT. Part 1 is here, part 2 is here, and part 3 is here.

Long-form Pre-drawn

By the end of the short-form original event, my time in the program room was over. So I moved everyone up to the Children's Library to use the activity room there. Jordan and Stephen had to leave at this point, which left four kids: Zenon, Sabir, Junee, and Esther.

For the long-form pre-drawn, I used multipage arcs from Krakow and QC. Esther decided not to participate due to the difficulty, leaving three contestants even.

Junee came in first, with Zenon second and Sabir third.

Long-form Original

The theme for this event was "gaining superpowers." I'd thought it would be simple, but Junee found it so difficult that she dropped from the event, leaving only Zenon and Sabir to compete. Both struggled, though Zenon was able to use her greater creativity to edge out Sabir to win the event.

Speed

Speed was the most fun of all the events! I had originally only allotted 20 minutes for it, but everyone enjoyed it so much that I allowed it to go on twice that long. All four - Zenon, Junee, Esther, and Sabir - participated.

One trick I use was a "quality multiplier," so that quantity would be multiplied by overall creativity in making the set of comics. This encouraged the kids to right more than "Hi" over and over again (even though this is what Zenon did to a large extent).

Sabir managed to win, even though he produced the fewest comics, by filling each out with quick jokes. Junee came in second, though several of hers were just lists of her friends and random words. Zenon was third, since she'd only written "Hi" on many of her comics, costing her the multiplier score. Esther quit halfway, so she came in fourth.

Awards

Even though Jordan and Stephen had to leave, they'd both earned prizes. I set aside several of the items for them. Their parents came by and picked them up.

The remaining four got the best prizes and were able to select them. The first step was to tally the point totals from the first four events to determine the overall winners (thus rewarding those who participated more). Then, awards were given to those who'd won first place in the five events, then second place, and then a round table distribution with everyone picking over what was left.

Thanks to her strong showing in three of the four events, Zenon won overall first place, with Sabir a close second and Junee third. All of them got a large number of gift certificates, plus books, comics, and other items.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the award ceremony. This is something I will remember with future CMT's.

Sessions vs. Workshops

(Note: Below is a post that I had intended to release back in June. However, I just found out that Blogger had kept it in draft form, so it never went online. I'm posting it publicly now.)

One of the advantages of doing the Create a Comic Project in two venues was that it gave me a chance to reach a broader population of kids, in turn giving me a better idea of how to craft the CCP to be appealing and informative. It's also interesting the differences between the two locations: the original CCP sessions at the New Haven library and the workshops at the Dixwell-Yale Community Learning Center.

I think the students in the workshops were generally older, probably due to the population being serviced by the DYCLC. The New Haven library mostly had events aimed at young kids (0-6 years), with the CCP being one of the few aimed at elementary kids. As a result, the kids who became aware of the CCP tended to be the slightly older siblings of very young children and usually weren't older than 12.

DYCLC was mainly geared to elementary and high school kids, so those who attended the workshops tended to be from that group. As a result, I had many more teens than I ever saw at the library. This was further caused by the presence of the High Meadow School, which is an educational facility for troubled teens.

Another difference is diversity: the library had a much more diverse population than the DYCLC. The key here was again the target population. The library serves the entire city, while DYCLC is intended mainly for the those in the Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven. The Dixwell neighborhood is predominantly African-American, so the students at the workshops were, as well. At the library, I arguably had equal numbers of Asian and African-American students, with a few whites and Hispanics.

Another difference was family involvement. Parents tended to accompany their children more often at the library than at the DYCLC. The library wasn't in walking distance of most schools, so students generally needed transportation from their parents to attend. Also, the Children's Room of the library generally encouraged parents to take part in all activities. The DYCLC, on the other hand, was more an extension of school itself. Parents tended to drop their kids off and let them go on their own. In general, children with their parents attending tended to perform better and focus more on the activity at hand.

The school a child attended seemed to matter more than either race or gender in terms of their grammatical skill. I noticed that children who attended normal public schools in New Haven did not write as well as those in New Haven's magnet schools or who were from public schools of other towns.

Comic Project ROC November & December

After a brief break while I worked on another CCP related project, the November and December ROC comics have been added to the archives. This finishes 2005.

Comic Making Tournament Part 3: Beginning

This is the third part in a series on the CMT. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here.

The day of the event, I went in an hour early to start setting things up. Two library volunteers had agreed to be judges: Brad and Lydia (you can see pictures of them in the Tournament Gallery). I gave them the judging forms so they could read up on scoring procedures.

Next, I organized the prizes. The Yale Bookstore dropped off their donations in the morning, so I added them to the pile. Prizes were split into large, medium, and small. Small prizes would be given to everyone, large prizes for the first place winners, and mediums for those who came in 2nd and 3rd.

I also ran some last minute photocopying, printing out template copies for the Speed event, and getting the themes ready in the Can of Inspiration. I then went into the Program Room, setting up the tables and chairs as needed, as well as my camera.

Warm-up

At 11 AM, when the tournament was supposed to start, only a few kids were there. So I handed out a few warm-up comics for them to work on as I waited for more people. This also gave a chance for the new kids to get used to using pre-drawn templates.

Introduction

For the opening intro to the Comic Making Tournament, you can view the video here. The tournament started with four kids, with more joining later on.

Short-form Pre-drawn

The first event had the lightest participation, with only four kids. One of the three was Jordan, a regular at the Dixwell-Yale Community Learning Center workshops. The other two - Sabir and Stephen - were new. The fourth, Michelle, bowed out after her mom realized she was too young and hadn't learned enough about sentences to compete.

I used Krakow, Penny Arcade, Rob and Elliot, SGVY, Shortpacked, and Something Like Life for templates.

In the end, Stephen came in first, earning a major prize, with Jordan second and Sabir third.

Short-form Original

This event had the highest level of participation, with six kids in all. Three more kids joined the remaining three at this point: Zenon, who had been with the CCP's main session since its beginning; Junee, who had come to the last DYCLC workshop; and Esther, Junee's younger sister.

Junee came in first, with Jordan and Zenon tied for second, and everyone else tied for third.

Comic Project ROC September & October

September and October 2005 Taiwan comics have been added to the archives. Check them out!

Comic Project ROC Update

Another month's worth of comics from the ROC version of the CCP have been added to the archives.

Create a Comic Project ROC

After a long delay, I have finally begun to add the comics from the very first CCP. While comics made here in the US have been labeled "Create a Comic Project," these are being grouped with the title "Create a Comic Project ROC" to denote their overseas origin.

These comics are backdated to begin in July 2005 and will run up to the previous starting point of November 2006. (I should've done this last month during the CCP's second anniversary, but oh well.)

I will be adding them a month at a time to the archives until they're complete. I've also included occasional commentary on the first CCP. The first month is all the CCP comics that have been posted elswhere (that is, Strange Candy). Following months will be new material, never seen before.

With this addition, I'm also considering improving the site's navigation, since simply clicking through the months doesn't seem adequate anymore.

Fanart Update

More fanart has been added to the Fanart Page. That's all of it for now.

FAQ Update

The FAQ has been updated. It now included questions about the tournament and some changes to other questions.

Comic Making Tournament Part 2: Structure

This is the second part of my multipart Comic Making Tournament series. Part 1 is here.

As I worked on collecting prizes, advertising, and other logistics, I also thought about the structure of the tournament itself. I needed events of varying difficulty to appeal to all ages, but simple enough to be run single handedly. I also wanted to make sure that both original and pre-drawn templates would be equally represented, so kids who liked one or the other could enjoy themselves.

In the end, I came up with five main events, plus three variants designed for groups:

1. Short-form Pre-drawn - The simplest. Individual students are given a handful of pre-drawn comics to fill out. Each comic is standalone and with content based on a theme drawn at random.

2. Short-form Original - Students are given one of each of the blank templates (2x2, 2x3, 2x4) and fill them out in turn. Each comic is given a different theme.

3. Long-form Pre-drawn - Students have to write several multipage story arcs using a group of related pre-drawn templates. Each different arc is given a theme.

4. Long-form Original - Using 2x3 blank templates, students create a single multipage story arc based on a given theme. The arcs can be as long as they want.

5. Speed - Kids are given a stack of pre-drawn templates and have to fill them out as quickly as possible. Quantity over quality!

Short-form pre-drawn and the two long-form events were also setup as group events, where a team of kids could compete against another team. In the end, no one registered as a team, so only the five main events took place.

With the events finalized, I also turned to how to judge them. I need a quantitative way for the judges to rank each student. I took inspiration from Iron Chef's scoring method. The criterion were:

1. Creativity, used for all five events. This was generally weighted more than spelling or art quality, to reward imagination even when skills were lacking.

2. Use of Topic, used for the first four.

3. Spelling and Grammar, used for the two Pre-drawn competitions. This was intended to encourage kids to use more than just simple words or sentences. I setup the scoring matrix so that a kid who attempted to write a lot but made mistakes would still get mroe points than someone who wrote perfectly but only a little.

4. Artistic quality, used for the two Original events. This was meant to differentiate between stick figures and finely drawn figures.

5. Quantity, used heavily only for Speed. Since the point of speed was to see how many comics a kid could create in a set time, this made sense.

Each criterion was given a point scale with precise definitions, to ensure uniform measuring by the judges.

I was anticipating a high number of students, so mechanisms to handle high turnout were put in place. Three-person/team tiers were to be used, with the winners of each tier then facing each other. This would allow multiple runnings of the same event to be held at once. And as the winners of a tier faced off, the others could continue on to the next event. Actual participation was small enough that these more complicated procedures didn't have to be implemented. But I'm keeping them in mind for future tournaments that may be larger.

Fanart Section

I've added a new section to the website: fanart. This fanart is largely generated by the Spamusement forum, where they started a "Make Your Own Comic" based on the CCP. I'm going to feature their work here as thanks.

Creative Commons License

Previously, the students' original comics were in the public domain. I've now changed that to a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. This will keep someone from selling the art and make sure the children are credited for their work.

Templates Update

Five more Strange Candy templates have been added to the Templates Page.

Comic Making Tournament Part 1: Planning

Finally, my multipart summary of the Comic Making Tournament begins.

The idea for the tournament came to me around March 2007, when I found out I'd have to move in the summer to a new city. I felt that the CCP had become big enough that it shouldn't just end. It deserved a finale of sorts, something entertaining and grand.

The basic concept was simple: a full day version of a Create a Comic Project session with kids competing against each other. It would be a way for them to demonstrate the skills they'd learned during the CCP and reward them for attending regularly. At the same time, it'd be open to everyone so that the whole community could enjoy it.

This presented the first issue with designing the tournament: how to convince kids to spend hours in a tournament. Simply earning bragging rights wouldn't be sufficient incentive in all likelihood. Prizes were the logical solution; to get them I turned to local businesses for help.

It still amazes me how readily the people I asked for help were willing to provide materials. The local comic book store - Alternate Universe - had already been helping advertise the CCP with a flier in their window. They quickly agreed to provide stuff for the kids come tournament time.

Next, I approached a used book store, the Book Trader Cafe. The owner gave me $50 worth of books and gift certificates on the spot. I was very pleased, to say the least!

The good fortunate continued, with over half of the companies I asked for help agreeing to provide me with things. This included the Yale Bookstore, New Haven Reads Book Bank, Hull's Art Supplies, and Yale University itself! Those who turned me down had down so because they'd already used up their charitable donation budget (basically, tax breaks only go so far in making it beneficial to donate stuff).

Still, in all, I'd managed to acquire enough prizes to suit the needs of the tournament. And all I'd had to do was ask.

With prizes secured, I then turned to the other logistical issues: location, timing, and advertising. Fortunately, the New Haven Library had a large Program Room able to hold dozens of people. I quickly reserved the room for use. For timing, I scheduled the tournament on the only Saturday between my graduation and moving.

Advertising did not go as smoothly. I created a flier and registration form for the tournament. These were then distributed to all my CCP students. However, a series of mishaps at the New Haven Library forced the cancellation of several CCP sessions, meaning I wasn't able to get the fliers to as many students as I was counting on.

Fortunately, the Dixwell-Yale Community Learning Center mailed the forms to their 300 member mailing list. Unfortunately, the DYCLC was also holding a very popular soap box derby on the same day, which drew away many of the students from that area. Additionally, summer soccer had begun, reducing the audience at the DYCLC workshops and further decreasing those who got the fliers.

Looking back I should have done more than count on fliers. A librarian had told me about a radio station aimed at New Haven youth. I should have taken the time to record an ad for them to get exposure via the airwaves. Also, I should've created a CCP mailing list for the main session, which would've allowed me to contact past participants about the CMT directly.

With future tournaments, I'll definitely work on correcting these shortcomings.

6/2 Tournament Photos Complete

The Tournament Picture Gallery is complete. Photos from the last two events have been added. Until the next tournament in March, the gallery won't be getting any more material.

Taiwan Photos

The Taiwan Picture Gallery had been updated with a few more photos of my students there.

6/2 Tournament and Taiwan Photos

The image galleries have been updated.

The Tournament Picture Gallery now has content! Pictures from the intro, the judges, and three of the events have been added. Two more events remain for upload.

There's a new Taiwan Picture Gallery that contains photos from the very first Create a Comic Project version that was held in the ROC. These pictures were taken before I had my digital camera, so I had to scan in the physical photos. Hence, poor quality.

What I'm Working On

For the last week or so I've been working on getting together material from the Create a Comic Project's very first run in Taiwan, ROC. I've scanned in the photos I have from that period (I was still using a film camera back then) and have gotten together the comics made.

My plan is to upload the comics starting at 2005 so they form a backend that fully fleshes out the archives. I'll also add the photos to the gallery soon.

And, yes, I'm horribly behind in my CMT summary. I'll get to it soon.

Grant Award

A couple weeks ago, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven awarded $1300 to me for the purpose of hosting another Comic Making Tournament. I had originally applied to them in March 2007 to get money for the first tournament, but I can use these funds for a second.

One condition is that the money has to be used in New Haven. So my current plan is to travel back to New Haven during spring break in March and hold the tournament then. So look forward to hearing more about the second CMT in the months to come.

Video Gallery Update

The Video Gallery has been updated with links to all the videos. This will likely be it's last update until new videos are taken.

5/30 and 5/31 Pictures

The Session Gallery and Workshop Gallery have been updated with pictures from their final meetings. Now only pictures from the CMT remain to be added.

6/2/07 Comic Making Tournament Videos 2

Three more videos of the CMT have been posted:

Video 1 - Short video of the fourth event, Long-form Original.

Video 2 - Short video of the fifth event, Speed.

Video 3 - Another short video of the fifth event.

These are the last CCP videos until I do another CCP event. Regrettably, no videos or pictures of the award ceremony were taken (I completely forgot, which was stupid of me).