10/22/08 Videos

There were 3 videos from the 10/22 session, the latter two being very short.

10/22 Video 1


10/22 Video 2


10/22 Video 3

Picatrix Joins!

Picatrix by J. L. Haram, aka Kimaris, has joined the comic project! Like Kastle Comics, I happened upon the comic randomly through the ComicGenesis ad box. The art is done in a shoujo manga style that girls respond well to, which is why I'm interested in using it.

The System Joins!

The System by Rosscott has joined the comic project! Instead of using blanks, he sent me the Photoshop file with all the symbols he uses so I can craft my own. It'll be great when combined with In His Likeness to teach kids about the function of symbols and meaning.

10/22/08 Session Stats

Here are the stats for the 10/22 session:

Comics collected: 16
Attendance: 2
Student efficiency: 8
Maximum possible: 16
Lesson efficiency: 1.00

I find it funny that even as attendance drops, the efficiency increases. Still, I need to find more students or my time at the YMCA may be cut short.

10/22/08 Session Report

The 10/22 session went well, despite being attended by only 2 kids. The election comics were a big hit, with most of them coming from David Willis. Biggest news to come from the session: a reporter and photographer from Pitt News were there covering the event. A news article on the CCP should appear tomorrow or Friday. Statistics will be posted soon.

It was fun listening to the kids discuss politics (unfortunately I didn't get any video of it). The funnier lines involved them trying to remember the candidates' names. They all knew Obama well, but McCain, Biden, and Palin were another matter. Biden they didn't know at all, while one of them thought it was John McClinton. With one of the Shortpacked comics, a student thought Palin looked like Hillary Duff. This led her to think her name was "Hillary Palin." They thought Palin was Obama's running mate, since they assumed the two old guys would run together. I blame it all on Willis.

With only 2 kids, both of whom left early, not all the comics I had could be completed. I'm going to be looking into other venues to do in conjunction with the YMCA, since at this rate I won't be able to do anything there. Pictures and video will be posted soon.

10/22/08 Session

The 10/22 session will be a special one: Election themed! Students will write about both major party candidates and issues they know about. I'd like to expand it to third party candidates, but time limitations make that unfeasible.

One trick is that students will have to write one good thing about both candidates before they make fun of them. That'll help make sure they avoid the trap of demonizing the other side which is all too common today. I'm also hoping I can steer them away from any of the loony conspiracy stuff I've seen getting passed around, like Greg Palast's comic (and they said Ron Paul supporters were crazy).

Overall, there'll be more art of Palin featured than anyone else, since more people have drawn comics of her than Obama, Biden, or McCain. I'm hoping my students have been watching Tina Fey so they can come up with some good natured Palin jokes.

Comics being used:

Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Mac Hall
Okashina Okashi
Phineus
Simulated Comic Product
Shortpacked
Tea Club
Templar, AZ

Shortpacked will be featured heavily thanks to Willis's recent week long story arc focusing on Sarah Palin, as well as a couple previous political cartoons with Obama. SCP is going to be used earlier than planned so I can make use of Kevin's recent inauguration comic.

10/15/08 Session Stats

Here are the stats for the 10/15 session.

Comics collected: 25
Attendance: 4
Student efficiency: 6.25
Maximum possible: 28
Lesson efficiency: 0.89

Despite the lower attendance, the efficiency was higher than in the last two lessons. This suggests that the four girls are doing a much better job at finishing the comics I give them, probably owing to their older average age.

Post-Otakon Template Progress 4

I've gone through more archives and started making templates.

Comics whose archives I've gone through:

Cardboard Angel
Dominic Deegan
Ganbare! Shimura-san
Kevin & Kell
Octopus Pie
Prophesy of Destiny
Simulated Comic Product
TV Circuit

Comics I've made templates from:

Comedity
Geist Panik
Hookie Dookie Panik
Simulated Comic Product

I also made some from Matt Herms' art, though not from Sticky Floors yet. I'm focusing on color comics first while I still have access to a free color printer.

10/15/08 Videos

There were two videos from the 10/15 session. With only 4 kids, this seemed like all that was needed.

10/15 Video 1




10/15 Video 2

Simulated Comic Product Joins!

Kevin Forbes has given his blessing for me to use Simulated Comic Product in the CCP! Like Octopus Pie, SCP is licensed under the Creative Commons that allows derivative work. I still like to ask for permission, though, since it lets the creators know how their work is being used.

Gallery Update

The Misc. Gallery has been updated. I've added two new panorama photos that show the room the CCP used for the YMCA summer camp sessions and is using currently for the YMCA after school sessions.

I'm behind on getting pictures added to the session gallery, but that will have to wait a little longer.

10/15/08 Session Report

The 10/15 session went as planned (thankfully). Only 4 children were in attendance. Another after school program started by the school is apparently siphoning off kids. Fridays are when most of the YMCA kids are there, but I can't attend that day due to class.

The good news is that I managed to do the lesson - Captions - fairly well. The four kids were older, so they had better attention spans and vocabularies. Popular comics included Dreamland Chronicles and Scary Go Round. I'll have numbers later. Pictures and videos will be posted soon.

Given the consistent low numbers, I think I'm going to reduce the number of templates still further from 3 groups to 2. I'm also thinking of cutting down on the warm-up, since more of the students seem to be leaving around 4:50 PM, only 20 minutes into the program.

Octopus Pie Joins!

Meredith Gran has given her blessing to letting me use Octopus Pie for the comic project! It marks a first since I used the CCP's Twitter account to ask rather than the normal email route. I think I'll use Twitter for this kind of thing more often.

I'll be going through the archives shortly and will use it with the other post-Otakon comics in a bit.

CMT 3 Fliers 2

I made two more fliers for the third tournament. Unlike the first five, these mainly rely on fanart of various series. The goal is to catch the attention of children in schools, which is where these two will be sent.



Naruto, Bleach, and Avatar are very popular in the age ranges I'm aiming for. I also included Haruhi, Code Geass, and Sailor Moon with a little Kingdom Hearts on the chance that older kids may recognize the titles. Credit goes to Sora-ko, Johane Matte, Jeffrey Anderson, and John Su for most of the art used.

Gallery Update

The Misc. Gallery has been updated with the five new fliers.

I've decided I'll use these five strictly for advertising in the New Haven Public Library Main branch. For schools, I'm going to go with the fanart artists have let me use, since that'll be more likely to draw the attention of kids. I'm working on two more fliers with this in mind and will post them soon.

CMT 3 Fliers

I had some spare time the other day, so I decided to finally put together some fliers for the Comic Making Tournament III. There are five currently, each using images from templates. Once I create templates from the new comics, I'll make a couple more fliers using them.


Comics used: Three Panel Soul, And Shine Heaven Now, Hate Song, and CCP #2.


Comics used: xkcd, SGVY, Questionable Content, And Shine Heaven Now, and CCP Presents: Climate Change.


Comics used: Okashina Okashi, Krakow, Diesel Sweeties, Dinosaur Comics, Chugworth Academy, and And Shine Heaven Now.


Comics used: Kastle Comics, Planet Karen, CCP #2, Zombies Calling, and Sketchies.


Comics used: Versus Verses, Paradigm Shift, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, and the CCP #1 cover.

Each of these is meant to be printed out as part of a double sided handout. The other side will have info on the events, what to expect, etc. I think this will help things run smoother. I'll add these fliers to the Misc. Gallery soon.

About Page Update

I gave a few quick updates to the About page. I added a link to a recent Fleen article, updated the CCP's status, and added a couple quotes from the comic makers who joined recently.

10/8/08 Session Canceled

Today was a half-day of school for everyone in Pittsburgh, so all after school programs like the CCP had to be canceled. It's been rescheduled for next week, 10/15.

Post-Otakon Template Progress 3

I finished off several more comics, including many of the "short archive" comics - comics that are either on hiatus or that just started.

Blue & Blond
Dis
Erstwhile
Hamlet
Mystic Revolution
The Path
Project C
School of Rejects
Sticky Floors
Sugar Bits

Dominic Deegan, Kevin & Kell, and Robin Edwards' comics are the main ones left.

Post-Otakon Template Progress 2

Managed to knock out several more archives:

Comedity
Devil's Panties
Fork You
Geebas on Parade
Geist Panik
Hookie Dookie Panik
Paradox Lost
Red String
Reman Mythology
Staccato

I haven't had time to make templates from them yet, though. I also need to go back and get more from Mystic Revolution and Paradigm Shift. Sticky Floors and Sugar Bits are high on the list to go through next so I can get all the comics on the Snafu site. I also want to get Dominic Deegan and Kevin & Kell soon.

Post-Otakon Template Progress

I had a lot of comics join post-Otakon and I have yet to use any in the project. Due to my busy schedule I haven't been able to get through the archives of many of the new additions. I have made some progress, though.

Comics whose archives I've gone through:

Grim Tales From Down Below
Mystic Revolution
PPG Doujin
Snafu
Tin

I've also grabbed a little bit from Gina Biggs and Matt Herms, but I still need to get more.

Comics with templates made:

Afterlife Inc.
Ellsmere
Geeks Next Door
The Jar
Paradigm Shift
Witch Girl Pilar's work

Once I get a good batch of these new comics as templates, I'm going to transition to them for a little in the sessions and let the others rest, though some mainstays (SMBC, OO, ASHN) will continue to be used.

10/8/08 Session

For the 10/8 session, I'm going to continue on past panels and onto captions, which is something kids always forget. I have another activity I can do with panels, but I'm going to save it for later in case I'm pressed for time since it's easy to setup.

Comics used:

Annie
And Shine Heaven Now
Awkward Zombie
Coolcat Studio
Dinosaur Comics
Dreamland Chronicles
Ghost Hunters
Mac Hall
Marilith
No Rest for the Wicked
Planet Karen
Rob and Elliot
Scary Go Round
Sorcerers and Secretaries
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Templar, AZ
Tsunami Channel

9/24/08 Videos

There were four videos taken of the 9/24 session. An improvement in my video taking skills over the previous ones. Unfortunately, my camera's LCD display is behaving oddly, so I may need to take it in to be fixed soon.

9/24 Video 1



9/24 Video 2



9/24 Video 3



9/24 Video 4

9/24/08 Session Templates

Just realized I forgot to post what comics I used in the 9/24 Session.

Comics used:

Annie
And Shine Heaven Now
Cosmobear
Demonology 101
Ice
My Stupid Life
Planet Karen
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Unshelved
Weirdlings

With the reduced number of students, I've been trimming back on the number of templates used. Since I'll have more sessions with this group overall, the numbers should balance out.