Create a Comic Project Music Video

I recently put together a little music video about the comic project. It mainly uses clips from New Haven with several from Pittsburgh thrown in. I also featured some clips that haven't been uploaded before, including one from the third tournament and from Otakon 2009. Enjoy!

Project Hiatus

The project's going on a short hiatus for now. I have a new school and a move to contend with. The site will continue to update with new comics, but this blog will be inactive for a bit.

The project will resume sometime in October, though. I've been invited to use the project as part of a math tutoring program in New York City.

7/1/09 Western YMCA Stats

Here are the stats from the 7/1 Western YMCA session.

11 year olds:

Comics collected: 157
Attendance: 16
Student efficiency: 9.81
Maximum possible: 128
Lesson efficiency: 1.23

12-14 year olds:

Comics collected: 251
Attendance: 20
Student efficiency: 12.55
Maximum possible: 140
Lesson efficiency: 1.79

10 year olds:

Comics collected: 374
Attendance: 16
Student efficiency: 23.38
Maximum possible: 112
Lesson efficiency: 3.34

The 10-year olds set a new record for most comics ever collected in a single session, beating the previous record of 373 set July 22, 2008, by the kids at the Collegiate YMCA.

Delays in Posting

This blog hasn't been updated in a while, as I've been busy moving. I'll post all the missing info once I get settled in.

6/25/09 Allegheny Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/25 Allegheny YMCA session.

8-9 year olds:

Comics collected: 86
Attendance: 6
Student efficiency: 14.33
Maximum possible: 42
Lesson efficiency: 2.05

10-11 year olds:

Comics collected: 127
Attendance: 7
Student efficiency: 18.14
Maximum possible: 49
Lesson efficiency: 2.59

6/24/09 Northland Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/24 Northland Library session.

Comics collected: 87
Attendance: 8
Student efficiency: 10.88
Maximum possible: 56
Lesson efficiency: 1.55

6/24/09 Western YMCA Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/24 Western YMCA session.

10 year olds

Comics collected: 244
Attendance: 10
Student efficiency: 24.40
Maximum possible: 90
Lesson efficiency: 2.71

The 10-year olds were the most productive group of children I've ever worked with. Their student efficiencies were some of the highest ever measured in comic project history.

11 year olds

Comics collected: 199
Attendance: 14
Student efficiency: 14.21
Maximum possible: 98
Lesson efficiency: 2.03

12-14 year olds

Comics collected: 218
Attendance: 18
Student efficiency: 12.11
Maximum possible: 144
Lesson efficiency: 1.51

6/24/09 Baierl Workshop Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/24 Baierl YMCA Workshop.

Comics collected: 39
Attendance: 19
Student efficiency: 2.05
Maximum possible: 19
Lesson efficiency: 2.05

6/22/09 Collegiate Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/22 Collegiate YMCA session.

10-13 year olds:

Comics collected: 144
Attendance: 13
Student efficiency: 11.08
Maximum possible: 52
Lesson efficiency: 2.77

6/18/09 Allegheny Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/18 Allegheny YMCA session.

9-10 year olds:

Comics collected: 94
Attendance: 9
Student efficiency: 10.44
Maximum possible: 81
Lesson efficiency: 1.16

11-12 year olds:

Comics collected: 124
Attendance: 10
Student efficiency: 12.4
Maximum possible: 90
Lesson efficiency: 1.38

6/17/09 Northland Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/17 Northland Library session.

Comics collected: 125
Attendance: 12
Student efficiency: 10.42
Maximum possible: 120
Lesson efficiency: 1.04

6/17/09 Western YMCA Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/17 Western YMCA session.

10 year olds:

Comics collected: 196
Attendance: 17
Student efficiency: 11.53
Maximum possible: 136
Lesson efficiency: 1.44

11 year olds:

Comics collected: 222
Attendance: 21
Student efficiency: 10.57
Maximum possible: 189
Lesson efficiency: 1.17

12-14 year olds:

Comics collected: 251
Attendance: 23
Student efficiency: 10.91
Maximum possible: 230
Lesson efficiency: 1.09

6/16/09 Collegiate YMCA Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/16 Collegiate YMCA session.

8-9 year olds:

Comics collected: 128
Attendance: 10
Student efficiency: 12.8
Maximum possible: 90
Lesson efficiency: 1.42

10-13 year olds:

Comics collected: 138
Attendance: 13
Student efficiency: 10.62
Maximum possible: 117
Lesson efficiency: 1.18

6/15/09 Collegiate YMCA Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/15 Collegiate YMCA session.

8-9 year olds:

Comics collected: 82
Attendance: 9
Student efficiency: 9.11
Maximum possible: 81
Lesson efficiency: 1.01

10-13 year olds:

Comics collected: 138
Attendance: 12
Student efficiency: 11.5
Maximum possible: 108
Lesson efficiency: 1.28

Three New Members!

Three new artists have lent their art to the comic project! They are:

Shawn Atkins, creator of Explores of the Unknown and Gello Apocalypse

Dawn Griffin, creator of Zorphbert and Fred

Chris Watkins, creator of Oodori Park

I'm glad to have them on board!

Otakon 2009 Workshop Info

I've received the times and locations of my workshops at Otakon. It turns out they want me to host the same session twice, so I was given two slots.

Title: "Make a Manga!"
Room: Workshop 2
Time 1: Friday, 4 - 6 PM
Time 2: Saturday, 12 - 2 PM

My co-hosts will include Erin Ptah (And Shine Heaven Now) and Kittyhawk (Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki).

There's room for as many as 150 people, so I'm going to be doing some major prep work for these. No info on when my panel will be yet.

Session Cancellations

A nasty cold has managed to knock me out for this week. As a result, the 6/29 & 6/30 Collegiate YMCA sessions, 7/1 Northland Library session, and 7/2 Allegheny YMCA sessions are all cancelled. I'm not canceling the 7/1 Western YMCA sessions because they're my hardest working group.

6/23/09 Session Postponed

Due to a change in the site's schedule, the 6/23 session at the Collegiate YMCA is tentatively scheduled to take place Thursday, 6/25, in the afternoon. This is a one time alteration.

6/22/09 Collegiate YMCA Session Report

As expected, the round robin writing activity went well. There were 13 kids in all, as I only had 1 group of the older kids. There were too few younger kids to have their own group, so I didn't work with them this time. Stats will be posted soon.

6/22/09 Collegiate YMCA Session

This session takes a break from the normal routine and has the kids doing a Round Robin Writing activity. The activity has kids only doing one panel of a comic, then passing it to the right for the next person to finish, and so on. The idea is to tell a story as a group. I've used it before with success and I think the kids will enjoy some group work.

6/10/09 Western YMCA Session Stats

Here are the stats from the three Western Area YMCA groups on 6/10.

10 year olds:

Comics collected: 248
Attendance: 12
Student efficiency: 20.67
Maximum possible: 108
Lesson efficiency: 2.30

11 year olds:

Comics collected: 170
Attendance: 14
Student efficiency: 12.14
Maximum possible: 140
Lesson efficiency: 1.21

12-14 year olds:

Comics collected: 217
Attendance: 16
Student efficiency: 13.56
Maximum possible: 160
Lesson efficiency: 1.36

These are phenomenal numbers, especially from the 10 year olds. The 11 year olds were the poorest performers, which agrees with their ambivalent attitude toward the project. The older and youngest children seemed to earnestly enjoy themselves, in comparison.

6/18/09 Allegheny YMCA Session Report

The 6/18 session went well. There were two groups: 8-9 and 10-12 year olds, with 9 and 10 kids in each, respectively. I may have made the difficulty a little high for them, so I'll ratchet that back next week. I also made contact with the Citipark's Roving Art Cart, who expressed interest in adding the comic project to their program. Hopefully I can find the time! I'll post stats soon.

6/19/09 People's Oakland Session Canceled

Due to the high probability of inclement weather, the 6/19 session at People's Oakland has been canceled. Most of the members will be staying home, so it's unlikely anyone would be there for it. Like Baierl, the first session will be next week.

6/18/09 Allegheny YMCA Session

The 6/18 session at Allegheny will focus on layouts. Unlike the other YMCA sessions, Allegheny uses a building owned by the Pittsburgh city parks instead of their own.

Comics used:

Annie
Diesel Sweeties
Geeks Next Door
Goats
Krakow
Nothing Nice to Say
Penny & Aggie
Scary Go Round
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Shortpacked
Tsunami Channel

6/17/09 Northland Library Session Report

The 6/17 Northland Library session was plagued by inclement weather: I had to drive through a severe thunderstorm on my way there, causing a delay to the beginning. Fortunately, 12 students were still waiting for me. I lead them through a simple layout activity. Unlike my other groups, most of the kids were artists, not writers. I'll be adjusting future lessons to work more on art and storytelling over comic mechanics and basics.

6/17/09 Western YMCA Session Report

The 6/17 Western YMCA session was even larger than anticipated! Originally, I was told to expect 15, 20, and 25 as the maximums for the three age groups. However, in this session, I had 17, 21, and 23 students, respectively. I'll be adjusting my preparations to account for these large numbers. The kids all enjoyed the activities; the younger kids adapted very well to the multi-page comics, so I'll be continuing that next week. I'll post stats soon.

6/17/09 Northland Library Session

The Northland Library will be with my oldest group to date: teenagers of 13-18. I'm going to start them out on layouts, see how they are, and then go from there.

Comics used:

Cool Cat Studio
Dicebox
Kastle Comics
Marilith
Narbonic
Octopus Pie
Path
Prophecy
Questionable Content
Skin Horse
Staccato
Unshelved
Verses Versus

6/17/09 Western YMCA Session

I've decided to do something unorthodox with the Western Area YMCA kids: instead of having all 3 groups on the same track, one of them (the 10 year olds) will be on a faster track then the other two. I'm doing this since the 10-year olds seem extremely capable and fond of the activity, so I want to push them harder than I would normally to see if I can get them to excel.

For the younger kids, I'm going to start them on personalities and multi-page stories, starting with tiny 2-3 page arcs. The other two will be covering word bubbles and symbolia.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Animenifesto
Awkward Zombie
Diesel Sweeties
Flipside
Geebas on Parade
Geist Panik
Hookie Dookie Panik
Jar
No Pink Ponies
Okashina Okashi
Paradox Lost
Piled Higher and Deeper
Questionable Content
Sketchies
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Sticky Floors
Tea Club
Tin
Venus Envy

6/16/09 Session Report

As with the 6/15 session, the kids were in two groups; I had 10 in one and 13 in the other. I altered the warm-up template set for the younger kids and this worked well. The main activity templates were still a bit difficult for them. The quantity was good for both groups, as slower kids could still finish them while faster kids would often complete 2 or 3 whole sets. Stats will be posted soon.

6/17/09 Baierl Session Canceled

The 6/15 Baierl session that was supposed to be tomorrow will be delayed to 6/22. They're currently understaffed and unable to accommodate the project. The other two at Western Area and Northland Library will proceed as planned.

6/16/09 Session

The 6/16 session will focus on Symbolia. As a fun activity, the kids will draw their own symbols and then have their neighbors use those symbols in their comics. This will help provide some increased between-student interaction that may get them more energized.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Dicebox
Ghost Hunters
Mac Hall
No Pink Ponies
Phoenix
Questionable Content
Shortpacked
School of Rejects
Zombies Calling

6/15/09 Session Report

The 6/15 Collegiate YMCA session went well. This time there were two sessions of different age groups; I had 9 in the first and 12 in the second. The first group was younger than planned (8-10 instead of 9-10) due to the low numbers this early on, so I'll need to adjust the difficulty in later sessions, especially in the type of warm-up templates I use.

Stats will be posted soon. As mentioned before, I can't take pictures or video of the children.

6/15/09 Session

The 6/15 session will be split into two groups at the Collegiate YMCA, similar to summer 2008. I'll be going over word bubbles, as I noted the kids struggled to identify special bubbles - especially spiky ones - as ones to fill in.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Jar
Kastle Comics
Lil' Mell
Mystic Revolution
Piled Higher and Deeper
School of Rejects
Sticky Floors

DJ Coffman Joins!

DJ Coffman, creator of comics such as Flobots and Hero by Night, has given me permission to use his comics in the program! He's a Pittsburgh resident, so this is yet another local artist I'll be partnering with.

6/12/09 Session Canceled

As expected, no one showed up to the after school program on the last day of school. The scheduled session was canceled. From here on in, it's summer time!

6/10/09 Western Area YMCA Session

The Western Area YMCA will be broken into three groups by age: 10, 11, and 12-14 year olds. Like the first Collegiate YMCA session, I'll be teaching them about layouts first as an easy introduction to the project.

Comics used:

8-Bit Theater
A Girl and Her Fed
And Shine Heaven Now
Annie
Applegeeks
Awkward Zombie
Chugworth Academy
Devil's Panties
Geebas on Parade
Goats
Hate Song
I Come From Mars
Jar
Mac Hall
Narbonic
Nothing Nice to Say
Piled Higher and Deeper
Planet Karen
Questionable Content
Seasons of Constancy
Simulated Comic Product
Sticky Floors
Stubble
Sugar Bits
Tea Club
Tsunami Channel
World of Orenda

6/8/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 6/8 summer camp session.

Comics collected: 119
Attendance: 10 + 3 kids who made a couple comics each = 10.6
Student efficiency: 11.23
Maximum possible: 106
Lesson efficiency: 1.12

A good start to the summer camp season! I hope these triple digit totals continue.

6/8/09 Session Report

The 6/8 session was only a single meeting with 10 kids. Normal sessions will be two groups of 10-15. The difficulty of the warm-up and activity were fine, but there may have been too many total. I'll try and shorten it in future lessons.

A couple of the kids were from last summer, but many were new, so it's a good thing I'm starting from the beginning. They seemed able to focus on the tasks with minimal acting up, so it's a good group. I'm looking forward to working with them.

Stats will be posted soon.

6/8/09 Session

The first session at the Collegiate YMCA Summer Camp is expected to have lower attendance than later sessions. According to those in charge, attendance will be lower than normal until around the 3rd or 4th week. I decided to start with a lesson on Layouts, since it's simple and not critical to later activities.

I won't be able to take pictures or videos of the kids this year. While last year all the parents signed photo release forms, this year many of them have decided not to allow pictures possibly out of increased privacy concerns.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Geebas on Parade
Ghost Hunters
I Come From Mars
Kastle Comics
Smithson
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Weirdling
World of Orenda
Zombies Calling

Summer Schedule Update

Here's the (so-far) final version of the comic project's summer schedule:

Monday & Tuesday, 1 - 3 PM - Collegiate YMCA Summer Camp
Wednesday, 9 - 10 AM - Baierl YMCA Summer Camp
Wednesday, 11 AM - 2 PM - Western Area YMCA
Wednesday, 3 - 4 PM - People's Oakland
Wednesday, 6:30 - 8 PM - Northland Library
Thursday, 9:30 - 11:30 AM - Allegheny YMCA

Wednesdays are the big day as you can see. This isn't the schedule for this week, as only Collegiate and Western Area YMCA's start this week. Next week the full schedule begins, though People's Oakland start date and time is still in the air.

5/29/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 5/29 session.

Comics collected: 24
Attendance: 3
Student efficiency: 8
Maximum possible: 30
Lesson efficiency: 0.80

Create a Comic Project at APHA 2009!

The comic project has earned another major academic opportunity: I've been invited to present not one but two presentations on the project at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 137th Annual Meeting!

The first will be a 30-minute roundtable focusing on picturevoice. This style is not only longer than the presentation at SOPHE, but will give me a greater chance to interact with my audience. The focus will be less on picturevoice as an educational tool and more how it can be used in the context of health research. Hand outs are encouraged, so I'm going to work on assembling a "picturevoice packet" people can take home with them. It will give them all the equipment they need to do a picturevoice project of their own.

The second is a normal 15-minute oral presentation focusing solely on Healthy Holidays. I'll use it to focus less on the theory and more on the practical applications of picturevoice/comicvoice.

Picturevoice and comicvoice are the theoretical underpinnings that enable my work with art to not only be a useful educational tool, but a powerful mode of research and data collection. The Create a Comic Project is but one of many possible applications of picturevoice and I'm grateful to have a chance to share my ideas with the broader academic community.

Create a Comic Project at SOPHE 2009!

In a significant move, the Create a Comic Project has earned its first invitation to a major academic conference: the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE) 60th Annual Meeting!

I'll be doing a 15 minute oral presentation on the concept of "picturevoice:" recording the thoughts and perspectives of individuals in a population using art. I'll be discussing two comic project events: the National Public Health Week April 2008 events and Healthy Holidays from December 2008. As the conference is geared to health education, I'll be focusing on the known educational benefits of the comic project.

The concept of "picturevoice" is an expansion on the idea of "photovoice," which relies solely on photography. Picturevoice can use any visual art, such as painting, though I've used it mainly with sequential art; I call this subset "comicvoice."

With any luck, this first introduction to the broader academic world may help the project expand its reach to education researchers across the country. I'm especially hoping to establish some collaborations with other educators.

Create a Comic Project at Otakon 2009!

The comic project will be holding a panel at Otakon this year! "Manga, Literacy, and Children" will be a panel/workshop demonstrating several of the project's techniques. This will be similar to the one I held at Tekkoshocon in April (and hopefully with better attendance). The exact date, time, and location are pending; more info when they notify me.

Comic Tournament IV

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has awarded the Create a Comic Project yet another small grant to support the Comic Tournament! This marks the third time they've done so. This means there will be a tournament in 2010, likely around mid-March.

For next year, I'm thinking of splitting the tournament into two Saturdays. This would allow for more time judging and for the events, solving many of the time issues of before. A benefit of being in NYC next year is that I can simply take a train to New Haven, making travel much easier.

5/29/09 Session Report

As with the 5/22 session, attendance was low. Two of my best students can no longer attend, one due to cost and the other due to having moved. The student who was suspended is also still out of school, leaving me with only one older child and one younger child. Fortunately, a younger one who hadn't been in attendance for a while came by today so I had 3 students instead of only 2.

I didn't take any pictures or video; stats will be posted soon. The last Sunnyside session in on 6/12, which may or may not have any attendance since it's the final day.

5/29/09 Session

Like the 5/22 session, the 5/29 session will focus on long form comics. This time I used a shorter 5-page arc to make it easier on the students.

Comics used:

Abandon
Awkward Zombie
Chugworth Academy
Dominic Deegan
Faking Life
Geebas
Goats
Matt Herms
Questionable Content
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Simulated Comic Product
Sluggy Freelance
Smithson
Sorcerers and Secretaries
TV Circuit
xkcd

Sunnyside Up

The school year is almost over and with it so ends the Collegiate YMCA's after school program at Sunnyside. There won't be a session on 6/5 due to me having to be out of state, so the last sessions will be 5/29 and 6/12. Both of these will focus on long-form comics to make things simple for the kids.

I'm currently working on my summer schedule. In addition to the Collegiate YMCA summer camp, I'll also be working at summer camps at several other locations. Once times are worked out I'll post it here.

5/22/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 5/23 session.

Comics collected: 31
Attendance: 2 + 1 half time student = 2.5
Student efficiency: 12.4
Maximum possible: 45
Lesson efficiency: 0.69

Based on this, I'll stick with shorter arcs for future lessons instead of long ones.

5/22/09 Session Report

The 5/22 session went all right, though it suffered from low attendance: only 3 kids. One child who hadn't attended for a while was there. Unfortunately, I found out one regular participant has moved and is no longer doing after school activities while another was suspended for fighting.

I didn't take any pictures or video this time. I'll post stats soon.

5/22/09 Session

The 5/22 session will focus on long form comics.

Comics used:

Blue and Blond
Flipside
Lil' Formers
Nothing Nice to Say
Planet Karen
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Seasons of Constancy

5/8/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 5/8 session:

Comics collected: 53
Attendance: 2 full time + 2 part time = 3
Student efficiency: 17.67
Maximum possible: 44 + 8 = 52
Lesson efficiency: 1.02

I was able to use a more precise weighting for the maximum possible since I kept closer track of who was given how many comics.

5/8/09 Session Report

After a long string of cancellations, I finally got a session to run! It's been 5 weeks since the last session, so I'm glad to have been back with the students.

4 students participated, though 2 dropped out halfway through. The two who were left, though, did very well: they both finished an entire story arc from Flipside each! That was more work than some of the older kids from the tournament were able to do. I was very impressed.

Pictures, stats, and video will be posted soon, I hope.

5/8/09 Session

The 5/8 session will focus on a long-form comic making exercise, with the kids creating multi-page stories. Since my students like stories focusing on girls, I chose Flipside for its emphasis on female protagonists, clear action, and low word bubble count per page.

Comics used:

Animenifesto
Blue and Blond
Devil's Panties
Flipside
Nothing Nice to Say
xkcd

I also used art from Robin Edwards and Raina Telgemeier.

4/24/09 Session Canceled

The 4/24 session was canceled due to time issues on my end. I'll be traveling on 5/1, so the next session won't be until 5/8.

I found out the 4/17 session had been canceled due to the others traveling to a YMCA conference of some sort.

4/17/09 Session Canceled

For unknown reasons, the YMCA After-school program for 4/17 was canceled. I'll be holding the lesson on the 24th instead.

1/23/09 Session Photos

Here are the pictures from the 1/23 session.

1/23/09 Session

Comic Project Sessions this Summer

I've been working on getting my summer schedule for the comic project done. I'm going to be working with multiple YMCA Summer Camps this year, including the Collegiate YMCA I did last year, and the Northland Library.

All of them are finalizing their summer schedules, so this is the optimal time for reaching out to them. Since I started so late in the summer with the Collegiate YMCA, they had to "shoe horn" me into the schedule, which lead to time issues. By being part of the schedule from the beginning, those issues shouldn't arise.

So far, my summer schedule looks like this:

Monday and Tuesday - Collegiate YMCA
Wednesday, 6:30 PM - 8 PM - Northland Library
Thursday mornings - Allegheny YMCA
Friday, 10 AM - 1 PM - Western Area YMCA

I'm not sure what time of day the Collegiate YMCA will allocate for me; Allegheny is working on exact times. I'm waiting for word from two other YMCA Summer Camps, who I'm hoping to schedule sometime on Wednesday and/or Thursday afternoons.

At Northland, I'll be working with a small group of teens (10-12 of them) . There are also plans for a workshop with a large group of teens (~50) on June 29th.

Current estimates for how many students I'll be working with vary. Collegiate YMCA and Allegheny will put me with two groups of ~20 each. Western Area has 3 groups of ~20 each. So I'm looking at 40 kids at two sites and 60 at the other, for 140 total, or 150 when you include Northland Library.

This should be a very fun time!

Michael Poe Joins!

This, for me, is a huge get for the comic project: Michael Poe, creator of Exploitation Now and Errant Story, has agreed to let me use his work for the comic project!

Exploitation Now was one of the first webcomics I ever read (alongside several others), so it'll be great to get to share that with my students. Of course, while it'll be easy to find usable images from Errant Story, I have to be more careful with Exploitation. It's called that with good reason!

Maq #041 Joins!

At Tekkoshocon, I got to meet Kim Samson, who drew the "drunken Sailor Moon" pic that's been across the Internet for a while. She's agreed to let me use her webcomic, Maq #041, for the project! I think the kids will like her art style.

(And, no, I'm not going to show them the drunk Sailor Moon pic.)

Tekkoshocon Workshop Stats

Here are the stats from the 4/4 Tekkoshocon Workshop:

Comics collected: 80
Attendance: 16
Student efficiency: 5
Maximum possible: 80
Lesson efficiency: 1.00

The maximum possible was based on an average number handed out. The five from the first hour got about 8 comics each, while those in the last half hour got 3 each.

Tekkoshocon Workshop Report

The Tekkoshocon workshop got mixed results. The key problem was location: Workshop 2 was in the Westin Hotel, far removed from the main convention itself. For example, the workshop before mine only had 1 attendee. I was also up against the Phoenix Wright mock trial, a major event, and lunch hour.

I was fortunate despite these issues: five people participated for the first hour, including two father-daughter pairs. Towards the last half hour, people began coming in early for the following workshop, a Pokemon DS tournament. I allowed them to get good seating in exchange for doing the activity. This got me 11 more people.

I didn't take any video, but I did take pictures. That and stats will be posted soon.

Some lessons learned:

1. The name "Manga and Community Service" isn't very good. I renamed it for my Otakon proposal, "Manga, Literacy, and Children," but that's probably not that good, either. I should play up the workshop's interactive nature.

2. I may have the workshop be a straight up comic creation workshop instead of a classroom simulation. There are enough young people going to cons that it could work.

3. I need to create better advertisements, something flashier.

3/27/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 3/27 session:

Comics collected: 36
Attendance: 2 plus two who only participated halfway = 3
Student efficiency: 12
Maximum possible: 39
Lesson efficiency: 0.92

As stated, this activity only works with kids with high writing skills. I won't use it again with this group, but I may use it in the future.

Tekkoshocon Workshop Setup

The Tekkoshocon workshop is structured as a classroom simulation, where I demo and share lessons learned from working with kids. I use templates left over from the tournament, so for a list of comics used see what I listed for each of the events. In addition to the warm-up, I'll demo the non-linear layout, character traits, long-form, and team racing activities.

Non-linear layout is where I have people assign numbers to the panels out of order and rewrite the comic accordingly. Characters traits has students assign names and personalities to the characters, so they avoid writing everyone the same. Long-form covers multi-page comics by going over outlining and the six questions (who, what, where, etc.). Team racing is a variation of Endurance: two teams try to go through a stack of comics as fast as they can.

4/3/09 Session Canceled

Turns out there's only a half day of school on 4/3, so there isn't any after school program. 4/10 is during their spring break, so no session then, either.

The next session will be on 4/17.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Quick Thoughts

The 3rd Annual Comic Making Tournament has come and gone! The event was an overall success, with some 20 students participating (several more than last year).

A full write-up will come later when I have time. For now, here are some quick notes:

- The Pre-Tournament event only had 3 participants. Based on this, it'll be scrapped for next year.

- The warm-up was too long, ruining the timing for the event and causing me to have to skip over Round Robin Onslaught at the end. It'll be shortened next time.

- I need to do a better job of getting some dedicated judges. Both the judges who volunteered to take part were no shows, making me to rely on an already over-burdened librarian. This causes significant delays in judging and award giving.

- I need to set up the judging area better. Putting it outside was a good move, but my choice of location was poor.

- Short form Pre-drawn can be extended, since everyone seems to finish it very fast and everyone generally likes it.

- I managed to collect satisfaction surveys this time. I'll post an analysis of it soon. Overall, the surveys were filled out well, so their formatting is good.

- Hybrid took too long and wasn't very popular. It'll be dropped entirely next time, with Round Robin Onslaught shorted to reflect this.

- Long form pre-drawn with only one comic for a story may be a bit limiting for some kids. I'll try a mixed form next time with different comics having to be woven together.

- For outreach, I'll be reaching out to principals of schools whose librarians I couldn't reach. I'll also set up a mailing list using the emails of participants from this year. A student has generously offered to help me get the word out to his high school classmates next year.

- I forgot to take pictures and video of the award ceremony this year. D'oh.

- The kids know A LOT more anime and manga this year than last, perhaps speaking to its increasing penetration into American culture. Even the relatively obscure Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was well known. I'll be adding more anime and manga prizes next year to reflect this.

- The music worked well. I'll just be making minor soundtrack changes for 2010.

Stats, pics, and video will be posted later, as well as a more detailed summary for each event.

Brat-Halla Joins!

A new comics has joined the Create a Comic Project: Brat-halla by Jeffrey Stevenson! This is the second Norse-themed comic to join the project, after Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki. I think the kids will like the art style.

3/27/09 Session Report

The repetition activity didn't go as well as planned. 4 students were there, but 1 had to leave early and another quit. It seems the activity is best suited only for groups with high writing skills. Students with lower end writing skills grow bored and give up. This suggests it's best used with older children (10 and up) who have greater imaginative potential.

No video was taken; pictures and stats will be posted soon.

3/27/09 Session

The 3/27 session will be a test of a new activity: repetition. It's where students get 5 copies of the same comic and have to write different dialogue for each. The goal is to make them picture different scenarios for the same art and stretch their imaginations.

Comics used:

A Girl and Her Fed
Animenefesto
Awkward Zombie
Devil's Panties
My Stupid Life
Piled Higher and Deeper
Prophesy of Destiny
Punks and Nerds
Scary Go Round
School of Rejects
Sugar Bits
Templar, AZ
Tin
Verses Versus
xkcd

3/20/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 3/20 session:

Comics collected: 44
Attendance: 4
Student efficiency: 11
Maximum possible: 44
Lesson efficiency: 1.00

Amazingly, after 8 rounds of the game, I managed to maintain perfect efficiency. This game is clearly effective at getting the students to create.

3/20/09 Session Report

The session went well! 4 kids took part. As before, the game was well received, so I think I'll keep this activity in mind for the future. I managed to play through 8 rounds this time. Pics, vids, and stats will be posted later.

YMCA Summer camps start in June. I'll be working with the Oakland camp again, though I'm also going to reach out to some of the others.

3/20/09 Session

The 3/20 session will be a repeat of the 3/6/09 session, since the kids really liked mixing Apples-to-Apples with the comics.

Comics used:

Daisy is Dead
Dreamland Chronicles
Freshman 15
I Come From Mars
No Rest for the Wicked
Paradox Lost
Punks and Nerds
Rob and Elliot
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Templar AZ
Venus Envy
You'll Have That

Tekkoshocon Workshop

I will be hosting a workshop at Tekkoshocon! I finally have details on date and time:

Name: Manga and Community Service
When: Saturday, April 4, 12:00 - 2:00 PM
Where: Workshop 2, in the Westin Hotel 2nd floor

I don't know how large the room is or how many people can attend, so get there on time if you want to take part. The workshop will be a classroom simulation with the audience taking the role of students.

3/6/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats for the 3/6 session. I was away from my main computer for a time, hence the delay.

Comics collected: 35
Attendance: 3
Student efficiency: 11.67
Maximum possible: 24
Lesson efficiency: 1.46

The efficiency may be a bit off for this. I calculated maximum possible by how many rounds of the Apples-to-Apples game were played. My estimate may be off.

Carmine Magazine Interview

Jami Lee Rosa of Carmine Magazine recently did an interview with me about the Create a Comic Project. Her magazine is oriented to the independent art scene. I was surprised and pleased to be considered part of that! Many thanks to her for taking an interest in my small little project.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Round Robin Onslaught

As a team event, Round Robin Onslaught is really 3 events in 1, only compressed for time and to encourage team work.

Comics used:

Abandon
A Girl and Her Fed
And Shine Heaven Now
Animenifesto
Blue and Blond
Boss Noodle
College Roomies From Hell
Comedity
Cool Cat Studio
Devil's Panties
Dinosaur Comics
Dis
Evil Diva
Faking Life
Geebas on Parade
Ghastly's Ghastly Comic
Hamlet
The Jar
Kastle Comics
Nothing Nice to Say
Octopus Pie
Okashina Okashi
Picatrix
PPG Doujin
Project C
Punks and Nerds
Reman Mythology
School of Rejects
Seasons of Constancy
Sorcerers and Secretaries
Stubble
Sugar Bits
Templar, AZ
Tsunami Channel
xkcd

Comic Making Tournament 3: Endurance

Endurance is the most popular of all the events and has been since the tournament began. This time I approached it by making discrete stacks of 30-45 each, 7 in all with different comics in each.

Comics used:

Almost all of them

One comic that had its first use in Endurance was some of Raina Telgemeier's work.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Long form Pre-drawn

The long form pre-drawn event is another stand-by of the tournament. There was no theme for it; I allowed the comics themselves to dictate it.

Comics used:

Afterlife Inc.
Cardboard Angel
Copper
Dr. McNinja
Ellsmere
Fans
Flipside
Ganbare Shimura-san
Girl Genius
Jellaby
Narbonic
Paradox Lost
Questionable Content
Red String
Saturnalia

Copper and Jellaby provided me a way to do a long form with younger kids.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Hybrid, Original, Non-linear

Hybrid, Original, and Non-linear are all recurring events from the second tournament. I used to call Original "short form original," but since it's the only event with blank templates I stopped using the distinction. Hybrid had students make 3 comics, original 5, and non-linear 3. I expanded non-linear this year by request and shrank hybrid.

Like short form pre-drawn, hybrid and original used themes.

Hybrid themes:

1. "It's over 9000!"
2. "One man's magic is another's engineering."
3. "I'm never going to let you down."

Of the three, only Hybrid uses templates with art on them.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Cool Cat Studio
Demonology 101
Dinosaur Comics
Fans
Ghastly's Ghastly Comic
Narbonic
Okashina Okashi
Punks and Nerds
Rob and Elliot
Shortpacked
Sluggy Freelance
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki

Original themes:

1. Meeting a historical figure
2. Being the wizard who did it
3. Unintended consequences
4. Living within your means
5. Leading a revolution against tyranny

Non-linear didn't have themes. Instead, I let the kids decide what to write about.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Short form Pre-drawn

Short form Pre-drawn has always been the first event of the tournament and is arguably the easiest. Each participant makes 5 stand alone comics based on themes. I lead with it due to the similarity to the warm-up.

The themes for this year have been chosen ahead of time, while in the past they were picked at random. Kids get to pick which comic to use for which theme making it easier on them. The themes are:

1. "Everybody lies."
2. "Are we having fun yet?"
3. "I reject your reality and substitute my own."
4. "Liberty is the source of all creative energy."
5. "Freedom is not defined by safety."

The first is from the TV show House. The second is the catch phrase of Zippy the Pinhead. The third is well known to Mythbusters fans. The last two are based on quotes from Congressman Ron Paul.

Comics used:

Awkward Zombie
Daisy is Dead
Dicebox
Dominic Deegan
Dreamland Chronicles
Freshman 15
Geeks Next Door
Geist Panik
Goats
Grim Tales From Down Below
Hookie Dookie Panik
I Come From Mars
Lil' Mell
My Stupid Life
Mystic Revolution
No Pink Ponies
Paradigm Shift
The Path
Piled Higher and Deeper
Prophesy of Destiny
Scary Go Round
Simulated Comic Product
Sketchies
Sluggy Freelance
Smithson
Something Like Life
Staccato
Sticky Floors
Tea Club
Templar, AZ
Tin
TV Circuit
Versus Verses

Comic Making Tournament 3: Warm-up

The tournament warm-up is intended to get the kids acclimated to creating comics. The goal is to help them get into a groove so they can finish the rest of the events in a timely manner. This year, I used a common pattern to the warm-up templates: 4 one-panels, a horizontal comic, a 2x2, a 2x3/2x4, and a full page strip.

Comics used:

8-Bit Theater
Annie
Applegeeks
Chaos Punks
Chugworth Academy
Diesel Sweeties
Ice
Kastle Comics
Krakow
Lil' Formers
Little Dee
Lovarian Adventures
Mac Hall
Marilith
Okashina Okashi
Penny Arcade
Planet Karen
Rob and Elliot
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Shortpacked
Skin Horse
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Tracy and Tristan
Tsunami Channel
Unshelved
Venus Envy
Weirdlings
World of Orenda
You'll Have That

Comic Making Tournament 3: Events

The 3rd Comic Making Tournament will soon be upon me. The tournament will have 7 events in all, not counting the pre-tournament event and warm-up. The events are:

Short form Pre-drawn

Students get a set of pages with art on them and blank word bubbles. They fill them in one at a time. There are themes for each one. Unlike the previous two tournaments, the themes have been chosen ahead of time (instead of randomly). Also, kids can match a comic to the theme: they pick which of the comics in their set they want to use for a given theme.

Hybrid

This one has pages with art and one or more blank panels. Each of the comics will have a theme. Like the first event, the themes are picked ahead of time and students decide what comics to use for them.

Original

Students will get 8 blank pages and draw from scratch. This is larger than previous versions, which used 4 or 5 pages.

Non-linear

Kids take a blank template sheet and paste individual panels to it in any given order. Last year, I tried this out with only 1 page. This year they'll do three each.

Long form Pre-drawn

Instead of single page comics, kids make story arcs. Last year, 5 page stories were too easy, as most of the kids finished in about half the time allotted. This year, I've made it more difficult. There'll be two arcs: a short warm-up arc and a longer main arc.

Endurance

As before, kids will get a set amount of time (about an hour this time) to do as many comics as they can.

Round Robin Onslaught

A brand new team event, based on the scrapped ideas for one in the first tournament. Kids will pair up and compete in team versions of three previous events: short form pre-drawn, hybrid, and long form pre-drawn. They'll have a fraction of the time to complete them, making cooperation important.

3/6/09 Session Report

The 3/6 session went well! 3 kids participated. The game was well understood and they all followed the rules without a hitch. I'll definitely make use of this activity again in the future. Stats, pics, and video will be posted soon.

3/6/09 Session

I'm going to try and run the Apples-to-Apples activity this time.

Sorry I haven't been posting much - preparation for the tournament, Tekkoshocon workshop, and National Public Health Week 2009 are all taking up my time.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Applegeeks
Demonology 101
Dreamland Chronicle
Ghost Hunters
I Come From Mars
Jellaby
Krakow
Mac Hall
Okashina Okashi
Shortpacked
Sluggy Freelance
Tea Club
Tsunami Channel
Zombies Calling

Comic Making Tournament 3: Pre-Tourney Event 2

Enough students signed up for the tournament that I made another packet for the pre-tournament event. It used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Chugworth Academy
Okashina Okashi
Shortpacked
Sluggy Freelance

I have ~25 students signed up for the tournament.

2/20/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 2/20 session:

Comics collected: 25
Attendance: 4 + 2 (5)
Student efficiency: 5
Maximum possible: 25
Lesson efficiency: 1.00

The candy help motivate the kids to make more comics.

2/20/09 Session Report

The 2/20 session started late, so I had to scrap plans concerning the game. Instead, it was a free writing session. 6 students participated, though 2 only stayed part of the time. Stats, pictures, and videos will be forthcoming.

There'll be no session on 2/27 due to an event I have to attend that conflicts. The next session will be on 3/6.

2/20/09 Session

The 2/20 session will try something new: I'll be mixing Apples to Apples with the comic project. How it works is simple:

1. Each kid gets 7 red cards (nouns).
2. I draw 3 green cards (adjectives).
3. Each kid is randomly "dealt" a comic.
4. They pick one of the green cards and one of their red cards and base their comic on it.
5. I pick which comic did the best job, they kid gets candy in return.
6. Wash, rinse, repeat!

I don't know if this will work, but the kids generally like competing against each other so it should go over well.

Comics used:

Applegeeks
Awkward Zombie
Demonology 101
Dreamland Chronicle
Ice
Mac Hall
Okashina Okashi
Penny & Aggie
Phoenix
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Saturnalia
Tea Club
World of Orenda

Plus many others I've picked at random from some of the unused templates.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Pre-Tourney Event

The first event of the third tournament is set before the tournament even begins! The Pre-Tournament Event is a special addition to the tournament that has contestants working at home to create comics that will later be judged at the tournament itself. With the registration deadline of Feb. 21 coming up, this event is almost ready to begin.

The Pre-Tournament Event has its own special grand prize, since it's far larger in time commitment than the normal events. The comics themselves are a mix of original and pre-drawn templates from multiple comics. I've stratified sets by age: young, middle, and teen. This helps balance the difficulty.

Young participants will create a 10 page comic, with 2 original pages and 8 pre-drawn. This lets them do 1 comic every 2 days between the event start and the beginning of the tournament. Middle participants create 20 pages comics with a 4/16 original/pre-drawn mix, translating to 1 a day. Teen participants get 32 pages of 8/24 original/pre-drawn.

Kids will turn in their work at the beginning of the tournament on March 14 so judges can go over it. Overall, I think this will really be a test of the participants' creativity.

Comics used:

Abandon
And Shine Heaven Now
Blue and Blond
Coffee Achiever
College Roomies From Hell
Comedity
Copper
Cosmobear
Demonology 101
Erstwhile
Geebas on Parade
Hate Song
Jellaby
Okashina Okashi
Penny & Aggie
Phineus
Phoenix
Reman Mythology
Seasons of Constancy
Snafu
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Zombies Calling

Smile Joins the CCP!

As I mentioned earlier, Raina agreed to lend her art to the project. However, she had to ask Scholastic if it was okay for me to use Smile, her main online comic. She got back to me recently and they've agreed! So Smile is now part of the project alongside her other works.

2/13/09 Session Cancelled

I've been feeling under the weather, so the 2/13 session was canceled. It'll be moved to 2/20.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Preparations 2

The fliers I made for the library and the schools have paid off. So far, 10 people have registered for the tournament. Since I set a deadline of the 21st, I expect this number to increase towards the deadline. The librarians at New Haven Public have been helping me by advertising the tournament when they visit schools, making kids aware.

A key advantage to registration is that it gives me an estimate of how many kids will show up in what age ranges so I can plan accordingly. I also ask them to specify which events they would like so I can gauge popularity. This has helped me when organizing the template groups for the seven main tournament events.

I've tied in a special pre-tournament event to registration. The event is a large-scale mixed form comic. Pre-drawn and blank templates will be sent to registrants with them having to combine them into a single story. To make it harder the pre-drawn templates are taken from different series requiring the kids to find ways to connect what appear to be disparate series.

Comic Making Tournament 3: Preparations

With a little over a month left until the third tournament (March 14, 2009), I've started determining which templates to use for the events. I'm also finishing off some of the remaining archive trawling and template creation.

Comics whose archives I've gone through:

Abandon
Evil Diva
Raina's site
Smithson
The Tempest

Comics I've made templates of:

Abandon
A Girl and Her Fed
Cardboard Angel
Dis
Evil Diva
Finders Keepers
Ganbare Shimura-san
Hamlet
The Path
Project C
Raina's short story comics
Smithson
TV Circuit

2/6/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats for the 2/6 session:

Comics collected: 23
Attendance: 3 + 1 (3.25)
Student efficiency: 7.08
Maximum possible: 26
Lesson efficiency: 0.88

Since one of the kids who attended took his comics home, I didn't count him with attendance. This also means the comics collected number is short by 2. The other child was given a quarter weight since he only made one comic for the sake of getting candy before having to leave.

The Tempest Joins the CCP!

A new comic, The Tempest, has joined the Create a Comic Project. It started in January 2009, making it the youngest member so far.

It's artist, Anne Moffa (a fellow Pittsburgh resident), is no stranger to the project - she created four unique templates that were published in Create a Comic Project #1. I'm glad to have her first foray into webcomics as part of the program.

2/6/09 Session Report

The 2/6 session went better than the 1/30 session. 3 kids attended, though two came in later. Candy proved a great motivator, so I will continue using it. I used it in two ways: as a prize for finishing the warm-up promptly and for each comic finished in the main lesson. The two kids who joined later found out about the "one comic, one candy" rule and made some to earn treats.

Unfortunately, one child took two of his comics with him, so the number I collected is a bit short. I'll post pictures, video, and stats soon.

2/6/09 Session

The 2/6 session will be a repeat of the 1/30 session using hybrids (though the warm-up comics will be different). Hopefully the weather doesn't interfere. I'm hoping to start using candy as a motivator for the lesson portion.

Comics used:

Applegeeks
Chaos Punks
Chugworth Academy
Dinosaur Comics
Dreamland
Flipside
Freshman 15
Ghost Hunters
Jellaby
Little Dee
Lovarian Adventures
Mac Hall
Okashina Okashi
Penny & Aggie
Phoenix
Rob and Elliot
Sticky Floors
Tea Club

Raina Telgemeier Joins the CCP!

Raina Telgemeier, best known for her work on Smile and the Baby-sitter's Club graphic novels, has agreed to let her comics be used for the comic project. Since Smile and Baby-sitter's Club are owned by Scholastic, we're awaiting word from her editors whether it's okay for me to use those. In the meantime, her other online works have been made available.

Raina does a lot of work with kids and comics, so it's great that she's helping out.

1/30/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats for the 1/30 session:

Comics collected: 21
Attendance: 2
Student efficiency: 10.5
Maximum possible: 16
Lesson efficiency: 1.31

Despite the low attendance, the two students managed to produce a large number of comics, so at least the day wasn't a total loss.

1/30/09 Session Report

The 1/30 session ran into problems due to the weather. Only 2 kids were there, so I didn't run the session as planned. I'll repeat it next week. I didn't take any videos, but stats and pictures will be posted soon.

1/30/09 Session

The 1/30 session will be another one with hybrids, since they proved so popular the first time.

Comics used:

Applegeeks
Dinosaur Comics
Dreamland Chronicles
Flipside
Freshman 15
Ice
Jellaby
Little Dee
Lovarian Adventures
Mac Hall
Okashina Okashi
Penny Arcade
Planet Karen
Questionable Content
Rob and Elliot
Sluggy Freelance
Tea Club
Zombies Calling

1/23/09 Session Stats

Here are the stats from the 1/23 session:

Comics collected: 39
Attendance: 5
Student efficiency: 7.8
Maximum possible: 40
Lesson efficiency: 0.975

1/23/09 Session Report

The 1/23 session went off with little trouble. 5 kids attended, which is the normal maximum. The kids really enjoyed the hybrid comics; I'll use them again soon with this group. Stats, pics, and videos will be posted soon.

1/23/09 Session

The 1/23 session is the same as the 1/16 session, since the 16th was canceled due the weather. I decided to skip the multi-comic lesson for now and instead moved on to hybrid comics - templates with blank panels that let the kids draw their own art. This is a way to ease them into making original comics.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Faking Life
Ghastly's Ghastly Comic
Ice
Little Dee
Lovarian Adventures
Mac Hall
Narbonic
Okashina Okashi
Penny & Aggie
Planet Karen
Resident Phreaks
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Sketchies
Something Like Life
Stubble
Tsunami Channel
World of Orenda

1/9/09 Videos

There were only 2 videos from the 1/9 session.

1/9 Video 1



1/9 Video 2

1/16/09 Session Canceled

All Pittsburgh schools have been closed tomorrow due to the weather. Temperatures are in the low single digits with minus 20 wind chills, making it dangerous for kids. The 1/16 session is canceled, so I'll reuse it for 1/23.

Create a Comic Project @ Tekkoshocon 2009!

Excellent news: the Create a Comic Project will be hosting a workshop at Tekkoshocon 2009! The person in charge of panels has confirmed my approval.

The workshop will be a "classroom simulation:" participants will be students who I lead through a mock project session. The goal is to demonstrate some of the teaching techniques I use in the project so others can use them in their own volunteer efforts. Since Tekkoshocon is an anime con, I'll be focusing mainly on manga-style comics.

This will be my first con demo. I imagine I'll have some difficulties at first, but it'll help me bring the project to other cons like Otakon, Anime USA, Connecticon, and others.

Details on workshop scheduling will come in March. I'm hoping to get ~2 hours on a Saturday afternoon.

1/9/09 Pictures

Pictures from the 1/9 session have been uploaded.

1/9/09 Session

1/9/09 Session Stats

These are the stats from the 1/9 session.

Comics collected: 19
Attendance: 4
Student efficiency: 4.75
Maximum possible: 16
Lesson efficiency: 1.19

Under the original lesson plan, the max possible would've been 36, with 9 comics handed out to each student. Since only the warm-up was completed, I modified this to reflect that only 4 comics were given to each student.

1/9/09 Session Report

The 1/9 session was disrupted by the weather. Due to the snow, parents arrived earlier than normal to pick up their kids (4 in all). Students barely had time to finish the warm-up before they had to go. I'm also rethinking the activity's design - I may start them with 2-3 page story arcs and then build them into 5 pages.

I'm debating whether to move on to the next lesson or try again next week. Pictures, video, and stats will be posted soon.

1/9/09 Session

The 1/9 session will be a repeat of a previous one with multi-comic story arcs. It didn't too well last time, so I'm hoping the kids are in a better mood this time.

Comics used:

And Shine Heaven Now
Dicebox
Faking Life
Fans
Flipside
Hate Song
Kastle Comics
Krakow
Lil' Formers
Marilith
My Stupid Life
Narbonic
Nothing Nice to Say
Okashina Okashi
Planet Karen
Questionable Content
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Saturnalia
Unshelved
You'll Have That
Zombies Calling

12/19/08 Pictures

Pictures from the 12/19 session have been uploaded. At long last I'm now caught up on all the photos.

12/19/08 Session

12/12/08 Pictures

Pictures from the 12/12 session have been uploaded.

12/12/08 Session