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.