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.