On Saturday January 27th members of the online group Kids Comics Unite gathered together for an official in-person meet-up.
Amidst the socializing we also engaged in a casual comic-creating game which I call the Casual Comics Crafting Conundrum.
What you’ll need —
Paper: we used tabloid (11x17in.) paper folded in half; whatever you use make sure everyone is working on the same size and kind of paper.
Post-it notes: they can be small and are helpful for their ability to stick. Index cards can be cut in half and folded if necessary.
Art supplies: pencils, pens, color what ever the artists have available.
How to play
There’s no actual limit to how many can play but if there is a group larger than 6-7 play may go smoother if broken evenly up into groups of 4-6. Once participants are seated around their table or work-space with th above mentioned supplies hand a group leader begins the game by reading from the provided list of prompts. Participants aught to write their answers on an individual post-it note and affix it to the sheet before them. Then they pass that sheet to the participant to their right while receiving a new sheet (with a post-it not affixed to it) handed to them from the left. The group leader reads the next prompt, its answer written on a fresh post-it note and affixed onto that new sheet then passed to the right; again. The process is repeated with a new answer on a fresh post-it note affixed to the current sheet and passed to the right. This process stops just before the participant’s make a full circuit around the table, each participant’s initial sheet should end up in the hands of the participant to their left, each with a number of post-it notes equal to the number of participants involved.
The list of prompts which the group leader begin with a number. Preferably a single digit number as this will establish the comic’s panel count. If a participant opts for a double digit the recieving participants may opt for the first digit or the second. In the case of numbers 10 -12 the group leader my opt to provide an alternative panel count instead.
- Number (panel count)
- Noun
- Verb
- Noun
- Verb
- Adverb
- Noun – continue alternating with Verbs from this point onward.
Once each participant has received their sheet with a number of affixed post-it notes, phase 2 of comic creating begins. The group leader sets a specific amount of work time; 25-45 minutes. Each participant must use the provided sheet of paper to create a short comic using the specified number of panels and the provided post-it note prompts. After the allotted time has expired each participant may then present their comic, sharing the provided prompts and explaining their approach and intended goal with their comic. After presentations a free form conversation on intentions and techniques may also be had.
