Category Archives: comics

Inspired by all the remixing of Garfield comics, and the back page Caption Contest of the New Yorker magazine, I decided yesterday to remove the dialogue from one of my own webcomics for our Make Cycle around hacking writing for the Making Learning Connected MOOC, and open it up to people to add their own. Call it community hacking.

First, I used this comic, which is part of a series I am doing for the CLMOOC:

Then, I edited a version in Flickr with the Aviary tool, removing all of the dialogue except for the last line, where the father thinks, “Hack writing?” It made sense to keep this as a sort of “punchline” that everyone could build the comic around.

I then went into Google Forms (part of Google Drive) and created a very simple form that people could fill out, and added the blank comic as the image. I sent out the links to the form through our CLMOOC network, inviting people to hack my comic, and they did. As dialogue got submitted, I used Aviary again to layer in text and publish the comics, which I then shared out during the day.

Here is what I got (if text is small, you might need to click on image to get the comic larger):

I’d be remiss not to mention that my friend, Terry, went a step further and created this very fun Dance Party remix with the comic. Love it.

How about you? You can add your own lines to my comic, and then I will publish it.

Peace (in the hack frame),
Kevin

All summer, as part of the Making Learning Connected MOOC, I’ve been dabbling with an comic maker on my app called Rosie (although she has only appeared a few times … I’ve been using other minor characters). This week’s Make Cycle is all about hacking your writing, so I created this comic:

But I wanted to hack the comic, too, to do something to make it different by laying meaning on top of it. It’s a bit too difficult (although not impossible) to hack the actual comic — I could have emptied out the dialogue boxes, I suppose (which is now sparking an idea for CLMOOC … sort of like that Garfield Minus Garfield site where they remove Garfield, leaving Jon, the man, looking like he is losing his mind. And it turns out there are other variations of the Garfield remix. And then there is the random Garfield generator. And look at this — Square Root Garfield, where people send in ideas to be created. What is with the Garfield remix focus?)

Anyway, I took my original comic and moved it into another comic maker, and added some snarky commenting from another set of comic characters (well, me, as in my avatar), giving it a sort of meta-comic look.

Does it work as a comic? I suppose. As a writing hack? Yeah, it does. I think.

Peace (in the frames),
Kevin

The first Twitter Chat for Making Learning Connected MOOC happens tonight at 7 p.m. est with the #clmooc hashtag. Never participated in a chat before? Well, it’s pretty wild and can get confusing for newcomers. Dave Quinn (@eduquinn) started up a collaborative ThingLink project to share out information on how to participate in a chat and I added this comic.

See you on the web!
Peace (in the flow),
Kevin

The Making Learning Connected MOOC (CLMOOC) is anchored on the idea of Make Cycles, which are activities sponsored by a handful of writing project sites and affiliated groups. The very first Make Cycle will launch later today (look for it as a newsletter in your email box) and there will be descriptions of what the Make Cycle looks like. There is a solid overview at the CLMOOC website worth reading.

Here is my own webcomic explanation of what that means, as told in comic form (modified a bit from last year):

As with everything CLMOOC-connected, what you make of any particular Make Cycle will be completely up to you, but we hope you dive in and make some cool things happen this summer.

Peace (in the Make),
Kevin

Working on a new comic to start the first official day of the Making Learning Connected Massive Open Online Collaboration.
Monday marks the very first Make Cycle, in which folks are invited to make cool things and share out. This weekend, it’s time to say hello and get situated in the various spaces that make up an open learning space. You come, too. Sign up and jump in when you can. No pressures on making. Lurking is welcome.

Me?
I made a comic.

Peace (in the frame),
Kevin

I’m checking out a comic creator app called Rosie Comic Maker, which I want to use this summer for periodic looks at the Making Learning Connected MOOC. Rosie, the app, costs two bucks (I think), and there are limitations around poses and expressions. But I think there might be enough for me to play with. (I suspect Rosie has some other connections to television or something but I am out of the loop. I just like the cartoony feel to the comic maker)

Here are my first three comics:

Peace (in frames),
Kevin