Remix · Web Comic

Web Comic

Inform, explain, and entertain through illustration.

Comics are deliberate sequences of still images that, often combined with minimal text, tell a story. A webcomic is published online and can occupy any genre—from absurdist humor to folksy commonplaces to deeply political commentary. You can illustrate a scientific discovery, tell a personal story, or show how to do something with a web comic. In this project, you will create and share to the cloud a web comic you design using the web comic creation software Storyboard That.

Storyboard That

Web
Digital
Storytelling

Learning Goals

After you finish this activity you will be able to:

Tell a story in images with a clear beginning, middle, and end
Use visual language to convey meaning with symbols and other techniques
Use web comic software competently
Follow design conventions in creating a visual narrative
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Assignment Rubric

Instructions

Follow these steps to complete the project.

To track your progress, click each step as you finish.

Get inspired

An excellent first step in creating any media work is to examine exemplary works of the same type. Make a list for yourself of what makes these examples strong and inspiring.

Don't skip this step!

1	Peruse any or all of the links in the Get Inspired box.

Tame your tools

By growing your skills in the tools used in any project, you save yourself time and produce stronger work.

2	Peruse any or all of the tutorials in the Tame Your Tools box.

Create a folder to store project resources

When beginning a new media project, it's best to organize your resources in a single location.

3	Create a folder on your Desktop named something memorable, such as my-media-project. In this folder you'll organize all your resources for this project.
4	Create sub-folders in your project folder titled notes and images. You will use these folders to store research notes, and all project images, respectively.

Alternate File Storage
You may also organize your documents in cloud storage, such as Box or Google Drive.

Wireframe / sketch your comic

In this step, you'll create a very rough sketch of the story—noting for yourself the backgrounds, characters, action, and dialogue. Wire- or stick-figures are fine for this stage, as you'll be using the pre-made resources of the Storyboard That platform.

5	If you have not yet done so, view the tutorials on storytelling and layout by Mark Crilley in the Tame Your Tools box.
6	Download and print several copies of the Web Comic Storyboard Template. Use them to wireframe / sketch your comic: First, write your dialogue in speech bubbles inside each panel. Next, roughly sketch by hand your characters in specific poses. Note for yourself specific backgrounds, props, and actions the viewer will see. Note the movement of any directions with arrows.

7	Digitally scan your completed storyboard(s) and save the copies to your notes folder.

Create a new Storyboard That project

Now that you've done a first draft of your web comic by hand, you'll login to Storyboard That and begin creating the digital version of your web comic.

8	If you have not already done so, review the tutorial, Getting Started With Storyboard That.
9	Visit the Storyboard That website. To get started, simply click on the Create a Storyboard button.
10	Next, click on the Storyboard Layout button. Select your Cell Layout and Storyboard Layout options.

Set the backgrounds for your panels.

Now that you've chosen your web comic layout, you'll add backgrounds to each of your panels.

11	First, select a location from the Scenes tab.
12	Next, set your background image for any panel by clicking and dragging the image directly on top of the panel.
13	Now, customize your background image by clicking it. You may customize a range of attributes, such as changing the time-of-day, and removing elements of the image.

Add characters to your panels

14	Now, select a character from the Characters tab.
15	Add your character to a panel by clicking and dragging the character directly on top of the panel.
16	Now, customize your character by clicking it. You may customize a range of attributes, such as facial expressions, poses, clothing color, rotation, etc.

Add speech bubbles to your panels

17	Now, select a speech bubble from the Textables tab.
18	Add your speech bubble to a panel by clicking and dragging the bubble directly on top of the panel.
19	Now, customize your speech bubble by clicking it. You may customize a range of attributes, such as color, font, rotation, and various text effects.

Save your progress

Now that you have begun adding content to your panels, you'll need to save your progress. This will prompt you to login, or create an account, if you hadn't already done so.

× Save Regularly
Under the Free Account option, 'Autosave' is disabled. You should make sure to save regularly.

20	Click the Save button.
21	In the Save Dialogue that pops up click the Google button.
22	Enter the metadata for your web comic, including Title and Description

Share your web comic

In this step, you'll share your web comic with others. The Free Account does not allow cloud sharing, but you may print a paper copy, or print to a PDF to email to others or otherwise share online.