Welcome to the Made Collaborative Virtual Studio! Virtual Studio you ask? Yes, that’s right. The Made Collaborative Virtual Studio. Just a little something we created to help facilitate the further collaboration with youth in the development of our comic, The Back of the Yards, which itself was created as a product of early in-person collaborations with participating youth in the West Side of Chicago.

Now, as you may or may not know, this project didn’t even start out as a comic project, much less a “virtual studio.” No, in fact, this project started in 2013 as a modest community project intended to connect artists with youth to collaborate to promote creative thought. That simple premise then evolved into a comic project based on the interests and initial creative ideas of those first participating youth in the West Side of Chicago.

It was great that we were able to ultimately develop a comic based on these initial collaborative youth sessions and ideas, but on the flip side, these initial in-person collaborations took time. A lot of time. And a high degree of coordination between after school programs, youth and our own day jobs. With that in mind, we wanted to try to figure out how to scale this modest grass roots project up even further so that we could more effectively enable collaborations with other after school programs and youth, and continue to develop comics. Our solution? … To try to bring some of these basic collaborative concepts into the virtual realm.

The Studio Hyperdoc

Welcome to the Made Collaborative Virtual Studio! Virtual Studio you ask? Yes, that’s right. The Made Collaborative Virtual Studio. Just a little something we created to help facilitate the further collaboration with youth in the development of our comic, The Back of the Yards, which itself was created as a product of early in-person collaborations with participating youth in the West Side of Chicago.

Now, as you may or may not know, this project didn’t even start out as a comic project, much less a “virtual studio.” No, in fact, this project started in 2013 as a modest community project intended to connect artists with youth to collaborate to promote creative thought. That simple premise then evolved into a comic project based on the interests and initial creative ideas of those first participating youth in the West Side of Chicago.

It was great that we were able to ultimately develop a comic based on these initial collaborative youth sessions and ideas, but on the flip side, these initial in-person collaborations took time. A lot of time. And a high degree of coordination between after school programs, youth and our own day jobs. With that in mind, we wanted to try to figure out how to scale this modest grass roots project up even further so that we could more effectively enable collaborations with other after school programs and youth, and continue to develop comics. Our solution? … To try to bring some of these basic collaborative concepts into the virtual realm.

The Hero

Motto:
“I will achieve my goal.”
The Hero is the one the story is usually about. Some modern narratives have attempted to subvert this eternal expectation by featuring a villain or even side characters as the story’s main character. But even these “exceptions” must embrace a protagonist, and, practically speaking, a protagonist and the “Hero” are pretty much the same things. The Hero is the central figure of the story’s action and drama. The Hero has a problem to solve, or (very often) many problems. We will learn about the “Hero’s Journey” in the coming collaborations. 
The Hero’s Journey describes the different stages a Hero must be initiated through to achieve his or her ultimate goal. Heroes are easy to find in the stories and media you regularly consume, from superhero summer blockbusters featuring Marvel’s Avengers to more realistic dramas, like Selma, about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. Heroes are the classic initiators of change in both history and mythology. The Hero transforms their world and will usually go through a personal transformation, as well.
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The Mentor

Motto:
“I will guide and teach.”
The Mentor fulfills a very important role in the story (and in real life, for that matter). A Mentor is a wise old teacher or a guide whom many aspiring Heroes first encounter early in their journey, right before they cross the foreboding threshold into a strange new world of adventure. The Mentor provides motivation, insights and training to help the Hero overcome his or her doubts and fears. The Mentor prepares the Hero for the dangerous road ahead. The Hero may learn a new skill from his or her Mentor, or receive a magical gift. 
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda were both mentors to Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars Trilogy. Obi-Wan gave Luke his lightsabre and taught him how to use it. Later, Yoda teaches Luke how to further develop his mystical connection to the force. The Mentor role can change as the needs of the story and the characters change. The Mentor may have once been a Hero in another time or context. For instance, in many Marvel movies, Tony Stark (Iron Man) is Peter Parker’s (Spider-Man) Mentor, but Tony is also the Hero and protagonist in many Avengers movies.
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The Ruler

Motto:
“I will achieve my goal.”

The Ruler is also known as the King, the Queen, the Guardian, the Politician, etc. All of the archetypes go by many names because the simple and intuitive roles they describe belie significant complexity. Like real people, the archetypes of the unconscious contain both light and dark energy.

At their best, a Ruler provides structure and protection against the creeping threat of chaos and anarchy. But when does one’s quest for power make him or her a tyrant? At their worst, the Ruler’s “structure” is simply a prison. So you see that the Ruler especially, along with all the archetypes of the unconscious, has both good and bad aspects to them. Whichever aspects of the Ruler are manifest in a given story or situation depends a lot on context and the character that happens to be inhabiting the Ruler role at the time. 

Much of the resistance the Hero first encounters when they leave the familiar behind frequently comes in the form of institutional “red tape,” close-minded laws or irrational traditions. In fact, as part of their initial heroic baptism, the Hero might find his or herself having to take a stand against a corrupt Ruler, government or philosophy that defines the boundaries of the Ordinary World. 

In this way, Robin Hood classically combats the tyrannical Sheriff of Nottingham when the dashing archer and his Merrie Men rob from the rich and give to the poor on their quest to undermine the political and economic inequalities of their day. King Arthur, on the other hand, eventually became the Ruler as part of his Heroic Journey. A big theme of the Arthurian legends was Arthur’s quest to unite the feuding powers of medieval Britain to create a peaceful and stable homeland for his people. In some stories, the Hero rises to become Ruler but is eventually corrupted by that power. 

The Dreamer

Motto:
“I will guide and teach.”

The Hero is the one the story is usually about. Some modern narratives have attempted to subvert this eternal expectation by featuring a villain or even side characters as the story’s main character. But even these “exceptions” must embrace a protagonist, and, practically speaking, a protagonist and the “Hero” are pretty much the same things. The Hero is the central figure of the story’s action and drama. The Hero has a problem to solve, or (very often) many problems. We will learn about the “Hero’s Journey” in the coming collaborations. 

The Hero’s Journey describes the different stages a Hero must be initiated through to achieve his or her ultimate goal. Heroes are easy to find in the stories and media you regularly consume, from superhero summer blockbusters featuring Marvel’s Avengers to more realistic dramas, like Selma, about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. Heroes are the classic initiators of change in both history and mythology. The Hero transforms their world and will usually go through a personal transformation, as well.

The Explorer

Motto:
“I will achieve my goal.”

The Hero is the one the story is usually about. Some modern narratives have attempted to subvert this eternal expectation by featuring a villain or even side characters as the story’s main character. But even these “exceptions” must embrace a protagonist, and, practically speaking, a protagonist and the “Hero” are pretty much the same things. The Hero is the central figure of the story’s action and drama. The Hero has a problem to solve, or (very often) many problems. We will learn about the “Hero’s Journey” in the coming collaborations. 

The Hero’s Journey describes the different stages a Hero must be initiated through to achieve his or her ultimate goal. Heroes are easy to find in the stories and media you regularly consume, from superhero summer blockbusters featuring Marvel’s Avengers to more realistic dramas, like Selma, about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. Heroes are the classic initiators of change in both history and mythology. The Hero transforms their world and will usually go through a personal transformation, as well.

Let’ s Collaborate!

Leaving the Ordinary World Behind ten years ago, I had a very strange, very frightening, very memorable dream. I had the dream during a turbulent time in my life life life. Leaving the Ordinary World Behind ten years ago, I had a very strange, very frightening, very memorable dream. I had the dream during a turbulent time in my life.

Leaving the Ordinary World Behind ten years ago, I had a very strange, very frightening, very memorable dream. I had the dream during a turbulent time in my life life life. Leaving the Ordinary World Behind ten years ago, I had a very strange, very frightening, very memorable dream. I had the dream during a turbulent time in my life.

Leaving the Ordinary World Behind ten years ago, I had a very strange, very frightening, very memorable dream. I had the dream during a turbulent time in my life life life. Leaving the Ordinary World Behind ten years ago, I had a very strange, very frightening, very memorable dream. I had the dream during a turbulent time in my life.