Hello & Welcome!
When we first began what would eventually become Made Collaborative, I never imagined that one day I would be drafting a blog like this.
Back then, the idea was remarkably simple.
Gather together a few artists at an afterschool program. Invite a group of young people into the same room. Ask them what kinds of stories they wanted to tell. Then do our very best to help bring those stories to life.
That was it.
There was no grand publishing plan. No long-term roadmap. Certainly no expectation that one day we would be developing an interconnected comic universe centered around the neighborhoods of Chicago. We simply believed that creativity mattered – and that young people’s ideas deserved to be taken seriously.
Over time, however, something unexpected began to happen.
As artists, educators, and participating youth continued contributing ideas, individual stories slowly began connecting with one another. Characters evolved. New characters emerged. Neighborhoods developed their own personalities. Themes began repeating themselves in unexpected ways. Small ideas became larger ideas. Before long, we realized we were no longer simply creating individual comic stories – we were gradually building a shared world.
During that journey, I was fortunate to be joined by my friend and creative partner, Len Kody. Together, we have spent countless hours expanding the world of Back of the Yards — developing its characters, mythology, history, and long-term vision. I have often said that Made Collaborative is built upon the belief that meaningful stories grow through collaboration, and few people embody that belief more than Len. His imagination, thoughtful storytelling, and unwavering belief in what this project and this comic series could become have helped shape The Back of the Yards in ways that simply would not have been possible on my own.
The Back of the Yards is one result of that collaborative journey.
While the comic series is fictional, its foundation is very real. It is inspired by conversations, sketches, classroom discussions, neighborhood observations, and creative contributions made over many years by artists, educators, community members, and young people who chose to imagine something together.
Through our This & That blog series, we hope to share more about the evolving mythology, history, and world of Back of the Yards, along with the creative journey behind Made Collaborative itself.
Our first several blog entries serve as a starting point for that journey. They provide a frame of reference for the project — how a simple idea, a group of young people, and a handful of artists gradually evolved into the comic book universe we’re continuing to build today. To tell that part of the story, we’ve repurposed several entries from our own internal project journal and are sharing them with you here.
Going forward, This & That will explore more of the neighborhood we’re building, the characters who inhabit it, the institutions and systems that shape it, and the creative philosophy that continues to guide the comic’s development. We’ll also share project announcements, updates from our Virtual Studio, and highlights of creative contributions from young people, artists, and other collaborators helping shape the project along the way.
Some of the characters you’ll encounter in these stories have already appeared in the published comics. Others will make their first appearance in future issues. Still others remain little more than names, sketches, or unfinished conversations waiting for the right moment to emerge.
Like the project itself, they’re still evolving.
That is part of what makes this work so rewarding.
One lesson I have learned through Made Collaborative is that meaningful stories are rarely built by a single individual. They grow through conversation. They improve through collaboration. They become richer when people with different experiences, talents, and perspectives choose to build something together.
Every artist brings a unique visual voice. Every writer asks different questions. Every educator helps uncover new ways of thinking. Every young person reminds us that imagination is limitless when it is encouraged.
Together, those contributions, from creative partners and artists to educators, community members, and participating youth, become something none of us could have created alone.
If you’ve found your way to this opening blog series, we hope you’ll become part of that process, too. Whether you are an artist, writer, educator, student, or simply someone curious about the world of The Back of the Yards, I hope these pages serve as both a practical guide and an open invitation. There is still much of this neighborhood left to discover, many questions left unanswered, and many stories still waiting to be told.
Thank you for choosing to become part of this journey.
And welcome to the Made Collaborative Studio!
– Jimmy Briseno