04 | Issue #3 Collaborations
| Brief | With this collaboration, we're putting our original Create a Character process to work on an actual open question from Issue #3. You'll have an opportunity to help develop the young man's appearance, background, personality, motivations and history - and ultimately help us answer a simple question: Who does Dex see? |
|---|---|
| Background | Early in Issue #3, Dex Coleman encounters a young man he doesn't recognize. We know this character will matter to the developing story. What we haven't fully decided is exactly who he is. |
| This & That | Selected ideas and artwork may be featured through Made Collaborative and considered as we develop the character who ultimately appears in Issue #3. Contributors whose ideas are incorporated into the finished comic will be credited as part of its development. |
Every Great Story
Begins With Great Characters
Back of the Yards began with character creation.
During Made Collaborative’s original classroom workshops on Chicago’s West Side, young collaborators helped imagine characters like Andre Davis, Tamia Parker and Russell Patterson – laying the foundation for the world of Back of the Yards.
Now, as we open Issue #3 to collaboration, we’re returning to those roots.
Early in the developing story, Dex Coleman encounters a mysterious young man he doesn’t recognize. We know this character will play a role in the story. But exactly who he is remains an open question.
Through the four creative steps below, we’ll explore the building blocks of character creation—from physical appearance and personality to motivations and personal history. Follow the exercises that spark your imagination, and help us answer one of Issue #3’s first mysteries:
Who does Dex see?
STEP ONE
Creating Your Character's Basic
Background & Physical Traits
Let’s start with the basics.
When Dex first encounters this mysterious young man in the alley, he doesn’t know his name, where he comes from, or why he’s there. He only knows what he can see.
And that’s where we’ll begin.
What does this young man look like? How old is he? How does he dress and carry himself? Does he seem familiar to the neighborhood – or like someone Dex has never encountered before?
To help us explore these questions, we’ll revisit Andre Davis, one of the first characters developed through Made Collaborative’s original youth workshops. Andre offers an example of how a few simple details about a character’s appearance and background can begin to bring that character to life.
Explore Issue #1 of Back of the Yards below, inspired by our original youth collaborations on Chicago's West Side. The story and characters were further developed by Len Kody and Jimmy Briseno, with illustrations by Dan Dougherty.
You can also download or print a PDF copy using the first icon on the right side of the flipbook's bottom toolbar.
PHYSICAL TRAITS TO CONSIDER
Physical traits can help bring your character to life. Consider details like hair color and style, eye shape and color, facial features, skin tone, and body type. These characteristics can make your character more distinctive and offer clues about their personality or background.
For more inspiration, explore the table below or check out this helpful guide to physical descriptions.
BASIC BACKGROUND ELEMENTS TO CONSIDER
Beyond physical traits, consider your character’s basic background, including age, birthplace, nationality, education, occupation, residence, and family relationships.
Think of this step as introducing a character in a movie screenplay. A few carefully chosen details can help readers visualize who your character is before exploring their personality, motivations, and deeper story.
For a great example, consider how the screenplay for Training Day, starring Denzel Washington, introduces Detective Alonzo Harris:
“DETECTIVE SERGEANT ALONZO HARRIS, IN BLACK SHIRT, BLACK LEATHER JACKET. AND JUST ENOUGH PLATINUM AND DIAMONDS TO LOOK LIKE SOMEBODY. HE READS THE PAPER IN A BOOTH. THE GUN-LEATHER-TOUGH L.A.P.D. VET IS A HANDS-ON, BLUE-COLLAR COP WHO CAN KICK YOUR ASS WITH A LOOK.”
In just a few sentences, we get a vivid sense of Alonzo's appearance, occupation, and personality.
Watch the clip below to see how this brief character description comes to life on screen!
One More Thing to Consider ...
Before you begin imagining the young man Dex sees, there’s someone else you should know about. More than thirty years earlier, Dex knew another young neighborhood figure named Darius King –better known around Back of the Yards as “The Broker.”
King disappeared in 1994, leaving behind questions that were never completely resolved. We don’t yet know what – if any – connection exists between King and the young man Dex encounters in Issue #3.
But something about this new character may echo the past.
We’re not asking you to recreate Darius King. This is a new character with his own personality, history and future.
But as you begin creating him, keep King somewhere in the back of your mind.
Explore the file below if you’d like to know more.
Now, Your Turn!
Prompt #1
What Does Dex Notice First? Picture the moment Dex first sees this young man.
What catches his attention? Think about the character’s age, build, hair, clothing, facial features, posture or anything else that might stand out.
What are the first physical details Dex notices?
Prompt #2
Now look beyond his appearance.
How old is he? Does he live in Back of the Yards? Did he grow up here—or is he new to the neighborhood? Does he go to school? Work? Have family nearby?
You don’t need to know his entire story yet. Just start with a few basic details that give us a sense of the life he may have lived before Dex encountered him.
Prompt #3
Now bring those ideas together.
Using the Training Day example above as inspiration, imagine that you’re writing the young man’s first appearance in the Issue #3 screenplay.
In just two or three sentences, introduce us to the person Dex sees.
What would the reader see before they knew anything else about him?
STEP TWO
Developing Your Character's Personality Traits
In Step One, we began with what Dex can see – the young man’s appearance, some basic details about his background, and the first impression he might make.
Now let’s look beneath the surface. What is this young man actually like?
Is he confident or insecure? Quiet or outspoken? Careful or impulsive? Does he trust people easily, or keep everyone at a distance?
A character’s personality shapes how they respond to the world around them—and often tells us far more about them than their appearance ever could.
So for Step Two, we’ll begin thinking about the traits that make this young man distinctly him – that is, we will begin thinking about his personality. And perhaps no other character in cinema today has as complicated of a personality than the comic villain that goes by the name of The Joker …
How would you describe the Joker’s personality? Impulsive? Humorous? Creative? Daring? Unpredictable?
Which of the personality traits below best describe him?
For more inspiration, explore this extensive list of character traits from ProWritingAid, a resource for creative writers.
In contrast to the Joker's fictional personality, let's consider the real-life legacy of Frida Kahlo, one of the most influential artists of her time.
A Mexican painter celebrated for her deeply personal self-portraits, Kahlo explored themes of identity, pain, and resilience. Despite significant health challenges, she became an enduring symbol of creativity, individuality, and Mexican cultural pride.
After watching the video, how would you describe Frida’s personality? Creative? Daring? Inventive? Thoughtful?
While Frida and the Joker may share certain traits, such as creativity and daring, their personalities are otherwise strikingly different.
These differences also reflect something deeper: their character archetypes, which we’ll explore in Step Three.
But first! …
NOW, Your Turn!
Prompt #4
Think about the young man you’ve begun creating.
Choose three to five personality traits that describe him.
Is he confident? Guarded? Loyal? Reckless? Funny? Suspicious? Ambitious? Impulsive? Something else entirely?
Don’t worry about whether the traits are “good” or “bad.” Interesting characters usually contain a little of both.
Prompt #5
Dex only has a brief encounter with this young man. Like any of us, he’s going to make assumptions based on what he sees.
What might Dex initially get wrong about him?
Maybe someone who appears threatening is surprisingly thoughtful. Someone who seems confident is actually terrified. Someone who looks reckless has a very specific reason for taking risks.
What’s beneath the first impression?
Prompt #6
Personality often reveals itself most clearly when something goes wrong.
Imagine this young man is challenged, embarrassed, threatened or forced to make a quick decision.
What does he do?
Does he confront the problem? Walk away? Make a joke? Lose his temper? Protect someone else? Pretend he isn’t afraid?
What does his reaction tell us about who he really is?
STEP THREE
Character Archetypes and Core Personality Traits
By now, our character is beginning to take shape. We have a sense of what Dex sees when he first encounters him—and the personality that might lie beneath that first impression.
Now let’s go deeper: What drives him?
Compelling characters are shaped by their values, desires, and fears. One way to explore these motivations is through character archetypes—familiar patterns that help us understand a character’s motivations and role in a story.
Consider the Joker and Frida Kahlo from Step Two. Both faced adversity, but followed very different paths. The Joker embraced chaos and destruction, while Frida channeled her struggles into creativity and artistic expression.
These contrasting paths offer a useful introduction to character archetypes, which we’ll explore below.
Our exploration of character archetypes begins with Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and influential figure in modern psychology.
Jung introduced the concept of the “collective unconscious”—the idea that humans share certain universal patterns and symbols that shape how we understand ourselves and the world. From these shared patterns emerge familiar character archetypes that appear throughout history, mythology, and storytelling.
Click below to explore these archetypes and discover which might describe the Joker, Frida Kahlo, and other familiar fictional and historical figures!
Closely related to character archetypes are core values—the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide a character’s choices and actions. Think of them as your character’s personal compass.
Together, a character’s archetype and core values help shape their motivations, decisions, and role in the story.
Explore the sample values below, or browse this more comprehensive list of core values for additional inspiration.
****
Now, YOUR TURN!
Prompt #7
Think about the archetypes above. Which one – or combination – feels closest to the young man you’re creating?
More importantly, what does he want?
Respect? Belonging? Independence? Security? Recognition? Revenge? A way out? Something else entirely?
What matters enough to him that it might influence the choices he may make in Issue #3 and beyond?
Prompt #8
Earlier, we introduced you to Darius King.
Dex knew King more than thirty years ago. And while the young man Dex encounters in Issue #3 is someone entirely new, we’re interested in the possibility that something about him causes the past to echo forward.
Look at the character you’ve created so far. What, if anything, might remind Dex of Darius King?
It could be something obvious – or something Dex can’t quite put his finger on yet.
A personality trait?
An ambition?
The way he carries himself?
His role in the neighborhood.Something about his circumstances. Or perhaps the resemblance lies somewhere else entirely.
Prompt #9
This young man is not Darius King. Give him something that could only belong to him.
What makes his worldview, motivation, personality or history fundamentally different from King’s?
What is something about this character that Dex could never have anticipated based on what he remembers about the past?
STEP FOUR
A Lightening Round - Your Character's
Biography and Other Interesting Facts!
With your character's physical traits, background, personality, archetype, and core values taking shape, it's time to add the details that make them truly unique!
In this final step, we'll explore your character's backstory, relationships, and personal experiences through 100 quick questions in the Google Slides presentation below. Answer as many as inspire you!
And for a little creative inspiration, we turn to Stan Lee, the legendary Marvel creator behind Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and many more.
Original artwork by participating artist Eric Nyamor.
Every character has a life before we meet them—family, friendships, memories, ambitions, and experiences that shape who they become.
We may never see all those details in the comic, but they help make a character feel real.
Now let’s explore who this young man was before Dex ever encountered him.
Now, YOUR TURN!
Prompt #10
Every character has a life before we meet them.
Think about the young man Dex sees. Where did he grow up? Who raised him? Who matters to him? What experiences have shaped the person he is becoming?
Give us a little of his story before Dex ever sees him.
Prompt #11
Now bring his past into the present.
Why is this young man here, in this neighborhood, at this particular moment?
Is he looking for someone? Running from something? Trying to prove himself? Protecting someone? Looking for somewhere he belongs?
What does he want—and how might that have brought him into Dex’s path?
Prompt #12
We’ve imagined what he looks like. We’ve explored his personality, what drives him, where he comes from and what might connect him to the past.
There’s just one thing left.
What’s his name?
It can be his real name, a nickname, or both. Dex doesn’t know who this person is yet. But you do.
Let's Collaborate!
WHO DOES DEX SEE?
We've explored his appearance, personality, motivations, and possible connections to the past.
Now it's your turn to help bring him to life.
Share your ideas for the mysterious young man Dex encounters in Issue #3. Your contributions may help shape the character who ultimately appears in the comic.
ENTER THE WORKSHOP →
No drawing skills required. Just bring your imagination.
Submit Your Artwork
Although by no means, required, but to the extent you have developed any concept sketches or illustrations of your new character, we encourage you to submit those illustrations to us. Just do us a favor and let us know which character you are submitting illustrations for, and we will absolutely make sure our artists receive them when they are reviewing your character submissions!
And we may feature your artwork in the future either on the project website or directly in our comic issues, all subject to your approval!
Table of Contents
More Studio Card Collaborations!
08 | Issue #3 Collaborations
| Brief | For Issue #3, we're returning to our Create a Character framework - but this time, we're opening the halls of New City High and inviting you to help us populate them. From students and teachers to administrators, friends, rivals and unexpected personalities, we'll use the same creative process introduced earlier in the Studio to build the community surrounding Andre and Tamia. At least two of the characters created through this collaboration will appear in Issue #3 - with the possibility that others may return in stories still to come. |
|---|---|
| Background | New City High is filled with students, teachers and personalities whose stories are still waiting to be told. As we develop Issue #3 of Back of the Yards, we're inviting collaborators to create original characters who might walk its halls, form new relationships and help bring the school community to life. |
| This & That | Selected ideas and artwork may be featured through Made Collaborative and considered as we develop new characters that may ultimately appear in Issue #3 or future issues. Contributors whose ideas are incorporated into these new characters will be credited as part of its development. |
Every Great Story
Begins With Great Characters
CREATING NEW NEW CITY HIGH CHARACTERS!
Every school has its characters. Help us create ours.
New City High is more than a backdrop for Back of the Yards. It’s a place where friendships form, rivalries develop, and young people begin discovering who they are.
We’ve already met students like Andre, Tamia and Russell. But the halls of New City High are filled with other stories waiting to be told.
Who else might we meet?
A new student with an unusual past? A teacher who sees something others overlook? A classmate, rival, friend or unexpected ally?
As we develop Issue #3, we’re inviting you to help populate New City High with original characters inspired by your imagination and experiences.
Your character could become part of the world we’re building together.
STEP ONE
Creating Your Character's Basic
Background & Physical Traits
Let’s start with the basics.
Every day, students, teachers and staff walk through the halls of New City High. Each has a story, even if we don’t know it yet.
And that’s where we’ll start.
Imagine someone we might encounter at New City High.
What do they look like? How old are they? How do they dress? How do they carry themselves? Are they someone who blends into the crowd — or someone who immediately stands out?
As you work through this first step, we’ll use Andre Davis, one of the first characters created through the original Made Collaborative workshops, as a frame of reference for how a few basic physical and background details can begin to make a character feel real.
Explore Issue #1 of Back of the Yards below, inspired by our original youth collaborations on Chicago's West Side. The story and characters were further developed by Len Kody and Jimmy Briseno, with illustrations by Dan Dougherty.
You can also download or print a PDF copy using the first icon on the right side of the flipbook's bottom toolbar.
PHYSICAL TRAITS TO CONSIDER
Physical traits can help bring your character to life. Consider details like hair color and style, eye shape and color, facial features, skin tone, and body type. These characteristics can make your character more distinctive and offer clues about their personality or background.
For more inspiration, explore the table below or check out this helpful guide to physical descriptions.
BASIC BACKGROUND ELEMENTS TO CONSIDER
Beyond physical traits, consider your character’s basic background, including age, birthplace, nationality, education, occupation, residence, and family relationships.
Think of this step as introducing a character in a movie screenplay. A few carefully chosen details can help readers visualize who your character is before exploring their personality, motivations, and deeper story.
For a great example, consider how the screenplay for Training Day, starring Denzel Washington, introduces Detective Alonzo Harris:
“DETECTIVE SERGEANT ALONZO HARRIS, IN BLACK SHIRT, BLACK LEATHER JACKET. AND JUST ENOUGH PLATINUM AND DIAMONDS TO LOOK LIKE SOMEBODY. HE READS THE PAPER IN A BOOTH. THE GUN-LEATHER-TOUGH L.A.P.D. VET IS A HANDS-ON, BLUE-COLLAR COP WHO CAN KICK YOUR ASS WITH A LOOK.”
In just a few sentences, we get a vivid sense of Alonzo's appearance, occupation, and personality.
Watch the clip below to see how this brief character description comes to life on screen!
Now, Your Turn!
Prompt #1
Picture your character walking through the halls of New City High for the first time.
What might catch someone’s attention? Think about the character’s age, build, hair, clothing, facial features, posture or anything else that makes them distinctive.
What are the first physical details someone might notice about your character?
Prompt #2
Now look beyond his appearance.
How old is he? Does he live in Back of the Yards? Did he grow up here—or is he new to the neighborhood? Does he go to school? Work? Have family nearby?
You don’t need to know his entire story yet. Just start with a few basic details that give us a sense of the life he may have lived.
Prompt #3
Now bring those ideas together.
Using the Training Day example above as inspiration, imagine that you’re writing the young man’s first appearance in the Issue #3 screenplay.
In just two or three sentences, introduce us to the person.
What would the reader see before they knew anything else about him?
STEP TWO
Developing Your Character's Personality Traits
In Step One, we began with what others might see—your character’s appearance, some basic details about their background, and the first impression they might make.
Now let’s look beneath the surface.
What is your character actually like?
Are they confident or insecure? Quiet or outspoken? Careful or impulsive? Do they trust people easily, or keep everyone at a distance?
A character’s personality shapes how they respond to the world around them—and often tells us far more about them than their appearance ever could.
So for Step Two, we’ll begin thinking about the traits that make your character unique. In other words, we’ll begin exploring their personality.
And perhaps few characters in popular culture have a personality as complicated—or unpredictable—as the comic book villain known as The Joker…
How would you describe the Joker’s personality? Impulsive? Humorous? Creative? Daring? Unpredictable?
Which of the personality traits below best describe him?
For more inspiration, explore this extensive list of character traits from ProWritingAid, a resource for creative writers.
In contrast to the Joker's fictional personality, let's consider the real-life legacy of Frida Kahlo, one of the most influential artists of her time.
A Mexican painter celebrated for her deeply personal self-portraits, Kahlo explored themes of identity, pain, and resilience. Despite significant health challenges, she became an enduring symbol of creativity, individuality, and Mexican cultural pride.
After watching the video, how would you describe Frida’s personality? Creative? Daring? Inventive? Thoughtful?
While Frida and the Joker may share certain traits, such as creativity and daring, their personalities are otherwise strikingly different.
These differences also reflect something deeper: their character archetypes, which we’ll explore in Step Three.
But first! …
NOW, Your Turn!
Prompt #4
Think about the new character you’ve begun creating.
Choose three to five personality traits that describe that character.
Is he confident? Guarded? Loyal? Reckless? Funny? Suspicious? Ambitious? Impulsive? Something else entirely?
Don’t worry about whether the traits are “good” or “bad.” Interesting characters usually contain a little of both.
Prompt #5
When someone first meets your character at New City High, they’ll probably make assumptions based on what they see.
What might people initially get wrong about your character?
Maybe someone who appears intimidating is surprisingly thoughtful. Someone who seems confident is actually terrified. Someone who looks like a troublemaker has a good reason for breaking the rules.
What’s beneath the first impression?
Prompt #6
Personality often reveals itself most clearly when something goes wrong.
Imagine your character faces a difficult situation at New City High. Maybe they’re challenged, embarrassed, threatened or forced to make a quick decision.
What do they do?
Do they confront the problem? Walk away? Make a joke? Lose their temper? Protect someone else? Pretend they aren’t afraid?
How does their reaction reveal something about who they really are?
What does his reaction tell us about who he or she really is?
STEP THREE
Character Archetypes and Core Personality Traits
By now, our character is beginning to take shape. We have a sense of what Dex sees when he first encounters him—and the personality that might lie beneath that first impression.
Now let’s go deeper: What drives him?
Compelling characters are shaped by their values, desires, and fears. One way to explore these motivations is through character archetypes — familiar patterns that help us understand a character’s motivations and role in a story.
Consider the Joker and Frida Kahlo from Step Two. Both faced adversity, but followed very different paths. The Joker embraced chaos and destruction, while Frida channeled her struggles into creativity and artistic expression.
These contrasting paths offer a useful introduction to character archetypes, which we’ll explore below.
Our exploration of character archetypes begins with Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and influential figure in modern psychology.
Jung introduced the concept of the “collective unconscious”—the idea that humans share certain universal patterns and symbols that shape how we understand ourselves and the world. From these shared patterns emerge familiar character archetypes that appear throughout history, mythology, and storytelling.
Click below to explore these archetypes and discover which might describe the Joker, Frida Kahlo, and other familiar fictional and historical figures!
Closely related to character archetypes are core values — the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide a character’s choices and actions. Think of them as your character’s personal compass.
Together, a character’s archetype and core values help shape their motivations, decisions, and role in the story.
Explore the sample values below, or browse this more comprehensive list of core values for additional inspiration.
****
Now, YOUR TURN!
Prompt #7
Think about the archetypes above. Which one – or combination – feels closest to the character you’re creating?
More importantly, what does that character want?
Respect? Belonging? Independence? Security? Recognition? Revenge? A way out? Something else entirely?
What matters enough to him that it might influence the choices your character may make in Issue #3 and beyond?
Prompt #8
Every character has a story, but no character exists in isolation.
Think about the character you’ve created for New City High.
How might they connect with the people and stories already unfolding around them?
Perhaps they become a friend, rival or unexpected ally to Andre or Tamia. Maybe they have a connection to Castañeda, Room 23 or another part of the school.
Where might your character fit into the world of Back of the Yards?
Prompt #9
Every memorable character has something that makes them unique.
What sets your New City High character apart from everyone else?
Maybe it’s an unusual ambition, a deeply held belief, a hidden talent or an experience that shaped how they see the world.
Give your character something distinctly their own – something that makes their story worth telling.
STEP FOUR
A Lightening Round - Your Character's
Biography and Other Interesting Facts!
With your character's physical traits, background, personality, archetype, and core values taking shape, it's time to add the details that make them truly unique!
In this final step, we'll explore your character's backstory, relationships, and personal experiences through 100 quick questions in the Google Slides presentation below. Answer as many as inspire you!
And for a little creative inspiration, we turn to Stan Lee, the legendary Marvel creator behind Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and many more.
Original artwork by participating artist Eric Nyamor.
Every character has a life before we meet them — family, friendships, memories, ambitions, and experiences that shape who they become.
We may never see all those details in the comic, but they help make a character feel real.
Now let’s explore who this young man was before we encountered him or her.
Now, YOUR TURN!
Prompt #10
Every character has a life before we meet them.
Think about the character you’re creating for New City High. Where did they grow up? Who raised them? Who matters most to them? What experiences have shaped the person they’re becoming?
Give us a little of your character’s story before we first encounter them at New City High.
Prompt #11
Now bring your character’s past into the present.
Why is your character at New City High at this particular moment?
Are they looking for somewhere to belong? Trying to prove themselves? Pursuing a dream? Escaping something from their past? Or simply navigating everyday school life?
What does your character want — and how might that shape their relationships and experiences at New City High?
Prompt #12
We’ve imagined what your character looks like. We’ve explored their personality, motivations, background and place in the world of New City High.
There’s just one thing left.
What’s their name?
It can be a real name, a nickname, or both.
We’ve spent some time getting to know this character. Now it’s time to introduce them to the world.
Let's Collaborate!
POPULATE NEW CITY HIGH
You've met Andre, Tamia and some of the other personalities shaping the world of Back of the Yards.
But New City High is filled with stories we haven't told yet.
Who else might walk these halls?
We're developing new characters for Issue #3—and we'd like your help imagining the students, teachers and personalities who bring this school to life.
ENTER THE WORKSHOP →
No drawing skills required. Just bring your imagination.
Submit Your Artwork
Although by no means, required, but to the extent you have developed any concept sketches or illustrations of your new character, we encourage you to submit those illustrations to us. Just do us a favor and let us know which character you are submitting illustrations for, and we will absolutely make sure our artists receive them when they are reviewing your character submissions!
And we may feature your artwork in the future either on the project website or directly in our comic issues, all subject to your approval!
