Welcome to the Made Collaborative Studio! This virtual platform was created to give participating youth, after-school programs, and community members an opportunity to collaborate with us virtually on the development and production of our ongoing comic series, Back of the Yards (and other comic content).
As part of our virtual studio platform, we host regular Zoom workshops with participating artists and invited guest collaborators. Our current collaborations are focused on the development of Issue #3 of the Back of the Yards comic series.
And to help you stay connected with this work, we share summaries and notes from our Zoom workshops. These updates allow you to follow the creative process, participate in featured collaborations, and submit your own ideas through our featured collaborations and virtual Studio Cards. Some of those ideas may be discussed during future workshops—and may ultimately become part of the Back of the Yards collaborative comic series.
A Quick Word on Intellectual Property
The Back of the Yards project began as a collaborative arts afterschool program, not originally as a comic series. Because of these collaborative roots, we wanted to ensure that the creative work developed through this project could be shared and built upon as openly as possible.
To support that goal, we use a Creative Commons license. Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that provides free copyright licenses that allow creators to share their work while still maintaining ownership.
More specifically, the Back of the Yards comics are released under a CC-BY-NC-SA (Attribution–NonCommercial–Share-A-like) license. This means:
• Anyone can download and share the comics for free
• People can adapt or build on the stories, characters, and ideas
• New creations must credit the original project
• They must be non-commercial
• And they must be shared under the same license
An early concept logo for the Back of the Yards comic as developed by the inimitable participating artist, Andrew Dimmitt.
This approach allows after-school programs, educators, and people like you to use the comics, workshop notes, and our virtual Studio Card tools within the Made Collaborative site for their own workshops or collaborative projects. It also encourages others to create new characters and stories inspired by the Back of the Yards universe.
Our goal is simple: make these comics and collaborative tools easy to access, share, and expand—while promoting collaboration and creative expression.
February 19. 2026 Workshop Notes
February 19, 2026
Workshop Minutes
1.Quick Introductions – Attendees were Len Kody, Jimmy Briseno, Eric Nyamor and Tony Maldonado
2.Project Background Recap
a) Original After School Program Collaborations – Dating back 10+ years at afterschool programs in Chicago (Cabrini Green and Noble Charter).
i. Eric was one of the first artists to join the project, helping to develop concept art for the Russell, Draymond, Tamia and Wilson characters.
ii. Len was engaged after various separate working scripts were started by Jimmy and initial concept art created by John and Eric.
1. Len helped to then combine the art into one common story narrative
2. Created the mysterious Carl Castaneda teacher character as connective tissue between the primary youth characters.
b, The Comic – All resulting in the Back of the Yards comic series.
i. Issue 1 - Created in 2014 with initial print production (500 printed copies)
ii. Issue 2 - Is available in pre-production virtual form but needs a final cover and back matter (12 pages of the story-behind-the story) for print production
iii. Issue 3 – A working treatment of the Issue 3 script is in process
c. The Website – In response to COVID pandemic, Len and Jimmy worked with two companies (Firebelly Design and Belov Digital) to develop a new website and studio card framework. This website is fully functional, with the custom studio card application and related media incorporation. Content will be further refined over the next 6 to 8 weeks in parallel with our weekly workshop.
February 19, 2026
d. Create A Character Studio Card Example – As shown in this example, the goal of this virtual studio card framework is that each studio card will act as a portal to related project content and/or creative tools, and with that, present related virtual collaborative opportunities to youth (and others) to participate in the comic’s collaborative development. An example of this concept can be found here (the Create Your Own Character Studio Card).
3. Our Virtual Collaborations Over the Next 1 to 2 months (6 to 8 weeks)
a. Broad Goals for the Next 1 to 2 months (6 to 8 weeks) –In general, the broad goal is to create a more robust framework to roll out collaborative opportunities for youth to help develop Issue 3 of the Back of the Yards comic series starting in at some point in the Spring of ’26with such collaborations continuing through the summer with the goal of completion of Issue 3 by end of summer. This collaborative work between the 4 of us over the next 6 to 8 weeks would set the stage for this full Issue 3 production/youth outreach (through afterschool programs) and include:
i. Develop a Print Production of Issue 2:
1. Cover – Dan Dougherty did develop potential front and back covers, but we may want to further consider and, moreover, we need to still refine and incorporate into the same format as Issue 1
2. Issue 2 Supplement – I had previously drafted some context for the 12 page supplement, but we can use the next 6 to 8 weeks to further consider and/or update. This may include new art and/or a new feature based on our collaborations the next few weeks.
3. Identify Printer and Facilitate Print
Production Run – Jimmy can explore selffunding for now as needed and/or we may want to consider a related crowdfunding campaign at the end of the Spring. To be more fully considered together over the next few weeks.
ii. Re-Print of Issue 1 – As discussed, Len has developed a punch list of updates (mostly dialogue tweaks). We can further review together and submit for re-print at the same time we submit Issue 2.
iii. Further Develop Issue 3 Treatment – This will likely be the primary focus for us over the next 6 to 8 weeks and may include (depending on your collective feedback):
1. Creating 2 New Police Officer Characters
a. One older mentor police officer
b. One younger mentee police officer
2. Each artist and participating youth will create one characters
a. New artist characters may or may not be introduced in issue 3.
b. At least 2 new characters created by participating youth will be created and introduced in Issue 3.
iv. Develop a new “Underworld” element - Andre needs a villain(s). As does the neighborhood generally - may help to reflect the complexities/history of many urban centers today. So, with that context:
February 19, 2026
1. Dexter's Bio/Past – Dex is a former criminal. The question is how does his history interplay with the current Back of the Yards neighborhood and characters? Does it at all? Moreover, what is his criminal history? This is what we can work on over the next 6 to 8 weeks.
2. Big Earl and Peaches? – Big Earl may have some past touchpoint to the underworld, also, as he may have been recruited in the past given his size and strength as a former football player. Perhaps his relationship with Dex even dates back to those old days? Again, all to be further developed by us over the next few weeks.
3. We Will Each Create Our Own New Character –And last but certainly not least, by the end of the next 6 to 8 weeks, I’d like each of us to create our own new character for the comic series – ideally part of this underworld element but not necessarily required.
v. Test Out Website Tools – Finally, as we proceed over the next 6 to 8 weeks, we will each test out the various tools and Studio Cards as part of the weekly workshop meetings. This will help us identify opportunities to further clean up content and/or refine some of the functionality (working with Belov Digital) and presentation prior to late Spring/Summer. We will keep an ongoing website punchlist here.
vi. Begin Recording Workshop Sessions - By the end of the next 6 to 8 weeks, I’d like to begin recording these sessions. The plan is to at some point share edited versions of these sessions on the website to further communicate content and encourage collaborative input, etc.
vii. Expand to Other Artists and Youth (After School Programs) - Finally, the ultimate goal of these initial collaborations is to set the stage to (i) invite other artists to participate in future sessions going forward and (ii) most importantly, being extending collaborative opportunities to after school programs.
4. Setting Up Next Week’s Workshop Call – To help formally kick things off, we will focus on Creating Police Officer #1 as our workshop topic next week. As stated, this officer will be introduced in Issue #3 (along with his younger partner). Here are some basic parameters for that new Police Officer character in preparation for next week:
a. Police Officer Character #1 Parameters:
i. This new Police Officer #1 character will be the older cop of the two new characters
ii. Consider that heorshemay be from the Chicago / Back of the Yards neighborhood – or at least have a very long-established relationship with both the residents and the underworld element.
iii. This new officer will also have some sort of connection to Dexter (and maybe Earl?) given his long-established roots with the neighborhood.
iv. Finally, one additional thought and/or consideration for each of you in advance of next week’s call is a thought I had a few weeks ago – maybe this Police Officer #1 is somehow related to one of the two officer characters from Len and Tony’s 1968 comic? Perhaps a grandson, son or nephew/niece? That could be an interesting throughline. Anyway, just food for thought.
2.Prep For Next Week’s Call:
i. Would suggest reading the Issue 3 Working Treatment (you can also download a copy and print within the link if helpful).
ii. Consider the parameters for Police Officer Character #1 above.
iii. Maybe given some further thought regarding Dex’ potential connected past, as well as Big Earl to this new Police Officer Character #1 and/or the Back of the Yards underworld element.
March 5. 2026
Agenda & Workshop Notes
Agenda for 3/5/26 Workshop
1.Review of Minutes from 2/19 Workshop Call
2.Quick Updates
1. Castaneda Feature on Miro (Consider as Feature for Issue 2 Supplement)
2. Len to begin initial preparation for Issue 2 production and print
3. Idea for Recording this Minutes Going Forward (Incorporating them into the Project Chronicles)
3.Today’s Workshop Featured Collaboration(s) - Creating The Police Officer #1 Character
1. Recap of Issue 1, Issue 2 and Issue 3 Treatment, and the two officer characters in 1968 (Len to present each)
2. Parameters to Consider for New Police Officer #1 Character
1. Older of the two new police characters
2. A long history in Chicago and/or the Back of the Yards Neighborhood (maybe even generational?)
3. Some sort of connection to the Dex character and/or the other Elders
4. Potentially a familial relation to one of the two officer characters in 1968 (Irish / Polish)
4.Character Workshopping
1. Anchor on the Basics
1. Male or Female?
2. Ethnicity / Race
3. Age
4. Basic Physical Characteristics
2. Basic Biography Facts
1. Connections to Chicago and/or Back of the Yards
2. Connection to Dex?
3. Perhaps consider who the second officer character might be on a broad level?
4. Politics?
5. Family?
6. Religion?
5.Wrap Up and Plan for Next Workshop
1. Continuing Workshop Dev of Officer #1 (personality, archetype, core values)
2. Beginning Workshop Dev for Officer #2
1. Workshop Attendees: Len Kody, Jimmy Briseno, Eric Nyamor, Tony Maldonado
2. Review of 2/26 Minutes: 2/26 Workshop Minutes reviewed and confirmed.
3. Quick Project Updates:
a. Issue 2 Updates
i. There was unanimous approval to feature Andrew Dimmit’s Castaneda 6-page bio comic feature within the Issue 2 supplement.
1. Everyone agreed that the work deserved to be featured to highlight Dimmit’s talent
2. Also made sense to include this as a feature given Issue 2 marks Carl Castaneda’s first introduction to the Back of the Yard comic series.
ii. Len has initiated initial production work for Issue 2
1. Identified Comix Wellspring as a potential printer for Issue 2
2. Initial ranges from $15 to $150 per hour for potential graphic designer (to help with final design/formatting for the Issue 2 cover, back cover, pagination format, etc.)
b. Tony and Eric agreed to participate as retained artists with rate TBD,
i. Starting with concept illustrations for the two police officer characters that we begin to collaborate on with this 3/5/26 workshop (more below)
ii. These new officer character illustrations will be part of the Issue 2 supplement, perhaps closing that supplement/issue as a natural transition to Issue 3. Workshop Minutes
4. Workshop’s Featured Collaboration(s):
a. Summary of Featured Collaboration: CREATE NEW POLICE OFFICER #1 & #2 CHARACTERS
i. Within The Issue 3 Working Treatment, 2 new police officer characters will be introduced. These two new characters will be partners and will be patrolling the Back of the Yards neighborhood in some way (to be further developed collaboratively). And within Issue 3, we anticipate that these two new officer characters will have some sort of interaction with one or more of the Elders regarding potential criminal activity within the neighorhood. This criminal element will also be developed collaboratively by participating artists and youth as part of these Issue 3 collaborations. And we will begin these collaborations with these two new comic characters as part of the next few workshopsPolice Officer Character #1 & Police Officer Character #2.
b. Initial Collaborative Parameters to Consider for New Police Officer #1 Character:
i. Older of the two new police characters
ii. A long history in Chicago and/or the Back of the Yards Neighborhood (maybe even generational?)
iii. Some sort of connection to the Dex character and/or the other Elders
iv. Potentially a familial relation to one of the two officer characters in 1968 (Irish or Polish)
c. Officer #1 Character Dev #1 (the Older of the 2 new officer characters)
i. Gender and Age of Officer Character #1
1. Age - mid to late 50’s (very close to retirement)
2. Consensus from the Workshop team is that Officer #1 will be a man - this character choice would be largely a reflection of the demographic gender breakdown of police officers in the 80’s and 90’s - was at or around just 10% of total officers in Chicago and nationally.
ii. Race/Ethnicity of Officer Character #1
1. We also aligned that the new officer will be of Polish ancestry
1. Reflecting the deep Polish roots in Chicago (up to the 2000 census, Polish Americans represented the largest ethnic group in Chicago.)
2.Len– Perhaps he lives in the Mount Greenwood area of Chicago
2. Potential familial connection to the officer character in Len and Tony’s 1968 comic – TBD.
iii. Physical Characteristics of Officer Character #1
1. Tony : Think Liem Neeson with a mustache
2.Tony : “Sleeper Physique”
1. Still fit but age catching up
2.Eric : Dad Bod in development … Four Abs
3.Tony: He Can still do damage if necessary
iv. Personality Characteristics of Officer Character #1
We will begin our next workshop by exploring the personality traits and archetypes of both new characters, but early indications of this Officer # 1 character would seem to suggest the older character takes on many aspects of this generation - More direct - “Has seen a thing or two …” - Guarded [Alltobefurtherdevelopedwiththenext workshop.]
d. Officer #2 Character Dev #2 - The younger of the 2 new officer characters)
i. Gender and Age of Officer of Officer Character #2
1. Female, Mid to late 20’s (Len– Enough time for military enlistment / duty)
ii. Race/Ethnicity of Officer Character #2
1. Len&Eric- Latina from the Westside of Chicago (perhaps Humboldt Park)
iii. Physical Characteristics of Officer Character #2
1. Tom-boy exterior during the day
2.Eric– can transform off-duty with make-up on, etc.
3.Len– she may have tattoos, which might serve as a link to the youth’s art
iv. Personality Characteristics of Officer Character #1
1. She’s very much an independent female
2. Bristles at the patriarchy – no mansplaining appreciated
3.PerLen- That said, she can be a bit of a shapeshifter with respect to her personality, using parts of her personality as needed to establish relationships in the streets and on patrol. She is perhaps more savvy than her older partner in this respect.
e. New Characters’ Relationships
i. Between Officer #1 and #2
1. She respects him but doesn’t want a father figure and as such, resists his protective tendencies
2. He respects her with some paternal inclinations, which she resists
ii. Officer #1 with Dex and the Elders
1. Officer #1 has some sort of long history with many in the neighborhood, most notably, the Elders and Dex in particular
A. Dex (the ex-con) and Officer #1 share some sort of deep history that perhaps nobody truly knows about outside of the two of them, and maybe a few others who may be dead or alive.
B. PerJimmy– Perhaps Big Earl is one of the few that knows about this shared aspect of their past, because he too was tempted by the underworld at one time (he was certainly recruited for his size and strength)
A. What is also clear is that Officer #2 also doesn’t know how deeply that connection between Officer #1 and Dex may go. Certainly not part of the established record.
a. Propose that we begin recording these sessions later this month if acceptable to each participant
b. Urge each participant to try logging into Miro to see if they have full access
c. Quick Issue 2 Update (Len)
2. Continuation of Officers #1 & #2 Character Dev
a. Continue to Develop Basic Physical and Bio characteristics of each officer, while also pivoting to the following as a focus of this workshop session:
1. Personality Traits of each Officer
2. Core Archetypes and Core Values of each Officer
3. Biographical Insights
A. Names
B. Prior jobs (if any)
C. Family - Parents? - Siblings? - Kids?
- Spouse/Sign Other?
D. Education
E. Languages
F. Notable Accomplishments
G. Other?
b. Relationships w/n the Neighborhood
1. To Dexter?
2. To the Other Elders?
3. Andre?
4. Tamia?
5. Castaneda?
6. Koz the Shop Keeper?
7. Others?
3. Setup for Next Collaboration
a. Lightening Round Bio Submissions for Officer #1 and #2 (Jimmy to Describe)
b. Pivot to the Broader Underworld Element Dev
1. What is it that the 2 new officers are investigating?
2. Who is involved?
3. How may Dexter have some awareness of these elements?
4. How about the other Back of the Yards characters?
