Are you ready to see the first Community Comic Book ever created in by kids in the Near Northwest Neighborhood?!

This comic was a collaborative effort over the last year by the artist of ReGeneration Indy, our writing partner Dr. Adam Henze, and the incredible team at Tactive printing. These students consistently showed up to the workshops to learn about Character Design, Writing, Design Layout, and Printing 101; engraining them in every part of the creation process. This made for an impactful experience filled with lots of group brainstorming, amazing collaborations between kids, and countless opportunities for the next generation to see there are so many creative careers accessible to them right here in Indy.

Made possible by the Innovation Grant from 16Tech, we can’t wait for you all to see the finished product! We’ll have pre-orders available and a date for the release ready for you by Christmas! Until then, keep an eye on our social media for updates.

Community Comic Book Project Team

  • Re-Generation Indy

    Through several workshops, the professional artists of Re-Generation Indy will take the students through the process of photography, character design, digital illustration and graphic design. The students will get to decide what type of superhero they want to be in their community. This will give them the opportunity to think critically about how they would like to show up in their neighborhoods and give them the power to personally designed what superpowers and characteristics they would want in a comic book hero. It’s time to use our imagination and creativity to help these kids become the superheroes we need to see in our community!

  • Dr. Adam Henze

    Dr. Adam Henze is a writer and educator living in Indianapolis. He earned a PhD in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education from Indiana University. Adam’s primary research interest is in alternative literacies—such as comic books, hip hop, spoken word poetry, and video games—and he loves helping teachers and students bridge the gap between the literacies promoted in schools and the literacies that young people love to engage with at home. Adam has published peer-reviewed articles about using comic books in the classroom and has presented his research at both academic conferences and fan conventions, such as Comic Con International in San Diego and Gen Con in Indianapolis. Adam was an award-winning cartoonist in high school and college, and his childhood self is beyond excited that he now gets to help young people learn to create comics along with Re-Generation Indy.

  • Tactive

    This local printing company is going to be who brings our Community Comic Book to life! Tactive offers several services in the realm of printing, marketing, promotional products and branding. Their amazing team is going to offer workshops for the students on the design layout of the comic book and introduce the students to all the different creative careers that are available to them. The students will get to see where the magic happens and actually get the opportunity to see the first prints of the comic book come hot off the press!