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A fictional demo: the library, the young artists and their artwork are invented, and every image was made with AI. About this demo
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Comics

A setup, a problem, a big moment and a punch line: that's how cartoonist Benny Ortiz taught it at the Comic Jam in June. Read these left to right, and look closely, because the sound effects are the best part.

  • Four-panel marker comic: a brown dog hides behind a chair saying NO, puts on a red cape and mask, crashes into a vacuum with a yellow BOOM, and stands proudly on the tipped-over vacuum.

    Captain Biscuit vs. the Vacuum

    Maya, age 8 · 2026

    My dog Biscuit is scared of the vacuum in real life, but in my comic he's a superhero and he wins. The vacuum is the bad guy because it's so loud. Panel 3 is my favorite because of the BOOM.
  • Five-panel ink and marker comic page titled The Book That Ate the Library: a red book with teeth grows huge and chomps the shelves, until a librarian reads it a story and it falls asleep.

    The Book That Ate the Library

    Felix, age 12 · 2026

    It's a horror comic, but funny horror. An overdue book gets so hungry it eats the whole library, and the librarian has to read it a bedtime story so it falls asleep. The moral is: please return your books on time.
  • Three-panel colored-pencil comic: an astronaut floats with a sandwich saying LUNCH, bites it so crumbs float everywhere, and the crumbs drift out the window into a spiral galaxy.

    Space Lunch

    Zoe, age 9 · 2026

    Astronauts can't eat crumbly food because the crumbs float away and get in the machines. In my comic an astronaut eats a sandwich anyway and the crumbs turn into a brand-new galaxy. That part isn't true. But it could be.
  • Four-panel pencil and watercolor comic of a snail mail carrier crawling through the seasons for years to deliver a Happy 7th Birthday card to a confused older kid.

    Snail Mail

    Henry, age 10 · 2026

    The mail carrier is a snail and it takes him three years to deliver one letter. When he finally gets there, the card says Happy 7th Birthday, but the kid is 10 now. I got the idea when my birthday card from Aunt Jo came really late.
  • Two-panel crayon comic: two kids sell lemonade at a stand, then a big bee in a top hat drinks from their pitcher with a straw while they look shocked.

    Lemonade Stand Disaster

    Ruby, age 7 · 2026

    Me and my brother had a lemonade stand and a bee drank most of it. This is a true story except the bee wasn't really wearing a hat.
Four-panel marker comic: a brown dog hides behind a chair saying NO, puts on a red cape and mask, crashes into a vacuum with a yellow BOOM, and stands proudly on the tipped-over vacuum.

Captain Biscuit vs. the Vacuum

Biscuit is scared of the vacuum in real life. In Maya's comic he puts on a cape and wins. Her favorite part is panel 3, because of the BOOM.

The moral is: please return your books on time.

— Felix, age 12, The Book That Ate the Library