comic-creator

# Comic Creator — Full Comic Production Pipeline

Produce comics from storyboard through dialogue, image generation, and editing via an agent team, all in one pass. Supports 4-panel strips, short-form, and long-form (chapter-based) formats.

## Execution Mode

**Agent Team** — Five agents communicate directly via SendMessage and cross-validate each other's work.

## Agent Roster

| Agent | File | Role | Type |
|-------|------|------|------|
| storyboarder | `.claude/agents/storyboarder.md` | Synopsis, storyboard, panel layout design | general-purpose |
| dialogue-writer | `.claude/agents/dialogue-writer.md` | Character dialogue, sound effects, narration | general-purpose |
| image-generator | `.claude/agents/image-generator.md` | Gemini-based panel image generation | general-purpose |
| comic-editor | `.claude/agents/comic-editor.md` | Speech bubble placement, page editing spec | general-purpose |
| quality-reviewer | `.claude/agents/quality-reviewer.md` | Consistency validation, continuity checks | general-purpose |

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Preparation (Performed Directly by the Orchestrator)

1. Extract from user input:
   - **Topic/Story Idea**: The story to turn into a comic
   - **Format**: 4-panel / Short-form (8-16 pages) / Long-form (chapter-based) / Webtoon
   - **Genre**: Comedy, drama, fantasy, slice-of-life, action, etc.
   - **Art Style** (optional): Manga, American comics, webtoon style, etc.
   - **Existing Files** (optional): Scenario, character settings, etc.
2. Create `_workspace/` directory and `_workspace/panels/` subdirectory
3. Organize input and save to `_workspace/00_input.md`
4. If existing files are available, copy to `_workspace/` and skip corresponding phase
5. Determine execution mode based on request scope

### Phase 2: Team Assembly and Execution

| Order | Task | Owner | Dependency | Deliverable |
|-------|------|-------|------------|-------------|
| 1 | Storyboard | storyboarder | None | `_workspace/01_storyboard.md` |
| 2a | Dialogue writing | dialogue-writer | Task 1 | `_workspace/02_dialogue.md` |
| 2b | Panel image generation | image-generator | Task 1 | `_workspace/03_image_prompts.md`, `_workspace/panels/` |
| 3 | Page editing spec | comic-editor | Tasks 1, 2a, 2b | `_workspace/04_layout.md` |
| 4 | Quality review | quality-reviewer | Tasks 2a, 2b, 3 | `_workspace/05_review_report.md` |

Tasks 2a (dialogue) and 2b (images) run **in parallel**. Both depend only on Task 1 (storyboard).

**Inter-agent communication flow:**
- storyboarder completes -> delivers per-panel situations and emotions to dialogue-writer; character sheets and compositions to image-generator
- dialogue-writer completes -> delivers SFX style to image-generator; bubble types and reading order to comic-editor
- image-generator completes -> delivers image files and blank area info to comic-editor
- comic-editor completes -> delivers editing spec to quality-reviewer
- quality-reviewer cross-validates all deliverables. On RED Must Fix findings, sends revision requests -> rework -> re-validate (up to 2 cycles)

### Phase 3: Integration and Final Deliverables

1. Verify all files in `_workspace/`
2. Confirm all RED Must Fix items have been addressed
3. Report final summary to user

## Execution Modes by Scope

| User Request Pattern | Execution Mode | Agents Deployed |
|---------------------|---------------|----------------|
| "Create a comic," "full production" | **Full Pipeline** | All 5 agents |
| "Just create a storyboard" | **Storyboard Mode** | storyboarder + reviewer |
| "Make a comic from this scenario" (existing file) | **Image Mode** | image-generator + comic-editor + reviewer |
| "Just write the dialogue" | **Dialogue Mode** | storyboarder + dialogue-writer + reviewer |
| "Review this comic" | **Review Mode** | reviewer only |

**Using Existing Files**: If the user provides a scenario, storyboard, etc., copy to `_workspace/` and skip that agent's phase.

## Data Transfer Protocol

| Strategy | Method | Use Case |
|----------|--------|----------|
| File-based | `_workspace/` directory | Store and share major deliverables |
| Message-based | SendMessage | Real-time key information delivery, revision requests |
| Task-based | TaskCreate/TaskUpdate | Progress tracking, dependency management |

File naming convention: `{order_number}_{deliverable}.{extension}`

## Error Handling

| Error Type | Strategy |
|-----------|----------|
| Image generation failure | Proceed with text prompts only; user can retry with the prompts |
| Character consistency breaks | Strengthen character descriptions in prompts and regenerate (up to 2 times) |
| Agent failure | Retry once -> if still failing, proceed without that deliverable; note in review report |
| RED found in review | Send revision request -> rework -> re-validate (up to 2 cycles) |
| Content rejected as inappropriate | Modify prompt and retry; note in report |

## Test Scenarios

### Normal Flow
**Prompt**: "Create a 4-panel comic about a programmer's daily life. Comedy genre."
**Expected Result**:
- Storyboard: 4-panel setup-development-twist-punchline storyboard, character sheet
- Dialogue: Character-specific speech, sound effects, punchline
- Images: 4 panel images generated (consistent art style)
- Editing: Speech bubble placement, reading flow specification
- Review: Full consistency matrix verified

### Existing File Flow
**Prompt**: "Create a webtoon from this scenario" + attached scenario file
**Expected Result**:
- Incorporate existing scenario into `_workspace/01_storyboard.md`
- Storyboarder adds panel layout design on top of existing scenario
- Deploy dialogue-writer + image-generator + comic-editor + reviewer

### Error Flow
**Prompt**: "Just create a quick storyboard, any topic"
**Expected Result**:
- Switch to storyboard mode (storyboarder + reviewer)
- Topic is unclear, so storyboarder proposes 3 genre-based synopses
- Review report notes "Dialogue/image/editing not generated"

## Agent Extension Skills

| Agent | Extension Skill | Knowledge Provided |
|-------|----------------|-------------------|
| storyboarder, image-generator | `/panel-composition` | Camera angles, gaze flow, page rhythm, prompt structure |
| dialogue-writer, comic-editor | `/visual-narrative` | Speech bubble systems, SFX typography, Show-Don't-Tell, scene transitions |
| storyboarder, image-generator | `/character-design-system` | Character sheets, silhouette test, expression charts, AI consistency strategy |