Knowledge Comic Creator

Adapted from baoyu-comic for Hermes Agent's tool ecosystem.

Create original knowledge comics with flexible art style × tone combinations.

When to Use

Trigger this skill when the user asks to create a knowledge/educational comic, biography comic, tutorial comic, or uses terms like "知识漫画", "教育漫画", or "Logicomix-style". The user provides content (text, file path, URL, or topic) and optionally specifies art style, tone, layout, aspect ratio, or language.

Reference Images

Hermes'

image_generate

tool is prompt-only — it accepts a text prompt and an aspect ratio, and returns an image URL. It does NOT accept reference images. When the user supplies a reference image, use it to extract traits in text that get embedded in every page prompt:

Intake: Accept file paths when the user provides them (or pastes images in conversation).

File path(s) → copy to
```
refs/NN-ref-{slug}.{ext}
```
alongside the comic output for provenance
Pasted image with no path → ask the user for the path via
```
clarify
```
, or extract style traits verbally as a text fallback
No reference → skip this section

Usage modes (per reference):

Usage	Effect
`style`	Extract style traits (line treatment, texture, mood) and append to every page's prompt body
`palette`	Extract hex colors and append to every page's prompt body
`scene`	Extract scene composition or subject notes and append to the relevant page(s)

Record in each page's prompt frontmatter when refs exist:

yaml

references:
  - ref_id: 01
    filename: 01-ref-scene.png
    usage: style
    traits: "muted earth tones, soft-edged ink wash, low-contrast backgrounds"

Character consistency is driven by text descriptions in

characters/characters.md

(written in Step 3) that get embedded inline in every page prompt (Step 5). The optional PNG character sheet generated in Step 7.1 is a human-facing review artifact, not an input to

image_generate

Options

Visual Dimensions

Option	Values	Description
Art	ligne-claire (default), manga, realistic, ink-brush, chalk, minimalist	Art style / rendering technique
Tone	neutral (default), warm, dramatic, romantic, energetic, vintage, action	Mood / atmosphere
Layout	standard (default), cinematic, dense, splash, mixed, webtoon, four-panel	Panel arrangement
Aspect	3:4 (default, portrait), 4:3 (landscape), 16:9 (widescreen)	Page aspect ratio
Language	auto (default), zh, en, ja, etc.	Output language
Refs	File paths	Reference images used for style / palette trait extraction (not passed to the image model). See Reference Images above.

Partial Workflow Options

Option	Description
Storyboard only	Generate storyboard only, skip prompts and images
Prompts only	Generate storyboard + prompts, skip images
Images only	Generate images from existing prompts directory
Regenerate N	Regenerate specific page(s) only (e.g., `3` or `2,5,8` )

Details: references/partial-workflows.md

Art, Tone & Preset Catalogue

Art styles (6):

ligne-claire

manga

realistic

ink-brush

chalk

minimalist

. Full definitions at

references/art-styles/<style>.md

Tones (7):

neutral

warm

dramatic

romantic

energetic

vintage

action

. Full definitions at

references/tones/<tone>.md

Presets (5) with special rules beyond plain art+tone:

Preset	Equivalent	Hook
`ohmsha`	manga + neutral	Visual metaphors, no talking heads, gadget reveals
`wuxia`	ink-brush + action	Qi effects, combat visuals, atmospheric
`shoujo`	manga + romantic	Decorative elements, eye details, romantic beats
`concept-story`	manga + warm	Visual symbol system, growth arc, dialogue+action balance
`four-panel`	minimalist + neutral + four-panel layout	起承转合 structure, B&W + spot color, stick-figure characters

Full rules at

references/presets/<preset>.md

— load the file when a preset is picked.

Compatibility matrix and content-signal → preset table live in references/auto-selection.md. Read it before recommending combinations in Step 2.

File Structure

Output directory:

comic/{topic-slug}/

Slug: 2-4 words kebab-case from topic (e.g.,
```
alan-turing-bio
```
)
Conflict: append timestamp (e.g.,
```
turing-story-20260118-143052
```
)

Contents:

File	Description
`source-{slug}.md`	Saved source content (kebab-case slug matches the output directory)
`analysis.md`	Content analysis
`storyboard.md`	Storyboard with panel breakdown
`characters/characters.md`	Character definitions
`characters/characters.png`	Character reference sheet (downloaded from `image_generate` )
`prompts/NN-{cover\|page}-[slug].md`	Generation prompts
`NN-{cover\|page}-[slug].png`	Generated images (downloaded from `image_generate` )
`refs/NN-ref-{slug}.{ext}`	User-supplied reference images (optional, for provenance)

Language Handling

Detection Priority:

User-specified language (explicit option)
User's conversation language
Source content language

Rule: Use user's input language for ALL interactions:

Storyboard outlines and scene descriptions
Image generation prompts
User selection options and confirmations
Progress updates, questions, errors, summaries

Technical terms remain in English.

Workflow

Progress Checklist

Comic Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Setup & Analyze
  - [ ] 1.1 Analyze content
  - [ ] 1.2 Check existing directory
- [ ] Step 2: Confirmation - Style & options ⚠️ REQUIRED
- [ ] Step 3: Generate storyboard + characters
- [ ] Step 4: Review outline (conditional)
- [ ] Step 5: Generate prompts
- [ ] Step 6: Review prompts (conditional)
- [ ] Step 7: Generate images
  - [ ] 7.1 Generate character sheet (if needed) → characters/characters.png
  - [ ] 7.2 Generate pages (with character descriptions embedded in prompt)
- [ ] Step 8: Completion report

Flow

Input → Analyze → [Check Existing?] → [Confirm: Style + Reviews] → Storyboard → [Review?] → Prompts → [Review?] → Images → Complete

Step Summary

Step	Action	Key Output
1.1	Analyze content	`analysis.md` , `source-{slug}.md`
1.2	Check existing directory	Handle conflicts
2	Confirm style, focus, audience, reviews	User preferences
3	Generate storyboard + characters	`storyboard.md` , `characters/`
4	Review outline (if requested)	User approval
5	Generate prompts	`prompts/*.md`
6	Review prompts (if requested)	User approval
7.1	Generate character sheet (if needed)	`characters/characters.png`
7.2	Generate pages	`*.png` files
8	Completion report	Summary

User Questions

Use the

clarify

tool to confirm options. Since

clarify

handles one question at a time, ask the most important question first and proceed sequentially. See references/workflow.md for the full Step 2 question set.

Timeout handling (CRITICAL):

clarify

can return

"The user did not provide a response within the time limit. Use your best judgement to make the choice and proceed."

— this is NOT user consent to default everything.

Treat it as a default for that one question only. Continue asking the remaining Step 2 questions in sequence; each question is an independent consent point.
Surface the default to the user visibly in your next message so they have a chance to correct it: e.g.
```
"Style: defaulted to ohmsha preset (clarify timed out). Say the word to switch."
```
— an unreported default is indistinguishable from never having asked.
Do NOT collapse Step 2 into a single "use all defaults" pass after one timeout. If the user is genuinely absent, they will be equally absent for all five questions — but they can correct visible defaults when they return, and cannot correct invisible ones.

Step 7: Image Generation

Use Hermes' built-in

image_generate

tool for all image rendering. Its schema accepts only

prompt

and

aspect_ratio

(

landscape

portrait

square

); it returns a URL, not a local file. Every generated page or character sheet must therefore be downloaded to the output directory.

Prompt file requirement (hard): write each image's full, final prompt to a standalone file under

prompts/

(naming:

NN-{type}-[slug].md

) BEFORE calling

image_generate

. The prompt file is the reproducibility record.

Aspect ratio mapping — the storyboard's

aspect_ratio

field maps to

image_generate

's format as follows:

Storyboard ratio	`image_generate` format
`3:4` , `9:16` , `2:3`	`portrait`
`4:3` , `16:9` , `3:2`	`landscape`
`1:1`	`square`

Download step — after every

image_generate

call:

Read the URL from the tool result

Fetch the image bytes using an absolute output path, e.g.

curl -fsSL "<url>" -o /abs/path/to/comic/<slug>/NN-page-<slug>.png

Verify the file exists and is non-empty at that exact path before proceeding to the next page

Never rely on shell CWD persistence for
-o
paths. The terminal tool's persistent-shell CWD can change between batches (session expiry,

TERMINAL_LIFETIME_SECONDS

, a failed

cd

that leaves you in the wrong directory).

curl -o relative/path.png

is a silent footgun: if CWD has drifted, the file lands somewhere else with no error. Always pass a fully-qualified absolute path to
-o
, or pass

workdir=<abs path>

to the terminal tool. Incident Apr 2026: pages 06-09 of a 10-page comic landed at the repo root instead of

comic/<slug>/

because batch 3 inherited a stale CWD from batch 2 and

curl -o 06-page-skills.png

wrote to the wrong directory. The agent then spent several turns claiming the files existed where they didn't.

7.1 Character sheet — generate it (to

characters/characters.png

, aspect

landscape

) when the comic is multi-page with recurring characters. Skip for simple presets (e.g., four-panel minimalist) or single-page comics. The prompt file at

characters/characters.md

must exist before invoking

image_generate

. The rendered PNG is a human-facing review artifact (so the user can visually verify character design) and a reference for later regenerations or manual prompt edits — it does not drive Step 7.2. Page prompts are already written in Step 5 from the text descriptions in

characters/characters.md

;

image_generate

cannot accept images as visual input.

7.2 Pages — each page's prompt MUST already be at

prompts/NN-{cover|page}-[slug].md

before invoking

image_generate

. Because

image_generate

is prompt-only, character consistency is enforced by embedding character descriptions (sourced from
characters/characters.md
) inline in every page prompt during Step 5. The embedding is done uniformly whether or not a PNG sheet is produced in 7.1; the PNG is only a review/regeneration aid.

Backup rule: existing

prompts/…md

and

…png

files → rename with

-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS

suffix before regenerating.

Full step-by-step workflow (analysis, storyboard, review gates, regeneration variants): references/workflow.md.

References

Core Templates:

analysis-framework.md - Deep content analysis
character-template.md - Character definition format
storyboard-template.md - Storyboard structure
ohmsha-guide.md - Ohmsha manga specifics

Style Definitions:

```
references/art-styles/
```
- Art styles (ligne-claire, manga, realistic, ink-brush, chalk, minimalist)
```
references/tones/
```
- Tones (neutral, warm, dramatic, romantic, energetic, vintage, action)
```
references/presets/
```
- Presets with special rules (ohmsha, wuxia, shoujo, concept-story, four-panel)
```
references/layouts/
```
- Layouts (standard, cinematic, dense, splash, mixed, webtoon, four-panel)

Workflow:

workflow.md - Full workflow details
auto-selection.md - Content signal analysis
partial-workflows.md - Partial workflow options

Page Modification

Action	Steps
Edit	Update prompt file FIRST → regenerate image → download new PNG
Add	Create prompt at position → generate with character descriptions embedded → renumber subsequent → update storyboard
Delete	Remove files → renumber subsequent → update storyboard

IMPORTANT: When updating pages, ALWAYS update the prompt file (

prompts/NN-{cover|page}-[slug].md

) FIRST before regenerating. This ensures changes are documented and reproducible.

Pitfalls

Image generation: 10-30 seconds per page; auto-retry once on failure
Always download the URL returned by
```
image_generate
```
to a local PNG — downstream tooling (and the user's review) expects files in the output directory, not ephemeral URLs
Use absolute paths for
curl -o
— never rely on persistent-shell CWD across batches. Silent footgun: files land in the wrong directory and subsequent
```
ls
```
on the intended path shows nothing. See Step 7 "Download step".
Use stylized alternatives for sensitive public figures
Step 2 confirmation required - do not skip
Steps 4/6 conditional - only if user requested in Step 2
Step 7.1 character sheet - recommended for multi-page comics, optional for simple presets. The PNG is a review/regeneration aid; page prompts (written in Step 5) use the text descriptions in
```
characters/characters.md
```
, not the PNG.
```
image_generate
```
does not accept images as visual input
Strip secrets — scan source content for API keys, tokens, or credentials before writing any output file

baoyu-comic

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content