# CodeToon: Story Ideation, Auto Comic Generation, and Structure Mapping for Code-Driven Storytelling

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.12981 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12981/

## Key facts

- Cited by 14 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 27 Aug 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [Luminate: Structured Generation and Exploration of Design Space with Large Language Models for Human-AI Co-Creation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.12953/) (2023)
- [Sensecape: Enabling Multilevel Exploration and Sensemaking with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.11483/) (2023)
- [LAVE: LLM-Powered Agent Assistance and Language Augmentation for Video Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.10294/) (2024)
- [VISAR: A Human-AI Argumentative Writing Assistant with Visual Programming and Rapid Draft Prototyping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.07810/) (2023)
- [ReelFramer: Human-AI Co-Creation for News-to-Video Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09653/) (2023)
- [Diffusion-Based Visual Art Creation: A Survey and New Perspectives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.12128/) (2024)
- [Storyfier: Exploring Vocabulary Learning Support with Text Generation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.03864/) (2023)
- [One missing piece in Vision and Language: A Survey on Comics Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.09502/) (2024)
- [From Paper to Card: Transforming Design Implications with Generative AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08137/) (2024)
- [Composable Prompting Workspaces for Creative Writing: Exploration and Iteration Using Dynamic Widgets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.21394/) (2025)
- [Fictional Worlds, Real Connections: Developing Community Storytelling Social Chatbots through LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.11478/) (2023)
- [PromptCanvas: Composable Prompting Workspaces Using Dynamic Widgets for Exploration and Iteration in Creative Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.03741/) (2025)
- [Scaffolding Recursive Divergence and Convergence in Story Ideation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.03307/) (2025)
- [PlayWrite: A Multimodal System for AI Supported Narrative Co-Authoring Through Play in XR](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.02366/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recent work demonstrated how we can design and use coding strips, a form of comic strips with corresponding code, to enhance teaching and learning in programming. However, creating coding strips is a creative, time-consuming process. Creators have to generate stories from code (code->story) and design comics from stories (story->comic). We contribute CodeToon, a comic authoring tool that facilitates this code-driven storytelling process with two mechanisms: (1) story ideation from code using metaphor and (2) automatic comic generation from the story. We conducted a two-part user study that evaluates the tool and the comics generated by participants to test whether CodeToon facilitates the authoring process and helps generate quality comics. Our results show that CodeToon helps users create accurate, informative, and useful coding strips in a significantly shorter time. Overall, this work contributes methods and design guidelines for code-driven storytelling and opens up opportunities for using art to support computer science education.