The Comic: Tricks and treats

Lorenzo Etherington, one of the creators of Monkey Nuts, shows the Comic winners how to create their own comic strip character Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

After creating characters out of paper or plasticine, the animators at the British Film Institute helped the Comic winners bring them to life Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

Illustrators and animators from the DFC took part in the workshops too Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

The Comic winners show off their creations with the Etherington Brothers, creators of Monkey Nuts, and characters from their comic strip Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

A magician wows the winners with his tricks: he was on hand throughout the day to entertain, as was a facepainter and a percussion band Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

A winner shows off one of the many characters that were animated during the launch event Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

Dave Shelton, creator of Good Dog Bad dog, chills out with two life-size cartoon dogs Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

The author Philip Pullman, who has written a comic strip for the DFC, with characters from the Monkey Nuts and Good Dog Bad Dog strips Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

Nick Sharratt, the Tracey Beaker illustrator, did special one-off sketches for the winners late on in the evening Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian

To celebrate the launch of the DFC, Philip Pulman and David Fickling, the creator and editor of the DFC, let off 100 balloons over the Thames, some which have year-long DFC subscriptions attached to them for any child who found them Photograph: Dominic Turner/Guardian