I remember the rush every Sunday morning to be the first to get to the Sunday newspaper.  Sunday’s paper meant Sunday funnies, and they would be in color!  Those comic strips were a huge part of my growing up, and I remember my siblings and I trying to imitate the drawing style of our favorite artists.  Unfortunately for me, it became quickly apparent that I have roughly no talent when it comes to drawing, so creating a comic strip of my own was definitely out of the running for a future career choice.  For those of us who really can’t draw, all is no longer lost.  There are many comic strip creation sites and apps available now, and they run the gamut from being easy enough to turn a pre-K class loose to something high school students could use to fulfill their creative needs.  This week I worked with ToonDoo, Pixton, and MakeBeliefsComix.

ToonDoo

From the first introduction screen, you can tell ToonDoo was designed to catch the attention of the younger grades.  It is bright, fun, and full of cute, cartoony creations.  I found it fairly straightforward to navigate, and there were lots of choices for backgrounds and props.  One thing I found bothersome was that while there were many male figures available, there were far fewer female options, and the female options didn’t offer as many poses.  Since ToonDoo doesn’t allow for changing poses beyond flipping the image, this became a problem for me.  I struggled to find exactly what I wanted to convey my message.  Once I found what I wanted, it was easy to dress up the comic and make it my own.  Plus, I had a lot of fun!  Once you are done, saving the ToonDoo is problematic, though.  I expected it to take a little while, but after waiting two hours, I assumed I had broken the site, and I recreated my comic.  After hours more of waiting, that one didn’t upload properly either, so I sent a message requesting help.  When I logged on this morning both were uploaded and available for viewing, but we all know that wouldn’t work well with younger students.  If I were to use this with a class, it would be mandatory to have already taught the students how to use the snipping tool so they could have a saved copy of their ToonDoo in case they run into technical difficulties.

Here is my ToonDoo creation:

Pixton

Pixton’s look is definitely geared toward an older crowd.  The characters were fun, posable, and even had a multitude of expressions available.  I had no issue finding what I wanted to create a comic using the Basic (free) options, and I could definitely see myself going back to this site to create other comix.  Saving was quick and easy, which was a relief, and you have immediate options to post to Facebook and Twitter, or to embed your comic.  Upgrading is available on this site, but the Basic options should be enough to work with if you don’t have room in your budget.

Here is my Pixton creation:

MakeBeliefsComix

This free site was the easiest of all three for me to use, and it was bright and colorful with lots of cute toon characters to choose from.  That said, you definitely get what you pay for; while there are lots of choices for backgrounds and objects, most of the characters are only available in black and white.  The characters they offer show a lot of diversity, even to one character that appears to be ill, and another one in a wheelchair.  There are also several different ethnicities, which I found to be absolutely appealing.  You can’t save your comix here, but they give easy directions for printing and emailing.  I chose to print mine to pdf, and I also emailed it to myself to see what this would look like.  The only problem I had with MakeBeliefsComix, and it was actually a big problem, is that when I went to look at the saving information and then returned to the previous page, my comic strip was gone.  I had to make it all over again.  Since I knew how to navigate the site pretty well at this point, I was able to recreate it within about five minutes, but this could be a huge frustration for students.  I’d suggest having students take screenshots or use the snipping tool before they even attempt to print or do anything else to avoid problems when using this site.

Here is my MakeBeliefsComix creation:

I can see so many applications for using comix in the classroom.  Vocabulary development would be a definite option, as would having students create storyboards for creative writing assignments.  It would be fun to have small groups work together to show plot for books they read in literature circles, and the ideas just keep coming.  As far as ease of use and a miniscule learning curve, I would lean toward using MakeBeliefsComix as my first choice for any comic strip assignment, especially for younger students.  Older students would probably appreciate the details available from Pixton, and it was easily my favorite comic creation site, but with budget considerations being what they often are, you may have to hold off on this one.  Overall, while these sites even the playing field for those of us who can’t draw, they certainly don’t limit those who can, so the possibilities are endless.  Get your creativity on, and go make some comix of your own!