Cartoons and Comics

I loved to read comics when I was a kid! Archie comic books were my favorite. I still see them displayed in the checkout line at the grocery store. 

And how about the Sunday comics in the newspaper? It was the only day of the week that the comics were printed in color...and there was a whole section, not just a page or two! Nothing beat reading Peanuts after church. 

Comics are a medium used to express ideas using still images. Sometimes they contain text and sometimes they don't. When they do contain text, it is often contained in a speech bubble or caption. Comics can appear as a standalone cell or within interrelated panels. They can contain anything from a political message to a funny thought. The most current spin on comics is the graphic novel, which contains an entire narrative, fiction or nonfiction, shared in sequential comic form. Graphic novels are one of the most popular items checked out by students at my school.

So, how can comics be used in the classroom or library? According to Jabari Sellars in the article Comics in the Classroom, they serve three primary academic roles:

• Facilitating an understanding of complex required texts
• Extending the analysis of classic literature
• Replacing less-accessible works while conveying the same message

An additional ten reasons are shared on the Pixton Blog for Educators. I especially like these fun reasons to use comics: interest, variation, conciseness, willingness, understanding, discussion, ability, empowerment, community, and participation. I think you will find that you can create them to use with your students and that your students can make them as well.

Are you convinced yet? I am. In fact, I recently tried out a few utilities to create my own comics for use in the library. Here are my comics and thoughts related to each tool...

One of the great things about ToonDoo is the option of private Toondoospaces for schools and educational institutions. This option allows multiple users to register without having to enter email addresses. There is a fee for this option, but if you are going to have your students create ToonDoo comics, this is the way to go because it prevents privacy issues.

It was easy to create a comic in ToonDoo. After choosing to create a comic, I selected how many panels I wanted it to have. Then, I was able to choose and place characters, backgrounds, props, and speech bubbles from a menu bar. A tool bar is available at the bottom of the screen which provides the ability to adjust the size, position, and color of items. Even the position and facial expressions of the characters can be altered. There is plenty of variety in backgrounds and characters to make an interesting comic. However, the choices are not exhaustive. As you can see in my comic, the librarian is quite curvy and wearing high heels, but the student is kind of plain. Characters can be chosen or created from scratch, but I did not attempt to make my own character. 

Saving the completed comic was simple; all I had to do was choose Save from the main menu. ToonDoo is easy enough for students to use themselves, too. In fact, my daughter had to create a comic for a class assignment when she was in junior high using ToonDoo and didn't have any trouble with it. Overall, I found ToonDoo pretty simple in style, easy to use, and quick to come up with a finished product.

Pixton allows educators to use a scaled-down version for free. I set up an account by entering my name, email address, and a password. When given the choice as to how I wanted to use Pixton, I chose the "By myself" option in order to try it out. I was then provided with a comic tutorial on how to use Pixton's comic maker. I thought it was clever that the tutorial was a series of comics. The tutorial walked me through in a step-by-step process and was helpful. Beware of the characters, though. I typed in "librarian" as a search term and two old, dated, frumpy characters were displayed! Definitely not the look of a 21st century librarian!

I was amazed by the level of customization and choice available with Pixton. There are tons of characters and props to choose from. Each can be customized in size and color. They can be rotated or flipped. The position of a character's arms, legs, hands, and even head can be adjusted by the click and drag option. After choosing a background, the individual items in the scene can be broken up and individually adjusted or removed. The color, size, and font of the text can be modified, too. I especially liked that I could add panels whenever I wanted to rather than having to choose the number I wanted at the beginning. Saving the end product was simple and intuitive. Honestly, it did take me a while to get used to how to navigate all of the options, but I was able to use the Help option at the bottom of the screen whenever I had a question about how to do something. I think that students would be able to figure Pixton out quickly and easily create interesting, unique comics. 

The nice thing about Make Beliefs Comix is that you do not have to sign in to be able to create a comic. This online tool was very easy to use... and a comic can be made in a matter of minutes. However, there is very little variety in the characters, backgrounds, and objects available. In fact, there were no library background options and the only school one was not in color. Customization or creating an item from scratch is not possible at all.

I think that this would be a good option for young students who are making their first comic because choices are limited and saving is easy. But, there is not enough complexity or choice for older students or adults to create interesting comics.

The Verdict

My top choice for creating an interesting, innovative comic is Pixton. Although it takes a bit of getting used to, the customization options cannot be beat!

As a librarian, I plan to use comics with the teachers and students in my school as quick, fun reminders (as I did in the three comics I created above).

Try ToonDoo, Pixton, and Make Beliefs Comix out for yourself to determine which one you like the best. Happy cartooning!
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One more thing...
I discovered an amazing iPad app called Tellagami. Unfortunately, it has not been updated to work on the newest iOS update, but I have an old iPad and a new iPad. So, I was able to make a gami using the older model. Check out my book summary of Bridge to Terabithia.