20 Resources For Creating Comics Online

Artisan Cam- Super Action Comic Maker makes a 6-frame comic

Be Funky- change a photo into a cartoon; other cool effects

Bitstrips- choose from many emotions and facial expressions

Bubblr- create a comic strip with Flickr photos

Chogger- comic can be 3-12+ frames; draw your own picture or take a live picture to use

Comicbrush- use your own drawing or photo, their library of characters, backgrounds and balloons, then add your own text.

Comiqs- your finished comic is presented as a slide show instead of a comic strip

GoAnimate- create animated cartoon with their backgrounds, characters, voices and effects; free version is limited to 2 minutes.

Hero Machine- create the hero of your dreams

Make Beliefs Comix-dialogue can be written in English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese and Spanish; edit size of balloons, characters.

Pikikids- select a layout, upload your photo and add text in balloons.

PikiStrips- use your photos to create a comic strip

Pixton- $$, works on Mac, Windows or Linux computers; just add characters to the layout of choice and add text.

Stage'D- requires unity web player download

Strip Generator-choose how many frames you want and create a black and white comic.

Super Action Comic Maker- create a 6-frame comic

Super Hero Squad- create a 1-3 frame comic with a choice of background, characters and special effects.

ToonDoo- "just a few clicks, drag and drops..."

Witty Comics-use background templates, add characters and text.

Write Comics-registration is not needed; choose a background, characters and add your own text.

Why I Order Graphic Novels for the Library

I know that there are many teacher-librarians and media specialists who do not feel that graphic novels have a place in the school library. I've heard comments such as "They're the same as comic books!" and "High school students shouldn't be reading picture books". Today's digital learners are constantly preoccupied with visual stimuli, including video games, computers, TV, movies and cell phones that it's no wonder that our book circulation statistics have shown a decline in the last few years.

Problem #1- Dealing with kids who say they hate reading
That always hurts to hear, but I'd rather they were reading a magazine or a graphic novel, because then they would at least be reading, right?

Problem #2- Special education students who have various problems
I have students who not only have ADD, they dislike reading. (see problem #1) Cool pictures in a graphic novel can possibly keep their interest, especially if the artwork is awesome. The books I have purchased include a few Twilight Zone stories, classic novels (Beowolf, Frankenstein) and Anime.

Here are a few articles about graphic novels in the school library:
How Graphic Novels Thrive in High School Libraries: A Discussion 
2011 Great Graphic Novels for Kids- from ALA
Graphic Novels, Seriously- from SLJ
Must Have Graphic Novels Secondary