Customer Reviews

Comic Book Creator

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

There's some good things here (some nice fonts, for example), but ultimately I found using Comic Book Creator too frustrating. For example, the speech balloons reproduced with jagged edges. Also, the clip art bundled with the program is pretty lousy, though you can import your own.

Worst of all, one has to choose the page layout as a first step. So later, if you decide you want to insert a frame between two others, it can't be done.

Perhaps there are workarounds for these problems, but they weren't immediately apparent.

I own this program and for 20 bucks, it's outstanding. Depending on what you want to do, you need to know that there are limits though. If you want to just drop screenshots from your PC Game and make your own story, it's awesome. If you want to drop your own photos or mess with the provided clipart, you can do that with ease as well. If you want to make your own comic with your own pictures, that can get a bit tricky. You need an art program like Photoshop, or scan your own drawings into the computer and put them in the clipart folder. Then you can use them as inserts into the panels or as clipart, which allows you to overlap the panels a bit for a semi professional layout. I have been working on a 24 page comic for a couple months (I have a wife and kid so there are limits to my time) and it's coming out quite nicely. Now granted, this is not going to get you any contracts or deals with publishers but it's fun. And anyone who loves comics and has wanted to make one of their own come to life, this is the key.

I own this in version 1.08, and think it is well worth the price. I would have sold my grandma to get this when I was age 11. It does what it says, but nothing more. Maybe the balloons could use a little work - scale them up too much and some of them develop subtle jaggies on some edges. But it has the huge advantage of being incredibly easy to use, which is great for kids. I mean, which 12-year-old wants to learn the complexities of Photoshop ("feather 2px" every time, just to create a panel border?) just see if they like the idea of telling a story through the medium of a comic? So try it. If your kid likes it, and wants to go further, then I would suggest the following extras: Adobe Elements and a third-party comic book filter for Elements (search the web, there are a few worth having) so you can take digital photos and make them look like comic drawings. The advantage is, if you keep the lighting consistent, you get consistent looking panels for placing into Comic Book Creator that look like they were all drawn the same. There are also quality comic fonts available on the web, which you should seek out and add to Comic Book Creator (Gnatfont and Brit Comics spring to mind as good freebies) but there are also the high-quality commercial Comic Craft font packs. I would also suggest the excellent book by Matt Madden: "99 ways to tell a story" which shows you 99 one-page comics, all telling the same story in a myriad of different comic-y ways. All these, with Comic Book Creator as the core software, will prove an excellent toolset for budding comic storytellers. It'd be nice to recommend 'Adobe Comic Creator 1.0' - but such software doesn't yet exist. In the meantime, we have to bootstrap. If your kids are still churning out the Comic Book Creator comics in a year or two, then by all means buy them the Wacom pad and the full copy of Photoshop, and send them off to art school!

I bought this to use with family photos and threw together my first 5 page comic last night. It was fairly easy to use, but not perfect. Instructions are thin (read 'mostly nonexistant'); so it is best that you either have time on your hand OR a lot of experience using complex photo software.

GOOD: Simple once you get the hang of it. Plenty of fixed comic book panel formats to chose from and the drag-and-drop photo application makes life very easy. As long as you are OK with the formats provided, then putting family photos into a fun comic book format is incredibly easy. I received rave reviews from my first 'comic' and the finished product was of exceptional quality. The sofware has a nice assortment of boxes, call-outs and even some fun clip art. This was a great buy for the price.

NOT AS GOOD: The learning curve can be steep due to the quirky layout of controls. I guess this is not too bad of an issue since there are few controls provided with the software. The "dude" who wrote instructions was flippant at best (really annoying if you want to find a basic answer) and definitely not paid to produce a quality product. Downloading photos was tough until I found out the trick - after that, it is quite easy.

BAD: No photo editing software included. Simple things like rotating photos 90 degrees had to be done prior to loading into Comic Book Creator. The instructions and "Comic Book Wizard" are close to useless. Did I mention the controls? They are basic (good and bad) and poorly laid out (bad). There is no ability to truly customize panel layouts; so this software will not help out if you want something really creative. (Diagonals, overlays and more.)

All-in-all, this was an excellent buy for a software package under $20. I created a great storyboard format of some fun memories - bringing a great laugh (and a few "wows") to my family, grandparents and friends. Just be aware that there is a learning curve to get over before you hit the fun stuff. If the software was more expensive, then I would have given it 3 stars.

Actually, Comic Book Creator lets you use your content in a million different ways, including reselling of your work. The only limitation is that you can't sell comics created around branded content--like images from Marvel, Paramount, TOKYOPOP, etc.--because they don't allow that. It's all in the user agreement. Check it out!

Want to know about this company. Well it looks like they have a great product, but I have to tell you that their customer service stinks. I bought their software new and it was a waste of money. If you need customer service, you'll never hear from these guys. Oh' and if you have to do a reinstall of the software, and you have PC problems, and your licence runs out doing reinstall's once again you'll never hear from them. they'll even claim that they tried to contact you. Which if I remember correctly makes them liars on top of eveything else.
DONT BUY THIS SOFTWARE! Buyer beware!!!Planet Wide Comics Comic Book Creator

I wanted to draw my own comics and put them inside this program...What a waste of time...The creators are so interested in protecting their intellectual property rights that they have defeated my attempt...Unless you're super smart, don't buy this....

This is a fun software to get started with. My husband felt it was a little elementary and not what a serious comic book designer would want. However, it does let you use your own artwork if you want, or images from other games, clipart, etc. We haven't really explored it all yet, but so far so good. If you are truly looking for something you can publish your own work and sell from...this isn't it. However, its fun to play with and hone your skills.

This is a really fun program. It only costs around $20, so it was definately worth a try. I found it extremely easy to use, but there are a few features you have to play with to find. After fiddling with it, you will find there is more to this little program than you first thought. If you are looking to make classic comics, there are a lot of templates. I found that I wanted to make some more unusual panels, so I would actually make them in my Illustrator program, add the art and then place the whole thing as a JPEG file into a single page panel in the CCBC program. This is not a program where you create art- it simply provides the pages and panels. You put your own images in the boxes. You should check out Manga Studio or Comic Works if you are looking for a manga drawing program. There are also very limited speech and thought bubbles. This is why I didn't give the program all 5 stars. I have to work a bit to make manga style spreads. The same company is working with TokyoPop to put out a Manga Creator program. I am waiting anxiously for the release! That one probably has the speech and thought rings and bubbles I like.
You can make some cute digital scrapbook pages with the CCBC as well.

I am not computer savvy, so when I bought this for my son, it was because reviews showed it to be simple to use. However, no directions come in the box and the on line help doesn't answer my questions. luckily, through trial and error we have been able to figure most of the features outand are finally having fun!