Free Alternatives to Comic Life

While I think that Comic Life is one of the best comic creators out there, I want to mention some free alternatives you can use if your school doesn't have Comic Life.

Comiqs is a very close alternative to Comic Life. There are a few different templates you can choose from and you can add multiple pages to your comic. There is a photo album available to insert pictures, or you can upload from an online Flickr album or from your computer. You can put a black and white, negative or cartoon effect on your photos, as well. You can then share them to the Comiqs gallery or to your other social networking sites. You can also embed them into websites/blogs.

Marvel Comics also has a free comic creator which you create using the Marvel characters. Obviously you lose a little bit of customization because of the character limitations, but overall it is still a very good comic creator. One of the things I like about the Marvel site is that they have the option to insert "sound effects". Granted, they are not SOUNDS, but they are onomatopoeia words that are designed like they were in the Marvel comics (ex: BOOM, SMASH, BADOOM, etc). That effect really gives it the comic feel.  This is a great comic creator if you're willing to use Marvel characters.

Another free comic creator is available from ReadWriteThink. This is a great resource for younger students because of its easy drag-n-drop interface.  This is a very simple comic creator which doesn't have the fancy features of the other programs, however it works nicely for younger students, like I mentioned.  There isn't an option for sharing/embeding these comics either, but you can always click the print feature and then save it as a pdf or jpg.

Why use comics?
The use of comics might engage some of your learners who aren't the best writers.  Comics also make students think critically not only about the text, but also about the pictures and how the two interact. It would be best to show students examples of some good comics before students make their own.  I used comics in my classroom as a spelling option--students could create comic strips using their spelling words.  There is also a website called Comics in the Classroom that offers many lesson plans for using comics.