Downloads

Whether you're a serious artist or just a regular joe with a folder full of photos, Comic Book Creator can help you create a comic book. This neatly designed and feature-packed desktop publishing tool gives you what you need to turn your images into a slick-looking comic.

Creating comics is simple. I chose a page layout from a selection of templates and started plugging photos and artwork into it. I found it very easy to tweak the images--moving them right and left, zooming in and out--to get the right look. The array of word balloons in the small file (see explanation below) could have been better, but I was able to get the basics of what I wanted across. The balloons and text are movable and resizable, too--and there's a small but decent array of fonts--so it didn't take long to make a readable comic that anyone could follow.

Your comics don't have to be static, either. With the help of some bundled applications, you can use video and sound to add effects and punch (and punching effects) to your panels. These apps--Audacity, Fraps, and PD Particles --can be installed from Comic Book Creator's main screen.

There are two main downloads of the software, a larger one that includes the basic content pack and a smaller one that does not. This is the smaller version without the content pack. Other versions include content packs for licensed properties: Charlotte's Web, Marvel Heroes, Speed Racer, Tokyopop manga, and more.

Note: This demo version works for 10 days. Some menu items, such as the ability to print comics, are grayed out.

--Laura Blackwell