Comic Life 1.3: Build Perfect Comics on your Mac

How often do you find yourself lazing around on a lonely Sunday just wishing you had pursued your high school dream of being a comic book artist? Okay, obviously the ability make killer comics on your Mac might not be for everyone, but if the need arises isn’t it nice to know there is one killer app to get the job done. Focusing on functionality and ease of use, Comic Life gives you numerous ways to explore your creativity – spice up your vacation snaps, tell a goofy story, or even create some great visual how-to guides.

Comic Life provides a clean interface with all of the drag and drop goodness we have come to love and expect in our Mac apps. I sat an 8 year old friend down to Comic Life the other day and was not surprised to see her happily building a full comic strip, without ever seeing the app or asking how to use it. Alyssa also said she loves the sound effects tied to each action, and I will admit I didn’t even bother turning them off when she left. Comic Life could likely be considered a Delicious Generation style of app, and you will instantly find yourself having fun, instead of learning to use it.

After choosing a frame style (there is a really huge list of these), simply drag and drop images into Comic Life from your collection, add some speech balloons and dialogue text boxes (POW! Blammo! Ziiiing!), and you’re pretty much done. There is a ton of freedom
laying out each element, and your speech balloons can really be modified to match your goals, including new support for multiple tails.

Exporting your masterpiece to iPhoto, HTML, JPEG images, QuickTime, or even your .Mac account is just as painless as one would expect, and I have to admit the end results really blew me away. Printing out your comics might really win the admiration of all your friends and colleagues for your clear artistic know how. I found a few Comic Life examples with Google, but this one is a good example of the results:

While Comic Life isn’t just for kids, I think it is one of those tools that really needs a place on Mac and I am super pleased it exists. Adults and professionals can make use of it for marketing concepts and fun fliers, but your kids and teens are really just going to love this one. The app has also been around long enough and the development crew over at plasq (think Skitch) are a great committed group who supply regular updates and support.

And I nearly forgot, recently one of the Winner’s from our big Mac Switcher’s Giveaway, Jens Bonk, built a great comic using this app if you need another example of its usefulness. Comic Life’s recently release 1.3.4 version goes for $24.95 and there is a free 30 day trial on offer from the the guys at plasq. Stan Lee not included.

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