Comics- Dangerous or Fun?

Comics are they dangerous or fun? You may be thinking how can a comic be dangerous, but after reading this article on Delancey Place you see that some did believe this to be true. 

"It seemed to [Wonder Woman publisher] Charlie Gaines like so much good, clean, superpatriotic fun. But in March 1942, the National Organization for Decent Literature put Sensation Comics on its blacklist of 'Publications Disapproved for Youth.' The list was used in local decency crusades: crusaders were supposed to visit news dealers and ask them to take titles off their shelves. Wonder Woman was banned. ..."

Over time a doctor by the name of Lauretta Bender along with other colleagues decided to study the effect comics had on children, specifically those in mental hospitals that had experienced trauma. These studies showed that comics were actually beneficial to children in multiple ways. In my opinion, banning books is a recurring issue in our society. We shouldn't be banning any books. If you find that books are inappropriate for your child or yourself then simply don't read them. It's not right to take books away from others just because it bothers you. I found this article very interesting, and I will be researching this topic more. 

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Comics in Schools Today

Today children love to read comics and graphic novels and knowing this as educators we should be looking for ways to incorporate this format of writing into our learning. Before this assignment, I honestly didn't know what was available in the technology world for children to use when creating their own comics. Our assignment was to check out these three platforms Pixton, FotoJet, and Makebeliefscomix to see what we thought about how they work. So I am sharing the comics I created and my opinion about each platform.

Pixton

 I really liked using this program and it was very simple to use. My nephews ranging from 7 years old to 18 years old say we creating my comic and had to join in creating with this program. We all really liked how you could choose a lot of options from different colors of hair, skin, eye, makeup, hair, and clothing. There is a bank of objects that you can use and multiple backgrounds. I do think they should add some more objects in for props or have a way to draw/create your own. This one is not free but they do offer 3 different levels. 

FotoJet

This platform is more of a create-your-own comic strip with your photos. It is neat but I don't think it is a great one for kids because they can't create comics from a bank of images that look like animation which I feel more children would like the animation version better. This program is more about using real photos.  If you want to print photos in a comic strip format this is a great option. It has cool comic collage backgrounds already that you can insert your pictures and add speech bubbles. There is a limited bank of props. I guess you could create images on another program like Canva and import them into FotoJet. I think for younger students this might be too many steps, but high school students would be able to easily navigate between multiple programs.  I personally didn't have fun really making one on this site. 

makebeliefscomix

This site isn't my favorite either but I do prefer it over the FotoJet, especially for younger students. I liked that it was easy to use once you played around with it, and it does have a limited image bank. I think it should have more options for characters because once I picked someone they had to stay seated in all the slides. You also can't change their facial expressions. I do think this is a good starting place for students if they are not sure what their story is going to be about.  

Overall, my favorite option is Pixton because it has a lot of options and you can take a story or idea you have already created and build from there. The other two platforms don't have a lot of options and to me aren't as fun to use.