Powered By Blogger

Friday, October 7, 2011

Digital Comics or e-comics. Are you a graphic artist or comic book reader?





What are Digital Comics? 

Digital comics are e-comics.  People are sill collecting hard copy comic books, but e-comics are part of our culture.
My conservative family was not in favor of my reading comic books, but they DID give me the occasional WONDER WOMAN comic book. And, I often read them at my friends’ houses. I sometimes think about the archetypal message this series gave me about the possibility of women having power and intelligence – of a woman as an action hero for justice and equality.  Deep in my sub-conscious, I think it was a positive influence. There is a double entendre in the woman's title: Wonder = Awesome, and the verb, Wonder = reflect upon.  Wonder Woman was created in the mid-twentieth century, i think at that time the "wonder" was an adjective, but I have talked before about the importance of verbs as action words.  For the 21st century, I think the verb is equally correct.  We need to keep wondering about the possibilities of power for women.
Culture is more than going to the symphony or art museum – it is WHAT’S HAPPENING all around us.  I am of the opinion that an informed adult enhances her/his world view by at least being aware of popular culture in society.  Our values ARE reflected in our popular culture.
In previous blogs I have referred to my favorite e-zine Tech & Learning, a free e-zine available to anyone.  Here is a previous article I wrote for another blog.  You might find it interesting. The info in the blog below is all excerpted from Tech  Learning.  You might find it interesting.

Sites for Creating Digital Comics

The information in this post came from: http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/33632  This is the Tech Learning newsletter that is free to all subscribers.  I would recommend this website to anyone interested in learning through the use of technology.  The author of this article is David Kapuler.  Here are some of his references, most of them are free.  I am only going to post the FREE sites; you can go to the url posted at the beginning of this post to get the entire article.

ToonDoo Spaces - one of the most popular online comic creators that is very similar to Pixton(paid), with the ability to create a private space for education for sharing/collaborating in comics, free..

Comic Master - A very nice-looking site that is user friendly with lots of features to choose from such as: backgrounds, objects, speech bubbles, etc.

Stage D - A great looking site for creating animated comics.

Make Beliefs Comix - A wonderful site with lots of options to choose from - it even lets users create comics in Spanish.

Super Hero Squad Show - A fun site for kids to make comics off of their favorite Marvel super hero.

Chogger - A nice site for creating a comic with the ability to create a drawing from scratch.

Comic Creator - From Read Write & Type, an easy/simple to use comic creator that is nice to use with the younger kids.

Witty Comics - A comic creation site that focuses on creating text more than anything else.

Wordle - Don't forget this textual program - it is easy and free with multiple uses.  I have talked about it before.

I would like to see your creations using at least one of these sites.  Share the wealth!  This is not just a waste of time; doing this utilizes additional senses and therefore, increases cognitive development and the retaining of information and concepts.

What are your thoughts re: cartoons as learning tools as well as entertainment????

Dr, CW



4 comments:

  1. Comic book characters get the imagination going. On Saturday morning you eat your bowl of Fruity Pebbles, sitting in front of the tv watching your favorite cartoon. You imagine that you are that super hero. Now your mind and HOT (higher order of thinking) is open to the unknown. (Thinking WAY outside of the box) :-)
    Then you look at your clothes and you have the super hero on your t-shirt;underwear;pajamas;socks;sippie cup; etc. With this many reminders of the comic book character or super hero, you can see why this has become a major money maker. Oh don't forget about the Halloween costumes. Now, for sure the character comes alive, as you slip into that costume. As a learning tool, this also allows the artist to sketch,paint and color.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe that cartoons are acceptable as learning tools. Cartoons do have a lot of bad things behind it and they can deliver the wrong message for younger children. Cartoons should be kept mainly to entertainment purposes because there is a lot of action and children won't get the wrong idea. I know that growing up parents use the TV and cartoons as a babysitter so children are left alone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There are good and bad influences with comic books. Depending on their visual intent and impression on an individuals mind. There is the entertainment aspect which can have a humerous side. On the other hand some evil can be represented and can give a negative impact with regard to the piece. When I was a child comics were read on Sundays. When my children were young, comics started displaying a more violent display of the characters and I did not think that was appropriate for young readers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I feel that comic books create an abstract learning and thinking tool that intends to keep the reader enthralled and excited while providing a great book with visual aids as well. Unfortunately as a kid, I was never introduced to the idea of comic books or cartoons until the age of 10 where I took a liking to cartoons. I would have to agree that cartoons can give kids the wrong impression while invoking violence or sarcasm into their habits from seeing on television. Comic books provide the reader with imaginative thinking and a great source of reading material that can expand their reading skills as well as their love for heroes, which can often make them leadrs in their daily lives.

    ReplyDelete