Everyone Loves a Comic Book

No one ever said you have to tell your story in a stuffy old book. There are options. One of the more creative ways is to use a comic book.

That’s right, I said comic book.

The idea is certainly not new. For those old enough to remember, Robert L. Ripley – of Ripley’s Believe it or Not fame – used to illustrate snippets of history for publication back in the 1920s and 1930s. Later on – between the 1940s and 1970s – authors and artists decided to illustrate (or turn into comics) some of the classics like Moby Dick, H.G. Wells’ Time Machine, and Robinson Crusoe. In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of films were made into fotonovels. Fotonovels took movie stills and recreated the movie using dialog balloons and comic strip like text. While not quite the same as comic books, it’s the same concept.

Today’s computer software allows you to do the same thing for your own family history. You can do some pretty creative things without needing to spend hours doing it. All it takes is software, a few photographs, and your imagination.

There are a number of ways you can turn your pictures into comic books. The easiest way is to purchase a copy of Comic Life 3 from the iTunes App Store. While the $30.00 price tag seems a bit steep, it works well. The software offers a series of templates that can be used to layout your story in traditional (or non-traditional) boxes or panels. All you need to do is drag-and-drop your photos. Once that happens, you can change the appearance to make your pictures look like comics. The nice thing is you can add in word balloons, lettering, or comments that make your stories come to life.

While I’m not sure if I’ll turn my whole life into comics, but you may want to. If so, let me know. I’d love to read it!