This is the second of three reviews where we discuss and demonstrate comic strip generator websites.  The first was about StripGenerator.com.

Pixton.com

Pixton recently generated some buzz at the South-By-Southwest interactive festival in Austin last month.

What makes Pixton really interesting is the amazing control you have over the characters.  Using the expression editor, for example, you can make your character smile, show fear, or express other emotions.  For people like me who can’t draw, this functionality is liberating.  I have made many stick figures in my life but have always fallen short of truly showing angst, hatred, or bliss.  With Pixton, I can do much more and all I have to do is select the words of the expression.  It’s very neat.

Similarly, there are editors for colors, clothing style, skin tone, girth, posture, and many more.  With Pixton, I don’t have to move lines or have any of the technical skills to make my character look fat.  I just do a few clicks and voila, my character is fat.

Although possibilities are limitless it comes at a significant cost of usability: there are so many controls, it was often hard to figure out how to use it.   The learning curve is much steeper than StripGenerator.com. Plan to spend some time with the interface to get used to it.

Another drawback to Pixton is that you are confined to create strips within their design parameters.  In other words, while you can make lots of changes to your characters and your strips, you cannot import your own designs.  Not only does it give all Pixton strips a very similar look and feel, it limits artists that want to push the envelope on the look and feel of their strips.

From a community perspective, however, Pixton excels. You can comment, vote, and share each strip.  This functionality seems pretty robust and up to par with other community systems (read: YouTube).

Overall, Pixton, is a great way for beginners to explore the comic strip creation world.  True artists might hit a wall with their creativity but for the rest of the stick figure drawing world, it gives us new levels of power and control.

Next Up: Toon Doo!

Berekley Breathed, the gifted artist of Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, had a rare gift of combining timely topics along with humor and beautiful imagery. While there are certainly lots of topical comic strip artists (Gary Trudeau of Doonesbury), humorous ones (Gary Larson of Far Side), and masterfully drawn ones (Hal Foster of Prince Valiant), very rarely do you see anyone with all three talents. Berkeley Breathed, in the eyes of this author, seemed to have all three.

But in November 2008, Berkeley Breathed retired Opus leaving, for the third time in his career, a huge void in the comic strip world.

A question you might ask, Where is the next Berkeley Breathed? It’s probably impossible to compare one artist to another. Still, here are a few that artist mentioned are probably worth a look:

• Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine) – Pearls Before Swine is the comic strip tale of two friends: a megalomaniacal Rat who thinks he knows it all and a slow-witted Pig who doesn’t know any better. This strip has a great chemistry quirkiness to it that is reminiscent of Berkeley Breethed’s Bloom County Opus and Bill the Cat. It also can be extremely timely/political as is the case of a recent comic discussing our national debt.
• Jerry Holkins (writer) Mike Krahulik (Penny Arcade) – Penny Arcade is a webcomic that (primarily) topical video gaming news comic, there is little plot or general continuity. While video game culture wasn’t covered by Berkeley Breathed, Penny Arcade’s appeal to geek culture aligns closely with Bloom County. For example, a famous Bloom County featured the gang running away from the AT&T globe logo of the 1980s, calling it “the Death Star!” noting its resemblance to the iconic Star Wars space station. If that isn’t geekdom, I don’t know what is!
• Aaron McGruder (Boondocks) – Boondocks is an episodic series about inner-city African-American kids who move the suburbs. Inspired by Bloom County, Aaron McGruder captures the language and the culture that usually not represeted in comic strips. McGruder has acknowledged with a few aspects of the strip bearing more than a passing resemblance to important Bloom County features. Additionally, episode of the animated series where Uncle Ruckus calls Breathed “Master Penguin Draw’er”.

While it is probably foolish to ask “Where is the next Berkeley Breathed,” a little digging into the modern comic strips reveal some gems. In many ways, modern comic strip artists somewhat owe their careers to Berkeley Breathed.  He has shown how you can create a long (and prosperous) career out of being a comic strip artist.  He was a model of his craft in his day like the folks mentioned here are trying to be ours.

I just read a great article about how comedians are having a tough time making jokes about President Elect Obama. Craig Ferguson of the “Late Late Show” said of Senator Obama, “A dignified, thoughtful, charismatic, smart man who doesn’t run at the mouth. Is it a challenge to our creative juices to find something funny about Obama? God, yes!”

What is true about spoken words will also be true about comics?

A brief survey of some Senator Obama cartoons, the vast majority are extremely favorable: images of him giving knuckles to Martin Luther King, Jr. , cleaning of the “mess” of the Bush GOP as represented by an elephant. All seem to echo the tenor of the country: Obama is well liked and needs to be given some latitude to get our country back on track.

Still, undoubtedly, over time, President Obama will need to make tough, unpopular decisions. When that happens, comedians and comics will undoubtedly change too.

Congrats, Obama. Enjoy the ride!

Yo Zingerfans. It’s time to look at how your characters interact with each other. In reading comic strips, I see a lot of ’surprise’ responses to what one says to another, especially in the final panel of a strip during that crucial punchline.

You know how it goes. Your characters have a little dialog and when character A says the punchline of the gag, character B gets all wide-eyed with a puckered mouth (or similar expression) whether an exclamation point or question mark appears above their head or not.

Yeah ok, I get it. Character B was struck by the unexpected irony of the funny line. But here’s the problem. It’s like they don’t know each other as if gag after gag of funny lines, character B is caught off guard every time. Come on now! This creates a disconnect between your characters, and thus your reader.

Remember, you are writing for your reader, not character B.

Think about how a character would actually respond to someone they know (or sometimes not know) when someone says something funny, ironic, unexpected. What is their personality and relationship with the other? This kind of depth is what actually strikes a chord with your readers. That bit of reactionary realism is what gives your reader the freedom to form their own response to the gag.

The surprise calls attention to itself saying “Hey reader, this was an unexpected line. See, this other character thought so.” Of course, the surprise expression might actually be appropriate depending upon the characters and situation. But characters might also be annoyed, roll their eyes, ignore the other, laugh, have a blank expression and so on.

All too often I see surprise inappropriately overused. Are your characters too surprised by each other?

I recently posted about getting to know characters in comic strips. What happens when you know them is that you can predict how they will react in certain situations, especially the ones they’ve been in before. Like when Calvin steps up to the door and announces that he is home while Hobbes is poised on the inside ready to pounce. The situation is predictable and yet it’s repeatedly funny! Or at least it’s supposed to be.

This predictability is quite an interesting dichotomy. One thing about humor in general is the use of the element of surprise which is what happens or is said in the last panel of a comic strip. That’s the way it works. There’s always a punchline, a zinger at the end. But the more you know a character, the more you understand the nature of the final panel even before you get there. Yet it’s funnier that way. Why? Perhaps it reminds you of the first time you laughed at that similar situation. I think it’s like listening to a friend tell a funny story that you’ve heard several times, and maybe the details have changed a little over numerous tellings, but you still like the outcome nonetheless. It’s not only the zinger that tickles your ribs, rather you find humor in watching a friend go through the motions for a laugh. Well known characters do that in comic strips.

Have you ever started laughing before you got to the last panel?

One of several reasons why you people love comic strips is the characters. Take me for example, my alligatory eyes, my alligatory disposition, you love me!

Ahem, seriously now. When you first begin reading a specific comic strip, you find humor in it or you like the drawings or you relate to the situation somehow. But at first, you don’t truly know the characters. Sure you might be able to immediately perceive certain characters’ qualities like stupidity, snobbery or laziness but you still don’t know him. After reading a comic strip daily or weekly or as often as you may, you eventually get to know the them like a good friend. This may take at least several months of reading.

Think of a strip that you’ve read for years. I assume you know its main players quite well, how they think, act and relate to each other. No other character driven artform achieves this kind of bond between you and itself. Certain kinds of literature accomplishes it, few movies do it. Comic strips can last years, even decades and it is this longevity that allows you to get to know the characters in a unique way.

What are your favorite characters?