Comics Strip Designer for iPhone revamped

Vivid Apps has updated its Strip Designer app for iPhone and iPad (previously known as Lifestrips) which lets you turn photos into comic strips.

Strip Designer is a former staff favourite on the US app store, enabling you to use your photos from your photo album or iPhone camera and create your own personal comic strips - even create cool strips that look like film-rolls. You can also add text balloons and boxes where you want on the strips and customize the font, colours and opacity and size.

Once you have finished your masterpiece you can save the strip to your photo album, email it to your friends, upload it to Facebook, Flickr or create a Tweet with Twitter and Twitpic -- all from within Strip Designer.

While you design the strips, you can freely pan and zoom to manipulate even the smallest details. Photos can be scaled, zoomed and rotated to get just the right placement.

The latest upgrade fixes a major bug which caused the app to crash on launch - a problem that seems to be affecting several apps more frequently.

• More about the App at www.mexircus.com/Strip_Designer

• Download the app from iTunes

Banned comics iApp from Pulitzer winner gets second chance

NewsToon, an app for iPhone and iTouch created by Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Fiore and featuring some of his best political cartoons, has been cleared for sale on iTunes - after previously being rejected for ridiculing public figures.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself reportedly called the rejection a mistake in an e-mail response to several customers.

Fiore, who is the first online-only cartoonist to win a Pulitzer, a prestigious US award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition, for work that ran on the SFGate.com web site, reported that his app was rejected by Apple in December because it included cartoons that ridiculed public figures.

The New York Times points out that cartoons can apparently violate Apple’s license agreement with developers, which states that apps may be rejected if the content “may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory.”

After winning the Pulitzer prize for editorial cartooning last Monday and telling the Nieman Journalism Lab of his app’s rejection the next day, Mr. Fiore was encouraged by Apple to submit it again. 

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs told a customer, Robert Williamson, who asked about Mark Fiore’s rejected app that the rejection "was a mistake that’s being fixed”.

Mr. Williamson forwarded the message to The New York Times after he mentioned it in a comment on an NYT blog post.

"Fiore’s app will be in the store shortly," Jobs told another Apple customer (see TechCrunch). "That was a mistake."

The app offers an automatically-updating collection of bite-sized satire, from Fiore, who happily talks up the controversy in his sales pitch for the iApp. "Political cartoons have never been this funny, accessible and revealing!" he enthuses.

When his NewsToons app, which displays his weekly animated cartoons, was developed, Mr. Fiore said he had not heard of “the whole concept of getting rejected for ridiculing public figures.”

“That’s what I do. That’s my life!” he commented. “That’s a tough one to get around if you’re a political cartoonist.”

After NewsToons was turned down in mid-December, the NYT reports Mr. Fiore, who uses Apple products to create his cartoons, did not try to submit it again, “mainly because it seemed like it would be so daunting.

“It’s not like I had a phone number for someone at Apple,” he said, adding, “interestingly enough, I do now.”

While this is good news for Fiore, there must be concern from other political cartoonists that haven't won Pullitzers that their work may not be permitted on iPhone or iPad apps because of the anonymous censorship of some iTunes gatekeeper. Apple has previously rejected comics apps on content grounds, as we have previously reported.


• More about Mark Fiore's NewsToon App


• Mark Fiore's official web site: www.markfiore.com

That Alan Moore, He Likes to Draw

The Forbidden Planet Blog Log has just posted this fab wraparound cover for esoteric comics-magazine-thing Dodgem Logic #3 (courtesy of Knockabout Comics), featuring artwork by none other than Alan Moore himself, who as older readers will recall, once drew the marvellous Maxwell the Cat before he got distrcted by a dubious writing career...

Issue 3, is a monster of an issue and comes perfect bound. While that also means a price increase, we're assured the pages contain a rare compendium of delights.

"We’ve got confessions of calamitous careers in the constabulary, step-by-step instructions for do-it-yourself diabolism and the rigorous recriminatory ruminations of a rogue town planner," say the publishers. "We’ve got divine decadence and sultry San Francisco nights along with the exploits of troubled everyman Johnny Viable, some glamorous graffiti, and a tantalising T-shirt transfer from the crayon box of Dodgem Logic’s vendor of voluptuousness Melinda Gebbie."

• Order Dodgem Logic #3 from Forbidden Planet International - or buy it from your local specialist comic shop

Economist Cartoonist Launches iApp

Kevin 'Kal' Kallaugher, the editorial cartoonist for The Economist magazine, has launched his first iPhone app.

This new application features an impressive collection ofKAL’s award winning political cartoons, hand-picked by the artist himself, offering some 150 plus examples of KAL’s work, including 29 colour covers and illustrations from The Economist magazine. You can store them on your iPhone, upload to Facebook or share with friends.

Kal, who's also been experimenting with animation, uses his poison pen to comment on Presidential elections, the War on Terror, American politics and international affairs: his credits include work for titles such as The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, and The Mail on Sunday. Betweeen 1988 and 2006, he drew over 4000 for The Baltimore Sun while continuing to draw two cartoons per week for The Economist and that work has appeared in more than 100 publications worldwide, including Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Pravda Newsweek and more.

“iKal Book is more than an assembly of individual cartoons..." says Kevin. "Together, the over 150 images read like a history lesson of recent world events.”

“Among the award winning art found in the iKal-book are all the cartoons from my print collection KAL Draws Criticism - but at a fraction of the cost.

Roman Grigorjev, Founder and Managing Partner of Revel Mob who created the iApp, comments: “Cartoons are graphically engaging, instantaneous and fun to share with friends... making them perfect for mobile devices like smartphones and iPhone in particular”

Revel Mob and KAL are also looking into developing more interactive and engaging applications for KAL in the near future and are welcoming any ideas and contributions as to what Kevin's fans would like to see in the next KALiPhone application. Post them on Revel Mob’s Facebook Fan page

• The iKal Book app is available for $0.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod Touch

• Visit Kal's website: www.kaltoons.com

ComiXology Brings the Largest Comic Book Store to Apple’s iPad

Comic book fans using the Apple iPad - now available in the US, with the UK and other countries getting theirs in late April - can browse and purchase comics across comiXology’s library of more than 1,300 comic books from over 30 publishers.

Coinciding with the highly anticipated arrival of the iPad, comiXology’s Comics app, released last week, is described as the largest and most comprehensive digital comic book reader, store and retail locater to launch on the device. Publishers using Comixology include Marvel Comics, Top Cow, Dynamite Entertainment and others.

Based on comiXology’s industry-leading comic book apps of iPhone and iTouch, Comics by comiXology for the iPad enables fans to browse, purchase and read their favourite comics directly through the device. The app comes with over 150 free comics, providing users the opportunity to explore and discover new comics across comiXology’s library of more than 1,300 comic books from over 30 publishers. Users can search and browse through comics based on titles, creators, publishers, genre and ratings.

"Today represents a milestone achievement in bringing comics to the mainstream on the most highly coveted and anticipated device this year," said David Steinberger, CEO of comiXology of the launch. "The iPad opens up a world of viewing opportunities for new and existing comic book fans while capturing the very essence of what makes comics so special to readers. We take great pride in being the largest comic book store on the iPad while remaining fully committed to the print and retail community."

The comiXology app for Apple’s iPad features an easy-to-use interface that provides users with unprecedented control of their digital viewing experience. The ability to pan and zoom combined with comiXology's patent pending Guided View Technology allows users to completely manipulate how they navigate through each page of their comics.

Users can also choose from wide variety of viewing options and preferences, enabling them to set transition speeds, page orientations and much more.

Print comic book enthusiasts can also take advantage of the Comics by comiXology app by using the built-in Retail Locater while using the comiXology app. Using the app’s Pull List feature, comiXology subscribers can search and pre-order comic book selections from their local comic retailers. Integrating with comiXology’s iPhone apps and website, users can also access most of their personal library on any of the app compatible devices.

• Fans can download Comics by comiXology on the iPad and other app compatible devices for free at the iTunes App Store