PhoneTalk

Small screen comics, big time fun

By Joni Blecher Follow me on Twitter    |   Thursday, May 10, 2007 (permalink)
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Once in a while something totally frivolous, but totally worthwhile comes along in the cell phone world. I like to think of these things fondly as impulse buys, you know, all that little stuff lined up neatly at the checkout counter that you had no idea you needed until you saw it and quickly realized you can't live without it. Yes, impulse shopping, you never know what you might find. Here's one from Verizon Wireless, "Create your own comic." You can find it under Pix or Wallpaper options in the Get it Now menu on many Verizon cell phones (supported handsets include, but are not limited to Chocolate, LG enV, Krzr, Slvr L7c, Samsung SCH-a990 and SCH-a930), it's called Comic Creator.

Simply download the app (it costs $4 a month) and you can start creating your own cartoon strips. You choose from a few basic settings, different characters (you can change their emotions, but not much else) and then start filling in the dialog. KamakaziTXTR (see below and think: the TV show Heroes) took me about 5 minutes to create. You can then send it to an email address or cell phone number (20 text messages are included with the $4 monthly fee, send to as many email addresses as you want).

It doesn't matter if the recipient has the application or not, it appears as a picture message. Once you receive a message alerting you that a comic is awaiting to be sent to you, then you decide if you want to accept it or not. So if you don't have a text messaging plan or don't want to cough up 15 cents to see you're friend's comic genius, you don't have too. This is pure entertainment.

Topics: Phone Smarts