Story Me Review

Comics are all the rage nowadays. With the explosion of comic-related movies making it big on the Silver Screen, it's safe to say comics have become mainstream and cool. Of course this means people, even those without the proper skill set, may want to become comic writers and artists. Some of us, however, were not blessed with the ability to create such art and awesomeness.

But if one does want to dally around with comics, and is a half way decent iOS photographer, then the dream can still be achieved in some form with Story Me. This free and simple app allows users to create comic strips from the photos in their mobile device or from Facebook - including downloads, setting them up using the vast collection of page layouts, and finishing them off with some text for the story. There's also a feature that allows creators to make their pictures look like they've been hand drawn. Though, like the many times this feature is used in similar apps, the "hand drawn" pictures usually look mediocre at best.

The app itself is super-simple to use. Pictures are selected from saved photos, with the app automatically re-sizing them to generally fit the panel they're being placed in. Likewise, if the user choses to move the location or re-size the picture within the comic panel they are also able to do so through this app. Another quick touch of the screen will bring up options to add text, either in thought or speech bubbles, or storyline text on the bottom.

The major selling point for this app is that there is no selling point - the app is completely free. No annoying ads, no microtransactions of any sort, no "lite" version that is severely limited. Perhaps the downfall of the price is that this app doesn't contain all the bells and whistles of other comic creating apps, though for the beginner the lack of extra "noise" may be a good thing. That being said, Story Me isn't without capabilities. Printing and porting to PDF are among some of small number of options at the user's disposal. Limited as they may be, these options are nonetheless great for anyone wanting to show off their creations.

Story Me may not look like much, but it's still a very capable app. From comic creating rookies just tooling around to the individual who uses Story Me to create a 500 page graphic novel, this basic and easy to control comic creator has something for everyone. Don't expect a Swiss Army Knife of options out of this app; just a fun, clean, and well done mobile program that gives anyone the power to tell a story.