Planetwide Media promotions for its Comic Book Creator software are presenting the line to a mass audience. Its Charlotte's Web Storybook Creator has been included as an extra on the Charlotte's Web DVD, which will sell millions of copies behind its $82 million domestic box office gross.
The Tokyopop Manga Creator, due out soon (see 'Planetwide Announces 'Tokyopop Manga Creator''), was featured in a major spread in the April issue of Nick Magazine, which has a circulation of over 1 million. The Tokyopop version of the software, now due for release in June, will feature its properties Bizenghast, Replay, and Midnight Opera, and others to be named later. Future releases in the Tokyopop Manga Creator line may include licensed properties.
Planetwide also recently kicked off a contest with NCSoft, which offers a $1,000 prize for the best four to eight page comic (with original characters) created with the software. Celebrity judges Marv Wolfman, David Nakayama, and Matt Miller (lead designer for NCSoft's City of
The National Geographic Kids Silly Pets Comic Book Creator is also being promoted with a contest, in which kids can submit comics incorporating images of their pets to win a trip to Seaworld or
Although Marvel and Speed Racer versions of Comic Book Creator has been released, the original version, which offers users the opportunity to use their own drawings and photos in comics, has been the bestseller in the Comic Book Creator line, according to Mark Politi, Planetwide Vice President Marketing and Corporate Communications. It hit #17 on Amazon's software bestseller list in December.
Schools have also proven to be fertile territory for sales of the software, which can be used as a teaching tool.