I can't draw, but I made a set of four-panel comics with my phone.

Turn ideas into comics

Add one more possibility to your expression.

Find an AI agent capable of drawing good four-panel comics

Some time ago, we received a message from a fan in our backend, saying that they wanted to find a tool or an AI agent that could create four-panel comics based on a specified cartoon character and a text script.

● Message from a fan in the backend of the Future Human Laboratory

Four-panel comics represent a highly specialized niche in the image generation field. After screening through various channels, I finally shortlisted four AI comic tools: KomikoAI, Dashtoon, Comic AI Generator, and AI Comic Factory.

Based on my criteria for evaluating AI-generated four-panel comics:

1. Logical coherence and completeness of the narrative;

2. Consistency in art style and character portrayal;

3. Flexibility in editing. This refers to the ability to accurately and flexibly modify specific details after the initial draft is generated, which has always been a major pain point when using AI image generation tools.

● A meme depicting the state of mind when adjusting AI-generated content

After trying out all four tools, I declare that KomikoAI and Dashtoon are the two best tools for generating four-panel comics among them.

The eliminated Comic AI Generator positions itself as a powerful and free AI comic generation tool, boasting advantages such as creative freedom, high-quality output, and character consistency. However, after using it, I found that there was no character consistency at all. In a four-panel comic, the characters in each panel looked completely different, spanning from the age of 5 to 30. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a character's growth history (could it really be?).

● Screenshot of a comic generated by Comic AI Generator

Another tool, AI Comic Factory, claims to be a magical tool that enables non-artists to turn their comic dreams into reality using AI creativity. However, after patiently waiting for nearly 20 minutes with high expectations, it gave me - nothing. To be more precise, it was four blank panels. At least it had the four panels of a four-panel comic, just no comic content.

● AI Comic Factory fails to generate an image

I initially thought it was due to a poor network connection or other external factors, so I tried again, but the result was the same. Not giving up, I asked two colleagues to try it as well, and the outcome was identical. I was completely disappointed. It deserves a bad review.

Okay, let's temporarily forget these unpleasant experiences and take a closer look at the shortlisted KomikoAI and Dashtoon.

KomikoAI,

A one-stop comic creation platform for artists

KomikoAI is a one-stop AI platform for comic, illustration, and animation creation. It provides creators with a full range of AI tools, from character design to storyboard drawing, and from illustration generation to animation production. Its target audience mainly consists of professional artists.

● Screenshot of the KomikoAI homepage

The fan's request mentioned creating a four-panel comic based on a specified cartoon character and a text script. So, I uploaded a character image of Anya, the protagonist of "Spy x Family," to KomikoAI's dialogue box and entered the instruction: "Create a four-panel comic with the character in the picture as the protagonist, where Anya cheats in an exam using her mind-reading ability, only to find that all the students around her are academic underachievers, and the answers are all different, which makes her collapse."

● The left image is the character image of Anya, and the right image is the result generated by KomikoAI

I'm quite satisfied with the generated result. It at least highly restored the character image and the plot, and even actively incorporated more information about Anya, such as her catchphrase "waku waku."

KomikoAI integrates multiple image models, including ChatGPT, Nano Banana, and Flux. When generating images, users can specify a model or choose the "Auto Mode." The AI will automatically determine the most suitable model based on the complexity of the requirements and the remaining credits. The credits consumed by different models for image generation range from 15 to 380. Each new user receives 500 free credits. For this image generation, KomikoAI automatically selected the Nano Banana model, which consumes 80 credits per use. It knows how to make the most of limited resources and didn't immediately use the ChatGPT model, which consumes 380 credits per use, to exhaust the credits.

In terms of post-editing, KomikoAI provides a canvas where users can freely arrange comic panels, adjust the layout, add dialogue boxes, special effects, and text to create personalized comic stories. Users can also use effects such as "line arrangement" and "concentrated lines" provided by the platform to make the comics look cooler.

● Using the line arrangement effect on the KomikoAI canvas to enhance the comic

Moreover, KomikoAI's character library includes a large number of popular anime IP characters, allowing users to directly create fan comics. Users can also customize their original characters through prompts, and these characters will be saved for future one-click use, such as generating anime videos featuring these characters or creating scenarios where they interact with celebrities. It's very convenient. Therefore, I think KomikoAI is very suitable for professional artists who want to create original IPs and engage in serial creation.

● KomikoAI's built-in character library and a user-customized character @VentiVenti

However, KomikoAI has certain usage barriers, such as a completely English interface and the need for a proxy. Regarding editing flexibility, the KomikoAI canvas only supports tasks like panel arrangement and adding speech bubbles. If users want to modify the image, they still need to enter text descriptions in the dialogue box and rely on the model for adjustments.

Dashtoon,

A professional "feel-good comic" maker

Does anyone like reading feel-good novels? People pursue the thrill of a protagonist's comeback, clear-cut revenge, and immediate payback. The same goes for popular short dramas. Now, this trend has also reached the comic world, and I'd like to call it "feel-good comics."

Dashtoon is a professional and user-friendly AI comic creation platform that can help users quickly generate comics with complete storyboards and a unified style. However, I think its more prominent role is as a "feel-good comic maker."

As a comic creation tool, it has an extremely mature and professional SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) - three steps of story creation, scriptwriting, and editing, with each step being very detailed and professional.

Step 1: Story creation. On this page, there are two options. One is to create your own story, and the other is to continue writing based on a story opening provided by the platform. For example, the story opening it gave me was like this -

"The neon lights of multiple monitors bathed the dim room in an eerie blue glow. Jack's fingers danced across the keyboard, his dark hoodie pulled low over his face. He paused, rubbing his bloodshot eyes, when a new message popped up in his secure chat room. 'I've found you another job. Interested?' The sender was his mysterious client, known as 'Raven.' Jack's heart skipped a beat. He had been working with 'Raven' for a few months, and her tasks were always well-paid. But there was something else - an emotion he couldn't quite explain." (The original text was in English, and the above is the translation from the webpage's built-in translator.)

A story about a police officer falling in love with a hacker criminal. Oh my, I'm really attracted to such clichéd yet charming storylines.

Step 2: Convert the story into a script. At this stage, the AI will directly generate comic storyboards based on the finalized story and match them with the plot. There are 12 art styles to choose from, and I selected "Black Comic" to match this story.

● During the scriptwriting stage, a comic generated based on the story opening

Despite being a foreign tool with an all-English interface (which can be translated using the page translator), it can recognize Chinese input, and the generated Chinese is also very accurate. I can also precisely adjust the atmosphere, location, time, camera angle, and shot type of each page of the comic on the panel. It's very comprehensive. For example, when I removed the word "bloodshot" from the prompt "He rubbed his bloodshot eyes" on one page, the eyes in the newly generated image no longer glowed red after just a dozen seconds.