Tuesday, March 10, 2009

iPhone Comic-Reader App



"Earlier this month, just in time for WonderCon 2009, the big comic book and media convention in San Francisco, iVerse launched its comic book-reading app for Android, following on the heels of its iPhone app that debuted in November of last year.

The thought of cramming the detail-rich comic book page onto the tiny touchscreen of a smartphone seems ridiculous, because it is. iVerse solved the problem by chopping comics into panel-size chunks.

On both Android and the iPhone, you slide your finger across the screen to move on to the next panel. Slide it in the other direction to move back. Reading the story is surprisingly clear and clean, and although it may seem counter-intuitive, there should be no concerns about eyestrain from squinting because it's one panel, presented in high resolution."

For the rest of the article: iVerse comic reader

3 comments:

IamOSI said...

that's an interesting concept. i wonder how that will translate with irregular panel sizes and sweeping pinup shots. or are the comics adapted to play on there? it could work with more interactive stories. and with motion comics getting a big push this year with the watchmen and marvel's line, im sure the app store will be flooded with comic books in no time.

GOODFOOT said...

The digital comics is a good alternative to physical books. That reader app looks easy to make. Theoretically, there are only 3 to 4 functions to use in the programming side: the slide function, saved progress, static view, and an optional info touch button. The rest is all art.

I think there are a couple of interactive stories in the App Store, but no one's made anything outstanding and intuitive. I was watching the clip of The Watchmen's motion comic on the iPhone, and it didn't really impress me that much. I'd rather read the actual graphic novel or watch the movie instead of paying $20 for it. It looks to me that the animators are just demanding to get paid a lot.

IamOSI said...

yeah, most of the early motion comics will be of existing stories with minor graphical enhancements. im hoping for more original content made specifically for the iphone. it could be as easy as animating in flash perhaps. if there was a way to keep single stories cheap, around the 99cents point, i dont see why it couldn't catch on. the comic book industry really needs to better adapt to the digital age. we should also think about starting a digital publishing company.