You’re now able to get your favorite neighborhood Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America and even the douchey Daredevil on your iPad because Marvel has released a comic book reader app for Apple’s tablet and it looks pretty sweet.
The revered publisher teamed with ComiXology to create the app and the free program lets Apple users buy new issues on the fly. The comics cost $1.99 and are in high-resolution to fit the tablet’s screen. You’ll be able to preview two pages of a comic before purchasing and there will be new content every week.
It’s not just just a reading app though, as there’s also a comic book shop locator, a recommendation engine and a search feature. You’ll also be able to read the comics in the traditional manner, but you’ll also have the ability to go through the comics panel-by-panel by swiping your finger.
“The iPad is the first device that offers us a chance to present digital comics that are even close to replicating the experience of reading a print comic,” said Dan Buckley, CEO of Marvel, in a prepared statement. “This new world of digital comics distribution provides us great opportunities to reach new readers, allow consumers to sample our diverse stories and characters, and we believe it will drive these new fans into the App Store and local comic shops each week to find even more.”
Is this going to save the hurting print industry? No, but this looks like a smart way to adapt to the new reading reality. The Marvel app looks really slick but I’m hoping we’ll see more functionality in the future. I don’t want my high-resolution, Internet connected device merely trying to replicate the reading experience of a paper comic – I want this device to leverage its advantages to create a new experience.
[Via Marvel]