Comixology Review

It’s been quite a few years since I spent hours and hours wasting away in my bunk bed reading superhero comic books. Since than I found out the real world was even more corrupted and complicated than any of my hero’s could have imagined.

And unfortunately I grew up, cut my hair and got a Job, a wife, 2 kids, and a bunch of payments you know the old American Way. However something was missing in my life and after getting my hands on Comixology I now have a little bit more of what was missing in my life…. ME

You see Comixology brings me back to my youth for a few minutes or an hour at a time. For those not familiar with Comixology let me break it down to you in it’s simplest form.  Comixology is a virtual comic book distribution platform. It’s an engine and a delivery system built into one.

When you first launch the application you will find yourself at something that looks similar to the appstore. Located across the bottom you will find icon for your Comics, Featured, Free, Top 25, and Browse. In these menus there are even more ways to find content by selecting popular, or ratings as well.

Almost all of the Comic description’s offer a free preview usually two or three pages along with with the current pricing structure, and user ratings attached, but before you can download anything from the store you will need to register an account which is a simple and painless process.

Once your setup and ready to download just pick the comic you would like to read and select download. Over 3G speeds it took about 3 minutes to download a single comic on a weak single, and on a WIFI connection it took about 30 seconds.

Once I launched the application it walked me through a visual cartoon representation of the screen layout and controls.

I have to say the interface is very slick. There are no buttons on the screen and you can easily navigate your comic. However the engine used to drive the comics is bar far the most excellent feature of the application. They have even gone so far as to Patent their “Guided View” system.

It really does feel like something different than just reading a screen. It feels more immersive. Segments of the comics are slide into view while others are zoomed into bringing you more details than you would normally get when jut reading a printed cartoon.

You also have complete control of the screen. You can zoom in and out of sections at will, and the screen can be switch to any position and the cartoon will arrange itself to your preference.

The engine will also all developers to write into the code their own artistic representation of how the comic should read, and allow the application to automatically switch views to give you more detail or an overall better viewing.

The settings include all sorts of options for customizing your viewing experience, and storage settings as well.

There are however a few negatives to the application. One of these is the fact that all the comics must be purchased and delivered through the applications online store.

There is no way to import any existing formats you have, or import any outside formats. I really don’t see it as a problem seeing as once you partake in an e-version of a comic in Comixology you will have a hard time reading plain PDF or traditional comics again. However it is my job to point out things and this is one of them.

The Second issue and the most important one is content. Regardless of how beautiful the application is without a great lineup of ever increasing content you have nothing. It’s still pretty early on to call how successful this format will be, but as of review there are currently 18 Publishing houses as well as many individual writers  signed up to bring new content to the application.

There are currently about 45 free comics and over 160 selections ranging from Action/Adventure, Psychological, Superhero, to Zombies 24 different genres in total.  However don’t go expecting to see Marvel comic on the store just yet, but you never know what the future might hold.

I found quite a few comics I never heard of  and found I liked them. Some of these titles to include Red Rocket, Mage, Atomic Robo, and Neozoic series to name a few.

If the developer can continue to gather more publishers to their system and I don’t know why they wouldn’t after seeing it in action.  I think the application will have a very nice chance of becoming a great success. Im a pretty picky person and this application has won me over with it’s slick interface and e-store previews.

You can also browse their computer based webstore here: LINK to get an idea of the digital selections offered.

I mean I can now sit in a doctors office, a board meetings and read a Comic without looking like an over aged geek. Hell that’s worth the price alone.

So in closing If your a fan of Comics I know your stuck in your traditional mindset of having a book in hand, but do yourself a favor and try this application. yes it’s not free but grab it and read a few free comics. If your not hooked on the application than well you get nothing, but if you are impressed with it like me you will have just welcomed the little you back into your life allowing you a small break from this crazy world to revisit those moments from your childhood.

Positives: Excellent interface, “Guided View”, decent collection of comics

Negatives: Can’t import, Would benefit from some larger names Comics, All Comic’s should include previews

The following video will give you a great walk-through of the application as well.

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Tags: comic app, comic book apps, comics, iphone comics, itouch comics

Category: Applications, Games