Want to win $500? Help us name the panel view in our iPad/iPhone app! Email your suggestions to info@graphicly.com. Best ones will be voted on by the community. (if duplicated, first one to be received wins)
Above is a screenshot of our panel view from the Graphic.ly iPad app.
Today we semi-officially launch the iPhone app. It has more than 300 comics in it, plus a bunch of Marvel books. The great thing is that any book you have purchased through the desktop application is available for free on the iPhone app. You will have to re-download it, but its there for your reading pleasure. Note that Marvel books are currently only available on the iPhone (but soon iPad too), and IDW books are currently only on the desktop. Check our list of Marvel comics included in our iPhone app below.
Marvel
Peter Parker tries to continue a show biz career as Spider-Man as J. Jonah Jameson’s editorials slams him as a penance makes it hard for him to find work. Peter later finds himself observing a rocket launch piloted by Jameson’s son, John. When the rocket malfunctions, Spider-Man convinces the military to allow him to help. He is able to replace the defective guidance control and John is able to land safely. Also featuring an awesome appearance by the Fantastic Four when Spidey tries to join up with the FF in hopes of making some extra money.
Dream-team creators Joss Whedon (creator of TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and John Cassady bring readers an explosive all-new flagship X-Men series. Astonishing X-Men marks a return to classic greatness and the beginning of a brand-new era for the X-Men.
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The Winter Soldier storyline continues its relentless assault on the very soul of Steve Rogers! Who is the Winter Soldier, and how did he come to be one of the most effective weapons of the Cold War? In this haunting issue, Cap learns the answers to those questions and more. But the answers he receives may make what he has to do next even harder.
Leo is a professional pickpocket who is also a legendary heist-planner and thief. But there’s a catch with Leo, he won’t work any job that he doesn’t call all the shots on, he won’t allow guns, and the minute things turn south, he’s looking for any exit that won’t land him in prison. But when he’s lured into a risky heist, all his rules go out the window, and he ends up on the run from the cops and the bad men who double-crossed him.
Incognito #1 - #6 Avg Rating on iFanboy: 4.2
From the creators of Criminal and Sleeper comes the most insane and evil super-villain comic you’ve ever read! What if you were an ex-super villain hiding out in Witness Protection… but all you could think about were the days when the rules didn’t apply to you? Could you stand the toil of an average life after years of leaving destruction in your wake? And what if you couldn’t stand it? What would you do then?
Tork from iFanboy gave a 5 out of 5 for both Story and Art for Incognito #1 – “As always, Brubaker and Philips knock it out of the park. If the Bru knows how to do anything, it’s how to write interestingly flawed characters with conflicting moral fibers.”
It’s the beginning of a new era for Iron Man as renowned scribe Warren Ellis joins forces with digital painter Adi Granov to redefine the armored avenger’s world for the 21st century—a landscape of terrifying new technologies that threaten to overwhelm fragile mankind! What is Extremis, who has unleashed it, and what does its emergence portend for the world?
Kick-Ass #1 - #8 Avg Rating on iFanboy: 4.2
The book about the greatest super hero comic of all-time that inspired the movie is finally here. Have you ever wanted to be a super hero? Dreamed of donning a mask and just heading outside to kick some ass? Well, this is the book for you—the comic that starts where other super hero books draw the line. KICK-ASS is realistic super heroes taken to the next level. Miss out and you’re an idiot!
DenverDave had this to say about issue one on iFanboy, “Honestly loved this book. Great writing, good narrative technique, and the art was brilliant too. 5 stars.“
Marvel’s best-kept mutant mystery revealed! Before the X-Men, before Weapon X, Wolverine’s struggle with his subconscious savagery first flourished in family tragedy. Some of Marvel’s most acclaimed creators unite to tell the tale that shaped mutantdom’s mightiest misfit.
At some point in their lives, all young people believe that they have something to runaway from home for. But what if it they REALLY do? When six young friends discover that their parents all share a deep, dark secret, the shocked teens find strength in one another and together run away from their homes and straight into the adventure of their lives.
The Marvel book that we released for the iPhone that I’m most excited for is The Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Spider-Man was one of the first heroes I ever felt like I could connect to as a kid, he was nerdy, liked science, and incredibly unlucky. If you knew me when I was 8 you’d understand why I was able to relate.
I actually have not read much of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s original run on Spider-Man and the first issue is a bunch of fun with the introduction of the J. Jonah Jameson feud along with Spidey’s first run in with the Fantastic Four. This issue is full of great comic history.
Fellow employee Audrey Zarr demanded I put this in: Pick up Astonishing X-Men! It’s the X-men book you have been waiting for since you put down that Jim Lee issue back in the 90s (or maybe that Chris Claremont issue in the 80s). This is the squabbling, tear-stained, horrible-pain, wonderful adventure team that you remember…but now Emma Frost is along for the ride too! And if you haven’t checked out John Cassady’s art yet, then shame on you: SHAME!
Check out this week’s comics along with our iPhone app and let us know what you think by either dropping me an email jons [at] graphicly.com or through our community forum.
Today’s blog post comes from another one of our UK developers, Graham Morley:
Interaction is getting easier.
As I watched my 4 year old daughter effortlessly use my iPhone to find, open and engage with her favorite app (honestly it’s her app not mine!) it got me thinking of how different her experience of computers and interactive devices will be compared to my own. As with most of us, I got my first computer (an Amiga 500) as a child in the late eighties and there began my relationship with the most popular input device then, and still today - the mouse.
However, the most natural way for a human to interact with anything – be it physical or digital – is through hands on physical interaction. It’s inbuilt in us to touch, examine and explore with our hands. With the current explosion of multi-touch devices and interaction engineers constantly pursuing new ways to interact with technology, there are many factors to consider when creating an intuitive UI for an application.
I love the idea behind Siftables – sets of cookie-sized computers with motion sensing, neighbor detection, graphical display, and wireless communication. This brings the interaction off the screen and in to physical reality. The Surface is also a beautifully intuitive device, but I would imagine that for both of these interfaces, real-world implementation is perhaps limited at best.
2010 will be a big year for multi touch, with the impending release of the Apple iPad and other solutions coming to market, it will be interesting to watch the uptake and development of this market. I’m looking forward to utilizing the built in features of the iPad, and love the high resolution screen - digital comics have never looked better. I also definitely like the idea of having two displays together in booklet format, like the Courier from Microsoft. The potential is huge.
Although a touch screen could allow ten or more touch points, our eyes can still only focus on an area approximately the size of a mouse pointer at any one time. This means to create a truly useful experience multi touch should be considered as a support action – something that can be used to enhance the experience, rather than a requirement of it. Adding features for the sake of it could bloat an app, confuse a user and ultimately take away from the user experience.
Nothing could replace holding an actual comic in your hands. The goal of the Graphic.ly reader is not to replace paper based comics, but to support them. To add to the enjoyment and be able to share that with others regardless of location. The role multi-touch tablets play in that experience is an important one, and one we’re keen to take advantage of.
Are there any other devices you’re particularly keen on seeing your favorite comics on?
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