Tag: Comics »

Augmented reality apps are fun to play around with and display extra information about the world around us. But the Marvel AR app uses augmented reality to get extra information about fantasy worlds that we aren’t living in. With the Marvel AR app, users will be able to see additional features for their Marvel comics by using their iOS devices’ camera.

Select Marvel comics, the first of which to use the new app is Avengers vs. X-Men, will include behind the scenes footage, 3D action scenes, video recaps of past events, and more. Comics designed for use with Marvel AR will start featuring the AR red and white logo to flag throughout the book when the app should be used. Users will simply hold their iOS devices up to the comics and then will be presented with the bonus features.

This is a great way for comic readers who still enjoy buying the print editions to get to use their iOS devices to interact with their comics. The Marvel AR app is free.

The other day we told you about how Disney was reviving Peter Pan for the iPad, and now it seems the company is poised to do the same for The Incredible Hulk. The company just launched Avengers Origins: Hulk for the iPad, and it looks to be a fun romp for fans of one of Marvel's greenest and most volatile heroes.

The app allows readers to learn the origin story of The Hulk on their own, or have it read to them by none other than Stan Lee. Along the way are interactive sections where users can let out Hulk roars, toss cars and do all sorts of other fun stuff that only those exposed to specific amounts of Gamma radiation can do.

The app looks like a great way to get kids into comic books, and we hope that Disney and Marvel will be teaming up for more of these in the future. Let's just stay away from the darker stuff, no one needs the interactive scene where they forcibly coat Wolverine's bones in Adamantium.

The Bane of Yoto Animotion Comic Episode I: Monster is the first installment of a new stand-alone comic app released by Squiddle Games for enjoyment on the iOS device of your choice. The story of The Bane of Yoto is an original story created by Josh Voila and based on the novel The Bane of Yoto: Blade of the Arbitrators written by the same Josh Viola and Nicholas Karpuk in collaboration with New York Times best-seller Steve Alten, JC Hutchins and Keith Ferrell. In this sweeping sci-fi fantasy tale readers will learn the fate of Yoto, who is turned into a powerful beast when a magical dagger is stabbed into his chest. Yoto will have to choose whether to save his downtrodden race or destroy them with his new power.

The Bane of Yoto is more than just a comic book to read, though. This app integrates 3D animation and 2D artwork created by Nick Runge of IDW Comics and Tyler Kirkham of DC. The comic is also narrated.

This is currently available in the App Store for free, and is compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S as well as the iPad and iPad 2.

Today marks the arrival of over 60 Marvel graphic novels on the Apple iBookstore. Fans of the popular comic books can now find their favorite Marvel heros including the Avengers, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America, the Hulk, and others. These graphic novels (compilations of several comic book issues) range in price from $8.99 to $24.99 and free previews are available for each title.

After purchase, these titles will be optimized for and viewable through Apple's iBooks app on the iPhone, iPod, and iPad in full, vibrant color. Marvel has announced that it will be releasing new titles every week, and an extended preview of the New Avengers Vol. 1 is currently available for free.

To view all of the Marvel graphic novels currently available for download in the iBookstore, go here. Marvel fans can now add iBooks to their favorite ways to read and reread the stories of their favorite mutant heros.

Since 1997, Midtown Comics has been bringing comics and collectables to fans everywhere, first through storefronts in New York City, then to a wider website audience, and now to comic fans with access to an iOS device. Users can use the Midtown Comics app to get access to Midtown Comics' impressive inventory whenever and wherever the mood strikes them. Users can browse comics, statues, action figures, collectibles, clothing, and lots of other comic inspired paraphernalia. Orders can be placed via the app and delivered right to the users door or set aside for in-store pickup. Users will get much of the same functionality of the Midtown Comics website in the app so they can search through the inventory easily. One important thing to recognize is that this is essentially a storefront app and not a comic reading app; all comics sold in this app are physical copies to be delivered or picked up.

The Midtown Comics app is available to download now in the App Store for free.

After over 30 years of being a thing, Strawberry Shortcake (yes, that Strawberry Shortcake) is getting her own digital comic book app. From the folks involved in the super-popular Pocket God digital comic, no less. And it's all thanks to Ape Entertainment.

The app itself is free to download and includes a preview of the first issue. After that, the first three currently available issues (The Pineapple Predicament, The Sour Truth and The Berry Scary Storm) can be purchased for $2.99 each. Every issue contains a grand total of three stories, with a sizable 16-pager and two smaller ones. The app also includes a special feature to assist users with locating the closest comic retailer in their area, so that they can get their hands on some physical copies if they so desire.

The continuing fantasy adventures with lots of wholesome values (but sadly, no scratch-n-sniff) are up on the App Store right now. Anyone who harbors fond memories of the colorful bake-happy franchise should certainly take a look at the Strawberry Shortcake Comics Reader.

It's amazing how certain iOS games can just explode into our culture, isn't it? It happened with Angry Birds, which spawned more than a few spin-offs, merchandise and even a cartoon. The sadistic little app from Bolt Creative about the lovably doomed island of pygmies has also been bitten by the success bug. Since its release, Pocket God has seen a ton of content updates, a follow-up with its own metric ton of additions, and a digital comic. Each of these three things have been incredibly popular, but it's the success of the comic we're talking about now.

On the heels of a major milestone achievement (500 thousand plus downloads) and a new update (issue #11) comes even better news. Pocket God Comics, in collaboration with Free App A Day (FAAD), is on sale for absolutely free for the next two days. Well technically FAAD is responsible for Thursday's sale, while MonsterFreeApps is handling Friday. Anyway, from the 8th through the 9th, the now 11 issue strong digital comic app will be available for zilch. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Great games, great reads, great regular prices and an even greater sale. Honestly, aside from a general discomfort derived from the violent demises of cartoon islanders, I can't think of a legitimate reason for anyone to miss this sale. It's looking to be one fantastic weekend.

In case you've been living under a rock, DC comic book character Green Lantern is hitting the silver screen starting on June 17th. For those looking to either brush up on their Green Lantern comics, or for those looking to get in to the vast array of Green Lantern material, DC and ComiXology have a new Green Lantern Comics app available. This free universal app comes with a variety of Green Lantern comics to download. There are a variety of both free and paid comics to download, with a section under the Featured tab of comics recommended for newbies to the series. There are 16 different Green Lantern series comics to download, amassing over 200 different issues to download. Hardcore fans can also search for issues by specific storyline arcs as well. ComiXology users can log in with their account to link these comics to their account, or new users can register for an account right from within the app, so purchases will be logged and permanently stored with the ability to redownload, even if previously free comics become paid comics. Registration is optional, however. The Green Lantern Comics app is available from the App Store now.

That headline could have gotten quite a bit longer. Don't say we didn't warn you! The fine, upstanding folks at TellTale Games, purveyors of such fine games as Sam & Max, Monkey Island, Wallace and Gromit, and Puzzle Agent, have decided that they just don't have enough to keep them busy. They announced a metric ton-load of games coming our way soon, on iOS and other gaming consoles you may or may not own.

First up, Back to the Future - it's out now for the iPad, it's $7, and it's a BRAND NEW storyline, episodic style. TellTale worked with the actual writer of the movies to come up with this all new adventure, then created a video game around it. The Mac/PC version is up to Episode 2, and they're releasing it on the iPad, starting now. Says iTunes: "Play as Marty in a cinematic adventure true to the films, [in a] collaboration with Bob Gale, Film Trilogy Co-Creator/Co-Writer. New Back to the Future story in 5 monthly episodes."

Next is Puzzle Agent 2. Yes, you heard us right - the sequel to the award-winning puzzle game featuring artwork by comic artist Graham Annable is coming to the iPhone and iPad as well as the PC, Mac, and PlayStation Network. Nelson Tethers is again featured in an all new tale and set of puzzles set in the MidWest, scheduled to release this spring. "In the second Puzzle Agent game, ace puzzle investigators will return to the snowy mid-west to help Agent Tethers solve the mystery haunting the realm."

Add to the above a new game - Hector: Badge of Carnage: "a lewd, crude and gritty law enforcement comedy, featuring tough-talking, soft-bellied Detective Inspector Hector – a flawed, misanthropic anti-hero with an unhealthy taste for all things criminal, corrupt or smothered with curry sauce. " Telltale will bring the first installment (currently on iPhone), ‘We Negotiate with Terrorists,’ to iPad, PC and Mac this Spring, with two more installments planned for later in the year. We can't wait, to be honest - the title alone is worth checking this one out.

Finally, Telltale Games is partnering with two hot comic book properties as well.

Fables, the award winning comic series created and written by Bill Willingham, is coming to gaming consoles near you. The press release boasts, "Fables is one of DC Comics’ longest-running series published under its Vertigo imprint. The series received over a dozen Eisner Awards including for Best Writer, Best New Series, and numerous wins for Best Serialized Story, and was a 2009 Hugo Award nominee for Best Graphic Story." Fables is a graphic novel that concerns the exiled characters from the world's storybooks -- big Bad Wolf, Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and many others -- as they fight a mysterious Adversary and learn to live in the very real mundane world of New York.

In addition, Telltale has inked a deal with Robert Kirkman and Image Comics, writer and publisher, respectively, of The Walking Dead, another hot property in the graphic novel and television industries. The Walking Dead games are promised to be coming to "PC, Mac, console, handheld, mobile and social gaming media." We checked with Telltale PR, and they said, in essence, to keep an eye out around comic con time for further announcements.

On a quick end note, here, Jurassic Park the game is also being announced for Mac and PC, with a $5 pre-order discount. At the press event, Telltale did say they were bringing it to Mac, PC, "and other platforms," according to our man on the scene. If past release history tells us anything, though, the iPad is probably one of those other platforms, though nothing specific has been announced. We'll try and follow up on this one as well, because, c'mon - Jurassic Park!