I was originally searching the iTunes store for a good e-book reader and I discovered a nifty little comic book application for the iPhone and iPod touch when I discovered ComicZeal 1.05 "THE comic reader for your iPhone or iPod touch". With claims like that I figured I had to give it a try. Well, the little bugger has been taking up so much of my time that I thought it was worth giving a plug for any Viners out there that happened to own one of the two devices. After all, what better place is there to review a portable comic book viewer, right?
Mmmm. Comics.What it does
ComicZeal gives you free access to a number of Golden Age comic books immediately. (You can find the current online archive where you can download books straight to the app here.) With some searching one can easily find more golden age books online for download. ComicZeal also allows for uploading of your own digital comics for reading on the run. While ComicZeal doesn't offer native support for the standard .cbr/.cbz format books fear not, for they provide a free download for Windows or OS X that will convert books into a scaled-down-for-iphone .cbi version. You then have the opportunity to download your books either with the SyncDocs program (allowing for batch input) or through a web site automatically generated by ComicZeal which you can access through your home wireless network.
It took me a few minutes to get uploading to my own phone to work through my wireless network, but once I figured things out everything started falling into place and I found myself converting a dozen or so books that I have been meaning to read.
Usability
Holy crap! Is that a comic on your... phone? I'm pleased to say that this little app works quite well. Once comics are downloaded they appear in a iPhone contact list style library. You can simply select which book you want to read and get going. One major benefit is that ComicZeal also saves your place within individual comics. Your current position (unread or page number) is given in your library so you know which books you have already started and which you have left to read so you can start a book, go read another, and come back to the first later. Both landscape and portrait modes are supported using the iPhone's built in accelerometer for orientation. ComicZeal also supports other iPhoney goodness such as image flick and drag, double tap zoom, and the pinch-zoom feature (zoom level is retained between turned pages).
I was a little skeptical that the iPhone's 3.5 inch (diagonal) would provide a good comic book viewing experience, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that in landscape mode a full page of most comics can be viewed without strain. With the various zoom and scan features provided even reading a panel at a time should work pretty well for just about anyone.
But tell me how you really feel, NiteFly
No, ComicZeal is not a free application, but it absolutely will not break the bank either. The team behind ComicZeal offer the app through the iTunes app store at a meager $1.99. Come on people, that's less than the cost of a single comic book most of the time these days. You can throw the devs a bone for their time. It's interface is simple and user-friendly. Because of the scaled down format of comics that it uses, ComicZeal also seems to be decent on battery life. ComicZeal can be downloaded from the iTunes store here. I'm eager to see what kinds of features they have in store in the future.
Throughout the course of the television show Heroes, I have reveled in the varied use of mutant-like abilities that have been popping up, and geeking out by giving my girlfriend the official names of most of the abilities given. I have also enjoyed the different characterizations that come with various powers and abilities, and comparing them to what would seem to be their comic book inspirations. Most of the character's powers we have seen are pretty old hat for comic book fans. A few have surprised me, however, by the unique spin they have exhibited. Today I am going to commit to digital some of my various musings on the varied abilities of a few choice heroes characters.
is probably too easy, but she shows a lot of promise in the show. I say promise not because her power (or her character for that matter) intrigue me a terrible amount. Her motives are not particularly unusual in a blossoming super-hero, and her ability to spontaneously and quite rapidly regenerate all forms of bodily tissues seem to be on the level of a contemporary Wolverine. I say that I see promise here because she, as a character, has demonstrated an extreme desire to use her powers for good, and learn to fight. As far as powers are concerned we do not get thrown too many curve-balls in this show, and I would love for the writers to give her a means to use her powers in an offensive manner that we have not seen before. Perhaps she can mutate into something more like Elixer where she controls not only her own cellular structure, but potentially that of others as well. That coupled with the rate at which she can heal herself would make her a dangerous opponent indeed.
I was both amused and pleased to see Mohinder give himself powers. As soon as he injected himself he gained superior speed, agility, reflexes, and strength. Before exhibiting those, however, I would like to mention that my girlfriend said he was going to become Spider-Man. I told her she was full of it. The next episode he was walking on walls. I'm quite glad that my normal drive to make bets over such things did not kick in. I believe my words were "Holy crap!". To this day I have no idea how she figured that one out. I am so very proud.
began as the character on the show that irritated me the most. Peter was a whiny dreamer with bad hair and a habit of watching old people die (O.K., so admittedly he had one redeeming quality). I am really glad that his power wasn't limited to his brother's flight. Like Claire we have seen similar abilities a la Mimic, Amazo, the Super-Adaptoid, and Sync. As the show's resident powerhouse I have grown a taste for Peter. I find Peter to be interesting for a couple of reasons. FIrstly, Peter is good. Those types of power levels are often reserved for bad guys because of how relatively unstoppable they can be. Secondly, Peter does not seem to have any real restrictions on his powers. He can copy as many abilities as he needs, remembering all of them. He only briefly needs exposure to gain a new power. He seems to be able to use any of the powers at any given time, and his power level does not drain very rapidly at all. If I were to have anyones powers it would be Peter (although with my luck I already have this ability and there is no other person in the world with powers to copy).
I think Niki Sanders is probably the show's biggest disappointment for me. She didn't present too much potential in the beginning, but the new "Ice Queen" version of herself got me extremely excited. I just knew that she was the Heroes take on Legion. Nope, sorry NiteFly, she's just a lame science fair experiment. NEXT!
Sylar is the quintessential bad guy. I'm not sure if he really even believes in his own motivation. I'm not sure that really has any sort of innate drive to kill and take powers. Sylar is the scarred side of the Peter/Sylar coin, and I like it. Sylar seems to be able to do everything Peter can do, but must cut people open to see how their powers work before being able to (seemingly) grow the appropriate connections in his own mind to use their abilities. I find this spin to be particularly unique. Sylar is a great bad-guy because he is bad for the sake of being bad. Come on. Awesome.
I am still hoping that Mr. Muggles gets stepped on. Perhaps Mr. Muggles is actually a Skrull. At least then my hatred of Mr. Muggles wouldn't seem quite so irrational to the casual viewer. For your viewing pleasure here is an expert rendition of what Mr. Mugg-skrulls would look like:
I'm extremely excited to see Anthony Stewart Head coming soon to the big screen. I was never a huge fan of the Saw series. The whole "torture porn" genre is a bit too over the top for me. I love horror flicks, but past the first Saw I guess I just didn't get it anymore. Anyway, I haven't seen Anthony Head do much since Buffy, and if the trailer is any indication his performance is going to be spot on. He has a great voice.
This movie seems to have a blade runner meets opera kind of feel. I'm excited for next month when it comes out.
Went out today and found a neighborhood wide yard sale going on. Picked up a few marvel legends toys and some other stuff. Got a Wolverine, Spider-man 2099, movie Beast, Wiccan, movie style Spidey, Cyclops, and a 9 inch(ish) Spidey to go with my collection. I picked up all but the two Spideys at one place for fifty cents. Nice!
O.K. That's a bit of an overstatement. I get what Millar is going for in Old Man Logan, but I don't get why people around here seem to regard it as such an awesome story. Is it simply because Millar is involved? If it's Millar you want I'd suggest you go back and read Wolverine issue 32, Prisoner Number Zero. Next to the first issue in the series, I would say it was simultaneously the best issue and story arch in this volume.
Yes, Wolverine is old. Yes Hawkeye is old and blind. I'm sure the two are going to kick some major ass during this story line, however look at it for what it is. It is not Days of Future Past. It is not Maestro's world. It is no AoA, or even Bishop's future. So far it is an O.K. run. I am enjoying it, but I think it is far less than what people are making it out to be.
For any of you that don't currently have and iPhone, now is the time to buy. It was a worthwhile investment for me before the custom applications were available. Now it is absolutely a killer device. Just upgraded this morning. Had some brief problems upgrading software, but they soon fixed themselves. If you have one and have not yet upgraded, I would advise you to wait a couple of days (if you can) because their servers are absolutely getting slammed. Otherwise the free applications available from itunes absolutely kick ass.
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