(Updated, #300 info corrected): Immediate Media has just released Doctor Who Adventuresfor iPad and iPhone, bringing the junior Who comic magazine to digital devices.
The title reaches its landmark 300th issue this week.
Described as "the ultimate magazine for kids that are crazy about monsters, aliens and that top Time Lord, the Doctor!" each weekly issue of Doctor Who Adventures comes "bursting with beasts, brain-teasers and big Who news".
Sadly, there's little emphasis in its marketing for the comic strip element of the title, although it is mentioned, the iTunes promo mildly enthusing: "Follow the Doctor’s adventures as he battles aliens, saves worlds and tries out new hats..." I have to say I find this a little disappointing.
However, if it's brain teasers, behind-the-scenes info (although we'd argue Doctor Who Magazine was by far your best port of call for that) and finding out a Dalek’s weak spot, how to knock out a Sontaran or survive a Weeping Angel attack - then DWA is for you.
That said, given the physical title's free Who-related gifts - some of which have been rather cool - we'd suggest this might be a title that's still got the edge when it comes to news stand presence.
A three month app subscription costs - £22.99 and single issue copies are also available within the App. The subscription will include the current issue if you do not already own it and subsequently published future issues. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase.
The digital edition of Print Media Productions STRIP Magazine #7 for iPad is on sale now from iTunes.
Diamond UK have confirmed the print edition of STRIP Magazine #7 will be on sale in UK comic shops from Wednesday 19th December.
This edition of the magazine is a Christmas Special that takes a slightly different form to the usual magazine.
While including an exciting new episode of Phil Hester and John McCrea's regular series Warpaint, the Magazine is largely devoted to a variety of one off stories, including Citadel – a story created by the late, great French creator Moebius that was first published in a different translation in Heavy Metal magazine back in 1980.
By way of a hint of things to come next year when the regular magazine returns after a break in production to ramp up properly, the team hope, for news stand release, Print Media also offers a sneak peek at several all-new stories including Thracius by James Hudnall and Mark Vigouroux; Denizens (by Miko Horvatic and Maxim Simic); Dan Barton of Space Command (by John Freeman and Andrew Chiu) an affectionate comedy homage to space heroes, which may return as a regular series in late 2013); and Corwin Blays, a festive tale starring a hapless thief!
The digital edition also features some exclusive extras, such as a quirky festive tune when the app is launched, and added 'data cards' with background information on the characters and some creators, along with a video trailer for David Lloyd's digital project, Aces Weekly.
There's also a bonus taster of PMP's digital partner ROK Comics titles Houdini and The Beatles Story - only in the digital edition
Digital graphic novel publisher Panel Nine has launched a free preview issue of INFINITY -- a new magazine devoted to digital graphic novels and comics.
The magazine contains a roundup of digital comics news, features and reviews delivered via Apple’s Newsstand service for the iPad, including a terrific interview with comic creator PJ Holden, talking at length about Murderdrome, the digital comic he created with Al Ewing that was banned by Apple.
There's also a sampler of Panel Nine's excellent digital title Dapper John by Eddie Campbell and an extract of interview with artist David Lloyd, talking about his film noir inspired graphic novel Kickback. (The full interview is part of the Panel Nine Kickback app).
In a "Where Are They Now" style item, the magazine also profiles artist Simon Russell, the head of Brighton-based agency Boing today - but who worked with Russell on INFINITY's previous incarnation as a small press comics fanzine in the 1980s.
Today, INFINITY publisher Russell Willis has swapped his photocopier for an iPad and relaunched it for the digital age.
“Digital delivery is a huge part of the future of comics," says Russell, "and we’re launching INFINITY to cover things as they develop, debate the big issues such as user experience, platforms and pricing, interview the key players, and provide a guide for people to the good stuff.
"Appropriately the magazine is specially designed for the iPad, and contains audio, video and Panel Nine’s “Panel Mode” presentation of digital comics.”
The first issue proper of INFINITY will available in September as a NewsStand ready title. The magazine will initially be published bi-monthly from then on.
Users can download the preview issue (and all subsequent issues) for free from iTunes.
The digital edition of STRIP Issue 5 will include alternate content to the print edition
STRIP Magazine fans waiting for the arrival of the print edition of Print Media's adventure anthology – victim to ongoing import issues – may be interested to know that Issue 5 for iPad is being worked on now by ROK Comics and should be submited to Apple sometime next week.
The price of all back issues of STRIP Magazine for iPad has also just been dropped to £1.99 per issue.
Print Media says they decided to delay submission of STRIP Issue 5 to Apple in view of the distribution issues for the print edition, but with changes to the company's plans for the title's relaunch that have superceded some copy in the print edition, the digital STRIP Issue 5 (which will also be priced at £1.99) will include updated pages from the 'real world' magazine, as well as some trailer imagery for the new-look to the title.
The iPad edition will have less pages than the print verison of Issue 5 but some exclusive trailer images from the revamp, and we have also updated 'Comic Cuts' to reflect the change of launch plans.
Print Media have announced they will be publishing a digital only version of STRIP in July. This special Issue 6 will wrap some storylines that complete in the print 'bumper' version of Issue 5, as well as again trailing the new look STRIP.
The special issue will also use some pages to promote new British comics and projects. If British and Irish comic creators would like to have a plug for their own indpendently created titles in the digital-only issue, direct Print Media via infoATprintmediaproductions.com to a 1536 x 1920 image they'll consider for inclusion. On your left is an example of the kind of image they're looking for.
They will also consider running strip samples but they must be action adventure, SF, fantasy or one page humour - no horror or adult comics, no swearing and no excessive violence.
The digital issues of STRIP - for iPad only at present - are now available for just £1.99 each.
• STRIP Magazine for iPad Issue 1 here: ht.ly/brSDc
• STRIP Magazine for iPad Issue 2 here: ht.ly/brSHf
• STRIP Magazine for iPad Issue 3 here: ht.ly/brSPV
• STRIP Magazine for iPad Issue 4 here: ht.ly/brSUj
ROK Comics, Britain's dedicated mobile comics publisher, has published its first originated audio comic title for the iPad – TEAM M.O.B.I.L.E.
Featuring a fully authored audio soundtrack and its own theme tune, TEAM M.O.B.I.L.E. is the exciting story of teenage secret agents battling dangerous enemies across the globe.
An ongoing adventure story, the first issue of TEAM M.O.B.I.L.E.centreson
the story of misfit duo Maisy Brown and Sam Thompson, who are recruited
into a secret organisation to battle crime, terrorism and other
dangers.
TEAM M.O.B.I.L.E. is the creation of ROK Group PLC co-founder Jonathan Kendrick.
Jonathan has long harboured an ambition to marry comics with sound
and published on mobile devices including the iPad and iPhone. Inspired
by a love of James Bond and comics, he came up with the back story for
the comic, including its top secret 'MindMerge' technology and gadgets.
"We are really pleased with the originality and quality of our first
audio comic which has just been published on the iTunes store and we
look forward to developing the story further," said Jonathan.
The strip is written by John Freeman from storylines by Jonathan Kendrick, with art by Andrew Chiu. Kris Carter is colouring the title, with Jim Campbell providing lettering and logos.
John's credits include work for Marvel, Judge Dredd Megazine and Black Ops Extreme for STRIP – The Comic Magazine, but he's perhaps better known as an editor, for ROK Comics and titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, STRIP and many others.
Andrew's credits include 2000 AD, the mainstay of the British comics industry, DC Comics, Vertigo Comics and ILEX Press.
Kris Carter's credits include Transformers and Doctor Who while Jim Campbell has worked for pretty much every major British comic publisher and some American companies, too.
The soundtrack, which complements the strip action, features the
voices of both British and American actors, produced by Sneaky Snake
Films in New York. The Team M.O.B.I.L.E. theme tune was created by
accomplished composer Bob Townley, who's worked with a number of
established chart artists in the US and UK.
ROK Comics is also publishing strips for mobile under license, including an Andy CappiPhone app in partnership with the Mirror newspaper and aViz iPhone appin partnership with Dennis Publishing, and Print Media's STRIP - The Comic Magazine.
Three iPhone apps published in partnership with individual creators – Ligeia the Vampire by Rodrigo Diaz Ricci, The Mobile Gospel by Rich Diesslin and Madd Science by Steve English – are also available.
Further comics are in development.
ROK Comics, part of ROK Global PLC, continues to provide mobile
comics content for WAP subscription services across the globe and is
currently working with partners in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
As many readers here may already know, ace artist Eddie Campbell has been nominated to receive the Angouleme Festival's Essential Prize at this year's festival for his "Alec" work.
To celebrate, new digital publisher Panel Nine is selling Eddie Campbell's Dapper John graphic novel for the iPad for 50% off through the end of January -- to coincide with the festival. The app is normally £6.99 but is now £2.99. ($9.99 down to $4.99)
Angouleme (http://bdangouleme.com/english/), the "Festival International de la Bande Dessinee" is Europe's largest and most prestigious comics festival and Angouleme's Essential Prize is given to artists for works that are considered, well, essential.
Other English language authors nominated for prizes at Angouleme include Dan Clowes, Craig Thompson and Joe Sacco..
Dapper John has received excellent reviews: here, we at DTT we think it's excellent app with great content - certainly one of he best presentations of comics on the iPad I’ve seen; while artist and writer David Hine describes it as “A really enjoyable collection" and highly recommends it.”
“More than just another comic strip. The definitive version of Eddie Campbell’s early work," said Dave Hornsby.
Panel Nine, a new digital comics imprint set up by Hong Kong-based iEnglish.com run by a longtime British comics supporter, has just released a superb iPad edition of Dapper John, one of Eddie Campbell's earliest comic strips.
It's a fabulous package collecting all of the "Ace Club" stories in one place and adding a whole bunch of extras.
When Alan Moore first saw Eddie Campbell’s In the Days of the Ace Rock ’n’ Roll Club in 1982, he wrote, “Eddie Campbell is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting talents, amateur or professional, working in comics at the moment.”
It was the start of a beautiful relationship. Dapper John was an inspiration for John Constantine from Swamp Thing. And it was with Eddie Campbell that Moore created the magnificent From Hell (later adapted by Hollywood with Johnny Depp in the starring role).
Campbell, of course, is now recognised as one of the world’s most talented comics artists, with his Alec stories included in the Comics Journal’s list of the 100 most important comics published. His graphic novels The Fate of the Artist, Bacchus, and The Playwright have all drawn great critical acclaim.
Last published in 1993, the Ace Club stories here follow the lives of a group of teddy boys in Southend in the 1970s – characters who could mythologise their walk down the street before they got to the end of it. The stories are a direct precursor to Campbell’s Alec series and are essential reading for any Campbell fan.
"In the Days of the Ace Rock'n'Roll Club was a book, or an ongoing series of sevn-page stories which I drew between March 1978 and March 1979," says Eddie. "The stories interlocked in various ways, with characters from one piece showing up in another. The 'arc', as we say nowadays, came to a logical conclusion after the eighth story, by which time Dapper John had emerged as the main character. A proto-Alec MacGarry appears as the second key character.
"It was in these pages that I started to get the idea of using autobiography as a starting point for a big serious book."
Eddie created new artwork and wrote a special introduction for this new iPad edition, and a whole raft of notes and captions covering the era in which Dapper John strode the small press stage.
The app itself is excellent, offering different ways of reading the strip - a version aping its original layout and a slick 'panel by panel' version with a very well thought out scrolling action involving movement from frame at some points and at other times, a simole cross fade which make for an enjoyable reading experience.
The strips themselves are raw Eddie Campbell at his finest - vignettes of life among the 'Teddy Boys' of Brighton, the stories themselves given entertaining context thanks to accompanying notes, offering a fascinating insight into the heady days of Fast Fiction, early photocopied comics sold at Westminter comic marts and more.
All in all, this is an excellent app with great content - certainly one of he best presentations of comics on the iPad I've seen and up there with my other iPad bench mark, the 'Mirabilis' app.
Panel Nine will be publishing more comics on iPad in the coming months. "We will have two lines," says Russell Willis, who longtime British comic fans may recall as one of the ground-breaking figures in indie comc publishing back in the 1980s (read an interview on downthetubes here).
"One publishes some of the best comics work already existing work in deluxe digital graphic novels for the iPad, and the other is to commission new work that is created with the iPad in mind from the beginning.
"Our team here in Tokyo has developed what we think is the best graphic novel reader on the market," he enthuses, "giving a much better user experience than market leaders such as Comixology and other comics reader platforms."
(Cross-posted with permission from Bring Back Bunty): The Beano and The Dandy have recently become available as iPad/iPhone apps (see news story) and these have the potential to be a great format for children’s comics -- so we just had to check them out.
We downloaded them both through the Newsstand on an iPad and as you'd expect, the comics looked great. The format displays the strips really well, the navigation is simple and each comic is very easy to access through an iTunes account.
The two apps are virtually identical but we weren't entirely sure of the pricing system; The Beano is clearly priced at £1.49 per issue but a couple of issues of The Dandy are priced at 69p with the rest at £1.49 – there are also a few free copies of each available to get you started.
I handed them over to my 9-year-old daughter and here's what she had to say:
"They were slightly hard to read. I had to zoom in and the zoom sometimes is hard to move around.
"I would say it wasn’t as good as it could have been. It’s not as good as actually reading and holding a comic!"
Overall, the digital versions are handy to have but we had hoped there would be some reduction for the digital issues compared to the paper ones. In newsagents, The Beano costs £1.50 and The Dandy £1.99 (prices accurate 7th December 2011) so there is very little difference. Pricing the iPad versions at just one penny (or 50p) less than the paper comic doesn’t seem enough
of a saving, or a reason to buy, the digital version over the real in-your-hand, under-the-bed, read-anywhere, traditional paper version.
We think it’s brilliant that such great comics are available to buy online, but ultimately as Niamh says, it’s “not as good as actually reading and holding a comic!”
Due to a small but unexpected delivery delay from Bosnia, the print edition will not be on sale until 14th December, for which publishers Print Media Productions have apologized.
Featuring a cover by Rufus Dayglo the issue includes:
• Black Ops Xtreme Part 2,
written by John Freeman and drawn by PJ Holden: the team are sent to
South America to kill a dangerous terrorist! • Warpaint Part 2 by Phil Hester and John McCrea: Mia learns more about an ancient war! • Age of Heroes Part 2 by James Hudnall and John Ridgway: the magician Wex battles for his life against deadly monsters! • Recovery Inc. by Michael Penick and Dean Deckard: the company is hired to retrieve a top secret stolen prototype! • Hook Jaw, re-mastered by Jim Campbell and Gary Caldwell: Joy over an
oil strike turns sour as the great white shark Hook Jaw attacks!
• 'Cold Hard Facts' - a man from the 20th Century finds the future is not the paradise he expected
• The second winner of our 'Strip Challenge' - "The Citadel Codex", set in ancient Mexico
• An exclusive interview with comic artist John McCrea, British comics
news, a competition to win copies of Paul Gravett's new book 1001 Comics You Must
Read Before You Die and the new collection of Alan Grant and Arthur Ranson's Mazeworld; and a sneak preview of Crucible, one of the new strips coming
up next year STRIP Magazine.
You can now subscribe to Strip Magazine online at www.printmediaproductions.com at the introductory rates as advertised in Issue 1.Until 15th December 2011, a six-issue subscription costs £14.99 including handling and a 12-issue subscription costs £25.99.
From 15th December 2011 subscriptions to the Magazine will be at the normal rate of £16.90 (6 issues) and £33.90 (12 issues).
DC Thomson have announced The Dandy and The Beano have just gone digital through Apple's recently-launched Newsstand service, with The Beano currently in the Top Ten in the service's charts
First published in 1937 and 1938 respectively, the two national comic institutions join Commando in the App store, all delivering digital, enhanced versions of the comics, enabling fans to read their favourite strips and characters on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
Demonstrating the enduring popularity of the comic brands is the fact that Apple are promoting the free Beano app on the front page of iTunes and it is already sitting in the Top 10 downloads – only hours after the apps’ release.
DC Thomson says that even though comics are for children of all ages, the move into digital publishing underlines the company’s commitment to children’s literacy, "ensuring that our famous comics can be read by kids as widely as possible on all kinds of formats.
"Teachers, parents and educational experts all acknowledge the role comics have in providing the bridge between picture books and chapter books and with the increasing use of apps by children, we hope even more of them can now access our weekly, original and not-to-mention hilarious content."
“This is app-solutely fantastic! We’re all very app-y!" enthused Mike Stirling, Editor-in-chief of The Beano.
"Sorry, that’s app-alling!" he added. "The great thing about the new app on Newsstand is that it guarantees our fans can enjoy The Beano 24-7. I used to read it snuggled up under the covers with a torch at night – nowadays, I’ll just cuddle up to my iPhone!”
Editor-in-chief of The Dandy, Craig Graham added: “We’re incredibly excited about being available as a digital download. Now people can have the unique School of Mock that is The Dandy at their fingertips, wherever they are and whatever they’re doing.”
The Beano and Dandy apps are free to download via iTunes and, like the Commando app, also come with free issues of the comics (five issues of The Beano, but just two of The Dandy) so that users can sample the kind of content they’ll get in advance, along with simple instructions of how to subscribe or download.
Payment is via the user’s iTunes account and digital copies are enhanced with interactive advertising, video and links to the existing Beano and Dandy websites – www.beano.com and www.dandy.com
The downloaded issues - which did take a while to download - look great: navigation is very simple and you can zoom in on individua panels easily using the ipad or iphone's tap feature, then tap to zoom out. It seems a bit strange that there's a disparity between the number of free issues of The Beano and The Dandy but the former is definitely DC Thomson's flagship comic title, so it's understandable that it's getting the major promotion (and higher number of downloads, refelcting the popularity, perhaps, of the print titles).
DC Thomson have developed both apps in association with Yudu Media – www.yudu.com – and are planning to bring a range of existing titles to Apple’s Newsstand in the coming months.
DC Thomson tell us there are no plans for archive titles just yet as they’re concentrating on all our existing titles. However, after we suggested it, they're going to look at the possibility of releasing single issues of older comics, which I'd suggest would be a good way to test the market for a wider re-issue of some of the company's much-loved but no longer published titles such as Warlord, Sparky and Starblazer.
The Beano and The Dandy are published every week by D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd., based in Dundee. Other DC Thomson magazine titles include Commando, Shout, The People’s Friend, The Scots Magazine and My Weekly. 2011 sees the 60th Anniversary of the first appearance of Dennis the Menace – 17th March 1951 – The Beano have been celebrating this as “The Year of the Menace”.
• A Beano or Dandy digital subscription lets you read every issue of each comic on your iPhone and iPad as they come out. Each comic has a separate app.
• You can buy each individual issue of the Beano or The Dandy digitally for just £1.49
• The apps will remind you every week when the new Beano or Dandy is ready to give your chuckle muscles a workout, but if you buy a digital subscription to the Beano or Dandy, every issue will be delivered straight to your iPhone or Ipad each week. A 6 month subscription costs just £24.49 and a 12-month subscription costs £47.99.
• Once your subscription starts, you can't cancel until it ends, so make sure you choose the right one for you.Unless you tell DC Thomson otherwise, your subscription will auto-renew.
• The apps are free to download for iPhone, iPod touch or iPad running on iOS 3.2 or later and include read free issues right away!
• Users of The Beano and Dandy apps can choose to subscribe and receive every issue automatically - £24.49 for 6 months and £47.99 for 1 year. Or they can download the apps for free and pay £1.49 for individual issues.
STRIP Magazine Issue 1 may not be on sale in good UK comic shops until next week (Wednesday 2nd November) but the digital edition - which has the same cover price but obviously doesn't include the giveaway Mirabilis poster - is on sale now as an iPad comic.
The digital edition is the result of a partnership between new graphic novel and magazine company Print Media Productions and Britain's mobile comic publisher ROK Comics. The first issue is now available worldwide for iPad from the Apple iTunes store (the print edition is only available in the UK).
STRIP Magazine is an adventure anthology comic featuring some great art and stories from some brilliant creators including PJ Holden (Judge Dredd), John McCrea (Hitman, The Boys), Michael Penick (Insurrection), John Ridgway and many more.
Offering a range of strip stories, comics news, interviews and features, plus a fully re-mastered version of the classic British comic strip Hookjaw, this is a first issue you will not want to miss!
ROK Comics partnership with Print Media Productions is one of several new agreements with comics publishers and comic creators. These include the release of an iPad edition of The Iron Moon, a steampunk graphic novel created by acclaimed film writer Stephen Walsh and veteran British artist Keith Page. A special 'prequel' strip for The Iron Moon appears in STRIP Magazine #1.
ROK Comics recently launched its first fully originated comic, TEAM M.O.B.I.L.E. which is initially being published as a weekly web comic (at http://www.theteammobile.com/), followed by roll out on iPad and other devices.
ROK Comics has previously published creator-owned and licensed strips for mobile, with three iPhone apps – Ligeia the Vampire by Rodrigo Diaz Ricci, The Mobile Gospel by Rich Diesslin and Madd Science by Steve English.
Further iPhone and iPad apps, working with a number of different publishers, are in development.
As STRIP Magazine's editor, I'm delighted that thanks to the iPad, we're able to offer STRIP Magazine worldwide (thanks also to the creators who feature for their support). This is our first stab at a digital version of the magazine and we're hoping that later issues will take further advantage of the opportunities offered by the iPad platform.
Britain's dedicated mobile comics publisher ROK Comics, has just
launched an iPad edition of the steampunk graphic novel The Iron Moon, a creator-owned comic story by acclaimed Commando comics artist Keith Page and film writer Stephen Walsh.
Described as 'Rorke's Drift in Space', The Iron Moon
is a fast-paced steampunk-inspired adventure starring no-nonsense
adventuress Charlotte Corday and is now available worldwide for iPad
from the Apple iTunes store.
In the story, the
twentieth century is just around the corner and Queen Victoria is hale
and hearty as she heads into the second century of her reign. The
British Empire stretches from the white cliffs of Dover to the red skies
of Mars. Go-getting men and women of the imperial dominions flock to
the colours, eager to make reputations and fortunes in the wilds of high
space.
Take lieutenant Charlotte Corday, for instance.
Born in what used to be known as France, she has risen to prominence
through the ranks of the Royal Space Navy and now finds herself up to
her neck in her greatest escapade yet. Watch as she travels to the
mysterious Iron Moon! Marvel as she grapples with a conspiracy that may
see the galaxy plunged into war! Goggle as she meets new and strange
races, both mechanical and biological! Ponder how she manages to put
away so many cups of tea! And prepare to have your brain scrambled as
she scoops us up and carries us to the very limits of this universe...
and into the next!
ROK Comics partnership with Stephen
and Keith is one of several new agreements with comics publishers and
comic creators. These include the release of an iPad edition of the
first issue of the adventure anthology comic STRIP Magazine, published by Print Media Productions, which includes a special 'prequel' strip for The Iron Moon.
Iron Moon writer Stephen Walsh has written multiple volumes of DC Thomson's Commando Picture Library, as well as the graphic novel The Acid Bath Case (illustrated by Kellie Strom). He co-wrote the feature films How Harry Became A Tree, released in 2001, directed by Goran Paskaljevic and the upcoming Where The Sea Used To Be,
directed by Paul Farren. He's currently working on a documentary about
John Ford with the director Sé Merry Doyle, as well as preparing further
adventures of Charlotte Corday with Keith Page.
Inspired by the great British comics artists of the past such as Frank Hampson, Don Lawrence and Joe Colquhoun, Keith Page
has worked full-time in comics and illustration for some 17 years.
Subjects have ranged from television-related material such as Thunderbirds, science fiction, and his current war stories of all periods for Commando.
This isn't, of course, the first time Charlotte Corday has featured
digitally. Keith Page previously created two adventures which have been
offered on mobile phones and published another strip, Witchcraft Street, as a web comic.
ROK Comics recently launched its first fully originated comic, TEAM M.O.B.I.L.E. which is initially being published as a weekly web comic (at www.theteammobile.com), followed by roll out on iPad and other devices.
The company has previously published creator-owned and licensed strips for mobile, with three iPhone apps – Ligeia the Vampire by Rodrigo Diaz Ricci, The Mobile Gospel by Rich Diesslin and Madd Science by Steve English.
Further iPhone and iPad apps, working with a number of different publishers, are in development.
We've got some good news about Comic Football, the national subscription-only comic that recently informed subscribers it had been cancelled.
It seems that this is only part of the story - the comic will return later this year, but in a new, free online format.
Because of this change of direction, Hinckley-based publishers Comic Football Ltd. stopped taking and have refunded subscriptions for the national version of the comic. It's hoped the digital re-launch as a web comic with a brand new site will happen before Christmas.
The new web comic will be constantly updated and free, hence no subscriptions. There's also iPad, Android and Kindle apps in the pipeline, but more about that when it happens.
The bottom line for the company is that it's responding to the fast-changing world of publishing, particularly as the move to digital platforms gathers pace. New technologies means the market is changing and nobody is quite sure how to launch a comic these days - or even re-launch one, it seems, in some cases.
"They've tried it one way, now they're going to try it another way, and they'll keep on trying until they hit on a sustainable market model," an insider told us.
In the meantime, the company's activities producing comics for individual football clubs - their core business - is going very well. They just signed up with Celtic and Doncaster Rovers, and already deliver publications for Manchester City, Newcastle, Stoke City, Wolves, Wigan, Derby County and Aston Villa, with more in the pipeline.
The company's main activities are bespoke comics for junior fans, featuring the club's mascot, club-based comic strips, player or match strips and packed full of features, aiming to be a comic tailored uniquely for a team's junior membership, acting as a marketing and promotional product, or as a retail product for club shops ... or even made available through the local news trade.
Alongside dedicated club features, Club Football also offers a catalogue of great characters that can be featured in the comics, aiming to help clubs capture the next generation of fans and give them something exciting in return.
Their work is being well received, too. "Comic Football has offered us innovative and well-crafted content that has lit up the junior section of our award-winning Manchester City programme," says Ian Guildford from Ignition Publications.
We're also told they're still on the lookout for artists, so submissions are welcome.
• Creators should send reasonably-sized samples to peteATcomicfootball.co.uk or by post to Comic Football Ltd., 12, Darley Abbey Mills, Darley Abbey, Derby DE22 1DZ
Titan Publishing has announced the launch of a brand new comics app, featuring Tank Girl and Lenore comics, available on iPhone and iPad for the first time ever.
The new stand-alone app allows iPhone, iPod touch or iPad users to explore Titan’s digital comics portfolio, including – for the first time in digital format – Lenore volumes 1 & 2 by Roman Dirge, Tank Girl: Bad Wind Rising (Alan Martin & Rufus Dayglo) and Tank Girl: Skidmarks (Martin & Dayglo).
The dark surreal world of Roman Dirge comes to life on the iPhone and iPad with the digital debut of his cult comic creation, Lenore. These gruesomely grisly tales see Lenore, the cute little dead girl, and her twisted menagerie of demented friends do battle with Nazi zombies, avoid the unrequited love of Mr. Gosh, and fend off the massed forces of Heck and an overeager, hungry earthworm.
Bad Wind Rising is the brand new Tank Girl series by Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo, which sees Tank Girl and her long-term partner Booga split up in dramatic and outrageous circumstances.
Described by Ain’t It Cool News as ‘possibly this year’s coolest comic!’, the series is a must-read for all Tank Girl fans.
Martin and Dayglo’s previous series Skidmarks sees Tank Girl participating in an Outback ‘take-no-prisoners’ race in an attempt to win prize money for her friend Barney’s operation. The series is also available digitally for the first time in the new app.
For the first time Titan’s wide-ranging portfolio is available in one app, featuring exclusive free content including WWE Heroes, Transformers (exclusive UK strips), Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit. Brand new comics are set to be released by Titan via the app throughout the year.
• To explore Titan’s digital comics, simply go online to the iTunes app store and search 'Titan Comics' to download the app or follow this link direct.
We're pleased to report that Lancaster cartoonist David Hughes comic story Thomas Wogan is Dead, first reviewed on downthetubes last year, is now available to read on Apple's iPad.
This is British publishers Tabella Publishing's first ebook on Apple's iPad platform, the result of what they say comes after reading many books on iphone development, doing tutorials, submitting forum posts and more.
Tabella picked up reprint rights to the quirky tale set in Morecambe (and the hereafter - although is there a difference?) partly after reading the downthetubes review.
The prices and release date details for the most hyped and anticipated gadget this year, the Apple iPad, which features a number of digital comic products were announced for the UK this week. The device has been much touted as an ideal comic reader and, indeed, Apple itself is promoting the device as a comics reader in its promotional pages for the UK launch.
The iPad will be sold through the Apple Online Store, Apple retail outlets and via approved resellers from Friday 28th May 2010.
Pre-ordering began this week from the Apple online store where, you can order all the iPad Wi-Fi models, together with all the iPad WiFi + 3G models, in time for delivery on the 28th May.
Compared to the US, where the iPad is already on general release and selling in huge numbers, as usual for Britian, the prices do appear rather high. A basic model will set yo u back £429 (for the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad model), with a top of the range product priced at £699 (64GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad).
But is it any good for reading comics? (Assuming, of course, you're a fan of digital comics - I'm fully expecting the usual comments from folk who prefer paper, which they're entitled to have).
Reaction has been mixed but fairly positive.
"If the screen were about 20% bigger, this would be the best comic book reader yet, feels Gizmodo's Jason Chen of the iPad. "You wouldn't need to pan, to zoom, to scroll or to pinch. You could just read."
How many comics are available? Well, there are plenty of companies vying for your App loyalty, including PanelFly, Comixology and Marvel's reader, the latter of which is just Comixology, but only delivers Marvel Comics.
Earlier this month, technology site BoingBoing reported the Marvel Comics app would launch offering more than 500 titles through the application, including all the Marvel classics are here: Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, Spider Man, Iron Man, Captain America, and a number of newer titles. To navigate, you simply 'finger swipe' the page to get to the next one, or single click on the left or right edge to go back or forward. You can also scroll through the thumbnail bar at the bottom for faster, jump navigation. The app also enables you to 'zoom in' on the artwork using a double-click or two-finger 'pinching', which iPhone users will be used to
When you've zoomed in on a single frame, finger swipes or single clicks also navigate frame to frame rather than page to page.
"Scrolling is intuitive, brisk, and elegant," enthuses BoingBoing's Xeni Jardin. "I'm amazed at how smooth. The store interface makes sense to anyone familiar with iTunes and App store. Flipping and reading, one luminous full-colour page at a time, I do not miss paper." You can view a video review from BoingBoing below.
"You'd be a fool not to run screaming to the App Store and download this comic reader," feels EnGadgets' Joshua Topolsky. "Not only is the app built in a clear and cleanly laid-out manner, but you get access to tons of great Marvel titles to purchase and lots of free books to download off the bat, but it features a guided view which is about as close as you can get to a motion comic without... reading a motion comic. Our only complaint here is that they don't offer more of the Marvel catalogue."
Of course, given that this is a British comics blog, you might be interested in supporting a British comic app - albeit one with significant overseas investment. Graphic.ly recently launched it AIR app for desktops which includes a digital comic reader, store, and social activity feed and Apps for the iPad, iPhone, Android, and Windows 7 are coming soon. It will also be delivered as native Web app.
With an emphasis on material from independent publishers - although mainstream ones are on board - Grpahic.ly has taken a 'social' approach to digital comics reading, launching with an activity feed showing all the comics your friends are reading and their comments. This serves as a discovery mechanism.
If you get your comics elsewhere and then import them to your iPad, then you need Comic Zeal or Comic Reader. (The Comic Reader app itself went through a painful gestation period for the developer, which is documented here on the ComicReader forum).
There's also a iPad version of iVerse, and iVerse Comics founder Michael Murphey is enthusiastic about the device's potential to attract new comic readers. The latest version of their app, demo'd here, adds much requested features like ZOOM for both iPad and iPhone in this update, but overall iVerse hope that the application fades into the background and you can just enjoy reading your comics.
"The things the iPad does it does so very well that it's going to be like the iPhone – once people have their hands on it, they're not going to want to not have that device," he told Comic Book Resources back in January. "It's very slick and very well made, and it's going to allow us to be able to present comics in the best possible way on one of the best devices to do this on."
Most importantly, will comics on the iPad - as well as other digital devices - increase comics readership? Many think so. Making strips available for consumers to download on a tablet could change "the mentality that comics are just meant to be collected," artist Dave Dorman, who has drawn for issues of Batman, Star Wars, and numerous additional comics told Bloomberg Business Week last month.
"Forty years from when I grew up, comics could potentially make a big breakthrough to a new generation," he feels.
The prices and release date details for the most hyped and anticipated gadget this year, the Apple iPad, which features a number of digital comic products were announced for the UK this week. The device has been much touted as an ideal comic reader and, indeed, Apple itself 
