If you had any doubt, Robot 6 points out that three of the top five grossing iPad apps this year are comic-book-related:
This reflects not just the quality of the iPad as a comics medium for comics but also the large numbers of comics that must be selling through those apps (the apps themselves are free). The top grosser in the book category is The Elements, a visual exploration of the periodic table, which probably doesn’t have a lot of mass appeal but sells for $13.99, and the number five app is The Cat in the Hat, which does have a lot of appeal and sells for $3.99. That three comics apps can match that tells me that people are buying a lot of comics through them.
Quite simply, comic books look great on a backlit screen. And tablets make the comics reading experience more enjoyable. Comics publishers have been pretty good about getting involved with the iPad, but they could do much more. I’m betting that the next two years will bring a major new digital-only comics publishing company, and they’ll show the print comics publishers how it should be done.
This is the whole reason I want to get in iPad. I want to dig through the entire Marvel catalog while sitting on my couch. They sell an annual subscription to all their content, for like $60 or so.
@Reymont, this is the exact reason I’m getting an ipad, too.
@Fruit Cup – Well…I’m still not. Can’t justify a $500 device just to read more comics. But if I won the lottery…!
In just a few days I’m going to drop my ipad and pickup an ExoPC (http://goo.gl/oUqfy). For Windows 7 goodness (work requirements) I can deal with the drawbacks (view angle, battery life). Hell, with this thing I can rock my beloved VLC Player!
So, the ipad is basically a TI-89 with comics?
I love my iPad. It’s so much better than a Kindle for reading EVERYTHING.