Okay, so I downloaded and set up the new iPhone app, downloaded a few of my comics to it and gave it a try. Not bad, not bad. I think it's as good a reading experience as you could expect on an iPhone with its relatively tiny screen. Comixology seems to have addressed my main complaint-- the difficulty of getting out of a comic once you're in one so you can read another. This was driving me crazy. Where the heck do you press the screen? I found it a lot easier in the new app.
One feature that's gone is the ability to buy comics within the app itself. I found that out via IDW's website. There's all this new Amazon.com-related info there, none of which I understand. I have a ton of IDW comics on Comixology and I was a little concerned when I couldn't find their listings on the actual website. The ones I've already paid for are still there, so that was a relief. I'll say it again-- buying a license to read comics on your various devices is not the same as buying the actual comics and you're subject to losing access to a lot of books you've paid the same price for as you would a physical copy no one can come confiscate from you.
This is why I haven't invested heavily in old school Star Wars comics on Dark Horse's website, as much as I crave Archie Goodwin-Al Williamson-Carlos Garzon magic. And also those Carmine Infantino-drawn oddities like talking rabbits, Sergio Aragones as a space pirate and whatnot. With the license reverting to Marvel, I have this worrisome feeling the Dark Horse issues will vanish from computers around the world.
So not being able to find single issues of IDW's Powerpuff Girls (one of the best comics to come along in quite some time, but I don't cover it here because it's not archaeological) had me thinking along those lines. Did something happen with the Amazon purchase? I'm at work and can't research this further or look into whether the various parties are working through legal agreements or if I'm just an idiot who can't search Comixology properly. I lean towards the latter. The point is, my stuff is still there. And I don't really care about buying comics within the iPhone app. I can never remember my Apple password anyway!
One plus of the changeover to the new app is the $5 gift card Comixology gave me. And lo and behold, Marvel Monday just happened to have Amazing Spider-Man for .99. This was exactly what I was hoping for. Well, not quite. What I really wanted was Fantastic Four #50 and some more Nick Cardy Teen Titans, but I'm not going to complain because I picked up five classic Spidey issues, four by Steve Ditko and one by John Romita. I love me some Ditko-Romita-John Buscema-Gil Kane Amazing Spider-Man.
Well, the next step is re-downloading everything. You can find all your books in something called the "cloud," which makes me think of magical nonsense spaces and floating castles of pink gingerbread and blue sugar-cream where knights in gleaming armor and ladies in flowing damask fly around on winged dragons, but apparently is just a computer server somewhere.
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