ComicZeal for iPhone

26.03.2009
You've already loaded up your iPhone with your favorite songs and photos. Why not carry your favorite comic books with you, too?

That's just one of the capabilities delivered by ComicZeal, which is both a comic book viewer and a storage application. Developed by , ComicZeal displays comics in full-page color. You read the comics by using the iPhone's familiar swipe, pinch, and double tap gestures to navigate each panel and page. Reading comic books on the iPhone does involve a lot of zooming and resizing, but anyone familiar with the iPhone default interface should pick up ComicZeal in no time.

Bitolithic also reminds you that ComicZeal is a comic-book viewer by including samples of vintage Golden Age comics from the 1930s and '40s. If you enjoy reading these comics, you can download additional issues wirelessly via ComicZeal.

The application offers access to the , a free British repository of vintage comics now in the public domain. ComicZeal includes access to 11 different Golden Age titles, many of which contain between five and 10 individual issues. Downloading comics wirelessly is a one-click process, taking about 45 seconds per comic book over a Wi-Fi connection.

While downloading Golden Age comics is sure to appeal to some fans, most comic book fans will want to import their own books into ComicZeal. Bitolithic created a companion Mac and Windows program called for just this reason. ComicZeal Sync converts familiar digital file extensions like .cbr, .cbz, .pdf, and .rar into files which ComicZeal can display on your iPhone.

After you've imported or downloaded your favorite comics into ComicZeal, you navigate your collection by scrolling through virtual comic book boxes on the iPhone's screen. Each title has its own box and clicking on a box brings up a visual list of all comics in that title.