Never mind all this hype about Transformers on the big screen, because Transformers comes to the touchscreen.

IDW has published the first issue of its official “Revenge of the Fallen” tie-in prequel comic in digital format on the iTunes App Store.

At just 59p here in the UK, the download represents excellent value for money compared to the $3.99-against-the-weak-pound printed version.

The 22-page issue has been reformatted across 90 individual screens to be read on either the iPhone or the iPod Touch. The filesize is just shy of 7 Mb so should download onto the iPhone in minutes.

Once downloaded the App shows on the homescreen as a little icon [see bottom right hand corner], ready for reading. The story can be read panel-by-panel by flicking the screen with your finger, allowing you to read it at your own pace. Each panel is clearly and cleanly formatted with the colours much brighter than the printed version. That’ll be the backlit LCD screen, then.

The panel-by-panel storytelling retrains the brain and becomes a new (and scary if you don’t like change) way to read comics. The composition of the printed page is stripped mercilessly, which undermines the work put in to the pacing and structure of the page. All panels are now the same size, so splash pages and larger panels may lose their impact.

On the bright side, viewing one panel at a time allows you to appreciate it in its own right without your mind wandering prematurely to the next. While there is no facility to zoom, the text and speech bubbles read surprisingly well.

Tapping the screen brings up a menu, and from there, you can view thumbnails of all the panels, allowing for quick and easy navigation. This will mean less paper cuts compared to traditional comic book reading, and thus reading on the iPhone should dramatically reduce those shocking fingertip injury statistics.

Of course, reading comics on a portable device is all down to personal taste and preference. I don’t think a digital version will ever replace the more tactile experience of reading print, but times change and IDW should only be commended for trying to reach a wide an audience as possible.

The future’s set to automatic brightness, the future’s IDW.

“Transformers Alliance (Part 1 of 4)” is currently ranked the 15th best-selling App on the iTunes Store and is available here.

Category: News
Tags: Alex Milne | Apple | Chris Mowry | IDW Publishing | iPhone | iPod | iTunes | Movie | Revenge of the Fallen | Transformers

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