Marvel Comics (for Android)

Pros Fit-to-width mode. HD support. Most new books available the same day as print issues. Guided View makes it easy to read books on smartphones. Lots of freebies.

Cons Lacks a shopping cart. Can't redeem digital comic codes from within the app. Holes in the back catalog. Bottom Line The Comixology-powered Marvel Comics for Android brings iconic characters and story arcs to tablets and smartphones, but a few omissions keep it from achieving greatness.

By Jeffrey L. Wilson Marvel Comics—the publishing house behind such iconic superheroes as Captain America, the Hulk, Spider-Man, and the X-Men—has a strong digital comics marketplace in its self-titled, Comixology-powered Android app. Marvel Comics (free) transforms your Android smartphone or tablet into a mobile store from which you can purchase new digital comics, as well as numerous back issues that stretch deep into the company's publishing past. Marvel Comics lacks a handful of features—such as the excellent shopping cart found in Comixology's own Comics Android app—but those who live by the "Make Mine Marvel!" mantra will find a lot to like in this app.

Turning the Digital Page
This may be an obvious statement, but it's one that may be needed: You can only purchase and read Marvel Comics titles within this app. If you've used Comixology (either the browser-based store or the mobile apps) to purchase books from DC, Dynamite, IDW, Image, or other publishers, you won't be able to download them to your Android device using this app. That said, if you bought Marvel Comics titles using those methods, you will see them under this app's My Comics section.

When you find a book that interests you, tap the issue or trade paperback icon to see the synopsis, creator credits, pricing, rating, and sample pages. Making a purchase is as simple as tapping a book's price icon, completing the buy in Google Play, and waiting for that issue, collection, or graphic novel to download. It's remarkably simple and convenient. That said, Marvel Comics lacks Comics for Android's recent addition: a shopping cart. It's not a huge loss in the grand scheme of things, but the cart's omission means that you buy titles one at a time instead of in batches—it's mildly frustrating.

New digital comics such as Iron Fist: The Living Weapon ($3.99) are priced exactly the same as their paper-and-ink counterparts, which from a consumer's point of view is ludicrous. Additionally, there are still many pre-'90s books that are missing in action. There are holes in Walt Simonson's classic Thor run, for example, which is disappointing. The Marvel Unlimited all-you-can-read subscription service has many books that haven't yet appeared in Comixology, so that's worth checking out if you're looking for back issues.

There are numerous freebies and 99-cent issues in Marvel Comics' catalog, but the $3.99 and $4.99 price points are the norm (collections, naturally, command more cash). Marvel Comics also lets you add books to a wishlist, so that you can purchase them at a later time.

Should you ever feel the need to pick up a print comic, clicking the Buy In Print option lets you find the nearest brick-and-mortar comics shop by keying in your ZIP code. Thankfully, Marvel's print comics include a code to redeem a free digital version, but you can only do that via marvel.com/redeem, not via the Marvel Comics app.

The Marvel Comics Experience
Marvel Comics lets you scroll through a digital comic page by page as you would with a print comic, or you can use Comixology's patented Guided View technology. Activated by double-tapping a digital comic page, Guided View simulates the flow of reading a comic by guiding you from zoomed-in panel to zoomed-in panel. It's a useful feature that makes reading digital comics on smartphones an incredibly enjoyable experience, despite their small screens. Dark Horse Comics and Marvel Unlimited's apps offer competing panel-by-panel flow, but they don't match Guided View's well-placed camera.

In fact, there are a handful of digital comics created with Guided View in mind. These Infinite Comics are similar to motion comics, minus the more annoying aspects (voice work, forced panel movement). For example, Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted uses Guided View to add dramatic weight by fading images in and out of darkness, or panning toward objects just off screen.

Like Comics for Android, Marvel Comics has HD comics support and Fit to Width. The former is self-explanatory, but Fit to Width resizes comics so that you can easily read pages when holding a device horizontally.

Bam! Biff! Pow!
Marvel Comics fans who want the convenience of buying titles without slipping on a pair of pants, an Alpha Flight T-shirt, and heading to the nearest comics shop can do so with this well-designed app. Comixology's Comics Android app remains our Editors' Choice due to its wide array of publishers and killer shopping cart that lets you purchase multiple books at once. Still, Marvel Comics for Android is a great offering, especially for the Marvel fan who wants to buy titles without wading through other companies' offerings. Hopefully the shopping cart will be added soon.

View the original article here