Panelfly is a free comic reader for the iPhone that is only available on the US iTunes store (as far as I know). It features an interface that’s sexier, more dynamic, and much easier on the eyes than the excellent Comics app (reviewed here). The basic reading experience is pretty similar to what we’ve seen in apps like ComicZeal and Comics, but everything else is much, much better. Comic titles are displayed as flashy thumbnails, comic covers blur in and out to make up Panelfly’s main menu, and the in-app comic store takes a page right out of the iPhone’s iTunes app. Panelfly looks great even on the iPhone’s 3.5″ screen, and I can’t help but imagine how awesome it could be if it was loaded on an Apple tablet (that would be the way to sell comics, ladies and gentlemen!).
Hit the jump for more thoughts and pics.
Library
I can only access the free comics at the moment, but I was surprised to see that some of these titles have some colourful language in them. I’m glad to see that we’ve got some non-PG content in a good app. You can peruse the title in your library by title, publisher, author, artist, or genre if you’re in portrait mode – or you can flip the whole phone sideways and enjoy a very usable cover flow mode organized alphabetically by title. A red dot along the left side of the title name indicates an ‘unread’ status, and you can remove that dot by swiping and deleting the comic (tee hee) or tapping on it and actually reading it.
Reading
I’m not sure if the comics for Panelfly are pre-formatted for the reader, like the comics in ComiXology’s Comics app, but I doubt it. The app seems to use some sort of algorithm to make educated guesses as to which text box you should read next or which part of the panel to zoom in on for dramatic effect. It works most of the time, but there were a few awkward zoom-ins of walls from time to time. They were good looking walls, though. This zooming and panning functionality is activated by taps along the left or right sides of the screen, but you can always pan the page manually by dragging your finger along the screen. Pinching and pulling to control zoom work, too.
Panel? Fly.
One extra feature I really liked was the panel overview button. I forget if this exists in the Comics app, but Panelfly can show you every single page of the comic you’re reading in one giant scrolling grid, and tapping on a page will take you straight to it.
Store
Here’s where things get really, really pretty. I definitely see a resemblance to the iPhone iTunes store here, but I’d say that this is one of those cases where Apple could take a hint from a 3rd party’s layout. The Featured tab loads up by default, and the top “brick” (their term, not mine) is a panel of comics that you have to slide manually, and the two mini bricks below it act like digital billboards, with various titles blurring in and out of visibility. The rest of the tab is filled with lists of comics you’ll love (based on your purchase history) and a list of new releases. The other tabs contain Top Tens (organized by category), genres, a search tab (I see this disappearing in a later version), and a downloads tab.
The selection seemed pretty good, and I even saw a host of modern Marvel Comics titles in there (Iron Man, Astonishing X-men, etc.) Finding and purchasing a comic is very easy, and each issue features its own summary, four-page preview, and a list of related publications. The buy button is the standard two-tap buy button we’re all used to on the iPhone’s App and iTunes stores – complete with the animation of the issue falling off the page and right into the downloads tab. Very, very slick.
Conclusion
Alright, so that was a bit longer than the usual quick look. However, I haven’t played with the app for all that long – and without actually reading through a few issues in a series, I can’t truly say how excellent Panelfly is. All I can say is I think it looks really bloody good and seems like the best way to read comics on the iPhone. My only wish for the app is for a different, alternative way to view issues that you buy. Some comics are $0.99, but others cost as much as $4.99 – and it’d be great if I could view some of these investments on a desktop Panelfly client. However, if you’re a comic lover or a lover of very well thought-out and illustrated interfaces (along with a US iTunes account) then you owe it to yourself to check Panelfly out.
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Panelfly is a free app – here’s the iTunes link.
Panelfly was bought at author’s expense ($0.00 in this case) for review on Just Another iPhone Blog. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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TAGS: comic, comics
