Directing Websites || Adam Gross

Superhero Apps Could Be Super Social

June 24, 2010 at 10:13 pm Leave a comment

This week, I downloaded the Marvel app on an iPod Touch.  Even on a smaller screen than the iPad, where it is earning rave reviews, the app impressively uses the medium.  Dramatic touches are added by animated panel transitions.  The ability to view either horizontally or vertically maximizes each panel, as does zooming.

DC, owned by Time Warner, released their version this week, which unsurprisingly does not differ much from the Marvel app because both were built by Comixology (it keeps crashing, so I have not used it much). Marvel is owned by Disney.

Non-publishers such as Comixology and Panelfly had launched their online comic book shops before Marvel and DC introduced these apps.  But the publishers have actually been trying to make a digital business for some time now. For example, there was a Marvel section in the old AOL walled garden as far back as 1995. Dial-in speeds, alas, did not make for pleasant viewing. Now, with always-on fast connections and superior consumption devices, the market is ripe.

Both follow the itunes ecommerce model.  Download the app for free, and pay for each comic (which are less expensive than the paper versions). A selection of comics is offered for free, and is regularly updated.  The publishers seem to have struck a balance between the online and offline channels.  Marvel is reporting that the app is driving offline as well as online sales.

Social components are still missing, though. Panelfly does have Twitter and Facebook posting capabilities integrated, but that is the tip of the iceberg:

• Integrated Facebook like buttons on issues and other components, too, such as characters
• Discussions, which fit the nature of long-running and intertwining stories. Even driving Twitter discussions – much like Lost – would be valuable. This could also help newer readers catch up on history – further engaging them in the comics universe. Links to other stories within a story would help in this regard, too.
• Share specific panels with friends, with likes and favorites
• Reading lists, which could organically lead to wishlists and gifting capabilities
• Online readers’ catalogs to allow fans to show off their collections.  Integrate with Google Goggles to more quickly enable people to catalog their physical collections, which would enhance the sharing, enhancing, and ecommerce capabilities.  The Marvel and DC apps already have recommendation engines, which would be enhanced by social graphs.
• Multi-user “What If” scenario creations (comic teamups and alternate story lines are the forefathers of mashups and remixes)
• Geo-location identification of app users at, say, a movie or bookstore

This is just my quick list.  There’s certainly more great ideas, some of which are probably already being developed.

What’s really intriguing is the extent to which community will drive growth. This is a market which has historically benefited from a dedicated community, but one that has been somewhat niche in nature.  If community has enhanced the comic book experience for its traditional fans, wouldn’t the same be true for newer readers? The app may become a gateway for more casual readers to join a more dedicated community of heavier purchasers or form their own community.  Or it may grow the existing dedicated community by making it quicker, easier, and less expensive to follow up on a recommendation or interest with a purchase.  But the key, either way, is community.  Social components will accelerate online sales and transform the industry.

Entry filed under: Products. Tags: Apple, comics, dc, Facebook, iphone, ipod, marvel, social media, twitter.