Imagine if you will, dear comic book reader with an iPhone, an online store specifically tailored to your specific love of Transformers. You wouldn't have to deal with anything else cluttering up the new release section, or even anything Transformers-related in your line of sight. The Transformers Comics (free) app is basically that idea come to life.
I suspect that with the release of the iPad, we'll be seeing a lot more store-like environments for books, newspapers and magazines alike, and Transformers Comics makes an incredibly strong case that this is a good thing for fans of niche markets.
The app is organized just like a more specific version of the iTunes App Store. You can view newly released comics, the top paid comics and the small handful of free comics available through tabs similar to the iTunes App Store. Clicking on any of the comics brings you to a screen like purchasing an app would, with a rating and brief description, with the added bonus that clicking on a specific comic also links you to the rest in that series that have been released. Quite handy if you're looking to start a digital collection.
Transformers Comics also has, to my mind, a more attractive general search feature as well. The list it populates looks and feels more like the iPod app than the iTunes App Store, and moves much smoother. There appears to have been a lot of thought put into the layout of this app, and it shows with a tremendous ease of use. The only thing missing from the search is a more detailed option to search by description keywords or year published.
The app even has a spot for your purchased comics that you can sort either by cover or in a list format. You couldn't ask for much more.
As to the comics themselves, the scans look like high quality PDFs. Easy to zoom in and out of, and turning pages is performed easily by swiping your finger, or dragging a bar to jump to a page further down the comic. They look very good, but there's nothing here that would surprise or impress. I suspect reading this app on the larger iPad would be a bit more fulfilling.
Still, a bookshelf-specific app for particular niche magazines or comics seems like a great idea and it's executed with style to spare in the Transformers Comics app. If you're a fan of Transformers and new app technology, this seems like an easy download. Although the selection of comics at this point is limited to four specific series; All Hail Megatron, Alliance, Animated and Spotlight, there is great potential for growth.
