Jeff Smith’s Bone comics to SEQUENTIAL plus SEQUENTIAL comics app version 2.0 unveiled
Now proclaiming themselves the ‘indie graphic novels app’ SEQUENTIAL have added to their roster of great titles with Cartoon Books, home to Jeff Smith’s Bone and Abrams Comic Arts debuting on the platform. They have also released a version 2.0 of the SEQUENTIAL comics app with a raft of new features (including visual contents and a unique take on double page spreads) as they attempt to compete with the giant that is ComiXology!
When asked about what was new in this new app release, SEQUENTIAL’s founder, Russell Willis told us: “SEQUENTIAL has always been the gold standard for graphic novel-reading apps and has the best browse, buy and read experience out there, eclipsing the mediocre experience that Amazon’s Comixology app offers. With this release we’ve made the best in-app purchase Storefront and reading experience even better.”
SEQUENTIAL 2.0 contains detailed information on over 650 graphic novels from over 20 publishers, beautiful previews, and simple ways to find work by your favourite authors and publishers – plus hundreds of creator bios and an easy-to-use Wishlist feature to remember books you want to buy later.
On the reading side the app includes Panel Mode (a superior version of “guided view”), Page Mode, and Sequential Mode (for reading digital native comics). The app also includes pinch zoom for the first time and this works with a unique “floating double-page spread” feature where you pan across the full spread, have the option to zoom out to view the whole spread, zoom into the spread, or view sections of the spread in panel mode.
Willis noted: “Double-page spreads have always been difficult in digital but as with every aspect of the app we’ve sweated the details to make it the best experience possible.”
Other features unique to SEQUENTIAL include a visual contents (especially useful for anthologies) and the audio and video extras for Expanded Graphic novels (featuring artists such as David Lloyd, Frederik Peeters, David Hine, Hunt Emerson and, forthcoming, Posy Simmonds, amongst others).
Abrams and Cartoon Books join SEQUENTIAL
The launch of the new version sees two new publishers added to SEQUENTIAL: Abrams and Cartoon Books. The first tranche of books from Abrams includes My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf, How to Fake a Moon Landing, and The Age of Selfishness by Darryl Cunningham, Just So Happens by Fumio Obata and Economix by Dan E. Burr and Michael Goodwin.
From Cartoon Books SEQUENTIAL now has all 9 volumes of Jeff Smith’s Bone series in full colour along with the three volumes of his recent epic RASL.
Abrams and Cartoon Books join over 20 major indie publishers – from Dark Horse to Fantagraphics to SelfMadeHero and Secret Acres – making SEQUENTIAL *the* graphic novel app for iPad.
Willis noted, “We’re delighted to have these two great publishers on board. They help us fulfil SEQUENTIAL’s goal of providing *the* place for great graphic novels from brilliant creators ––without being weighed down with the baggage of mainstream superhero fare. At the same time we provide a superior alternative to the Amazon’s attempted monopoly of the digital comics business.”
SEQUENTIAL is free to download from the App Store here. Further information can be found on the SEQUENTIAL website.
