Last week King Features Syndicate released an iPhone, iPod Touch app for their DailyINK subscription service. Today, they’ve released the iPad version of the same app.

The app, technically is a single app that runs in both small screens (iPhone) and larger screens (iPad) – so if you have an iPad and downloaded it last week, you only need to update the app to get the full experience.

What I like:
Adding, removing comics to my subscription is very simple. Simply touch the “+” button next to the ones I want to add and the “-” I want to remove and done. My options are renewed instantly.

When browsing through all the feature’s samples, description, etc., the app knows which ones I’ve already subscribed to (or not). If I want to add one to my list, a button is available without having to go back out to my subscriptions page.

If I want to read an earlier strip, I simply tap and drag to the right and the current strip slides off the page and the next one downloads. You can also jump to a calendar date and move forward in time the same way.

Like the iPhone version, if you want to see zoom into the comic to see a large version, just double tap the comic and it zooms up (when in portrait mode) and automatically moves to the beginning of the strip. In landscape mode, the comic spans the full width of the device’s screen.

Just one thing that I hope they’ll improve in a future release. When reading my subscriptions, each comic is placed in a white background that has a fixed height – sufficient for horizontal strips – but when taller features (panels and editorial cartoons) are displayed, they are shrunk to the height of the comic strips. At this height they’re illegible. I can touch the comic and a larger version is brought up, but that’s one more action that shouldn’t be necessary if the height of the comic wasn’t set so small. I found myself removing most of the editorial cartoons and panels from my subscription because it was like hitting a speed bump on an otherwise smooth ride.

Okay – one more thing. If I find comic that I love, I want to be able to share it on Twitter or Facebook – not necessary post the comic – just a link to it so others can see it. Such a feature helps comics go viral, but I’m sure to offer that, King would have to open their comics up a bit – something they’ve been reticent to do.

The app is a free download. If you have a DailyINK subscription and an iPod, it’s the preferred way to go. Like I mentioned last week, the iPhone/iPod Touch version is really good too.

Here’s a quick rundown of my experience playing with the app.

The four featured strips when I tried it out: Baby Blues, Bizarro, Dustin, and Hagar the Horrible. Zits showed up at the top of the screen (the other four are featured links). Across the bottom are four options: Daily Comic (the featured strips), My DailyINK (access for subscribers to get their strips), Browse and Help. In the browse feature, you see the titles of all the comics in the King Features portfolio. Each feature includes a short description, seven day samples, information on the artist, feature and characters and the ability to add the feature to your subscription (for subscribers).

One of the difficult things about comics on such small screens – especially for multi panel strips is that they either render so small as unreadable or the zooming feature is clunky. The comic loads in the middle of the screen (landscape or portrait). In landscape, I can read the print (I still have good vision). In portrait view the comic is illegible. But King did an excellent job with the zooming. Double tap on screen and the comic zooms larger and automagically pans to the left to the beginning of the strip to start you out at the beginning panel. This was great for the Arctic Circle strip I was viewing. Mother Goose and Grimm is often a horizontal one panel so when I zoomed it moved to the left when the punchline was in the middle of the strip. With comics, there is no perfect solution and King deserves credit for doing it in a very polished manner.

The app is a free download. Subscriptions run $1.99 a month or $19.99 for a year.

While I cherish my iPhone, the iPad is a much better experience for consuming media. Yes, I drink (guzzle) the Apple Kool-Aid heartily so I can’t wait for the iPad version which will be released “shortly.”

Check it out.

DailyInk has also announced that they are soon taking their comics to the iPhone, iPod and Ipad in the near future. The app will be free for current members.

• Brendan Burford, Bill Griffith, Matt Groening and Patrick McDonnell are paneling a tribute to the late Jay Kennedy.
• Brendan Burford: In Jay Kennedy’s tenure at King, he launched a strong number of features. Also well known for his underground comic collection
• Pat McDonnell: One of the things that make Jay such a successful editor is that he was an artist too.
• Jay and Patrick went to the same art college. Patrick went into illustration, Jay dropped out and when to a university.
• Patrick McDonnell: “Jay Kennedy was a generous individual who put his own artistic endeavors on hold to help so many others achieve theirs.”
• Bill Griffith also knew Jay Kennedy during Jay’s hippy years. Jay loved underground comics, but not for hippy reasons.
• Bill Griffith: Jay Kennedy gravitated to King Features because King was syndicating Zippy and Jay thought that was bold.
• Bill Griffith: “I felt much more secure in my career longevity because I knew Jay was an ally inside King.”
• Bill Griffiths: “Jay Kennedy wasn’t a collector, he was an appreciator.”
• Matt Groening: “I agree, Zippy is one of the weirdest comics…”
• Matt Groening: I became a great friends with Jay Kennedy because of mutual interest in obscure underground comics.
• Jay told Matt that he needed to stop drawing rabbits if he wanted to be successful. Simpsons are human based on that advice.

Take a look for yourself. Is this the next Poptropica?

Frank recently helped Google doodle its logo with custom Popeye artwork to celebrate the December 8 anniversary of the birth of Elzie Crisler Segar.

Although Google has run its Doodle 4 Google competition in countries around the globe, this marks the third year the competition is being run in the United States. The winning doodle will be announced on May 26, 2010 at an event at the New York City Google Office. Among the prizes the winning student will receive are a $15,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of their choice and a $25,000 grant toward the establishment/improvement of a computer lab for their current school.

After the National Winner is announced, an exhibit of the 40 Regional Winners and National Winner will be open to the public at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Heweitt National Design Museum in New York City from May 27 to July 8, 2010.

For more information about the contest, visit www.google.com/doodle4google.

“In the same way people are attracted to The New Yorker CaptionIt contests, news sites will be able to have local competitions where the audience rates the captions `a la ‘American Idol’, sasy John Soppe, Managing Director of King Digital, “If sites want to run a promotional contest, ‘Captionary’ gives them a built-in mechanism to drive traffic and engage their users.”

Last year 82 million people in the United States created user-generated content and that number is expected to grow to approximately 115 million by 2013.

Comics Kingdom runs on about 40 online newspaper editions in North America.

Comics Kingdom™ now showcases the hilarious, first-of-its-kind Zits Motion Comics, based on the widely-popular comic strip, Zits. These 30-second motion comics are a cross between the beloved print newspaper comic strip and animated comics.”

A channel for “Jeremy” has been set up on YouTube as well.

Here’s a sample: