Two weeks ago Pearls Before Swine creator Stephan Pastis launched an iPad app called Only The Pearls – a 250 best of collection with audio commentary, interactive features and 22 videos of Stephan acting like an egotistical “ass#%$*” (his description, not mine. Okay, maybe I inserted the word egotistical). There’s something troubling about the app and it has nothing to do with the technical aspects or the humor. It’s the price. It’s currently priced at $3.99 and if you look at the app as an ebook of 250 of Stephan’s best work, it’s ridiculously cheap. His last print collection retailed at $12.99. I purchased the app late one night soon after it came out. I brushed my teeth while it downloaded and then took it into the master closet and casually started playing through it and finding it hard not to laugh too loudly lest I wake up my dear wife. An hour later I forced myself to close the app down and go to bed. Four dollars is slightly higher than the average entertainment app, but it was money well spent.

Most of the comic apps I read are pretty simple – a single repurposed comic on a white background with a swipe gesture to advance to the next strip in the series. It’s about as interactive as a print book. If you believe the hype, the iPad is changing several industries – education and medicine are oft cited examples. Only the Pearls has in my opinion raised the bar for comic apps and hopefully inspired other publishers to take advantage of the capabilities of the iPad.

About 2 years ago, Stephan met with a former college-mate who is now a VP at Chronicle Books. She described a new cookbook app that had audio and video and as Stephan tells me, “the light went on.” His earlier interaction with kids at schools and book signings told him connection to fans through newspapers was diminishing. When he asked their favorite comics no one knew Calvin and Hobbes and everyone thought Boondocks was only a TV show. Stephan realized the next generation has “a lot of options that aren’t you.” If he were to create an app, it had to at minimum compete with a DVD.

Various screenshots of different pages ro video in the app.

The app took about 14 months from idea, contract negotiations, recording audio, shooting video and all the writing, designing, development and meetings that would go along with a project of this size – a sum of 100 hours of his personal time. Stephan determined the content and Chronicle designed and developed the app. As an aside, I’d rate their work very highly. Very intuitive, simple, and focused attention to detail.

Now back to Stephan being an ass. He admits that an app with lots of video of the cartoonist isn’t for everyone. He describes a future where the cartoonist will need to be just as entertaining as the strip. During the shooting of the video Stephan was surrounded by a crew of 20-30 year-olds. “If I had a fragile ego, it would have hurt. You work by yourself and you think you’re funny. A stand-up comedian has no delusions whether they’re funny or not.” The video series is shot as if it were the outtakes of Stephan trying to be a serious cartoonist and the crew often part of the gags.

Video of Stephan goofing off after a successful day of writing

If you have an iPad and $4 (come on, skip today’s latte and you’re covered) I highly recommend the app.

Related media coverage:

GigaOm talks to Stephan about his motivation for the iPad app

Tom Racine interviews Stephan on Tall Tale Radio.

WE ARE THE COMIC SANS DEFENDERS. WE FEAR NO FONTS AND WE WILL MAKE THE WHOLE WORLD COMIC SANS.BECAUSE HELVETICA IS SOOO 2011

The site features famous logos, marketing collateral that has been reworked using Comic Sans.

Already funded on Kickstarter. Should be available in January.

So, how are Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet when it comes to reading comics? In a word: good. The Fire borrows a page from Comixology’s playbook, offering up the ability to read the thing panel by panel — a feature, Comixology has pointed out, that is also handy for those who haven’t quite mastered the art of reading comics. We’re told those people are, in fact, out there. The app is lacking in some features, like pinch to zoom, but overall does a perfectly serviceable job handling sequential art, and will likely move a lot of product for DC, thanks to the licensing deal struck between the two companies.

They’ve also posted video of the products as well.

I’m an Apple fan-boy so I’ve had the iPad almost from the beginning and have tried to use it to read books, comics, etc. I found the experience to be… meh. I still much prefer to sit down and read comics “analog-ly.”

Here’s Bloomberg’s report about the Kindle Fire.

In somewhat related news, at least two newspapers are looking to give away or subsidizing tablets to readers who sign a long term subscription contract. Back in July, Steve Myers reported that Philadelphia Media Network will start selling Android tablets with preloaded apps for the Philadelphia Inquirer and a shortcut link to Philly.com. The cost of the tablet to their readers would be about half the retail price.

The Tribune Co. is also looking at offering a tablet to extended subscribers (or at least highly subsidized) according to Jim Romenesko. According to the report, the project was still in the internal discussion phase with people split on its prospects.

With the Amazon Kindle Fire more than half the cost of the low end iPad, using the Kindle as a give away would be a bit easier on the wallet.

From the “can I get one now” department comes news that Wacom is introducing a new digital pen called “Inkling” which allows artists the ability to draw on paper while the pen and receiver captures the drawing. The receiver is then hooked up to your computer and you can import the drawing into Photoshop, Illustrator or Sketchbook Pro. The pen tip looks like a ball point pen but has pressure sensitivity. You can even create virtual “layers” on your paper which are imported into real layers in your graphic application.

Ginger Meggs cartoonist Jason Chatfield has already beta tested it. He writes, “I’ll just say that it’s one of the easiest, and most ingenious inventions for people who spend 90% of the day with a pen in their hand.”

Here’s Wacom’s promotional video:

The Inkling will hit shelves in September and is priced at $199.

Apple may be working on building a set of template tools for iPad-based magazines to include in its Xcode developer tools. Assuming the report is accurate, such a move would give developers a standardized set of tools that could make it easier for creating publications as apps.

Also rumored is the template would already include the ability for in-app subscriptions allow you to more easily create an e-book (weekly, monthly, quarterly) of your comic and sell directly to consumers (less the 30% Apple tax).

The app itself is reportedly done and the editorial team has been producing sample editions for it.

From what Poynter writer Damon Kiesow was able to find in the source code of the newly launched The Daily website, Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily will be strong on photos and social media.

A section labeled “Story Carousel” includes links to icons that seem intended to function as forward and back buttons for paging through a selection of articles.

Another part of the code, labeled “Share Links,” may indicate the availability of Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit and Newsvine article sharing options.

The appearance of social media options seems to align with earlier reporting that The Daily website would serve as an archive of tablet-first content – available for staffers to link to from Facebook, Twitter and other services.

The short answer is… not much. Adobe is missing, but they’re the 900lb gorilla of digital editing and with Apple taking 30% of each sale, I really doubt Adobe will ever be in the store.

But, there are other options.

Sketchbook Pro

Sketch ($49.99) – is a vector editing app. Both
Sketchbook Express (free) and Sketchbook Pro ($29.99) are available. Both apps are very popular on the iPhone and iPad to capture sketches and ideas. Like I mentioned above, I frequently use ArtRage – having a nice sketch app is handy for those strokes of creativity.