An app from a comics company new to digital and new versions from iVerse and comiXology all launched over the holidays.  Ape Entertainment and Classic Media have launched an iVerse-powered iOS app featuring Richie Rich.  The free app will initially offer four issues of Rich Rescue (see “Two ‘Richie Rich’ Series”) at $1.99 each, and the Richie Rich Classics series at $.99 each with one newly colored five-page story and the rest in b/w. 

IVerse launched version 4.0 of its Comics+ iOS app.  New features include a complete graphic redesign, better store organization and layout, improved in-store search, overlay graphics ot mark books as purchased, reading, and completed, “Keep Reading” pop-up at the end of each book that guides to the next issue (when connected to the Internet), and a new “Showcase” view for collections. 

ComiXology launched a new version of its Web store, with HTML-based shopping (making the store usable on iOS devices), simple linksharing, and direct linking to all comics.  The comic reader, however, is still in Flash, so apps will have to be used to read comics on iOS devices.  CEO David Steinberger said of the decision, “While we like the idea of moving away from Flash entirely, we honestly have not found a way that can handle our Guided View technology with the level of quality that you’ve come to expect.”