The comic book incarnation of Emmy award-winning, viral musical extravaganza, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, has made it to the iTunes store. Now, anyone with an iPhone or iPod Touch (or iPad if you’re a developer or supervillain) can plunker down $.99 for their copy of the e-comic.
Nathan Fillion, who plays the supervillain’s nemesis Captain Hammer, seems excited, saying via Twitter, “What’s that? There’s a Dr.Horrible comic for iPhones on iTunes?? DUDE. Feed the Birds!”
Written by Zack Whedon, brother of Buffy-scribe and co-creator Joss Whedon and composer Jed Whedon, the work was released in traditional comic format last November as a one-shot for Dark Horse comics. It tells the origin story of the doctor also known as Billy (presumably before he received his Ph.D in Horribleness) and his first encounter with Captain Hammer. Penny also makes a notable appearance at Billy’s laundromat, and smirky awkwardness ensues. The writing and art both do wonders to capture the mythos created in the original musical; Neil Patrick Harris is audible in all Dr. Horrible’s lines, making the awkward pauses before he gets punched through panels by the completely Fillion-esque Hammer all the more wonderful. And the iPhone makes the artwork crisp and certainly easy on the eyes.
Of course, all this you can probably guess already. And if you’ve read the comic to date, that’s just about all you’ll get. In the transition between mediums, the e-comic itself is fairly minimal. Given what the iPhone can do, it’s surprising that the comic, inspired by an online musical, is completely silent. There are no extras — no Freeze Ray mini-games here — nor are there any notable features that boost the presentation of the comic itself.
All told, it’s a little disappointing as an app. However, with the hinting at a feature film sequel to the original, it might not hurt to give this and the other comics in the series a look.
(via Gizmodo)
