Over 40 free comics will be offered to users of the ARCHOS 5 internet tablet to inaugurate the Books & Comics category in AppsLib, the Android application marketplace for Archos devices.

The offering includes the first issue of all Robot Comics series and ongoings, and also complete stories and one-shots. These comics will span a variety of genres, for all tastes and ages: Valentine, the fantasy epic by Alex de Campi (Smoke) and Christine Larsen (Shrek), American Terror, the sci-fi war drama by Alterna Comics and Jeff McComsey, Bram Stoker’s Dracula’s Guest, illustrated by Steven Sanders (S.W.O.R.D.), or Jason James‘ ghostboy, an all-ages ghost story, are only a few of the many titles that will make Archos’ users rediscover the joy of reading comics.

Also offered, alongside the free comics, will be the free app Droid Comic Viewer, the leading Android comic and manga reader, which allows users not only to read Robot Comics releases, but also any comic in CBZ, CBR and ACV formats. Droid Comic Viewer has a growing community of more than 100K active users worldwide and supports all Android devices, from the affordable HTC Tattoo to the powerful Google Nexus One, and now the versatile ARCHOS 5 High Resolution Internet Tablet.

The added “Books & Comics” category of the AppsLib market creates a new layer of entertainment for the ARCHOS 5 internet tablet , which already supports a wide range of traditional media and games. Following this initial release, Robot Comics will start publishing free and paid comics weekly both in the Android Market and on AppsLib, for ARCHOS 5 internet tablet users.

About Robot Comics

Robot Comics publishes mobile comics for all Android devices, and also iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Nintendo DSi and the Amazon Kindle. It is one of first and few mobile comic publishers who offer titles specifically designed and formatted to be read on mobile devices.

Robot Comics is proud to bring Bram Stoker’s Dracula’s Guest to mobiles, adapted by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett, illustrated by Steven Sanders (Thunder Road) and lettered by Sean Taylor. Available both as an illustrated short story and as an original comic book, this free version of Dracula’s Guest will thrill new and old readers alike. Two years after Bram Stoker’s death in 1912, his widow published a collection of his short stories, entitled Dracula’s Guest. In her preface to this collection, Florence Stoker wrote of the title story:

“A few months before the lamented death of my husband -I might say even as the shadow of death was over him- he planned three series of short stories for publication, and the present volume is one of them. To his original list of stories in this book, I have added a hitherto unpublished episode from ‘Dracula.’ It was originally excised owning to the length of the book, and may prove of interest to the many readers of what is considered my husband’s most remarkable work.”

The origin of “Dracula’s Guest” as an early, excised chapter of Dracula was universally accepted for seventy years. But with the release of Stoker’s notes for the novel, scholars began to question Florence Stoker’s account. The discovery in 1984 of a manuscript copy of Dracula further argued against “Dracula’s Guest” being a missing first chapter. Today, hardly anyone believes that “Dracula’s Guest” was ever a part of the original Dracula manuscript. The true nature of the story, however, remains in dispute-opinions range from a missing second (rather than first) chapter to a much later short story only peripherally related to the novel through the characters of Jonathan Harker and Count Dracula. While it is clear that the style and tone of “Dracula’s Guest” do not fit the book, the story remains an important part of the Dracula mythos -and, of course, a ripping good yarn!

• Title: Dracula’s Guest of 1
• Credits: Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett (adaptated script) / Steven Sanders (illustrator) / Sean Taylor (letterer)
• Publisher: Robot Comics
• Price: Free

Preview

Download

Dracula’s Guest is available for download on the following platforms:

iPhone/iPod touch

Click on the button below to open Dracula’s Guest on the iTunes App Store. Requires iTunes.

Android

Dracula’s Guest is available for free in the Android Market. Scan the QR code below with your Android to receive its url.

Alternatively, search “Dracula’s Guest” on the Market.