Marvel Comics has launched the 3.0 version of their application for Android and iOS. The new design mirrors that of the updated DC Comics and the Comixology apps. The new version sorts comics not only by new and featured, but also by creator. It features larger thumbnail images of the art and a full screen interface for information about a given book rather than the pop-up window that the previous incarnation of the app utilized.

These updates always hit Comixology first (the developers of the apps for all three companies), DC Comics next, then Marvel much later. This update feels like “it’s about time” for those of us that use all three apps rather than some new innovation because this design is old hat for DC and Comixology.

Marvel says the new interface is faster, but my experience is that the DC app runs much slower than Marvel’s previous version ad this new Marvel version seems slowed down too. It makes sense that this version fo the app would run slower because a lot more information is pushed on screen with each tap. So it becomes a trade off, a better look at the comic and its art prior to purchase versus simple speed. Hopefully the trade off will be less noticeable with updates that make the app more information. The DC version however runs as slow now as it did when it was launched so the future isn’t necessarily bright in that respect. Searching for specific story arcs, creators, or issues is easier with this update though.

Also worth noting is that Marvel is having a sale to celebrate the “upgrade”. They have a section of the app currently dedicated to their picks for the best of 2011 with prices starting at 99 cents! The sale ends Tuesday, December 6th so get over their quick and get caught up on some of those books you just weren’t willing to pay $3.99 for earlier this year!