TVSquad

Apple's iPhone and iPod are emerging as the preferred delivery device for online comic books. They're portable, hand-held and feature vivid screens capable of delivering any necessary colors. You can use the touch screen to flip the pages back and forth.

An online comics website, Comixology, is a central point for scores of online comics available via iTunes' App Store, including several titles based on popular genre shows of the recent and not-so-recent past.

You'll find that 80's anime after school favorite, Voltron living here. Marvel's animation-influenced X-Men flourishes in multiple versions. The Middleman, a now-canceled creative comic-book inspired children's live action show, continues in iPhone form. In fact, The Middleman stories on Comixology were written to continue the TV show's storyline.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand, a comic adaption of a Starz cable channel series, arrived recently. And, according to Comixology spokesperson Kevin Doel, more TV-based series are en route.

The online comics push is a promising way for TV show creators to keep their canceled shows kicking -- or to enhance still-airing original programs. While no writer will confuse comparatively piddling comic book money with TV revenue, devoted fans of any genre series can go on enjoying stories with their favorite characters for about $0.99 a crack.