* Quote of the day:
One would have to assume that because of the overwhelming popularity of the iPad Marvel App, there are people who have it who may never have ventured into a comic shop or perhaps lost interest in comics many years ago and are curious as to what’s been happening in our fantastic universe. The hope is that we capitalize on that and the high profile of Iron Man, get readers interested in this single story and from there, if they want to purchase more or purchase that issue, they are directed to comic shops. So it’s a sales and marketing test and just one of a few we have coming up.
—Joe Quesada, CCO and EIC of Marvel Comics, on day-and-date digital releases. ‘Nuff said?
* I thought it boded ill that the Jonathan Hickman/Dale Eaglesham run on Fantastic Four was so quickly reduced to the just-plain Jonathan Hickman run on Fantastic Four, but now I see Captain America‘s Steve Epting will be the new regular FF artist and all is forgiven.
* Curt Purcell bids bon voyage to Blackest Night with his final post on the event.
* Real-Life Horror: “Obama is not only protecting repugnant crimes and the criminals who committed them, but also ensuring that they will occur again.”
* Gorgeous dance music, glass half full edition: “Scribble” (album version), by Underworld feat. High Contrast. Pure joy.
* Gorgeous dance music, glass half empty edition: “Dancing on My Own” live, by Robyn. Man is she magnetic, man does she sell the longing. America, if La Roux can get onto Top 40 radio, if Katy Perry and Ke$ha can have big hits by crassly recycling the years-old melodic progression of “Love at First Sight” by Kylie Minogue, then surely we can make this a hit. The middle-school girls of America are waiting to be knocked on their asses by this song when their summer crushes spurn them for someone else. Let’s make this happen.
Summing up: Marvel is experimenting and gathering data, and has given no indication that it’s going to begin the same-day digital distribution for its comic-book series anytime soon.
Man, what you got against La Roux?
Is Robyn playing some elementary school graduation… at an amusement park?
ALSO, she’s playing a show in San Diego during Con. Guess who has two thumbs and a ticket to that show.
Shaggy: JEALS
Dirk: I guess I should be grateful you’ve at least quietly abandoned the “this has nothing to do with the iPad” portion of your argument; it might have been nice if you’d abandoned it with the same fanfare that you concocted it and used it to dress me down in “Nerd Court” yesterday, but I’ll take what I can get. At any rate, since you’re the only person who’s arguing Marvel is going to be doing day-and-date “for its comic-book series” in general, and then only to put it in my mouth and argue against it, I suppose I’ll leave you to it. I will say that “In the wake of the iPad I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you see moves in that direction [of same-day digital delivery] this year” appears to have actually been an entirely correct prediction, whereas “a one-off stunt” in which the iPad played a negligible role is…less so.
Benjamin: Nothin’! That was my fault for not being clear. I was trying to say that with Europop making some inroads in America–some good like La Roux, some shitty like Kesha and Katy’s Kylie-by-numbers routines–I have hope for this Robyn record. My bad.
If Marvel really thinks that this is an untapped market of readers that don’t go into the stores, then why not serve up something new? Why not try to create something that is specifically aimed at the iPad crowd (that will also work across other platforms)? If they don’t expect these readers to step foot in a store, then why give them something current? Why not push books from last year to get them hooked?
IMO, they aren’t just looking at the new readers, this untapped market that hasn’t been into a store. They’re looking at current readers who don’t want to (or can’t) go into the store anymore, but still want the current output.
They’re aiming at people like myself who are just looking for an excuse to dive into the digital offerings. I’m on the verge of dropping pretty much all monthly comics at this point. Between space, time, and money issues, I just can’t justify it anymore. I still get a couple, and maybe I always will, but there have been times when I’ve thought about dropping everything and moving to solely digital and collected editions for my comics. The only thing stopping me right now is the offerings for digital comics.
I don’t know who Marvel is aiming for by keeping the price of the digital release higher than the printed copy. I guess they’re obliged to try and wring as much money from this experiment as they can, instead of having it a head-to-head matchup. But I tell ya, if I’m not going to pay as much for a digital copy of Charles Bowden’s MURDER CITy, I’ll be double damned if I pay more for a digital copy of a comic.
We’ll see how the pricing shakes out for a regular issue, but for now i think that price is aimed at the retailers, to keep them placated. Beyond that, my guess is it’s designed to take advantage of an audience that doesn’t want to buy hard copies or has no access to a shop. I don’t think it’s simply “let’s charge more so we can make more money.”
Placating your old market by trying to hobble the growth of a new market doesn’t seem a wise move.
I don’t want to buy hardcopies of stuff and I have to drive 20-30 minutes to a shop (so I often don’t), so you’d think I’m the kind of reader they want to court. And yet…
Sean, can I request a review of the Jonathan Hickman Fantastic Four comics? I don’t read a lot of contemporary superhero comics but I’m a fan of that one and would love to get your take on it.
Patrick: So far I haven’t felt like I have a lot to say about it. It’s a fun comic with some art I’m not super-excited by. If an issue comes along that I’m really inspired to write about, or maybe if the trade comes out and I have the time and inclination to read it from cover to cover, we’ll see.