Marvel catalog to be available online

[Polar Bear]

Basic scoop: $10 a month (or $5 a month if you commit for a year), 2500 comics online at first, more added every month.

Full story at:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12370

You might also want to check CBR's distinguished competitors:
http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/Online/MarvelOnlinea.html

Personal reaction: I'd need a lot more than 2500 comics online to do this, but I'll probably be dragged in eventually.

[Lone Ranger]

I'd only be interested if they go all the way back to Marvel Comics #1, include every genre and made it searchable by creator.

[Jolly Mon]

They say it will be searchable by a variety of criteria, including creators, but it doesn't look like they are going back that far. Earliest they've mentioned so far is FF #1.

[Roquefort Raider]

It's sad to say after all the trouble Marvel went through, but I'm not ready to pay a penny to read comics on a computer screen. heck, I can't even be bothered to register at Marvel to read their current digital comics all the way to the end (one gets to read the first four pages without registration). I'm not even interested by the recent complete runs of Amazing Spider-man or Fantastic Four on DVDs.

The bean counters will have the final word on the subject, of course, but I'm not convinced that there is a strong demand for online comics. I wouldn't mind browsing from time to time through the Marvel catalog if it was online, but it would have to be free. (I'm sure Marvel would make money selling advertisement anyway; after all, that's how Google gets its income).

[pariah-1972]

Unfortunately there online comics they do have now are a chore and a half to read.

[Jolly Mon]

It's sad to say after all the trouble Marvel went through, but I'm not ready to pay a penny to read comics on a computer screen. heck, I can't even be bothered to register at Marvel to read their current digital comics all the way to the end (one gets to read the first four pages without registration). I'm not even interested by the recent complete runs of Amazing Spider-man or Fantastic Four on DVDs.

The bean counters will have the final word on the subject, of course, but I'm not convinced that there is a strong demand for online comics. I wouldn't mind browsing from time to time through the Marvel catalog if it was online, but it would have to be free. (I'm sure Marvel would make money selling advertisement anyway; after all, that's how Google gets its income).

I think there may be more demand than you think. They wouldn't have kept producing the DVD sets (Avengers, FF, Spider-Man, X-Men, Ghost Rider, etc) if they weren't selling. However, another downside with the Marvel service as described so far is that you can only read them online, you can't download them and read them later. I've used Wowio's free service quite a bit, and they have a lot of independant comics from smaller publishers, and they do let you download. So I download the daily limit (3) and read them later.

And you're right, a free advertiser-supported service would go over a lot better.