CBR: Marvel Officially Announces iPad App, Pricing

**CBR News** · 04-02-2010, 07:32 AM

Marvel Comics has officially announced their involvement with Apple's iPad, releasing details about their free app, how much comics will cost, what titles will be available at launch and more.

Full article here.

**littlenomad** · 04-02-2010, 07:54 AM

...I think digital comics...especially on a tablet/iPad-type device, will only add strength to the comics industry. Print comics may eventually go the way of some other print media (but I think its death is yeeears away), but the characters we know and love will live on. Also, I think digital comics will encourage a lot of "closet" comic readers to buy more, because, well, they can hide their collections. Basically, I see this as a win-win for comics in general.

**randomengine** · 04-02-2010, 07:57 AM

$2 per digital comic is too expensive. A subscription service for each title at half the cost of current print prices for new issues would be ideal. $12 dollars a year for any particular title.

That would make it worthwhile. With the current model, it is only a novelty.

**jonnynyc** · 04-02-2010, 08:09 AM

I just automatically assumed it would be subscription like the their online service. Charging two bucks for old comics you can easily find online for free is an embarrassing decision.

**marvelprince** · 04-02-2010, 08:14 AM

Yeah I would've really loved a subscription based service, at least for some of the more popular titles available same day. That would've been perfect.

**littlenomad** · 04-02-2010, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by randomengine

$2 per digital comic is too expensive. A subscription service for each title at half the cost of current print prices for new issues would be ideal. $12 dollars a year for any particular title.

That would make it worthwhile. With the current model, it is only a novelty.

Well, this is a start. Personally, I like the Digital Comics Unlimited, but they have some holes to fill in their digital collection. Maybe they can reduce the comics to the .99 iTunes standard.

**Brian M.** · 04-02-2010, 08:22 AM

If they released their new weekly comics on that at $2 a pop that would really do a lot of damage to LCS business, like...a lot of damage. By offering back issues they make money again on a product they've already produced, they open up a market to new readers and make them easily available to people who might not really know where to get them. Hook them on back issues of popular ongoing titles and then lure them in to the LCS's to buy the new ones. Do not though offer new issues each week on this service, not while you still profess loyalty to the LCS method of distribution.

**ThomHunt** · 04-02-2010, 08:23 AM

The comics industry as a whole needs to get their sh*t together and bring prices down in the print medium first. $3.99 for regular monthly titles is just too much for comic books. I have severely cut back my spending since the $3.99 price point. And $1.99 for digital editions is overpriced as well. $0.99 would be much more palatable and affordable.

**littlenomad** · 04-02-2010, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by jonnynyc

I just automatically assumed it would be subscription like the their online service. Charging two bucks for old comics you can easily find online for free is an embarrassing decision.

I guess the difference is you can now "have" the comic and take it anywhere, as opposed to "temporarily viewing" the comic on a larger computer. I don't know. And maybe there is some difference in the way the comics are optimized for the iPad. Maybe I should have read the article more closely. I figured there would be a subscription option. Maybe there will be, if Marvel finds their iPad downloads to be popular.

My prediction is that eventually, new comics will be available for a digital device at the same time of their print on-sale date, but you'll have to pay a price comparable to the print version's.

**matthewaos** · 04-02-2010, 08:25 AM

Hm... If this go well, printed comics will be gone, as we know them in the next 10 years, I believe. Sure characters like Spider-Man will always have a printed series. This may help lower selling characters sustain their books, maybe. Anyway, I love printed comics.

**Trey** · 04-02-2010, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by littlenomad

...I think digital comics...especially on a tablet/iPad-type device, will only add strength to the comics industry. Print comics may eventually go the way of some other print media (but I think its death is yeeears away), but the characters we know and love will live on. Also, I think digital comics will encourage a lot of "closet" comic readers to buy more, because, well, they can hide their collections. Basically, I see this as a win-win for comics in general.

I agree.

But print will never go the way of the dodo in our lifetime. It will continue to shrink, for sure.

The price point is wrong. You have to give newbies the first one for "free". If you catch my drift. You can ALWAYS raise the price later. But I'm sure they have done the research, and figured 1.99 is the way to go.

This is a no-brainer, as this is simply converting work or (costs of production if you will) already done into digital content. I wonder how creators are going to get their cut for these digital sales.

Interested to see when we will get a new title or mini-series that is digital only, (no printing costs) that isn't ancillary.

**tridon** · 04-02-2010, 08:27 AM

I wish they would release digital TPBs rather than single issue comic books. That way readers could get full story arcs instead of waiting for who-knows-how-long for the next issue.

**Batman was taken** · 04-02-2010, 08:27 AM

So.... Is this actually working yet? I got the app on my iPod, but I can't find any, you know, COMICS.

I don't necessarily want to BUY anything, but that free stuff is a good deal