CBR: Marvel Goes Day-And-Date For "Death of Spidey"

[CBR News]

For the first time, the House of Ideas will release a highly-touted event series on its iPad and iPhone App -ÂSpammaking for big questions about retailers and audiences for the Brian Bendis/Mark Millar story.


Full article here.

[SomeBodyAtCBR]

Sigh. This is more stagnant ground for the digital market. The digital copy should be less than the book, but if they did so, the distributors would be even more angry then they are that they are releasing it day and date.

So we keep playing this game, two steps forward, one step back, until it gets to the point where digital distribution is either the only option, or has been exhausted. Either way, the fans suffer.

Also, notice has Marvel has been using the Ultimate universe more for digital? Once they start to "break ground" in the digital marketplace, I see the Ultimate line getting all day and date first before the Marvel universe.

What just sucks is that the initial buzz brought upon the Marvel App during the iPad launch is diminishing due to the fact that consumers are expecting to bypass the comic shops and get NEW media from the app, only to find out that they are limited to an (albeit great) old library.

What good would iTunes be if they didn't get new singles/albums until a year after they came out?

[POWRSURG]

1. The link to the Marvel app is broken.
2. Gotta say, Marvel has gotta get their App onto the Android. With how fast it's growing you're shooing yourselves in the foot if you don't think it needs to be supported.
3. Boo on day-and-date. Stop taking a bite out of sales from the physical stores.

Sigh, I really didn't want this post to come out so whiney. :(

[weeji]

So... as an Android tablet owner, how do I vote with my wallet on this one? I want to support the adoption of digital, but I can't with Marvel. Do I just not buy the physical copy?

[raskal66]

$3.99 and digital?

That's a stillborn initiative.

The price is too high for the print, and the medium will die before it can sustain itself digitally, regardless of how many apps there are to read them. Who wants to looks at a sequence of non moving pictures on their computer/phone/whatever when TV shows and movies can be downloaded for less. Then again Marvel is the embodiment of cluelessness these days. Even though they are already rich, I weep for their creators who will have their sales figures skewed by the greed and misguidedness of their publisher. The future for those guys license wise is in creator owned stuff.

[Will.S]

$3.99 for an online copy is way too much.

[theXfactor]

:slapsface:

I think day-and-date releases are a great idea, but the price is just ridiculous for an online copy.

[MarvelMaster616]

I hate Ultimate comics right now, but the more comics that get a day-and-date digital release the better. As someone who has grown to hate the delays of Marvel's subscription service and who doesn't live near a comic shop, this is music to my ears. I just wish they would start doing this for more ongoings like Avengers, Hulk, Uncanny X-men, and Wolverine. That would make my day, week, and year.

[SomeBodyAtCBR]

Glad to see people agree with me. How is DC's side on this front? Any better? This medium is just too expensive to produce compared to who's buying it. I don't think the Disney deal has even affected the Marvel side of operation either. Maybe it's a bit too early to call, but I would have expected Disney to shovel some money into Marvel's expansion in exchange for the young male audience it garners.

With the moving of the Avengers cartoon, and the fact that even with Disney backing them they are still increasing titles, I don't think the purchase was very fair. And look who gets the shiny new rights to the Avengers movie...

I think Disney should be pumping money into the comic side, even if it means losing money. I think Disney sees comic production as a loss, but I think that if they lowered the prices enough it would take off on a digital platform, especially in the tablet arms race! What the hell is wrong with them? Lower the prices to 99 cents, even if it means cutting a loss for a while will both usher in the audience from the comics into it's associated by-products, and from those by-products into the comics!

Obviously someone somewhere doesn't think it's a useful endeavor, but it's not like Disney is prospering like it once was either. ABC is in the shitter, and they killed Miramax. But they own ESPN, right? So they're set with that. Maybe they just think this whole 3D initiative is a better investment...

[Will.S]

Glad to see people agree with me. How is DC's side on this front? Any better? This medium is just too expensive to produce compared to who's buying it. I don't think the Disney deal has even affected the Marvel side of operation either. Maybe it's a bit too early to call, but I would have expected Disney to shovel some money into Marvel's expansion in exchange for the young male audience it garners.

With the moving of the Avengers cartoon, and the fact that even with Disney backing them they are still increasing titles, I don't think the purchase was very fair. And look who gets the shiny new rights to the Avengers movie...

I think Disney should be pumping money into the comic side, even if it means losing money. I think Disney sees comic production as a loss, but I think that if they lowered the prices enough it would take off on a digital platform, especially in the tablet arms race! What the hell is wrong with them? Lower the prices to 99 cents, even if it means cutting a loss for a while will both usher in the audience from the comics into it's associated by-products, and from those by-products into the comics!

Obviously someone somewhere doesn't think it's a useful endeavor, but it's not like Disney is prospering like it once was either. ABC is in the shitter, and they killed Miramax. But they own ESPN, right? So they're set with that. Maybe they just think this whole 3D initiative is a better investment...

Well Marvel's been a licensing machine for the longest time and their movie division had picked up major steam before being bought out by Disney so I think that's where Disney comes in to get that piece of the pie.

The comics seem to be the furthest things from their view but that's not to say that they don't want to be involved in them at some possible capacity. The current pricing model for Marvel's digital stuff compared to the print versions are pretty crappy such as charging multiple times for "chapters" in the Iron Man Annual issue digitally and this $3.99 price is just as bad of a price point unless they offer a bunch of extra content.

But even then, I'd still rather just buy the physical book if I were interested in any of the Ultimate stuff lately (which I'm not) since at least I have something tangible.

[JFW1980]

I am shaking my head at this. How clueless is Marvel? $3.99!! You can buy an episode of a tv show for less. Give the online version at least some sort of discount. jeez 50 cents off would better than full price.

Who is running Marvel? Marvel really seems out of touch.

[Morentez]

I hate the fact they keep pushing digital copies... There is just something special about being able to look at a solid collection. Digital will never be able to recreate that feeling of holding a new book in your hands and I honestly think that if Marvel keep pushing digital it will ruin the hobby.

If comics ever went 100% digital (which I pray they don't and that they stay printed forever), then for me personally it will ruin the essence of why I buy comics and I'd probably not bother with any books that were digital only.
DOn't know about others but that's just me.

[JFW1980]

I hate the fact they keep pushing digital copies... There is just something special about being able to look at a solid collection. Digital will never be able to recreate that feeling of holding a new book in your hands and I honestly think that if Marvel keep pushing digital it will ruin the hobby.

If comics ever went 100% digital (which I pray they don't and that they stay printed forever), then for me personally it will ruin the essence of why I buy comics and I'd probably not bother with any books that were digital only.
DOn't know about others but that's just me.

100% Agree with all This.

[Don Yoyo]

I am shaking my head at this. How clueless is Marvel? $3.99!! You can buy an episode of a tv show for less. Give the online version at least some sort of discount. jeez 50 cents off would better than full price.

Who is running Marvel? Marvel really seems out of touch.

I suppose it's the same problem than in the video games industry : the 'historic' retailers have far more powers than we imagine, and Marvel doesn't want to piss them off, so the digital version costs just as much as the physical version.

[Aziz Abbasi]

$3.99 for an online copy makes me wanna go and puke, that's just too greedy