Marvel Comics Come to the iPhone

[MacRumors]

Macworld reports that the developers of three iPhone comics applications have struck deals to bring Marvel Comics to the iPhone via in-app purchasing. Comics [App Store], iVerse Comics [App Store], and Panelfly Comics [App Store] are all participating in the releases.

The Marvel comics available initially from Comixology are Joss Whedon's 24-issue run on Astonishing X-Men, Robert Kirkman's five-issue Marvel Zombies miniseries, Ed Brubaker's first 30 issues of Captain America, and two other X-Men-related books, X-23 and X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, each six issues long.

Initial pricing is set at $1.99 per issue for Comics and iVerse Comics, with Panelfly Comics apparently offering a promotional price of $0.99 per issue. Marvel Comics are currently limited to U.S. users only.

Article Link: Marvel Comics Come to the iPhone

[blindzero]

1.99 per issue? Why bother. They should make em cheaper for the end user than buying the graphic novel collections. No paper, No distributor costs, No retail markup. No way 1.99 will stick...unless these are motion comics? I see Marvel announced Motion Comics for iPhone as well.

[KenFargus]

Finally, I've been waiting for what seems like forever for this. $1.99 is more than what I was hoping for, but at least one of them, Panelfly, is selling issues for $.99 (Just got Amazing Spider-Man #1 for $.99!!! how sick is that).

To be honest I'm a little surprised they are selling them for less than the others when I think they are prolly better than the other two. I mean iVerse cuts up everything and doesn't provide much functionality. Panelfly and comics are much better. While similar, I like how Panelfly does the panel by panel better than comics, and Panelfly is just so much more visually pleasing to the eye.

So excited the big boys are finally jumping on board! Can't wait for the others to follow suit.

[doctoree]

Can some developer please make ONE reader app. I dont want 1000 reader apps for all the different sources oh and please also make ONE tuner app for all stations on the world.

[JCC]

Originally Posted by blindzero

1.99 per issue? Why bother. They should make em cheaper for the end user than buying the graphic novel collections. No paper, No distributor costs, No retail markup. No way 1.99 will stick...unless these are motion comics? I see Marvel announced Motion Comics for iPhone as well.

Well, the distribution cost is the 30% off the top that Apple takes for in app purchases. The retail markup is the percentage the app makers take for offering Marvel comics through their apps. You're right about no paper though.

[wizard]

Originally Posted by doctoree

Can some developer please make ONE reader app. I dont want 1000 reader apps for all the different sources oh and please also make ONE tuner app for all stations on the world.

Subject line says it all! One thing we don't need is less choice.

By the way I have to agree with others here $1.99 is way to much for an electronic copy of a comic. That would be good pricing for six issues, not a single issue.

Dave

[Sparrows]

A 1.99 per issue is a joke considering you can get the TPBs on Amazon for cheaper.

Heck, I have many of the official Marvel cd-rom collections and those have *entire* runs of Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing, Avengers, Fantastic Four, etc. Those ran anywhere from 35 to 45 bucks a piece.

[DotComCTO]

Originally Posted by Sparrows

A 1.99 per issue is a joke considering you can get the TPBs on Amazon for cheaper.

Heck, I have many of the official Marvel cd-rom collections and those have *entire* runs of Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing, Avengers, Fantastic Four, etc. Those ran anywhere from 35 to 45 bucks a piece.

I was just going to post that. You buy the collections on Amazon (produced by GIT Corp). Then you import the PDFs into something like MyComics on the iPhone for viewing on the go. MyComics has a standalone tool to allow you to import PDFs, CDRs, CBZs, ZIP, etc, etc into the app.

Done and done.



--DotComCTO

[MTShipp]

"There's an app for that".

[Cartoonkid]

Maybe I'm just a purist, but when I read a comic, a big part of the enjoyment is actually holding it in my hands, smelling the paper and ink, etc. It lets me truly appreciate the artist's renderings.

I mean, think about it. If price weren't an issue, would you rather have a giant digital rendering of the Mona Lisa, or the actual painting?

IMO, some things should stay in paper format...comic books being one of them.

[savoirfaire]

Originally Posted by Cartoonkid

Maybe I'm just a purist, but when I read a comic, a big part of the enjoyment is actually holding it in my hands, smelling the paper and ink, etc.

What we need is the iPhone 4g... with Smell-o-Vision.

[iphones4evry1]

This will be a huge boost to the comic book market. When we were kids, everyone used to read comic books. Today, I have no idea where someone can even buy comic books. If it becomes available in the App Store, it will reach the general public again.

[lllll]

This is stupid and I'm a comic book fan too. Why would I pay $1.99 per issue when I could get the real issue for the same price?? or better yet, I could go directly to Marvel.com and subscribe to all their collection for a low montly fee. I don't see this working out for Marvel. It already got low rating. Maybe if the characters in comic in the iPhone somehow pops out or move slightly like a flash animation then it makes sense to charge $2.

[Prom1]

Originally Posted by blindzero

1.99 per issue? Why bother. They should make em cheaper for the end user than buying the graphic novel collections. No paper, No distributor costs, No retail markup. No way 1.99 will stick...unless these are motion comics? I see Marvel announced Motion Comics for iPhone as well.

So you're saying comics (actually illustrated hard-copies) selling in stores (retail) for 9.99 - 15.99US+ (for special releases on the latter pricing) is too cheap?!

Dude, if they're equal to comics being released - meaning full featured stories, continuing and augmenting classic comic story lines then it is WORTH the PRICE! (charging 29.99 for a VPN app is ridulous considering the small iPhone screen and equal pricing for desktop/laptop functionality or features for laptops being FREE; is another story).

I'd LOVE to see actors involved in small/crucial lines/script voice overs. This was actually something I invisioned 5yrs ago for smartphones - pushed by the networks and sold to them as valuable content.

We'll see how this pans out.

[Sparrows]

Originally Posted by iphones4evry1

This will be a huge boost to the comic book market. When we were kids, everyone used to read comic books. Today, I have no idea where someone can even buy comic books. If it becomes available in the App Store, it will reach the general public again.

http://www.comicshoplocator.com/ and you can also call 1800-COMICBOOK to find a store. There is also an app to find comic shops as well.

This would be much bigger impact if the comics were current instead of back issues. I'm guessing Marvel doesn't want to piss off retailers by doing that though.

[babyj]

I can't help but wonder if Steve Jobs is pushing this along or at least taking a very keen interest in it. As, if Apple do release a product targeting the eBook market I'd say its a pretty safe bet that there will be a native app to view comics and a massive selection of back catalogue Marvel titles available on release. Disney have always been there on day one supporting new media in iTunes so I don't see why this would be any different.

[lazyrighteye]

The Comics app is by far the single best comic reader on the platform.
Landing Kirkman was one (cool) thing. Marvel is a whole other ball of wax.
Congrats comiXology!

Now if we can get those prices down or... at current rates, figure out a way users can archive these purchased items onto their Macs/PCs.

[larrylaffer]

I'm really glad to see you can get these cheap through Panelfly. It's by far the best comic app of the trio.

[stagi]

Pretty cool!

[blindzero]

Originally Posted by Prom1

So you're saying comics (actually illustrated hard-copies) selling in stores (retail) for 9.99 - 15.99US+ (for special releases on the latter pricing) is too cheap?!

Huh? I'm saying the iphone issues should be cheaper than the graphic novels (meaning trade paper collections of issues). Why spend 1.99 an issue on a download when you can get most graphic novels cheaper than that.

Unless we're talking motion comics (with voiceovers etc). That's a relatively new medium with no established pricing. 1.99 seems fine for that.

[PhoneI]

I got an idea, if you think $1.99 is to expensive. Don't buy it. For somebody that has a long commute a day, I will pay a slightly premium price to have it in a format that I find more acceptable to my mobile lifestyle.

[DotComCTO]

Originally Posted by PhoneI

I got an idea, if you think $1.99 is to expensive. Don't buy it. For somebody that has a long commute a day, I will pay a slightly premium price to have it in a format that I find more acceptable to my mobile lifestyle.

OK. Let's do some math, shall we? As an example, you could buy the Amazing Spider-Man Complete Comic Book Collection from GIT Corp on Amazon - or on eBay in the $40 range. That collection includes 575 Spiderman comics from the first all the way through mid-2006, I believe. That works out to around $0.07 per issue. Each comic is its own PDF file. So, you can use an app like MyComics to download these PDFs to your device for reading on-the-go.

In addition, the same publisher, GIT Corp, has the licenses for several other comics such as X-Men, Fantastic Four, The Hulk, etc. Look into it. Good stuff there.

So, I fail to understand the "don't buy it" logic when there is a far less expensive solution available. It would be one thing if the $0.99 or $1.99 per issue were the only solution, but that's just not the case.



--DotComCTO

[DanArnoldTate]

To be honest I'm a little surprised they are selling them for less than the others when I think they are prolly better than the other two. I mean iVerse cuts up everything and doesn't provide much functionality. Panelfly and comics are much better. While similar, I like how Panelfly does the panel by panel better than comics, and Panelfly is just so much more visually pleasing to the eye.

Wow. I don't think you could be more wrong about PanelFly. Panelfly's interface is just awful and twice their app froze my phone. There's also no feedback instructions to address any of those technical issues. Not all of their comics are priced at 99 cents, just the first 4 issues - and its part of a promo offer. IRON MAN #5 still cost me two bucks to read. I read Joss Whedon's X-MEN on all three platforms - and was most happy with the presentation on comiXology's COMICS app. Plus, that have Brubaker's CAPTAIN AMERICA, which for me worth every penny in any form. But, I think I was more than fair in my assessment of the apps and their approach to the material.

I think $1.99 an issue is fair, at least for now. It's not the ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet that Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited platform provides, but its also a different delivery system all together. And while I don't think any of these apps will replace my monthly comic buying habits. It's nice to have a comic on the fly, if I want something to read on the train. And, for my money, right now - COMICS is the app to beat ... atleast until the iTablet arrives.

[minox]

This was proposed en-mass in the 1988 movie "Big". Of course they had projected ~$20 for the reader device... that would be one cheap iphone.

Just drawing parallels.... || || ||

flame away.

[japanime]

Originally Posted by blindzero

No paper, No distributor costs, No retail markup. No way 1.99 will stick...unless these are motion comics?

There's a lot more to it than that. Rights issues. Creator royalties. Designer fees. And yes, distributor costs.

The e-reader applications ARE the distributor, and the developers of these applications get paid (through a percentage of sales proceeds) to distribute the content.

I'm not saying that the content found on e-readers should be priced just as high as books printed on paper. But I also don't think the book publishing industry should provide e-reader content away for practically nothing (or free).

That's partly what killed the newspaper industry -- people stopped buying the daily fishwrap because the newspapers offered their content online, free of charge. (And yeah, I know Craigslist also had a hand in the death of newspapers, but the newspapers brought this upon themselves.)