In a story published at USA Today.com Monday evening, the apparently official word of Marvel’s new online publishing initiative (hinted at by Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley at the New York Comic-Con last February) has been revealed.
Called the comic book industry’s “first online archive of more than 2,500 back issues, including the first appearances of Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Incredible Hulk.”, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited will offer the archive in a high-resolution format on computer screens for $59.88 a year, or at a monthly rate of $9.99, at Marvel’s website.
According to the national daily, “Subscribers will be able to access the first hundred issues of key titles, turn pages with a click of the mouse or navigate a battle against Dr. Doom frame-by-frame with a ‘Smart Panel’ viewing feature. The user can zoom in on details of art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko from the 1960s or catch up with today's The Ultimates and New Avengers.
"We did not want to get caught flat-footed with kids these days who have the tech that allows them to read comics in a digital format," Marvel President Dan Buckley, told the publication. "Our fan base is already on the Internet. It seemed like a natural way to go."
To help market the initiative, To Marvel will reportedly offer a free sampler of 250 titles, and to protect current sales of comic books, new issues won't be on the Marvel site until six months after they are published.
Asked why people would pay for superheroes when newspaper websites have been unable to charge for content, Buckley said, "You can get the news anywhere. We're the only ones who have Spider-Man."
"If they put their monthly comic online at the same time, they'd be cutting their own throats and undercutting the retailers," writer Peter David told USA Today. "The material is owned by Marvel, and they can do whatever they want with it. This is just another means of reprint when you come down to it."
"About 90% of the comic books sold today are scanned and put online within 36 hours," Newsarama’s own Chris Arrant is quoted in the story.
"Our quality is much higher; the library is huge and will never go out of style," concluded Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. "This is the legal way to do things."
Updated 11.13.07 - 5:15am - The AP version of the story has been released as well, and reads:
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Marvel is putting some of its older comics online Tuesday, hoping to reintroduce young people to the X-Men and Fantastic Four by showcasing the original issues in which such characters appeared.
It's a tentative move onto the Internet: Comics can only be viewed in a Web browser, not downloaded, and new issues will only go online at least six months after they first appear in print.
Still, it represents perhaps the comics industry's most aggressive Web push yet. Even as their creations -- from Iron Man to Wonder Woman [Newsarama Note: Marvel does not publish Wonder Woman] -- become increasingly visible in pop culture through new movies and video games, old-school comics publishers rely primarily on specialized, out-of-the-way comic shops for distribution of their bread-and-butter product.
"You don't have that spinner rack of comic books sitting in the local five-and-dime any more," said Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Publishing. "We don't have our product intersecting kids in their lifestyle space as much as we used to."
Translate "kids' lifestyle space" into plain English and you get "the Internet." Marvel's two most prominent competitors currently offer online teasers designed to drive the sales of comics or book collections.
Dark Horse Comics now puts its monthly anthologies "Dark Horse Presents" up for free viewing on its MySpace site. The images are vibrant and large.
DC Comics has also put issues up on MySpace, and recently launched the competition-based Zuda Comics, which encourages users to rank each other's work, as a way to tap into the expanding Web comic scene. Company president Paul Levitz said he expects to put more original comics online in coming years.
"We look at anything that connects comics to people," Levitz said. "The most interesting thing about the online world to me is the opportunity for new forms of creativity. ... It's a question of what forms of storytelling work for the Web?"
For its mature Vertigo imprint, DC offers weekly sneak peeks at the first five or six pages of upcoming issues. The publisher also gives out downloadable PDF files of the first issues in certain series, timed to publication of the series in book or graphic novel format.
The Web release of DC's "Y the Last Man" sent sales of that book collection soaring at Bridge City Comics in Portland, Ore., the shop's owner Michael Ring said.
"They really do tend to be feeder systems," Ring said of online comics. "They give people that initial taste."
For Marvel, the general public has often already gotten its initial taste through movies like "Spider-Man" or the "Fantastic Four" franchises.
The publisher is hoping fans will be intrigued enough about the origins of those characters to shell out $9.99 a month, or $4.99 monthly with a year-long commitment. For that price, they'll be able to poke through, say, the first 100 issues of Stan Lee's 1963 creation "Amazing Spider-Man" at their leisure, along with more recent titles like "House of M" and "Young Avengers." Comics can be viewed in several different formats, including frame-by-frame navigation.
Ring expects Marvel's effort to put a slight dent in the back-issue segment of the comic shop industry, where rare, out-of-print titles sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay and at trade shows.
Though most comic fans are collectors, some simply want to catch up on the backstory of their favorite characters and would no longer have to pay top dollar to do so.
About 2,500 issues will be available at launch of Marvel Digital Comics, with 20 more being released each week.
News of the new Marvel initiative began appearing online Monday afternoon, via an AP wire story and sources like the CBC.ca website, prompting Marvel Comics to request any version of the story citing the AP or CBC be removed from websites due to the CBC version in particular being “filled with inaccuracies.” It is not immediately apparent what was inaccurate about the CBC version of the story.
Updated 11.13.07 - Marvel Press Release
For the first time ever, Marvel Comics, a division of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL), is opening its comic book vault to the masses and making its legendary Super Hero(TM) adventures available in one location with the launch today of its online subscription service Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. Curated by Marvel editors, this ultimate digital comic Internet destination allows unparalleled access to thousands of titles from Marvel's historic comic book archives - from the first issues of Amazing Spider-Man, The X-Men, Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four and other favorites, to unforgettable recent storylines, mini-series and special issues. The easy-to-navigate Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited site presents each digital comic in the highest-resolution ever available and offers innovative viewing options, user-friendly search and recommendation features, and personalized reading list tools. Accessible by both PC and MAC users directly through Marvel.com/digitalcomics as well as via the www.marvel.com homepage, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited will have subscription rates as low as $4.99/month -- making it affordable to new readers and longtime fans.
Also, for a limited time only, Marvel will offer audiences the opportunity to experience Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited at no cost with a special free sampling of 250 titles. Featuring a mix of epic classics and current favorites, the free sampling program will enable users to get a true sense of this highly appealing and unique Marvel Comics online service.
"We are truly excited to be able to present in one location such an expansive treasure trove of Marvel Comics' favorites to a mass market audience. We wanted to make sure we presented a site that would set the standard in digital comics and offer readers an affordable way to experience our vast archive of content," said Dan Buckley, President, Marvel Publishing. "With Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, we believe we have built a state-of-the-art online destination that will not only engage comic book readers of all ages, but also serve as the ultimate complement to our primary comic hobby market print business through which all new Marvel Comics monthly titles will continue to be released before their availability in digital format."
At launch, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited offers more than 2,500 comic books. Each week, Marvel will add at least 20 additional titles to the site that will be chosen based on editors' picks and subscriber requests. The initial offerings will run the gamut from unforgettable classics, to current favorites, to titles designed for young readers.
Selected highlights include:
Unforgettable Classics
-- The first 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man
-- The first 100 issues of The Fantastic Four
-- The initial 66 issue run of Uncanny X-Men
-- The first 50 issues of The Avengers
-- The issues marking the first appearances of such Super Heroes as Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, Thor, Daredevil, and Silver Surfer
-- The issues marking the first appearance of such renowned villains as Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, and Dr. Doom
-- The issue that showcased the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume
Recent and Current Favorites
-- Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men
-- Selected titles from the Ultimate line including: Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four and The Ultimates
-- The House of M
-- Amazing Spider-Man
-- New Avengers
-- Young Avengers
-- Runaways
Young Reader Series
-- Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
-- Spider-Girl
-- Spider-Man & Power Pack
-- Marvel Adventures Avengers
-- Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
-- Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius
Each Marvel digital comic will be presented in the highest resolution ever available. To ensure this, Marvel has gone back to the original source material and optimized it for the web by painstakingly re-coloring and re-digitizing select content.
To further enhance the online reading experience, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited will offer three distinct viewing modes. Subscribers will be able to read the books in traditional single and double-page formats. Additionally, Marvel has developed an innovative, patent-pending "Smart Panel" viewing feature. In this mode, viewers will be presented with an unequaled experience as they are taken panel-by-panel through the comic book in a smooth, action-packed progression.
The user-friendly nature of the site enables subscribers to easily navigate this ultimate Marvel Comics collection. Readers can search in a variety of ways, including by character, creator (writer and illustrator), specific book title, mini-series, and date of publication.
The site's recommendation engine will also provide subscribers with top selections based on member feedback and ratings. Additionally, subscribers will be able to customize their experience by building personal reading lists that can be shared with other members.
John Dokes, Vice President of Online Operations and Marketing, Marvel Entertainment, commented, "With Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited we have created the simplest way for fans to have instant access to our comic book content. All someone needs is an Internet connection and a computer. We have made it so that our content can be read seamlessly online, without the need to download material."
Look for more details as they become available.
Spider-Man Action Figures
In a story published at 
