Marvel Announces plans for April 1st Comics

[Kintor]

Just had a look at ComiXology, it seems Marvel still has a slight presence. Trades for Spider-Man, Conan, Ghost Rider and Ms Marvel. Along with a weird collection of comics loosely related to Mephisto.

Still kind of surreal seeing the new comics list so bare. It's all of three pages this week. Would've been less if it weren't for the Manga and that Commando series which inexplicably publishes several issues a week and is still going after #5300.

[Digifiend]

Commando is on Comixology? Weird that Beano (itself at over 4000 issues) isn't then. Both titles are from the same publisher, DC Thomson, who are based in Dundee, Scotland. Commando comes out four issues a fortnight (so, there'll be nothing next week, and four more issues the week after), so eight issues a month, and it's been around since the 1960s. That's how it's numbering got so high. Nowadays, it's usually two reprints and two new stories in each batch. Beano started in 1938 and is weekly.

[shooshoomanjoe]

No print, no digital. Makes sense.

[Jabare]

and people wonder why webtoons and manga are eating western comics lunch these days

[Noodle]

Imagine if you couldn't download games because of retail shops, imagine not streaming movies or TV shows.

The medium is being held back by this weird attachment to a bygone era.

Unless a game was made for digital and was successful enough to warrant a physical release, very rarely does a game release on digital before physical. It's almost always same date.

Movie companies are also holding back film releases instead of putting them on VOD. Fast and the Furious? Black Widow?

So, yeah. I can imagine it. Because it happens.

[charliehustle415]

Unless a game was made for digital and was successful enough to warrant a physical release, very rarely does a game release on digital before physical. It's almost always same date.

Movie companies are also holding back film releases instead of putting them on VOD. Fast and the Furious? Black Widow?

So, yeah. I can imagine it. Because it happens.

I think there's a misunderstanding here.

If Gamestops closed (which they have) publishers will continue to put out digital versions of that game - case in point: Final Fantasy VII Remake or Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remake. Two of the biggest games ever.

Birds of Prey was released digitally before physical as well as certain Pixar movies.

There's a difference between Black Widow and F&F because those will never be released in theaters at the same time as digital, but their blu-ray versions will; so it's comparing apples to oranges.

[cranger]

I think there's a misunderstanding here.

If Gamestops closed (which they have) publishers will continue to put out digital versions of that game - case in point: Final Fantasy VII Remake or Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remake. Two of the biggest games ever.

Birds of Prey was released digitally before physical as well as certain Pixar movies.

There's a difference between Black Widow and F&F because those will never be released in theaters at the same time as digital, but their blu-ray versions will; so it's comparing apples to oranges.

As far as I know plenty of Gamestops are open. And they are at least, as well as other (online) retailers shippings discs people order online. That is, those games are not just being released digitally.

As for Birds of Prey, there have been movies being home released earlier on digital than Blu-Ray/DVD for some time now.

[Noodle]

I think there's a misunderstanding here.

If Gamestops closed (which they have) publishers will continue to put out digital versions of that game - case in point: Final Fantasy VII Remake or Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remake. Two of the biggest games ever.

There's a difference between Black Widow and F&F because those will never be released in theaters at the same time as digital, but their blu-ray versions will; so it's comparing apples to oranges.

Even if Gamestop was closed, the physical copies are still being shipped to the stores that are open, like Walmart and Target. Physical is still getting released same day as digital. There is no way they would release something like Madden as digital-only with the amount of marketing that goes into it.

Birds of Prey and Onward were both in theaters, so they were still released before VOD. And VOD almost always has a window of a few weeks on digital before the physical release. That window was just extended because of the theater shutdowns.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, a bunch of films got released VOD early because their cinema runs were cut short, so Birds of Prey was a bad example there.

[JudicatorPrime]

I can't believe I willed away Marvel comics as revenge of how they treated the Wasp. Ugh my power

You must remember to only use your Omega level reality warping mutant powers for good.

[Iron Maiden]

As far as I know plenty of Gamestops are open. And they are at least, as well as other (online) retailers shippings discs people order online. That is, those games are not just being released digitally.

As for Birds of Prey, there have been movies being home released earlier on digital than Blu-Ray/DVD for some time now.

Depends on the state. For example a GameStop near me is inside a mall and that mall has closed until further notice as a non-essential business.

[Iron Maiden]

The Comics Industry is setting up a temporary distribution system with ComicHub

"Within the next two weeks, you'll be able to buy a physical comic from your LCS--anywhere on Earth--online. You'll be able to read a digital copy the minute you buy it. Your LCS will get a free physical copy to give to you later."

[ARkadelphia]

The Comics Industry is setting up a temporary distribution system with ComicHub

I’m putting this in every thread today it seems. I’m sceptical of this working but hope I’m very wrong. But here’s what I wrote in a couple of other threads just now...


My LCBS happens to be one of the 100 or so in the US that uses ComicHub. They are out of Australia or New Zealand I think. A few comments...

- I love the concept of having an app to order and keep track of things

- ComicHub’s app is not intuitive at all, however.

- My store has been using them for about 2 years and I still have some of the same issues I’ve had since the beginning. My “next week” listing for example still shows the same small list of stuff from a year + ago.

- In order to make the concept work as described in the article, you would have to PAY through the app. Perhaps my store just doesn’t have this functionality, but it certainly isn’t a feature in my app.

- in the article, they discuss a previews section that can be used for full books. If it exists in my app, I can’t find it. I do have “view” functionality but I’ve only been able to pull up covers, not any additional ages.

- They only have 100 or so US stores. Yes, they are not US based so the may have more scalability than that number suggests, but adding every single US store to their platform in the next 10 days like the article indicates seems VERY unlikely to me, especially since the current app has been flawed so long as is.

Given everything I just highlighted, I don’t see any way that this becomes a practical solution to our current situation. They may be able to build towards something that was described in the article, but I believe it will take YEARS for this particular company to get there. Sorry to be so pessimistic but that’s what I’m seeing based on my experience with this company. The thing is, I think what the article really is the ideal solution for the current crisis. Unfortunately, I just can’t see it as a REALISTIC solution, at least as executed by this company.

[charliehustle415]

Even if Gamestop was closed, the physical copies are still being shipped to the stores that are open, like Walmart and Target. Physical is still getting released same day as digital. There is no way they would release something like Madden as digital-only with the amount of marketing that goes into it.

Correct; and this is the ludicrous nature of the American Comic industry how are comics only made by ONE company? I can get video games from a myriad of places and methods; yet when I want to buy a superhero magazine me the consumer has only ONE option: my LCS because they dictate the terms for everything.

Imagine if Blockbuster or Hollywood Video being able to dictate terms would streaming technology be where it is now?

I know it's not the most popular position on these boards; but let's be real: this is the only form of medium that is still being held back by the physical version. I'm not saying that we should do away with physical copies but why is the physical version have to be on par with the digital?

Shouldn't digital issues be cheaper than the physical; especially since for the digital you are only buying a license and don't really own it the same as digital games. Yet it is not because of the demands of the LCS; why wouldn't the physical version be more expensive you're getting a physical object; yet they're held on the same equal footing.

Nevertheless, once this is all done I believe there will be a reckoning in regards to business as usual in the United States; this virus is showing how fragile everything is.

[Anthony W]

This is the second crash of the industry I have lived through. I have to admit the nineties crash was a lot more fun...