The annual South by Southwest festival in Austin tends to attract a variety of multimedia companies as they announce new products and initiatives. Recently, Marvel has entered and begun relying on SXSW as a new outlet for delivering major announcements about their digital comics initiatives. Last year's show saw saw the reveal of Marvel's Infinite Comics format. That format, along with other digital initiatives, were the focus at Marvel's SXSW panel this year. We had the chance to talk with Marvel's Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Media Peter Phillips, and Director of Communications Arune Singh about these announcements and what they mean for the future of Marvel's digital lineup.
Alonso told IGN, "We took advantage of the timing. We want to make sure it reaches as many people as possible. That the comic books we produce are as relevant to the fans that show up every Wednesday as the fans who go to the cineplex to see the Wolverine movie. It will be the first of four weekly Infinite series. Each will be 13 episodes. Each one will star a major Marvel character in their own monthly comic book, and will be relevant in continuity. In other words, everything that happens in this Infinite comic will be as relevant to the reader as what’s happening in the comic book on the stand."
Though Marvel hasn't revealed a price point on these weekly chapters yet, Phillips said, "If you look historically at what we’ve done, we’ve done anything from free. We’ve packaged it. And if you buy it individually it can be anywhere from 99 cents to $1.99. We’re going to keep along the path of what we’ve already done." Alonso also noted that, while it's difficult to nail down a specific page count on Infinite stories, each chapter will be roughly equivalent to the length of a 20-page comic.
Alongside this expanded focus on Infinite Comics, Marvel is dabbling in a new technology called Project Gamma. Gamma will add adaptive audio effects to digital books, providing sound effects and musical scores that evolve as the reader moves through a comic. The music is being created by two companies - Momentum and Cord - which have worked on movies like Looper and Drive.
As Phillips explained, "It’s cued up to the panels – it’s called adaptive audio. So in order to make sure that it’s not just music embedded in your background like a radio behind you while you’re reading, it’s actually pacing itself. So if you and I are sitting next to each other reading the same story, but you’re reading your pages twice as fast as I am, you’re going to have a different audio experience because it’s matching itself up to the panels and the stories and characters."
Alonso noted his initial skepticism about combining music with comics, but said, "My skepticism was dulled when I saw the demo and saw the potential. That said, what excited me about this, is if you are a comic book reader, you’ve had this experience. You’re reading a comic book and you’ve got your iPod on, or there’s music in the background. And for a magical moment that music enhances your reading experience. Whatever scene you’re in, or whatever moment you’re in. But it’s a very fleeting moment. And you don’t control it. It just sort of happens by happenstance. So the idea of being able to control that experience. To actually provide a score for the Infinite comic book reader experience, was very intriguing to me."
Prior to SXSW, Marvel unveiled a new version of their Digital Comics Unlimited service in the form of an iOS app, meaning that iPad owners can finally use the formerly Flash-dependent, web-based service on their devices. Rather than pay-per-download stores like Comixology, the newly branded Marvel Unlimited is a subscription-based service that provides subscribers with access to thousands of Marvel books. It allows users to store six books on their device for when they aren't connected to the Internet.
Currently, MU only offers comics that are a minimum of six months old so as not to interfere with print sales. When asked if Marvel might change that approach, Singh said, "When we started this six years ago we had 5,000 comics, now we have over 13,000. I know people want the newest releases, but our library continues to grow at an exponential rate each year. We want to catch up so it’s a stricter six month lag, but it just takes time, but that’s what we’re working towards."
Phillips added, "It’s important to note that the two app services are connected. So if you’re in your library and you see something that you want to buy, you can click into the Marvel app and buy it directly."
Finally, there was the news we reported over the weekend -- that Marvel is making 700 of their comics available for free download from Comixology between now and Tuesday. That lineup includes various #1 issues of Marvel NOW! titles, among many others. Unfortunately, the rush of downloads has caused severe server problems for Comixology, forcing them to suspend the promotion temporarily. Click here to find out more about the promotion and the current server problems.
Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
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