Amazon To Acquire ComiXology - NOT An April Fool's Joke

I admit I don't know much about economics and business. The most experience I ever had with business was selling my ex-girlfriend's birth control pills to Catholic school girls. But even I know when something qualifies as big business news. I damn near shit myself when I heard Disney was buying Marvel. I didn't think that shit could ever be topped. And to date it still hasn't. But a late breaking story came pretty damn close. This is NOT an April Fool's Day joke, people. Comixology is being bought by Amazon.com.

CBR: Amazong to Acquire ComiXology

Newsarama: Amazon To Acquire COMIXOLOGY

I don't think any comic book fan needs to explain why they love Comixology. This is to comics what what the iPod was to music. It finally created a viable digital platform for comics and after taking way too fucking long, all the major publishers began releasing day-and-date digital comics. For me, it was like building my own comic book store in my bedroom next to my TV and my weed stash. It was a beautiful thing. It still gives me a boner whenever I remind myself that I can now buy a comic while walking around in my underwear and not worry about being arrested. But now, it's going to be yet another bitch in Amazon's growing harem of services. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Amazon.com is pretty fucking awesome too. They also allow me to buy shit in my underwear without having to worry about getting arrested. But now Amazon and Comixology are joining forces? What sort of corporate shit storm could they create? Will it be awesome? Will this be the next New Coke? I have no fucking clue. But it's happening. The CEO of Comixology already released this.

Letter From the CEO of Comixology

Dearest readers,

I’m very excited to share some big news with you: we have just announced that comiXology is becoming a part of the Amazon family!

More than seven years ago, John D. Roberts, Peter Jaffe, and I set out to connect people to comic books and graphic novels they’d love, and we’re so excited about how far we’ve come. Thanks to the books we are privileged to present and the platform we created, there’s access to more diverse content than ever, allowing all readers to enter the amazing world of comics.

We have long had the goal of making every person on the planet a comics fan. With Amazon’s help, this crazy goal is more possible than ever before. With the Kindle, Amazon has shown a passion for reinventing the reading experience, just like comiXology has shown for comics and graphic novels.

ComiXology will retain its identity as an Amazon subsidiary and we’re not anywhere near done “taking comics further.” We are confident that – with Amazon by our side, who shares our desire for innovation and a relentless focus on customers – we’ve only just begun.

We wouldn’t be here without you, our customers. Thank you. The best is yet to come!

David Steinberger
Co-founder and CEO

Marvel Infinite Comics Announcement - More is Awesome!

A week ago, Marvel cruelly teased fans again by giving them reasons to endlessly drone on the possibility of a New 52 style reboot. I imagine for some fanboys that's like getting an overdue boob job or putting down a dog. Now I pointed out how fucking retarded a reboot would be after the Marvel NOW! relaunch, but that didn't stop some from speculating endlessly when they saw this.

Well over the weekend while I was sleeping off a hangover, Marvel finally added some clarity while dashing the hopes of some fans who constantly bitch about the need for a reboot. But even they have to admit that the announcement was still pretty awesome. Avengers vs. X-men sucked the asshole of a constipated rhino, but it introduced something called Infinite Comics and those comics were pretty fucking awesome. In an era where people value their smart phone almost as much as they value their liver, it makes perfect sense to create comics that are perfectly adapted to the digital medium. Well now Marvel is taking that shit a step further! And this is how:

SXSW 2013: Marvel Infinite Comics

Today at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, Marvel announced the addition of weekly Infinite Comics to their publishing slate. These comics treat mobile devices as a new canvas and that take advantage of the technological opportunities inherent in them. Fans have gotten a taste of this format before with the AVENGERS VS. X-MEN and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Infinite Comics, but this new initiative promises to push the burgeoning medium to new places.

“What we’re doing with Infinite Comics is developing a new language for telling comic book stories," says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. “We’re getting more and more sophisticated as we move along. We see a progress with each venture, and an expanding of capabilities. The technology improves and allows us to do things that we weren’t able to do before."

Four leading Marvel characters will receive their own 13-part, weekly Infinite Comic story, totaling up to 52 weeks of new Infinite Comics, one released every Tuesday. WOLVERINE: JAPAN'S MOST WANTED kicks off the program, written by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour, with art by Paco Diaz. The latest Wolverine epic begins on July 9, providing a perfect jumping on point for anyone who enjoys this summer's film, "Wolverine."

The Infinite Comic marks seminal Wolverine writer Jason Aaron's return to the character's solo adventures.

“The reason we’ll be involving the monthly writer of each of these comic book stories we’re going to be telling through Infinite is that they’re all part of continuity," explains Alonso. "You know it’s as relevant to that particular character as anything you’ll find on the comic book stands that Wednesday."

The subjects of the subsequent Infinite Comics series remain under wraps for now.
“It’s not that certain characters are better in print and others aren’t," explains Peter Phillips, the Senior Vice President & General Manager of Marvel’s Digital Media Group. "I think this is an alternative way of storytelling. This is always about using digital for continued innovation. We’re always trying to extend that conversation with and for our fans."

"We’re at the forefront of developing a new language for comics," continues Alonso. "If we go back to the way comics were told, it started with a horizontal strip of panels and evolved into a comic book page. [Then] you could go vertical or horizontal and page design was a part of the process. Now we’ve taken it to the tablet and the handheld media and you’re seeing how, even in a short year or so that we’ve been doing [Infinite Comics], how we’re evolving this and getting better."

My New Ipad and the Infinite Future

Every so often, a major shift in the industry and society comes along that gets young people more excited than free samples at a pot dispensary and old people more anxious than the thought of a black president (okay, bad example). I don't consider myself a real tech-head. The top-of-the-line technology for me is anything that allows me to view porn more efficiently. For that reason, I look at the internet and modern computers in the same way Moses looked at the Ten Commandments. It's the technology of the future and the present. It permeates are lives, so much so that it's damn near impossible to escape it. For some conspiracy theorists and doomsayers, that's more than enough reason to carve a survival cave into the mountains and audition for spots in the next episode of National Geographic's Doomsday Preppers. For me, I say bring on the new world order! I'm ready to be a slave to the new system!

This past week, a good deal of hype and a fair amount of pants shitting surrounded the launch of Avengers vs. X-men (and NOT another prelude). I reviewed the comic and I gave it high marks and not because I was high myself. It was a genuinely quality comic that began what promises to be another major comic book blockbuster event. But we've had those events before. They've come, gone, trilled, and disappointed fans for decades. But Avengers vs. X-men brought something new to the table, something I didn't mention in my review because I wasn't drunk enough to include it. That, and I wanted to give it its own post so we can fully appreciate what it entails. It's called Infinite Comics and despite a name that would make most anal-retentive physicists cringe (think Sheldon Cooper of the Big Bang Theory), it is a new format for comics that has the potential to be infinitely awesome.

It came in conjunction with Avengers vs. X-men. Marvel has been building this up as sort of a new way of presenting comics, like the DVD extras for a movie but with less snooty producers pretending as though explosions are some sort of artistic vision and more actual story that ties into the main plot. I admit I didn't know what the hell these things would entail when I heard about it. I kept thinking, "Infinite comics? What the fuck is that and who the fuck drank the last bottle of vodka?!" Marvel was somewhat vague on the details, but once I bought it through Comixology the full awesome of Infinite Comics hit me like a shot of peyote. Only instead of seeing talking cats and dancing bears, I saw the next level of comic book awesome.

The Phoenix. Destroying the print industry and giving rise to digital awesome. Epic win!

Infinite Comics, in its simplest form, is a comic made specifically for the digital format and not the printed page. That may not sound like much, but considering how the very nature of comic books haven't changed since the fucking Great Depression it's an overhaul that's more overdue Wesley Snipe's back taxes. Printing comics on pages is charming and simple, but let's face in the internet age where people want to carry all that content in their pockets with their iphones and condoms that's just not as appealing anymore. Infinite comics uses a richer kind of artwork that doesn't involve just scanning shit like anyone with a decent scanner and citizenship of a country with shitty copyright laws can do. It makes for smoother transitions, animation-like progression, and a unique sort of flow for the story that you just can't put on a page. I really can't describe it without a few hits of LSD, but it's something that's new and has the potential to be exceedingly awesome.

The first Infinite Comics was fairly short, but it did tell an important part of the Avengers vs. X-men story. In the first issue, Nova came crashing to Earth to warn the Avengers that the Phoenix was coming like Peter North in a three-way. The Infinite Comics story added more depth and detail to this journey. It showed him flying through space, racing towards the Earth with the Phoenix following close behind like a stalker ex-girlfriend armed with a video camera and crazy glue. It was a lot of inner monologue followed by incredible action that felt less like a comic and more like visions from another world unfolding in progressing panels. If there was any flaw in it, it was mostly that the story itself was too damn short. But it's the first of it's kind and it was awesome enough to give the readers so many reasons to hope and so many crazy shit to imagine.

Infinite Comics marks the potential beginning of a new world of comics. Even hardcore fans have to understand that print media is dying faster than the Zimbabwe economy. Even I find it difficult to keep boxes upon boxes of comics stacked in my closet. More often than not, it's just another hiding place for my weed. Almost all my new comics come in digitally. And just this past weekend, I bought myself an ipad. That's right! I'm now the proud owner of one of the best inventions for comics in history.

Okay, third best.

With my new ipad and the format offered by Infinite Comics, there are any number of ways Marvel can develop this platform. They could add sound effects. Imagine reading an Infinite Comic where when Wolverine is about to decapitate Sabretooth (again), you actually hear a 'snikt.' They could add graphics and motions as well without going through the trouble or cost of a motion comic. The first issue made the story feel like more animated. Just think of how much more awesome it could be if real animation could be incorporated.

The possibilities...so awesome.

It's an exciting time to be a comic book fan. Marvel has opened the door to a new method of conveying the awesome that comics can present. Just this past year, comics became day-and-date digital. Now something hew has entered the fray. What could it mean for the future? Well if a part-time stoner and drunk like me can imagine such wondrous possibilities, I'm sure the well-paid creative minds at Marvel can come up with something much better. The revolution has begun! I've seen the future and it is infinite. Thank you, Marvel. Now DC, time to get your act together and become the Android to Marvel's Apple! Nuff said.

Marvel's Digital ReEvolution And Why It's Awesome

I will go on record as saying nostalgia sucks. Whenever I hear people bitch and moan about how shit was so much better 10, 20, or 50 years ago I fantasize about them being crushed by a falling satellite. A part of me wants to say "Oh really? Well if the past was so fucking good why don't you ditch the internet, drive an old ass car, and watch only reruns on a 15-year-old non-HD TV?" Then the valium kicks in and I'm able to restrain myself.

Now don't get me wrong. I have a certain fondness for previous eras in comics. I loved the 90s despite all the gimmicks. I loved the 80s despite the shitty hair styles because comics like X-Factor, Spider-Man, Watchmen, and Return of the Dark Knight were great moments in the history of comics. But as the word implies, history is in the past. You can either bitch about it or move forward. And just this past weekend, Marvel showed off how they envision moving forward and sucking as much money from the wallets of fans in the process.

It's called Infinite Comics and according to CBR it's Marvel's new canvas for telling stories using their vast arsenal of big-breasted female heroes and the men in testicle augmenting spandex that love them. For the first time since someone got shit faced and thought it would be cool to tell a story using panels of pictures, the big wigs at Marvel got shit faced again and decided to ditch the classic print your shit on paper and send it fans via snail mail. It won't work like a page or some ancient shit like that. It's going to be specifically tailored to new mediums like smart phones, tablet computers, and the internet. In other words, it's using the futuristic tech that we've come to rely on and most likely will help Apple's ongoing plans for world domination.

It'll start with Marvel's big upcoming blockbuster, Avengers vs. X-men. The first of these all-digital stories will take place in the early parts of the event. From there, it'll presumably expand to whichever Marvel writer gets the editors drunk enough so they agree to the stories they want to tell. Gone will be the days of fanboys hanging out in comic shops, talking and/or complaining about the latest issue. They'll just be able to park their asses in a Starbucks, their parent's basement, or on the roof of their house so they can leech off their neighbor's wi-fi and download their dose of Marvel brand awesome on their tablet. Is it a brilliant, bold move? Well considering the current trends in technology and considering that Marvel and DC didn't embrace day-and-date digital comics until last year, I'd say it's only as brilliant as it is overdue.

I don't think my comic buying habits are the same as the vast majority of the comic market in the same way I know my drinking habits are only comparable with Irish dock workers. But day-and-date digital comics through companies like Comixology have become my primary method of buying comics. I don't buy single issues anymore. I only buy the graphic novels after they come out. I find that shit's easier to handle and store while also saving me the trouble of buying those big ass boxes that have been cluttering up my basement since the first George Bush was in office. Don't get me wrong. I love those books almost as much as I love spicy chicken wings and football. But they're cumbersome and digital comics have allowed me to carry an entire fucking library in the palm of my hand thanks to a phone. It's the kind of shit that makes me feel like I'm living in the age of Star Trek minus the hot alien chicks.

As such, I plan on being first in line to check out this new digital push. I also plan on following DC Comics closely to see if they do something in response because let's face it, like any business comics is a big dick-measuring contest. If Marvel finds a way to stretch theirs out a few inches longer, DC will look for a way to do it as well. Digital comics have the potential to tell different kinds of stories and distribute them in a different kind of way. Since an entire generation is growing up expecting all their shit to be beamed to their smart phones, it's best to get ahead of the curve to avoid having to hear that generation bitch more than they already will when they find out what our generation did to the environment, the Middle East, and Mexico.

So what can we make of this? What does this mean for the industry? Well I know my drunken opinion means precisely dick, but I'm all for it. I'm definitely for any means that would make comics easier to access through the internet or these fancy new devices that companies like Apple are throwing at us. I get that there will always be a place for paper books, but going back to what I said about nostalgia I think it's bullshit to not embrace future trends. Let's face it, the future isn't sheets of crushed up trees. The future is tablet computers and smart phones. Hell, we live in an age where a kid will sell his fucking kidney for an ipad. Whereas Marvel took their sweet fucking time bringing day and date digital comics to their library, they're at least trying to be proactive here with this new Infinite label.

I think this shit has real potential. Imagine a world where the stories you love are streamed effortlessly into your computer, phone, or tablet. Imagine a world where you don't have to stuff book cases with old, flimsy paper books that aren't even thick enough to hallow out so you can hide your weed inside them. I want to be part of that world! I want this new medium to expand and succeed! I hope Marvel finds more creative ways of making that $2.99 or $3.99 they charge for each issue more worth-while. Perhaps one day we can get a new Ultimate-style series that's completely online. Perhaps it'll be a series where we the fans can write in our comments right into the book or maybe even make our own thought bubbles that have characters like Wolverine commenting on how great Miss Marvel's ass looks.

I'm sure this is all just prelude. Maybe in the not-so-distant future there will be a day when companies like Marvel and DC can directly beam their stories right into the cortex of our brains so we can ditch the expensive electronic tablets in the first place. I'm pretty sure someone at Apple is saying to Tim Cook "I'm working as fast as I can, damn it!" But until that day comes, companies like Marvel are wise to take advantage of current tech trends the same way China takes advantage of cheap labor. We've got a wired world where paper just ain't gonna cut it anymore and while I have a feeling there will always be a place for books even in comics, I'm all for the digital revolution! So whatever comes of Marvel Infinite Comics or the digital ReEvolution, I'm not afraid to expose how old my ass is getting when I say beam me up, Quesada! Excelsior!

SDCC 2011 Update: Uncanny X-men and Wolverine and the X-men to go Day and Date Digital Release

Hey everybody! You know I wouldn't take time away from writing X-men Supreme, reviewing comics, and getting drunk unless I had some big fucking news to share with you all. As some of you may no, namely the ones that live under a fucking rock, the San Diego Comic Con is taking place this week. This is where fanboys get to be kings and girls can dress up in spandex and not be mistaken for a stripper. Every major comic company comes here to announce to the world why they've got the most awesome shit that you should buy. Every year there's been one particular announcement they've never made. It has nothing to do with X-men, reboots, rip-off characters, fanfiction, or selling your marriage to the fucking devil. It has to do with the basic act of actually getting these comics in the first place. Well that announcement has finally come!

Newsarama: Uncanny X-men and Wolverine and the X-men to go Day-and-Date Digital

That's not a misprint and I'm not stoned (for the most part). Marvel has jumped onto the bandwagon that DC has strapped a fucking rocket on and decided to make some of it's top titles day-and-date digital release. I'll repeat that just because it feels so damn good. Marvel is making Uncanny X-men and Wolverine and the X-men Day and Date digital release. Fuck, I need to change my pants again! But I don't care! This is the best news to come since a two-for-one deal at a Tijuana whore house. At last, my limited proximity to a comic shop shall never get in the way of me enjoying quality comic awesome! Praise Odin, Galactus, and hell even Mephisto! I'll praise any higher power I can because that's how excited I am about this news! It's a great day to be a comic fan and an X-men fan. Between this and DC's relaunch, computers are going to be even more important and not just because of porn content. If more details come in, I'll be sure to blog about them when I'm sober enough. Until then, feel free to run out in the streets and celebrate! I'll be waiting here, passed out drunk but ready to absorb this new generation of awesome!

Digital Comics - The Idea Everyone Has (But Comic Publishers Won't Offer)

We all know we're in the Age of the Internet. There is more computing power in a modern wrist watch than there was in the Saturn V rocket that took the astronauts to the moon. The latest Iphones and Android devices have so many features that if they had pussies attached to them every guy's dick would fall off from fucking it. Music has gone digital thanks to Napster, Itunes, and the pricks at the RIAA. Books have gone digital thanks to Amazon, the Kindle, and it's slightly douchier yet versatile big brother the Ipad. Everything is going digital and people are finding ways to make money off it. Even though there are still a shit ton of websites you can find that will offer free downloads for music and books, people are still willing to pay a small fee to download these materials cleanly and with a certain expectation of quality that doesn't sound like it was slapped together by a couple of code junkies working in their dad's garage while tripped out on Mountain Dew.

Yet there's still piracy out there and not the sexy Johnny Depp kind. Comics have been a major source of piracy for years now. It's hard for them not to be. Anyone who has ever dealt with Marvel or DC's subscription service knows it's absolute shit. I had several subscriptions over the years and they were all terrible in the sense they were painfully late. There were times when books wouldn't arrive until three weeks after they were released in stores. Now that may have been okay in pre-internet days, but now every book has spoilers posted by Wednesday evening so late comics are a no-no. I've since let all my subscriptions expire. I just can't take the lateness anymore and I know I'm not alone. More and more people are turning to digital and there's a clear and present demand for digital books. And as economics dictate, if there's a demand for something there's some enterprising genius out there willing to supply it.

It's become bigger news. Newsarama recently did an article on the issue:

Newsarama: Is This The New Digital Age of Comic? Can Piracy Become Profit?

Unlike music it's a lot easier to make a digital copy of a comic. All you do is take the book, run it through a scanner, organize the images, and compress it into a single file and boom. You got a comic. Any high school kid with a scanner and the ability to Google shit knows how to do it. The genie simply cannot be put back in the bottle anymore without destroying the bottle, except in this case that bottle would be the internet and nobody is willing to destroy the internet for the sake of a few comic companies. Think of all the porn stars that would lose their livelihood.

But companies like Marvel and DC aren't completely retarded. They do have a digital comics library and service. For a nominal fee (translation: overpriced) you can access a library of hundreds of comics. There's a catch though. For one, you can't download and burn the comics to a CD or anything. You have to log or have an internet connection to view them. Another and more egregious flaw is that the titles offered are months old. Some of them are years old. Now this is okay for some rare comics that aren't in print anymore, but for anything not more than a couple years old you're fucked.

Compare that to the pirated comics. They're released within a few days of the street date. You can download them onto your computer and burn them onto CDs or flash drives to take with you and store in case the zombie apocalypse destroys the global infrastructure. Also, they're free, but that's besides the point. Yeah, there are the cheap bastards out there too cheap to pay for comics, but what's more appealing to the major fans is the ability to access the new comics on the day or a few days after they come out. That's like a weekly blowjob from Scarlet Johannson. It gives fans the comic book experience without having to leave their room. Also, no mess to clean up afterward.

Now as fun as this is, the system is cumbersome. These pirated comics don't come out on a predicable schedule and sometimes they get shut down so fans will have to go searching for other sources. That's a hassle, but even when Marvel and DC issue notices to sites and they get shut down it only opens the door for someone else to fill the void. It's like the drug war. Throw one dealer in jail and six more spring up. You can't stop this because it's too easy to do and the technology can't be uninvented.

The solution is as simple as it is obvious. Marvel and DC need to offer same-day digital comics. They need to do what the music industry did and turn the pirating into profit. That's how Itunes came along. At a buck per song the model works. People pay and get their music. The music industry gets their money. Everybody's happy. Why can't that work with comics?

Well for one there is no Itunes medium to work with, but it's not like the groundwork hasn't been laid. Marvel and DC do have digital interfaces. Marvel has an app for the Ipad and there are sites like Comixology out there which offer digital comics for the Iphone. However, none of them offer same day downloads. You still have to get them the old fashioned way. You can order them online, but that shit is late too. Even if you order express (which can cost up to 30 bucks extra) you still won't get your book for nearly a week if you're lucky. And if you live outside the continental United States, you're fucked.

It's not like the companies haven't entertained the idea though. Marvel did offer the Iron Man Annual this year as a same day download, but it was shit compared to the pirated copies. It cost five bucks, even more than if you bought it off the racks and had to be downloaded in pieces. Now I don't have an MBA from Harvard, but even I can see the flaws in that model.

In a perfect world Marvel and DC would have it work like this:

Step 1: Fans sign up and pay for a special service like they do with Netflix
Step 2: Fans sign into said service on Wednesday Morning at a given time (usually 9 am EST)
Step 3: Fans brows the new selection of books, pick the ones they want, pay .99 or 1.50 for each book (same price as an itunes song)
Step 4: The book is downloaded onto the user's computer.
Step 5: The book is opened and read with a special program that Marvel and DC create and distribute which must be opened to read the file.
Step 6: The book is opened and the fan enjoys their favorite brand of comic book awesome.

Now not forgetting that Marvel and DC are a business and they need to make money, there is something in between those steps. Within the files there could be full page ads like there already are with print books. But since it's digital the files could also allow for some space on the ends where Google ads can show up. This way whenever a fan clicks an ad, the company makes money. And since those ads are always refreshed, a book can keep making money long after it's been downloaded. Is there any publisher in the world that wouldn't love that? If fans had this option and had to just pay a little bit extra for it, they wouldn't hesitate for a second.

Plus, who says these books have to be in English? If they're digital the text can more easily be translated so that other countries can download them and not have to rely on expensive imports. You broaden the appeal of comics worldwide and get richer in the process. There's no losers except for the print shops. That seems to be the big concern for comic companies. Nobody wants to let go of the print shops.

Well it's sad, but an unfortunate part of business. Print medium is dying, but unlike typewriters or Betamax it's never going to go away completely. But like newspapers, they'll have to be scaled back. There will always be room for books and graphic novels, but the old model of releasing a single trade on paper is not going to work in the 21st century. I can see a day when only graphic novel compilations are sold in stores while the trades yield to the online medium. To make the graphic novels more enticing, companies can put in the equivalent of DVD extras and commentary from the creators. It works for movies. Why not comics?

If I'm smart enough to come up with this shit while sitting on the toilet someone in Marvel or DC has to have come up with it or they're serving lead at the company functions. I'm sick of having to drag my ass across town to comic shops and dealing with constantly late subscriptions. The pirated copies are never going away. Music helped stem it by doing more than just arresting users through the RIAA. They took what the pirates were making, copied it, made it better, and charged people for it. And guess what? It worked! It's time comic companies got on board! Fans want this shit. I guarantee there are lines of fans holding out money, begging for a service like this. If there are any competent business people in the comic business they'll listen or the pirates will continue to win. Nuff said!