Four Color Comics

Another report out of the New York Comic Convention is that Marvel will be pushing digital distribution of their comics. Newsarama has detailed coverage of the announcement.

Friday morning at the Comics Publishing: Review and Outlook panel at New York Comic Con, Marvel President and Publisher Dan Buckley confirmed that Marvel is working on, and will be involved in, the digital distribution of their comics. No date was given for a launch.

Buckely’s news about digital comics came at the end of the panel when moderator Douglas Wolk asked the assembled panelists (DC’s Paul Levitz, Del Rey’s Dallas Middaugh, Tokyopop’s Stuart Levy, and Viz’s Alvin Lu) what they felt about the digital distribution of their comics, and if it will be playing a role in their future. The question was initially greeted by silence from the panelists, with Buckley ultimately stepping in to answer for Marvel.

Buckley explained that Marvel already has roughly 200 issues available to read on Marvel.com; however, those are seen mostly as promotional and marketing elements which drive sales towards trades and collections of the arcs.

“[Digital distribution] is a very real thing that we’re all going to have to deal with, because whether we like it or not, our books are already on the internet,” Buckley said, just prior to confirming that Marvel will be directly involved in the distribution of digital versions of their comics.

In comparing putting comics online versus music companies putting music online, Buckley said that its not an apples to apples comparison, as the experience of reading comics online is different than reading the physical versions of the comics themselves. Because of that, Buckley noted that they are currently looking at alterations that could be made to the format of their comics to enhance the online reading experience.

Buckley said that he feels that with online distribution of the comics, the entire market could see growth similar to what was seen in the days of broad newsstand distribution, saying that he feels publishers will see their readership grow tremendously as a result.

This is an interesting — and inevitable — development. But having read several issues online, I can safely say that digital comics will never replace their paper parents. The experience just isn’t the same.

This is mostly irrelevant to me, however, since I buy 99% of my comics in collected editions.

[Newsarama: NYCC '07: Marvel 1st major publisher to confirm digital distribution]