The comics industry doesn’t stand on Marvel and DC alone, which is good news for the industry considering how well their comics are doing. To end our reports, how about checking with the guys who may only have one panel or just running around being interviewed to promote themselves by at New York Comic-Con?
We’re starting with a Dark Horse announcement that will be a bit hit with the pro-digital crowd.
Today at New York Comic Con, the publisher that revolutionized creator-owned comics announced a new and ambitious digital publishing plan that’s set to do the same for sequential storytelling in the digital medium! By creating and managing its own digital publishing program—the Dark Horse Bookshelf app—Dark Horse Comics has eliminated third party fees on its digital editions. Not only will readers be able to enjoy Dark Horse comics at lower prices, but comic creators will receive a greater percentage of each digital sale. In short, readers pay less for their comics and creators make more money.
Sounds good, but why an “app”? Will there be something for non-iPhone/iPad users like PDF or the community e-comic standards? (Personally, I think PDF would reach more people since pretty much everyone has at least Acrobat Reader). Otherwise, it soulds like a good idea, especially if it leads to lower prices for the printed version (for those of us who prefer to hold a comic book in our hands–they use less battery power). Oh, should have read further:
The Dark Horse Bookshelf app will be available on iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone. Comics can also be purchased and read on modern web browsers at the Dark Horse Digital Store. Launching in January 2011 with comics priced at $1.49 per issue—50 cents lower than the industry standard—the Dark Horse Bookshelf app will be available for download from the iTunes Store and online at digital.darkhorse.com. To drive customers to brick and mortar retailers, the app and Web site will also include links to local comic shops.
I went to the site, and all they have now is a newsletter signup. The Spotlight will keep you informed as to when the service launches. So what came out of the actual panel?
The comics lineup for the initial launch will include the horror anthology “Creepy,” Mike Mignola’s “Hellboy” and “B.P.R.D.,” Joss Whedon’s “Fray” and “Serenity,” Felicia Day’s “The Guild,” BioWare‘s “Mass Effect,” Robert E. Howard’s “Conan,” Gerard Way’s “Umbrella Academy,” and Eric Powell’s “The Goon.” Like other digital services, Dark Horse Bookshelf will offer a selection of comics for free. Beginning in February 2011, some comics will be released simultaneously in print and digital form.
I hope the model works well for them. I still prefer the print version, but whatever gets the word out and improves the comics industry has to be beneficial somehow.
The program will also include exclusive content for retailers that is designed to lead customers to brick-and-mortar stores, Hershman said, although details of that will have to wait for now.
“We want to make sure nobody is turning their back on print,” senior managing editor Scott Allie emphasized later in the panel. “We have a really diverse, complex industry. This is a moment when we are going to change it, but we don’t want to burn anything down.”
That’s good to hear. Dark Horse has been playing with digital distribution, mostly through their MySpace page (people still use that?), but it looks like they’re hoping to succeed where DC hasn’t bothered and Marvel’s just barely trying but getting better.
In addition to the big digital news, the panel included a number of new title announcements. The first was “The Adventures of Dr. McNinja,” a print version of the webcomic by Chris Hastings, Benito Cereno and Les McClaine. The book will collect three story arcs from the long-running webcomic, “Monster Mart,” “Death Volley” and “Doc Gets Rad,” as well as one story that is exclusive to print, “Winter Wonderdome.” The first three volumes of the comic were published through Topatoco.
Yeah, THAT Doctor McNinja. This is a good thing.
Dark Horse will expand its DH:HD offerings on the USA Today website to include original eight-page comics that will be exclusive to that site. The first comic will be “Hellboy: The Whittier Legacy,” written and drawn by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and it will be followed by “Serenity: Downtime,” by Zack Whedon and Chris Samnee, “The Goon: An Irish Wake,” by Eric Powell, “Conan: Kiss of the Undead,” by Ron Marz and Bart Sears and “Mass Effect: Inquisition,” by Mac Walters and Jean Diaz.
OK, this is the first I’ve heard of this. I’ll have to take a look. CBR has more on the partnership here.
The news from IDW (besides the Godzilla license, complete with the other Toho favorites) features the new Doctor Who that makes me glad Tony Lee is still about. Then there’s the IDW/Hasbro panel discussing G.I. Joe and Transformers.
The panel moved on to quickly touch on “Infestation,” which launches in January. After breezing through the various “Infestation” tie-ins, Schmidt brought up the fact that the online reaction to the multi-universe spanning zombie epic varied greatly from fanbase to fanbase. “On the boards, the ‘Transformers’ fans seemed pretty chill about this. The ‘G.I. Joe’ fans were considerably less chill.”
As a Transformer fan, I’m kind of iffy on this one. I’m not sure why we need multiversal zombie stories. Marvel has that covered, and it feels out of place in the Transformers universe. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not into the whole “zombie” thing, too.
“Transformers” was up next, and Schmidt showed off slides for some of the new miniseries that are set to debut. “Transformers: Heart of Darkness,” written by Abnett and Lanning, will be born directly out of “Infestation” and feature the return of fan-favorite villain Galvatron. John Barber will be handling the adaptation of “Transformers 3” and there is a chance that the book will be released before the film premieres in theaters. Schmidt encouraged the audience to read the book, which would give them the ability “to go into the movie and spoil it for everyone!” Barber explained that the book would not only adapt the storyline of the movie, but also contain scenes and events not directly depicted in the film. Schmidt said that 2011 would really show everything the “Transformers” books have been building towards. “2011 is all about payoff for the ‘Transformers’ series.”
If you’ve been reading my daily reviews, you know I’m not a big fan of a lot of what Mike Costa has been doing with the main story, and I can take or leave McCarthy’s pet character, Drift, but the rest of the comics I’ve rather enjoyed. I would like to see another alternate universe (ala Hearts of Steel) or going to one of the non-G1 stories, like Robots in Disguise or the “Beast Era” stories (preferably without Simon Furman this time, as his Beast Wars comics for IDW were terrible) or better yet doing something with the toy characters who never had a media presence (which I would hope doesn’t just involve cannon fodder).
And of course we have to discuss Godzilla!
In addition to the King of the Monsters himself, the new comics from IDW Publishing and Toho Co., Ltd. will feature many of Godzilla’s friends and foes, including MOTHRA™, KING GHIDORAH™, RODAN™ and more that have never before been featured in an American comic book series alongside Godzilla. With an impressive cast of monsters both old and new, IDW’s series will treat fans to both familiar themes and original takes on the pop culture legends that have stomped, smashed, and fought their way across movie screens for over five decades.
Best news to come out of New York Comic-Con. I’m such a G-Fan that I’m wading into the pool of video reviewers to review a Godzilla movie, so you know I’m down with this. I loved the Dark Horse comics and even the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, but now we’re getting Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah? And hopefully some of the other monsters? I would be ecstatic to find out they’re going with the original timeline, where Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan, plus Angurius, King Caesar, and even Jet Jaguar form an army of good monsters (and one robot) to defend the Earth from Ghidorah, Gigan, and all the other evil monsters. No, I’m not calling for a secret headquarters or the Godzillamobile or anything…although after typing that, that would so ROCK as an April Fools special or something.
I’m free to write it, Chris Ryall! I’ll work scale. Kaijufriends will be a hit with the kiddies! Think about it as we go to the next page.
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