THE ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT MARVEL.COM!

[MichaelDoran]

Press Release

INTEGRATED PUBLISHING INFORMATION, COMPLETE GRAPHIC NOVEL SECTION, KEY CHARACTER MINI-SITES AND MORE AT THE UPGRADED MARVEL.COM!

<blockquote>With a focus on key characters, and a goal of providing integrated information on all Marvel comic books and graphic novels in print, The House has completely upgraded Marvel.com! A visit to The House's official web-site will reveal not only a complete physical redesign, but also several new features. In addition to the free Marvel dotComics, the Marvel Buzz news section, the monthly "Comics On Sale" listings, a ToyBiz section, the free Comic Shop Locator service, our convenient subscription service, and information on Investor Relations, users will now find:

[/i] Key character mini-sties, including sections spotlighting Spider-Man, Daredevil, The Hulk, Marvel Heroes and The X-Men.

An info-packed Graphic Novel section -- including cover art and solicitation text -- on every collection currently available for order (grouped both by family and alphabetically).

Concise character and/or team summaries of all ongoing series.

An updated press release and news stories list; and a re-organized Career Opportunities section.

"With an eye on providing Marvel readers with a more integrated and informative site, we've been working for weeks on a complete revamp," explained managing editor David Bogart. "And when readers see the pages of product descriptions that are fully-integrated with the latest Marvel publishing schedule, they'll see that Peter Mathews and the Marvel.com team hit the bullseye."

"The primary goal of the site upgrade was to create a simple way for Marvel.com's different users -- readers, retailers, toy collectors, movie fans, etc. -- to access information pertinent to them in no more than two-to-three clicks," explained Mathews. "Additionally, we attempted to create a means through which users could both get up to speed -- and stay on top of -- Marvel's ever-growing list of comic books and graphic novels. It was that goal of defining our key characters that inspired the idea for the mini-sites."

"Marvel fans will get an extra kick out of the mini-sites, which focus on our key families," said marketing communications manager Bill Rosemann. "Now X-Men readers -- with one touch of the mouse -- can explore an entire mutant-related section, complete with separate pages on core books such as NEW X-MEN and UNCANNY X-MEN, as well as X-related books like EXILES and X-STATIX! It's our way of spotlighting our top titles while also providing readers with information on the series that explore some of the more unique avenues of the Marvel Universe."

"Fans have been asking us for a comprehensive list of trade paperbacks and hardcovers that Marvel has available for ordering -- and here it is -- a pretty impressive list for a year and a half's worth of work," stated editor in chief Joe Quesada. "What's even more exciting is that this list will be constantly updated so, if and when you need to have the latest information on Marvel's backlist, it's merely a point and click away!"

See you at the all-new, all-different Marvel.com!</blockquote>

[Matt McLean]

Well... lookee-lookee... Marvel's website doesn't quite work yet.

No big surprise there, huh?

[John Jakala]

Uh, it works for me. Is there a particular part of the revamped site that doesn't work for you?

[Benjamin Simpson]

Looks like crap. DC's site (which used to be the worst of the major comic companies) now looks the best. same with Image's site. And most of the content isn't working. Why not wait a few extra days before EVERYTHING works to put the new site up?

[jimmy_hotledz]

i wansn't gonna piss on anyone's parade anymore than i had, BUT since other people said similar things to what I did, here's what i wrote on Newsarama's Talk@ board:

hey ya'll,

just peeped the new <a href="http://www.marvel.com" target="_blank">www.marvel.com</a> redesign and it looks like ass! :rolleyes: before i start ranting, understand this is from my own experience in the web, and my assessment is a mix of that and objective observation. of course there is some unprecedented lil’willy bashing, but he wants to create a media circus for the mce so direct your attention to ring number one.

i don't know in what regard most fans out there hold for web aesthetics but as far as I'm concerned how a site looks is integral to having an effective website. as a former (non-disgruntled) employee of marvel.com, i see this new design having the same problems that made the last site look rather piss-poor: lil’ willy and the yes-men.

generally he knows about as much about the web as he does comics and while i will argue that he isn’t a complete idiot, his objective/uninformed approach to marvel.com can only go so far. having some basic knowledge of what makes a good website would help, or at least trusting the abilities of the professionals that develop it. from experience i can say that rarely happens ther because the yes-men must stir their willy in pot so they can say they can say that they had a hand in things-- dumbing it down to the point where they can tell the board they understand some aspect of the web, but the with the site ultimately (pun intended) suffering.

a prime example being the black background w/white text. since it is obvious that marvel wants to appeal to possible investors and business partners it would stand to reason to have a white background w/black text. why? the lowest common/intelligence denominator, i.e. the corporate executive. if you print out the pages the way they are now (as execs like to do, for showing to their company higher-ups) you’re gonna get white text on white paper-- which equals a blank page.

and your average numbskull exec doesn’t know how to get around that problem.

on a positive note i do have to applaud the ingenious php, perl, and MySQL work as it appears that marvel.com is now almost entirely generated. again i am sure this was an executive initiative to make the site easier to create, but mad props to john Roberts whom i know to be the brains behind the site. the new site is hella-dynamic and i am sure it can now be created with no more than a button press. good work, man.

the only downside is that with all the traffic marvel generates a dynamically generated site will likely never load up fast again. if it loads at all, but by the time the higher ups notice the site will have not been seen by thousands.

easy to create willy, difficult to see.

unfortunately, the marvel.com teams’ design skills were obviously not trusted here. from the looks of it, this design was another crafting (and no offense to that otherwise talented crew) of the creative services department-- a group far, far more suited to print work than the web. unfortunately lil’ willy’s belligerent ignorance leads him to believe they can do both, when most web and print folk know the two are far different in production.
i am assuming this took CS about a day to mock up, and is just some color added to a generalized schematic (wouldn’t be the first time). it looks like they tried to make it look like the dotcomics (a j.roberts design by the way) site but half-assed it.

whatever, it makes lil’ willy happy, right?

aside from being immediately unattractive, there is a lot, and I mean a lot, of wasted space which leads the user to do some unnecessary scrolling to get to certain info on the landing page. at least on the old homepage most of the info was right there in your face (by the way, willy, that’s a good thing).

the funny thing is, that we used to look and the dc site and laugh at how crappy it looked but now it is the best looking and most informative comic site out there. sad how the tables have turned.

well at least marvel has dotcomics which are hella cool. but uh, willy? no one is playing recharge! it's a failed project! take the damn ad of! give it up!

i could go into greater details but then i would just be nitpicking and sound bitter. overall I would like to know what everyone else thinks, cuz in the end I guess that is what’s most important, the fans.

jimmy hotledz

[Tom Daylight]

Well it looks great to me.

[Graeme McMillan]

[quote]Originally posted by michaelDORAN:
<strong> An info-packed Graphic Novel section -- including cover art and solicitation text -- on every collection currently available for order</strong><hr></blockquote>

What, kind of like the one DC have over at <a href="http://www.dccomics.com," target="_blank">http://www.dccomics.com,</a> but without the sample pages that they offer, you mean?

[Steve J.]

[quote]Originally posted by michaelDORAN:
[QB]Press Release

INTEGRATED PUBLISHING INFORMATION, COMPLETE GRAPHIC NOVEL SECTION, KEY CHARACTER MINI-SITES AND MORE AT THE UPGRADED MARVEL.COM!<hr></blockquote>

I believe the revamped site is a definite improvement!

I really liked:

The Subscriptions section. The shipping lists, title summaries, and contact info will be very helpful to subscribers. I wish these existed when I subscribed!

The various mini-sites are nicely cross-linked with content found on other pages, i.e. dot-comics, graphic novels, ship dates, title summaries.

I didn't care for:

The Company Info and Investor Relations section. How many True Believers are also Marvel shareholders? This should go on a separate Marvel Enterprises corporate site.

The black background is kinda tough to look at for very long. It wouldn't hurt to brighten things up a bit.

I'm puzzled by:

The Graphic Novel section's lack of "includes issues # __ thru __ " information. How are you supposed to know if the book includes issues you might already own? Also, are all of these titles truly available from Diamond?

The Ultimate DD & Elektra TPB, when issue #1 hasn't hit the stands yet. I'm seriously considering skipping the individual issues with this info in hand --- was this Marvel's intent?

Kudos to Peter Mathews and all involved, they seem to have accomplished their goal of a snazzy, user-friendly website!

Steve J.

[Michael P]

[quote]Originally posted by Benjamin Simpson:
<strong>Looks like crap. DC's site (which used to be the worst of the major comic companies) now looks the best. same with Image's site.</strong><hr></blockquote>

How can two sites both be "the best?"

[MindTricked]

Hey - didn't really play with the site that much, but I did follow a link to an interview with the new Wolverine artist... huh??? What the holy-hey happened to Sean Chen, and why didn't I read it on Newsarama? Help a brotha' out here, people.

~Much obliged, ma'am.~

[Pariah]

God, someone a couple posts up is pissy. Get over getting fire and move on with life.

[Sean Walsh]

Y'know, it kinda looks exactly the same as the last time I was there (months ago).

But sometimes I can't even remember my own name, so I'll just say 'nice job' and move on... :p

Sean

[OCM]

Even more puzzling than the Elektra trade is a listing for a new Captain Marvel trade. The description is definately of the current storyline.

Hmmmm, no release date though, and I didn't see it in the Jan. Previews. The only reason I've been getting Captain Marvel because there wasn't likely to be a new trade. Now however...

[Erik Sternberger]

Navigation wise the new site is tons better. It suffered from what the old DC site did a while back which was that it reminded me of someone's desk. Tons of stuff on there, but just tossed about. With "new comics" practically hidden. For people looking for a Spiderman comic after seeing the movie, it could have been a nightmare to get to the information they wanted. Design wise, I have to agree it could use a little work, but it is better, and I understand why they would have wanted it this way, as with the Spidey movie (and dvd sales) they truely are moving more in the direction of being "Marvel Entertainment" I do have to agree with the previous poster in that black backgrounds of that type went out a few years ago, and unless people know about "print backgrounds" it could be a hassle, or waste their ink!

[Grendel Prime]

Computer screens use transmitted light, as opposed to the reflected light from the page of a book, and transmitted light is in effect radiation. Bright colors, like white, require more transmitted light (radiation) than do dark colors, like black (which actually is the absence of any transmitted light). I applaud Marvel for their use of a so much black in their new design, which equals less radiation bombarding me and less strain from intense bright light being flooded into my eyes.

I have been advocating this kind of design style for a while now, but unfortunately it seems most designers assume that users want to see the same thing on their computer screen that they seen on the printed page (black text on a white background).

There are some organizational problems with the new site, but not so many as there were on the old one. And I think it very effectively accomodates Marvel's multiple different audiences.

But as long as they don't get rid of the DotComics, I wouldn't care what the rest of their website does.

[Roast Beef]

[quote]Originally posted by Grendel Prime:
<strong>I have been advocating this kind of design style for a while now, but unfortunately it seems most designers assume that users want to see the same thing on their computer screen that they seen on the printed page (black text on a white background).</strong><hr></blockquote>

You are correct, sir. It has nothing to do with the well-established fact that black text on a white background causes, by far, the least amount of eyestrain. It is instead as you say: designers are simply making condescending assumptions.

As an aside, I'd like to congratulate the Marvel website's designers on incorporating such a relevant "file folder" theme to the whole site.

[Neon Moose]

[quote] But as long as they don't get rid of the DotComics, I wouldn't care what the rest of their website does. <hr></blockquote>

The dotComics are pretty much a joke of what they once were, now. Granted, they're probably being used as they were initially planned; they're there to promote and interest people in upcoming comics. But honestly, I doubt there're as many people going to dotComics as before, when it used to be that you could go there and read an issue of Ultimate Spiderman or Ultimate X-Men. Who cares about reading 6 pages of a comic featuring some guy that looks like a drunk and his snot nosed adopted kid who acts like he's 25? If Spider-Girl, Black Panther and Captain Marvel were in trouble enough that they had to have their cover price raised.. why not put them there? Or at least put back issues up, so you don't interfere with the sales of the current ones. The only problem with that is you run into trouble with hindering the sale of trades. But considering you churn out trades every 4-5 issues nowadays, comics that've been sitting on the shelf for a few weeks in comic shops would also be a hindrance to trade sales.


[quote] Computer screens use transmitted light, as opposed to the reflected light from the page of a book, and transmitted light is in effect radiation. Bright colors, like white, require more transmitted light (radiation) than do dark colors, like black (which actually is the absence of any transmitted light). I applaud Marvel for their use of a so much black in their new design, which equals less radiation bombarding me and less strain from intense bright light being flooded into my eyes. <hr></blockquote>

Okay, I can understand where you're coming from, but have you looked at something black on your computer screen in complete darkness? The black glows, because there's still light being put into the individual cells on the monitor. Personally, I doubt a single site's going to make you go blind... though if you go by old wive's tales, porn sites very well, could..


[quote] I have been advocating this kind of design style for a while now, but unfortunately it seems most designers assume that users want to see the same thing on their computer screen that they seen on the printed page (black text on a white background). <hr></blockquote>

There are two looks that are the least harsh on people's eyes.. black text on white, and white text on black. Neither of the two is really less harsh on the eyes than the other, as you have to pay attention to pick up the text on either. You don't complain about Newsarama's posting fields, do you? Sorry, I digressed and that was a bit of a jab, it's just that people who just up and decide one day that they know everything about design, annoy me.

Personally, here's what I think're some problems with the Marvel site. First off, it's too cluttered, with everything strewn about. It's all cramped together, with maybe.. I'd guage about 10-20 pixels of space between the bottom of one 'file folder' and the top of another. The vertical space between each file folder is even less, and that's the only place where they actually match up. It wouldn't look so bad if the top of the Marvel Buzz section lined up with the Graphic Novel one. That could change with each screen resolution, though.

Secondly, there's no real flow in the site for a number of reasons. When you first load up the site, all you can see on the first screen is the top menu and the dotComics menu. There's no real indication that you should scroll down, just looking at the content (yes, I realize the scroll bars would be an indication, but I'm doing a design break down here). When you do scroll down, there's not much to direct where your eyes should go, which's usually shown by making the colors more noticable in the main section compared to the tertiary sections. But on the Marvel page, every color's a shade of dark, so while you might recognize there's a different color there, you'll subconsciouslly see that they're all generally around the same shade. With a black background, a good way to know where to go is to put the main section with a white background and black text. But we can't do that now, can we? :rolleyes:

Neon Moose

[Jeremy Williams]

My problem with the site in that it`s designed to make you buy stuff and that`s all. What about enjoyment for the fans? Where are the charcters` bios and stuff like that? You get the feeling that no joy or passion was put into it. If i was a kid and would got to see my favorite chracters and land on the Marvel site, i would be very disapointed. At least at the Dc site there`s message boards so you can share your passion for these characters. With this "new Marvel", it feels...cold. And don`t talk to me that it costs too much to set-up a site: most kids out there are doing better with fansites than Marvel and with far less money.

[Slangword]

I'm getting the quicktime broken link symbol when I try to look at any dotcomics. :rolleyes:

Also, the DC comics website is <a href="http://dccomics.com" target="_blank">dccomics.com</a> (The link in the post above doesn't work). They've got two exclusive Jeph Loeb/ Jim Lee Batman pages up - a retelling of the origin. Fortunately, they are in JPG format, so I can actually view them. ;)

--Scott

[Wade @ Sighnub.com]

[quote]Originally posted by Slangword:
<strong>I'm getting the quicktime broken link symbol when I try to look at any dotcomics. :rolleyes:

--Scott</strong><hr></blockquote>

Could be because they aren't quicktime files they are flash files.

[jimmy_hotledz]

[quote]Originally posted by Pariah:
<strong>God, someone a couple posts up is pissy. Get over getting fire and move on with life.</strong><hr></blockquote>

What about the people that never worked there to get "fired" and called it piss poor/ugly?

yeah. :rolleyes:

Can I have an opinion like everyone else w/o the pop-psych analysis?

ANYWAY.

Poppa Capz

[woodstock]

[quote]The Graphic Novel section's lack of "includes issues # __ thru __ " information. How are you supposed to know if the book includes issues you might already own? Also, are all of these titles truly available from Diamond? <hr></blockquote>

Exactly! This makes things very confusing!

[danzo]

gee, i just have to comment on the black text/ white background vs. white text/ black background controversy; the second option is by far preferable, much less eye-strain that way. the poster who said that these two are the least strenuous options is wrong; for long-term viewing anything on a white background causes the most eye-strain, particularly for those with vision problems in the first place. and that's not an opinion, it's a fact that far too many web-cognoscenti refuse to admit. it all has to do with the physical nature of sight and, as has been pointed out, the fact that a computer screen is transmissive- in short we're talking about retinal "burning" here- the white simply stays imprinted on the retina longer than any other color.
other than that, the site is a definate improvement over the previous version. navigation could still use improvement, though.

[Slangword]

[quote]Originally posted by Wade @ Sighnub.com:
<strong>

Could be because they aren't quicktime files they are flash files.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Thanks for the tip. Evidently an update I installed without thinking much about converted Quicktime to my preferred Flash player -- which wuld have been OK if it had actually played the files . . . .

Anyway, thanks again.

--Scott

[Kon-EL]

if the new marvel.com is so frigging great, why do they still not have shipping updates for those titles that are behind schedule the way their "Distinguished Competition" does. I'm sick of not knowing when my favorite titles are coming in. For instance, according to the site, Amzing Spidey #47 is shipping next week. Well, i highly doubt that since #46 just barely came in this week! Get on the ball, Marvel!

[LLance]

Just took a quick look and didn't see a message board section :( , but did see a link for fan letters! :)