NYCC '07: MARVEL 1st MAJOR PUBLISHER TO CONFIRM DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

[MattBrady]

Updated with a full panel report (below):

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.

In terms of comics that Marvel will be putting online, the Publisher said that it will not be their entire line of books, “No one up here will put their entire line online,” Buckley said, noting the others present on the panel. Buckley said that along with other titles, Marvel will be aggressively work to get comics of their Marvel Adventures line online, as well as their Classics Illustrated line which kicks off soon with adaptations of literary works, such as The Last of the Mohicans.

Buckley concluded his comments by saying that Marvel has done the research that suggests that even though the comics can be bought online, readers who find Marvel product online will convert and begin buying the monthly titles as well as trades, reflecting a theme of the entire panel that readership will grow as more people become familiar with the material.

Update: Some of the industry’s heavyweights got together on the Comics Publishing: Review & Outlook 2007 panel to do a bit of discussing the year in review, forecasting the coming year, and identifying the areas of opportunity and items that need to be worked on further.

Paul Levitz (President & Publisher, DC Comics) opened the discussion, indicating that this is “a moment in comics that is more creative” than any other time in his tenure. He wanted to thank the majority of the audience (which he estimated to be booksellers) for their help in making the last year a good one. The terrific moment we’re experiencing is in spite of not yet seeing fully “what comics can be”. In his estimation, we’re just starting to see the depth of the medium and a new audience is being attracted. Book giants are entering the fray and finding new ways to market their ventures, sinking in more money to the promotion. The book sellers (independent DM and bookstores, as well as major chains) are putting more effort into marketing the items, as well, which Levitz appreciates.

Dallas Middaugh (Associate Publisher, Del Rey Manga) was the next to address the audience. He started out expressing how honored he was to be on the panel, as he started reading via comics when he was 2 or 3 (as he imagines many fans have). Del Rey (as a Random House subsidiary) is one of the largest publishers shaping manga and graphic novels now. He sees manga as continuing to dominate. This is because there is a lot of really good manga out there that can appeal to kids and adults, men and women, and nearly any group you can think of. What he currently finds exciting is the vast variety coming to market from all publishers (especially Del Rey’s own).

Stuart Levy (CEO, Tokyopop) started off his time with bringing back Levitz's estimation that a majority of the audience were booksellers. He polled the audience for how many were booksellers, journalists (the actual majority), creators, and other (which Dan Buckley chimed in that those were mostly his people that he forced to attend). Levy then went on to warn the panel and audience that he wanted to take a bit more of a cynical approach than those who had gone before him. He currently sees a market where everyone in the audience seems to want to publish, but where are the readers? Comic books have many other items (film, video games, etc) competing against them for the consumer’s dollar. The approach to combat that has been to make good stuff and hope readers come, but there just isn’t the habit of reading comics in America that there needs to be. He wonders how do we get people to stop thinking about comics as being “just for a few geeks”. He (slightly tongue-in-cheek) called out Paul Levitz and Time-Warner to put forth a $5 billion marketing push to increase awareness of comics as being more wide-open (because he doesn’t have the money). One of the problems we have in the American market is that society doesn’t see great comic book writers or artists as heroes in the same way that they put great directors or fiction writers on a pedestal.

Levitz broke in to say that DC does put out several million dollars in marketing (Levy reminded that he said billion) and that he knows that at least one or two other companies represented at the panel put forth a million or more dollars into marketing. The Minx line will have a great push and he said there are some times they might push a book where they’re basically spending $5 per book to market the books, even if that isn’t great math. Levitz feels part of the problem has more to do with overall literacy and attraction to reading in our country.

Levy said he feels that Minx is great, but he feels that something is needed that pushes the medium in general, rather than specific products, in the same way that Sony pushed a gaming platform rather than software title specifically. He feels part of the problem is caused by the fact that even the five people on the panel can’t agree on the same name for the medium. It's called comic books, graphic novels, manga, and a host of other names. Sequential art covers it all, but it doesn’t really sum it up in a way that helps galvanize attention.

Alvin Lu (VP – Publishing, VIZ Media) says his focus is growth. Not just growth for his market share, but comics and manga in general. New readership is key. They’ve had success in modest way in bringing people not familiar with manga into the market. Their flagship titles (Naruto, Bleach, Death Note) help, whether it is from TV, t-shirts in Hot Topic, or other exposure. Nurturing current readers is important and they’ve kept steady. He feels the back list is important and is coming through fine with Volume 1 of Naruto selling well. What needs to be done from their perspective is bring more people in through their big properties and then “hook them on the category”.

Dan Buckley (President & Publisher, Publishing Marvel Entertainment, Inc.) wanted to “echo Paul” and be “less cynical than Stu”. He feels DC & Marvel are having difficulty penetrating the same “cool” audience that manga reaches. Minx is a great attempt and Marvel is making their effort with things like their Dabel Brothers deal. DC & Marvel owe a lot to manga for resuscitating the bookstore market. He feels its unfortunate that, as mentioned, we don’t have a consistent name for what is produced. Marvel is seeing consistent growth outside of the Direct Market better than ever before. He wondered when does the medium just become “graphic fiction”, in a change that would encompass all the product and fit in with the bookstore market better. He thinks it will come soon, as we’re proving we can handle all genres. There are already such leaps made, where comics came from being a handful of DC Comics trades and some Overstreet Guides to about 24 feet of space in all bookstores. That is helping to bring in more readers, as is the “crappy” newsstand market.

As everyone had gotten to speak, the floor was open again.

Levtiz shared that he had a “rare moment of clarity” in the last year with V for Vendetta. All current comic readers who wanted to read the book had already read it. Not surprisingly, though, the book sold 125k copies. Peculiar to the property, they did very little to advertise other comics in that trade, but they saw a bump in other books. Watchmen, for example, sold about three times as much as it had in the previous year. He is certain that it bumped other books and that it probably bumped manga books as well. Manga, he feels, has likely bumped DC product, too…not that he has any way of telling who and what bumped. Market research shows, though, that there are a lot of new readers coming into the market via bookstores and intend to buy more very soon.

Levy felt that movies and television bump products, but (the industry doesn't) seem able to build up artists and writers as stars here like they become in Japan. Dan Buckley immediately answered that he feels that is a cultural difference between the US and Japan, where Japan is so much more strongly based around the written media. The closest our market has to that would be Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman being able to push product just by name.

Lu interjected that he feels their Death Note was a new product without any big base before, but Levy was quick to counter that, because of the internet, the market here already knew it was huge in Japan.

Middaugh agreed that it is difficult in our market to build that push for artists and writers here. His best example was that no amount of work that Chris Ware had done seemed to get his name to break through in the market until he won the Darnian (UK) Award. Manga, without mass media tie-in, is very hard to get to break through in the market, as well.

Levitz brought it back around to cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan and added that he felt it is, also, about a difference in functional literacy. People like to read more in Japan than in the U.S. Harry Potter (a franchise read the world over) sold around 16 million copies in America…to about only 5% of the US. This cements that it is hard to break creators in ANY medium in our market because of this. Comics and graphic novels are not as good at breaking creators, but they are so much better now. Allison Bechdel came virtually out of nowhere. Pride of Baghdad was something very different than they had done before and sold around 20-30 thousand copies, better than they would have been able to do before. He mentioned that these strides are with us still not even knowing how to rack comic material: should all Frank Miller rack together or should his Dark Knight Returns rack with DC?

During the question and answer period that followed, an audience member broughty up the literacy question more specifically to focus on how to get more kids reading.

Middaugh mentioned that, for all the talk about manga bringing in a younger audience, we have to realize that teenagers are buying that for themselves (as their parents wouldn’t probably look kindly on it initially). Where the kids will come in is through the adults buying graphic novels for themselves, becoming mor accepting of the medium, and then finding more within the medium to buy for their kids.

Levitz answered that new readers (young and old) are coming in at a greater rate now than they ever have in the last 30 years, whether it is through Dabel Brothers product, college age kids with Vertigo, or other sources. We’re “at a critical mass for reaching more adults”, where (the industry is) reaching at least 500 thousand to at most a million.

New York Comic Con 2007 coverage brought to you by Comicraft's ELEPHANTMEN #7, on sale right now from Image Comics!

[vfxdammerung]

Nothing beats a paper comic book in my hand. 'Nuff said.

[Doctor_Chronos]

As long as they do it in a format where it is basically scanned pages similar to that comic reader zip format thing, I'm all over digital comics. If it is more of that stupid proprietary flash type reader where panels zoom out and all these other annoying effects, then they can keep it.

[SDM]

It's good to see Marvel putting out their most accessible titles online.

[greenflameuk]

Originally Posted by vfxdammerung

Nothing beats a paper comic book in my hand. 'Nuff said.

Yeah i agree, reading a comic off a computer screen has never appealed to me.

[Scavenger]

Be interesting to see how they approach this.
I've noticed their 40 Years dvd collections lack any sorty of copy protection, for example.

the Foglios took Girl Genius online, and report they've seen tremendous growth in their readership which has led to huge tpb sales.

[papafatass]

I Like It!

[CousinWalter]

Originally Posted by vfxdammerung

Nothing beats a paper comic book in my hand. 'Nuff said.

I'm with you there. I don't think this is a bad move in any means, why not make comics available digitally? But it won't beat going to ye ole comic shoppe.

[Doctor_Chronos]

Originally Posted by vfxdammerung

Nothing beats a paper comic book in my hand. 'Nuff said.

I really like paper comics, but they are really starting to become an albatross around my neck. 30 something long boxes of the things really add a huge complexity to things like moving. I had to pass up really nice apartments because of it.

I've been actually considering giving up on comics for the space issue alone.

[Drcharles]

This is the start lads !

[Ye Olde Iowa]

Meh. I'm really not excited about this development at all. Pretty soon you'll have "digital exclusives" and the like, and that will just annoy me. Then again, I'm still pretty damn annoyed at iPods and whatnot. Give me my comic shops and longboxes anyday.

[jamie hood]

I'll admit that there are comics I buy and read and look back and say "I'll never need to read that again." Likewise, there are comics that I think I would like but don't buy because I don't have the cash to buy it all. Then there are books that I buy monthly and then would like to own in an even more permanent form like absolute and omnibus editions. Offering digital comics at discounted pricing would work for me if they can figure out how to format it to still be handheld and not tied to a computer. I could see myself buying digital stuff when I am just in it to keep up with a story and then buying the deluxe editions of stuff I want to keep forever.

[Ben543250]

Originally Posted by greenflameuk

Yeah i agree, reading a comic off a computer screen has never appealed to me.

Eventually, the computer screen will be as light and portable as a piece of paper, and your opinion won't make any sense.

For the "but I like the touch and smell of paper" weirdos, I'm sure they can add the texture and scent until you guys die off.

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Doctor_Chronos

As long as they do it in a format where it is basically scanned pages similar to that comic reader zip format thing, I'm all over digital comics. If it is more of that stupid proprietary flash type reader where panels zoom out and all these other annoying effects, then they can keep it.

Quoted for truth.

[lonelygirl15]

Don't they say this every few months, "We're looking at options for online distribution... Nothing specific yet..."? How is this a major announcement? Both majors and most of the minors and indies put some comics online. The question is, are they going to set up a digital distribution channel where people can *buy* comics online? I don't see any confirmation of that here. Maybe its implied or this post is just confusing...?

"We're gonna have a serious look into this internet thing. Its inside a computer!"

[Bearpod91]

If they print them out both in paper and digital, I like that more than one chioce.

[PreCrisisDC]

While I knew this would eventually rear its (to me) ugly head, I am not a fan of the online comic--I love the old fashion paper in hand. I liken my self to the old guy in a Twilight Zone episode who hides his books---because everyone else uses computers......something along those lines...

[Scorned1]

Originally Posted by Scavenger

Be interesting to see how they approach this.
I've noticed their 40 Years dvd collections lack any sorty of copy protection, for example.

the Foglios took Girl Genius online, and report they've seen tremendous growth in their readership which has led to huge tpb sales.

Copyright protection is the key aspect of this project because I have a feeling that each issue is going to have to be account and password varified to begin with so that no other person aside from the buyer is going to be able to view them. A similar thing has been done for the porno industry for years now.

Still. Nothing is going to beat the actual book and trades. In the end, the digital format is going to be worth nothing because paper ages while a file doesn't. Similar to digital artists that just paint on the computer. Sure while the image is very crisp and nice to look at. In the end the actual artwork will be worth nothing because it is a computer file that doesn't age. When the actual drawing or painting on canvas will always be worth something.

[jeremysee]

i still miss flipping thru the pages of a good ol encyclopedia, so i will always prefer holding, flipping thru pages, and of course, obsessing over a comic's condition...not at all trying to take away from some of the terrific online comics out there now.

however, i think it's pretty cool , for instance, that the first 560 issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN are available in an online format for only 50 bucks...

[Kevin T. Brown]

Originally Posted by vfxdammerung

Nothing beats a paper comic book in my hand. 'Nuff said.

Nothing else needs to be said.

[michaelman9]

I'ld like to hear feedback from an LCS on the subject. if it gets more people to stroes, great. if it canabalizes the market, then that could seriously jepordise local stores.

[creatorman]

Originally Posted by Doctor_Chronos

I really like paper comics, but they are really starting to become an albatross around my neck. 30 something long boxes of the things really add a huge complexity to things like moving. I had to pass up really nice apartments because of it.

I've been actually considering giving up on comics for the space issue alone.

I know what you mean about the space. I have about 60 boxes.

[Beefcliff]

Originally Posted by Scorned1

Copyright protection is the key aspect of this project because I have a feeling that each issue is going to have to be account and password varified to begin with so that no other person aside from the buyer is going to be able to view them. A similar thing has been done for the porno industry for years now.

Still. Nothing is going to beat the actual book and trades. In the end, the digital format is going to be worth nothing because paper ages while a file doesn't. Similar to digital artists that just paint on the computer. Sure while the image is very crisp and nice to look at. In the end the actual artwork will be worth nothing because it is a computer file that doesn't age. When the actual drawing or painting on canvas will always be worth something.

The Comic industry isn't exactly doing much about digital scans now, but I'm sure it'll work on a format similar to itunes encryption (and I'm sure someone else out there will crack it right away).

To all the people saying that digital isn't as good as paper, have you ever actually read a comic on your computer? It's not bad at all.

[Howard]

Originally Posted by Scorned1

Copyright protection is the key aspect of this project because I have a feeling that each issue is going to have to be account and password varified to begin with so that no other person aside from the buyer is going to be able to view them. A similar thing has been done for the porno industry for years now.

And how's that working out for the porno industry?

[creatorman]

I am totally FOR digital comics. In fact, my own creation, Eye of The Keeper will also be offered digitally and in print. Details coming soon...