Marvel and DC Go Pre-Day & Date with Digital Comics, Single Issues Priced at 10 Cents - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews: In a stunning reversal of their recent digital strategies, Marvel and DC Entertainment have both announced a complete revamp of their digital comics services, including releasing digital issues a week before their printed counterparts, a pricing structure that will make most digital single issues available for only 10 cents, and the ability to buy a digital comic on one service and read it anywhere. After the jump, we break down the details of this groundbreaking announcement and share our thoughts on its significance.
Comics distributed through the pre-day and date system will be distributed in an enhanced digital format, known as ECBZ, which you can download to your computer DRM-free. This format supports in-comic hyperlinking, allowing for footnotes that link to comprehensive online encyclopedias or other comics. Many high profile ECBZ titles will include supplemental bonus material like variant covers, sketches, interviews, audio commentary by the creators and editors involved in the project, or even enhanced pages that allow you to peel back the layers of the comic, removing the lettering, colors, and inks, sometimes going all the way back to the thumbnail stage.
Surprisingly, retailers have reacted to the announcement with almost universal positivity. Adam Healy of Cosmic Monkey Comics in Portland, Ore. called the initiative "[t]otally reasonable, really. The extras are a nice addition to the comic reading experience, and make digital comics similar to a deluxe special edition, like Blu-ray vs DVD." He added that "while the prices could be higher, I trust that Marvel and DC will maintain the strong relationships they've built up with their retail partners over the past decades while simultaneously working to grow the industry. After all, don't we all want more people reading comics? The bigger the audience the better, as far as I'm concerned."