Marvel Announces Five New Exclusive Online Titles

Last November, Marvel Comics launched “Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited” an online initiative which made issues from Marvel’s vast library of issues available for subscription. The program offers an ever-changing selection of comics, ranging in the thousands, from classic comics to recent issues (older than six months). While specific numbers have not been disclosed by Marvel, the growth and vigor of the division suggests that it is one of the company’s bigger success stories of the past few years.

The program has been a vigorous part of Marvel’s efforts over the past year, and has seen, in recent months, more and more content that is either exclusive to the web, or begins on the web, and is later included in collections of other printed material, such as Secret Invasion: Home Invasion and a prologue to issue #1 of Secret Invasion.

Today, the company announced that it will launch new digital-only titles for subscribers beginning on October 22nd, with Marvels Channel: MONSTERS, MYTHS and MARVELS: Galactus at the Digital Comics Unlimited portal. New comics (three or more a month) will be released every Wednesday from there on.

The regular digital comics follow in the footsteps of Iron Man and Hulk digital-only series set in Marvel’s “movie continuity” and set after the character’s respective summer films.

From Marvel’s press release, the list of titles coming in the next few weeks are:

Marvels Channel: MONSTERS, MYTHS and MARVELS

Marvels Channel: MONSTERS, MYTHS and MARVELS: Galactus... devourer of worlds... embodiment of a cosmos... oldest being in the universe... totally made up? Join reporter Gordon Allsworth as he ventures to expose the lies and unearth the truth about the foremost foe of the Fantastic Four. Prepare for your world to be turned upside-down as experts de-bunk Galactus and explore the financial motivations for creating such a being. With limited (fake) commercial interruption, from writer Frank Tieri and artist Juan Santacruz

Halloween Special Issue
Frankenstein might be one of the most misunderstood monsters out there... so it's just his luck when an overprotective mother temporarily blinds him, thinking he was attacking her daughter. Fortunately, Frankenstein stumbles into Jack Russell, a.k.a. Werewolf-by-Night, a friend who understands Frank's plight. That is, until the full moon comes out... Make sure you sign-on for this special Halloween Monster Mash, from writer/artist Dean Haspiel! And make sure you check out Frankenstein and Werewolf by Night who each face-off against the Hulk in their own stories in Monster Size Hulk - on sale now!

American Eagle: Just a Little Old-Fashioned Justice
Leaping out of the pages of Thunderbolts, Jason Strongbow aka American Eagle, tribal leader and former super hero, keeps the peace throughout Navajo lands. So when a super villain on the run crosses onto the rez, pursued by one of Tony Stark's Initiative teams, Strongbow must give them all a hard lesson in down-home justice in a story from red hot scribe Jason Aaron and superstar artist Richard Isanove!

FIN FANG FOUR
There was a time when giants walked the Earth! Monstrous creatures! Products of science gone MAD!!! But what happens when some of these terrible titans try to play nice? Find out as Googam, Elektro, Gorgilla and the purple-pantsed Fin Fang Foom himself do the unthinkable and become functioning members of society. Well, not TOO functional...creators Scott Gray and Roger Langridge welcome back Marvel’s favorite enfants terribles in five gut-busting stories sure to unleash the Marvel Monster within!

Kid Colt
Tom DeFalco saddles up for a four-part western adventure featuring the classic Marvel western hero. Wanted by the law for killing a man in cold blood, Kid Colt thunders through the Wild West with guns blazing while trying to prove his innocence.

Amazing Spider-Man
Peter Parker’s life is very involved and even with three issues a month, there’s just not enough time to touch on everything or everyone. So to help solve that, Spidey Brain Trustee Bob Gale brings you an ongoing collection of stories taking place within and around current Spidey continuity, exploring his supporting cast and missed adventures. A lot can happen to a web-head in any given day...And it’s time you found out what’s missing!

With the launch, Marvel easily maintains its lead among American publishers in offering its products in a digital format, comics’ latest “new frontier.” That said, offering digital versions of comics online (legally) is still new to publishers, and over the months, the format and the reader has had some critics, mostly focusing on the format (Flash) that does not download the comics to the subscriber’s computer, but only allows them to be viewed via the application. Another sticking point, several creators with numerous books in Digital Comics Unlimited have told Newsarama that they have yet to receive any royalty for their work being viewed online as part of the program.

The problems are not specific to Marvel, however, as publishers across the board have struggled with a) a format that cannot be easily pirated and distributed - especially when the publisher is charging a subscription fee, and b) compensating creators whose work is presented online. Compensating creators was cited by DC President Paul Levitz as a major hurdle to overcome in terms of presenting DC’s library online. Since then, it shuld be noted, Warner Premeire has launched "Warner Premiere Motion Comics" which adapt DC Comics stories with limited animation and audio. DC has also launched Zuda, a webcomics site which features original stories and characters.

That said, many industry observers anticipate that within a couple of years, all publishers will offer at least a portion of their library online in some kind of fee-based system.