One of my predictions for 2011 is that DC will announce more day-and-date digital releases than its competitor (listen to this weekend’s Major Spoilers Podcast), and the company is already getting off to a good start with the announcement that Batman Beyond will get the digital comic treatment delivered the same day it arrives in stores.
“Batman Beyond was a critically acclaimed, fan favorite animated series that still has a large number of fans to this day,” said Hank Kanalz, SVP Digital, DC Entertainment, “By releasing the ongoing comic series digitally, we’re hoping we reach that audience and bring back any fans of the show who may be lapsed comic readers.”
ComiXology was one of the most downloaded applications for the iPad in 2010, and with a potential readership of 2 million people, and the large Batman Beyond fan-base out there, this is more than likely going to be a win-win for everyone.
Written by Adam Beechen with art by Ryan Benjamin and John Stanisci, BATMAN BEYOND #1 tells the continuing story of Terry McGinnis, the successor to Bruce Wayne and the Batman legacy, set well into the DC Universe’s future. Last year’s BATMAN BEYOND miniseries and the original 24-issue series are currently available digitally.
The biggest downer in all of this is that the digital edition will have the same price as the print version – $2.99. As I mentioned last year, when the price doesn’t go down for the digital edition, the big winner is the publisher.
Currently, DC Comics offers Justice League: Generation Lost, Young Justice, and the Driver Special as day-and-date releases.
1 Comment
Stephen,
I agree with you, the fact that the price for digital downloads is so high does not help the fan. The field has become more like the DVD, normal books or music industries. In those fields, the value of the physical product – dvd, regular books or cd – depreciates in value as time progresses since they are replaced by the next product. However, the digital downloads NEVER drop in price because the store never has a reason to make the product too affordable.
With their high print runs, comics are more like these products than ever before. The only time it might help the fan is if there are digital downloads available of old comics as they might be considered too valuable for a run of the mill fan to get them. Sort of like a trade paperback. Otherwise, we will continue to get hosed despite the lack of infrastructure costs.
Just my two cents,
Mark