Wonder Woman Goes Digital

Wonder Woman gets a new comic, that will first premier digitally and then be collected monthly. The new comic, Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman, will be an anthology series.

Said the Press release, by Hank Kanalz, senior VP of Vertigo and Integrated Publishing: “With the success of LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT and ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, giving Wonder Woman her own digital anthology series makes perfect sense. With this series creators can dream up unique takes on the Amazon Princess to give fans a new adventure every week. We’re very excited about the line-up, and readers won’t want to miss the sensational action-packed Wonder Woman stories we have planned for the coming weeks and beyond.”

Gail Simone (Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Secret Six) and Ethan van Sciver (Green Lantern, Futures End) will tell the first tale with Cat Staggs (Smallville, Vampire Diaries) and Amanda Deibert (Womanthology) taking care of the second- both collected in the 40 page first printed issue, out August 20th. Lauren Beukes, Cecil Castellucci , Caitlin Kittredge, James Tynion IV, Georges Jeanty, and Chris Sprouse are set to tell subsequent stories. The stories, following Legends of the Dark Knight and Adventures of Superman’s models, will be stories outside of the current continuity, but fun nevertheless. Gail Simone is back to writing a paralyzed Barbra Gordon (Batgirl) in her iconic roll as Oracle, the go to information hub of the DC Universe. Oracle has disappeared since the 2011 New52 relaunch when Gordon, rehabilitated and de-aged, reverted to her mantle as Batgirl.

Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston- the creator of the Lie detector test. She first appeared in 1941’s All Star Comics # 8, and quickly had her own comic; Sensation Comics #1 started in January of 1942 (Hence the name of this new series). Diana currently stars in her own self titled series by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang and co-stars in Superman/Wonder Woman with her current boyfriend, the Man of Steel, by Charles Soule and Paulo Siqueira.

DC’s Digital First line has produced many hits. Current titles include: Batman Beyond, Justice League Beyond (Based on the DC Animated Universe created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm and company), Infinite Crisis, Injustice: Gods Among Us (based on the game), Teen Titans Go!, Batman ’66 (based on the campy 60’s show staring Adam West and Burt Ward), The Vampire Diaries, Smallville, and Scribblenauts Unmasked. New installments come out weekly and cost 99 cents.

Free (Indian) Comic Book Weekend For All!

International comic month continues. Our next stop is India for Free Comic Book Weekend (FCBW). Readwhere.com and Comic Con India have teamed up to offer free comics on the Readwhere app. The weekend seeks to “increase popularity of Indian comics among today’s generation.”

“We are taking steps to ensure that Indian comics are available to its fans easily,” said Jatin Varma, head of Comic Con India. Eight publishers are taking part in the event including world renowned Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) and Diamond Comics. "Relive your childhood. Be a kid again!" the site proposes.

It is necessary to download the readwhere app through its website (also free). The app is compatible with Android decides, Apple devices (specifically noted the iPad), and PCs and tablets that have Windows 8.1 or higher.

Readers can choose from five comics per account from a selection of ten comics. Draupadi: The Fire-Born Princess (Campfire Graphic Novels), Tinkle (ACK), Satya Police (Pop Culture Publishing), and the fan favorite Chacha Chaudhary (ACK) are standouts. Some of the titles are in Hindi (the website, however, is in English.

This is the second Free Comic Book Weekend held in India. Manish Dhingra, co-founder and director of readwhere.com, stated they supplied free comics to “more than 15, 000 comic book enthusiasts” the previous FCBW.

Free Comic Book Weekend is May 3rd and 4th in India. Keep in mind India is 10 hours ahead of New York local time (Eastern Time).

Head to http://www.readwhere.com/fcbw2014 and get reading. The same page includes “Comics on Sale” ; don’t get confused!

ComiXology and Amazon: A New Comic Book Pairing

Amazon announced the acquisition of comiXology, one of the biggest platforms for digital comics in the world, further amplifying their presence in the online marketplace.

According to the company “comiXology revolutionized the digital comic reading experience with their immersive technology, and made it easier and fun to discover, buy and read comics and graphic novels.”

For the president and cofounder of comiXology, David Steinberger, Amazon is the ideal place for the platform and, working together, the companies will rush in a new era for the industry.

“The two companies share the passion in reinventing reading in a digital world. We invest in this market, building a team and bringing comics to more people”, confirmed David Naggar, president of Amazon.

ComiXolgy was founded in 2007, releasing comics from the principal publishers of the United States and also other parts of the world. The releases are available on platforms simultaneously as the printed versions arrive at comic book stores.

(Original article: Amazon compra plataforma de HQs digitais comiXology, written by Samir Naliato on April 11, 2014. Republished and translated with permission by UniversoHQ)



ComiXolgy, with Amazon’s visibility, could mean great things for the industry. ComiXolgy offered self publishing, retailer perks, and huge sales-not to mention free comics. ComiXology has been inching into the international community, with an office opened in France. Amazon’s Kindle offers books in many languages from all over the world. Read David Steinberger’s message on the merger on the comiXology website.

 Amazon has a fan-fiction initiative for the Kindle which “authorizes anyone to create and sell fan fiction” inspired by certain properties. Among the open properties are the Valiant Entertainment characters including Archer, Armstrong, X-O Manowar, Shadowman and Bloodshot. Find out more about that here. 

How Much Would You Pay For a Comic? Name Your Price

The online comic store Mais Gibis(More Comics) is premiering a new way of payment, called “Name Your Price”, for select titles.

With this option, the reader will decide how much they want to pay for some editions, like Gibi Quântico("Quantam Comics") or Manual da Autodestruição("Self-destruction Manual"), and collaborate with the creators. The price paid could be any value upwards of 1 Real(.50 US cents). If the reader prefers, they can enter R$0.00 and download the issues for free.

Quantam Comics,  available through Mais Comics is created by 10 writers and various talents of Brazil

"Quantam Comics" is one of the new titles available through the site. Others include Pieces 1 and 2, by Mario Cau; and Os Passarinhos e Outros Bichos("The Birds and Other Animals"), by Estevão Ribeiro and published by Balão Editorial.(Other titles do not feature the "Name Your Price" flexibility)

To see the full catalog of digital titles, check out the site.

(Original article: Site Mais Gibis estreia o modelo Quer pagar quanto? Written by Samir Naliato on March 19, 2014. Reprinted and translated by permission from UniversoHQ)

Stateside, Brian K. Vaughan(Saga, Y the Last Man, Runaways) and Marcos Martin(Daredevil, Doctor Strange:The Oath, The Amazing Spider-Man) teamed up to “deliver original comics directly to readers around the world, who pay whatever the hell they want…” This format takes the middle man(distributors, publishers) out of the picture and all proceeds go right to the hands of the creators. Their digital exclusive series, The Private Eye, has been getting rave reviews and is currently in the middle of its proposed ten issue run. 

Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin through The Panel Syndicate

An appreciated feature is that the issues are available in English, Spanish and Catalan- with older issues available in additional Portuguese and French as well. Try it out at panelsyndicate.com. 

This is a great way to show comics are not a luxury item and that the medium can be enjoyed by all cultures and economic classes. Comics are for everyone!

Marvel's Unlimited Infinite Proposal

Marvel had some big announcements today at SXSW. They are upping the ante with their digital offerings. They finally rolled out their Adaptive Audio feature on their Marvel Unlimited digital subsriprtion program. Adaptive audio, provided by Firelight Technologies(composers of BioShock, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Spider-Man:The Animated Series) , is said to be “a non-looping soundtrack meant to enhance the reading experience with music and sound, but not dialogue.” In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Marvel’s vice president of digital products, Kristin Vincent, discussed the unique challenges, “How do we not make it just looping music in the background? How do we make it an immersive experience that's truly an adaptive score that the user controls, that adds to the storytelling? The collaboration has been eye-opening to me -- it's actually becoming a tool in storytelling, as opposed to just being music looped on.”

Adaptive audio, first announced last year at Marvel’s SXSW presentation, isn’t yet available on all titles. In preperation for Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4, Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America is first to undergo the treatment. According to Comic Book Resources, this is specific to issues 8, 9, 11 to 14. The arc is illustrated by Steve Epting.

To try an promote the app and its new features, Marvel is reducing the monthly subscription, normally $9.99 (or $69.99 a year), for only $0.99 this month-provided you join before March 14th. The subsription app does have a 6 month lag to promote purchasing new comics. Marvel is not ruling out a subscription service for release day comics, “It all depends on how the market goes.” Marvel Unlimited will also incorprate AR special features to be accessed mid story when using the app.

Use the code SXSW99 to take advantage of one month of comics for under a dollar!

Marvel also announced new content for their Infinite Comics digital first initiative. They are putting out a free 24 part series titled based on Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man. The release schedule has not been decided on but the series will be showcased in a new kid-friendly app. The writing duties will be divided by Eugene Son, Matt Kindt, Cullen Bunn and Tim Seeley. Art will be handled by JL Mast and Geoffrey Beulieu on storyboards and Luciano Vecchio and Soutchey Leimetry on finished art.

“Not only do I think it's a good opportunity for Marvel, it seems like we have great stories that resonate around the world, and we're really proud of that. That's why in my mind it makes sense to start, especially with kids, with a character like Spider-Man, as opposed to a Captain America -- which hopefully also has worldwide reach, but obviously is a little bit different," says Kristin Vincent. Ultimate Spider-Man will be translated shortly upon release to ten different languages to cater to children world wide.

Free Comics Galore

With Free Comic Book Day less than two months away in the US...Comixology is picking up the slack at the annual SXSW Fair. Fair-goers will be rewarded five dollar gift cards for the online app. Last year, Comixology partnered with Marvel to promote their MarvelNOW! Initiative, offering 300 free comics to all users for the SXSW weekend, crashing their system in the process.

This weekend, Comixology’s offerings are a bit more tame, rolling out a free comic code every few hours. Their Friday codes(8 in all) include collected editions of Ninjago(Papercutz), My Little Pony(IDW), and New York Times bestseller Locke and Key(IDW) along with DC’s first issues of Batman ’66, Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Batman: Arkham City. Two other codes will be announced today. These codes are able to be redeemed until midnight on Saturday- New York time.

Locke and Key by IDW. Do yourself a favor and download volume 1 today for free!

The event page also has seven offerings for Saturday and seven more for Sunday. Take a look at the Geek Stage Giveaway here and enjoy a comic download today!


This comes after a breach in security over the week that Comixology is still trying to resolve. So far, only passwords were leaked . The application sent out emails to users to change their passwords and put up a warning on the main page.

Kadokawa

Also down the line is the launch of a new app for Manga- ComicWalker. Run by a Japanese publishing company, Kadokawa- the app will offer titles in Chinese, English and Japanese. They plan to offer 40 works on their March 22nd launchdate. Kadokawa also has plans to have a digital first selection on the app. Only drawback? The website AND the app menu is all Japanese! This is only temporary as the developers are working on an English menu.

Kadokawa publishes Cowboy Bebop, .hack//, Ludwig II, Trinity Blood, and Mobile Suite Gundam. The titles will be available for free and even can be combined into an anthology magazine(in traditional Manga style) to make reading your favorite titles easier and more convenient.  For more information on titles look here.

Brazilian E-Book: Comics in the Digital Age

Marsupial Editora

Last year, the Brazilian publisher Marsupial released the book Comics in the Digital Age, presenting articles by twelve researchers who tackle and analyze different aspects of the relationship between comics and the digitalized world that is growing more and more present in our daily lives.

Now, the book is available also as an e-book, it can be acquired in the following online stores: Amazon, Apple Store, Kobo, Gato Sabido, Travessa and Cultura.

This isn’t the first project Marsupial has made available in digital format. At the end of 2013, The History of Comics in Brazil was released and the publisher has other offerings as e-books. For a full list, click here.

Comics in the Digital Age has articles by Edgar Franco, Roberto Elísio dos Santos, Victor Corrêa, Marcel Luiz Tomé, Pedro de Luna, Vítor Nicolau, Paulo Ramos, Lucio Luiz, Octavio Aragão, Reinaldo Pereira de Moraes and Renata Prado. The book was edited by Lucio Luiz.


(Original article: Livro Os quadrinhos na era digital é disponibilizado em e-book by Samir Naliato. Translated and republished with permission by Universo HQ.)

Brazil has a very strong publishing industry. They also have an educational system that is a fan of comic books- from celebrating the history of the medium to using comics to educate children. Their digital offerings are not as widespread as it is in the United States but the options are quickly multiplying. This book should inspire creators and publishers to pursue the digital frontier and make their offerings truly global!

 

Indian Comic Con Showcases a World of Talent

India held their own Comic Con in New Delhi this weekend at Thyageraj Stadium. It is the fourth convention of its kind for the country. 

Guests include Mark Waid( Kingdom Come, 52,Irredeemable,Daredevil ), David Lloyd(Illustrator, V for Vendetta), John Layman(Image Comic’s Chew, Gambit, Detective Comics), Brazilian twins Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba( Collectively: Daytripper, Casanova, The Umbrella Academy) , and Indian creator Pran(Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu). Comixology also visited to give a talk “Digital Comics & It’s Scope”. The Comic Con had a lot to do:Screenings Sherlock and Supernatural, PS4 game station, Peanuts Museum, “Learn to write comics”, grass root comic campaigns, and “A chance to visit New York”. The 4th annual Indian Comic Con connects the international community with India's rich comic book culture. 

A staple of Indian childhood since the 60s: Amar Chitra Katha comics created by Uncle Anant Pai, educates children in multiple languages about a variety of Indian folklore, mythology, biographies  and history. Their online store offers international shipping.

Pran, present at the Con, has been called the “Walt Disney of India” . He has created many diverse characters and his flagship property: the mustached super genius Chacha Chaudhary, has 600 animated  episodes under his belt. Learn more about the characters and the creator here.

Chacha Chaudhary, created by Pran

Spider-Man:India, published Gotham Entertainment Group was a 4 issue Indian adaptation of Spider-Man. Released in 2004(2005 Stateside), it was created by Suresh Seetharaman,Jeevan Kang, and Sharad Devarajan. In the story, Pavitr Prabhakar lives with his Auntie Maya and Uncle Bhim, he crushes on Meera Jain. Nalin Oberoi(Green Goblin) and Doctor Octopus(with magic tentacles) threaten the young wall crawler.

Marvel/ Gotham Entertainment Group

Marvel Global Comics released their app this week, featuring multiple titles in Hindi. Viz Media is heavily pushing Manga in India. With multiple Indian publishers accepting and embracing Digital Media, their future is as bright as ever. 

Marvel App Sells Digital Comics in 12 Languages

Marvel Global Comics

It was just a question of when, and its time has arrived. Marvel announced the release of the Marvel Global Comics app, which will offer comics translated in 12 languages.

With the ease of making titles available in digital format, there has been speculation for a long time about the future possibility of publishers offering their products in different langues. The “House of Ideas” decided to do just that.

"Marvel has incredible fans all around the world, and we're excited to bring digital comics to their mobile devices in their native languages. This partnership with iVerse allows us to introduce Marvel’s rich history of action-packed stories to new audiences worldwide who want to know more about the Avengers, Spider-Man, Wolverine and the rest of the vast Marvel Universe,”declared Kristen Vincent, vice-president of digital products at Marvel Entertainment.

iVerse Media is a translation management service for digital content.

For now, Marvel Global Comics is available just for products with iOS operational systems, by Apple, like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. To install, go to the Apple Store. Some free issues are available.

(Original article  Aplicativo da Marvel vende HQs digitais em 12 idiomas, inclusive português by Samir Naliato on February 6th, 2014. Reprinted and translated with permission from Universo HQ)

Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, Hindi, Russian, Hindi, and Italian readers will have digital access to comics! Launching today, I am hesistant to see the library offered (and the prices). iVerse seems to be a pretty established company and one of a kind in digital comic translations.They are doing a great service to the comics community and I expect other companies to quickly follow suite(ComiXology, DC..). Read the press release here and download the app today!

Breaking News: Turma da Monica Goes Stateside

Bleeding News just broke the news that Brazil's Turma da Monica(Monica's Gang) is coming stateside! News is scarce for now but it seems like the newly granted trade mark goes for a huge list of products and expands to digital rights...digital publishing would be a first for Mauricio de Sousa Productions! Read here for the full article.



Their new name will be Monica and Friends. A dangerous gamble considering the results of searching "Monica" and "Friends" on any search engine.  The real logo...seen below includes Monica and many friendly faces. If they follow the naming from the Monica's Gang publication:(from Left to Right: Blu(the dog, who is blue), Franklin, Jimmy Five, Monica, Maggy, Smudge, Angel(floating), and Sunny.


The Toy Industry Association's New York Toy Fair is February 16-19th and I wouldn't be surprised to see some product there. London's Toy Fair was held last week from the 21st to the 23rd.


I will be sure to keep the blog up to date with developing information and cannot wait for America to meet Monica's Gang...and her Friends!

Mauricio de Sousa Produções

ComiXology's audience...on a map.

ComiXology, the number one non-game app in the US and preferred book app in France, Germany, Spain, Britain and Belgium. So what? Comics are a high art in France and Belgium. BD (Bande dessinée) is known as the 9th art. From the countries that brought the world Tintin, the Smurfs, and Marsupilami and popular comic albums are released yearly...this is surprising that they have accepted the new technology with open arms. The fact that 49% of ComiXology users are outside the US make me curious to see tablet sales worldwide, but wifi, internet access, and availability(and affordability) of tablets need to be factored in all the data. I am curious about what languages the releases are in. 15 Cuban users qualifies as "needs love" but zero is "send help" (North Korea, Yemen, Eritrea)...does language, poverty, popularity and politics factor in? How many comics were sold in other countries that needing "love"? I will be reaching out to ComiXology for more information on this. Does the catalog offerings change from country to country? India, Spain, The Philippines, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Italy, China and Japan all have relatively strong domestic markets. One thing is for sure: where comic book stores may have limited distribution, digital offers have truly become world wide(minus 3 countries).

According to Robot 6, 20% of its readership is female. The anonymity of online comic book buying may account for its popularity (think of how Redbox took away the shame of the check out person judging your movie taste). Check out the ComiXology website for great deals on bundle packs, including many free and discounted issues.

Pixel will release collections of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician in digital format

Hello,

I got permission from Brazil's best comic news source,Universo HQ, to translate and reprint their biggest news articles. Let's start off:

Ediouro Publications started to make their Pixel comics imprint available in digital formats beginning last year. The first titles were Little Lulu, Tubby Tompkins and Little Lulu Teen. And, ringing in the new year, this digital venture will continue expanding.

Ediouro Publicações

The albums – The Phantom:Pirates of the Sky and Mandrake the Magician: The World of the Mirror and Other Stories- just migrated to the new format for the users of Apple Store, Google Play, Kobo Books(Brazil), Livraria Cultura(Brazil), Livaria Sariva(Brazil) and iba (Brazil). They cost US $5.99 in the Apple store and $11.40 reais($4.80 US) in the other apps.

Ediouro Publicações

“Due to the grand success of the printed version of these books, we firmly believe in their potential in a new format and we hope to appeal to everyone. The e-books already are available in the main retail stores of the country and the reader can buy them and read them on their smartphone, tablet or e-reader,” the publisher explained.



The printed versions of these albums are being distributed a second time to the newsstands of Brazil.


Stateside we can buy the Portuguese version at the following sites:


O Fantasma – Piratas do céu – A saga completa: Apple Store, Google Play, Kobo Books,Livraria Cultura, Livaria Saraiva e iba.


Mandrake – O mundo do espelho e outras histórias: Apple Store, Google Play, Kobo Books, Livraria Cultura, Livaria Saraiva e iba.


(Translated and reprinted with permission from Universo HQ,article originally written by Samir Naliato.
 read the original text in Portuguese here)

Ediouro Publicações

This is a great step for Brazilian publishers! As I mentioned in the previous post, the Brazilian newsstands are booming but they haven’t opened up to the possibility of digital quite as fast as US publishers. Little Lulu and The Phantom are great brands to test this market on and real staples of Brazilian comics! Like true relics of comic history, Little Lulu Teen blends the classic romance comics with the after school soap operas being exported by Nickelodeon and Disney, making the genre a huge seller month after month (More on that in a later post)! I look forward to Brazil’s next digital offerings and hope they will be available internationally. Disclaimer: There might be an international chargewhen purchasing the e-books outside of the itunes store. Consult your bank.

State of the Union: A code for comics

Visiting New York around Christmastime came with ulterior motives. The Big Apple: where reality and dreams converge to produce the truly spectacular! The backdrop for many movies, the punching bag for many action scenes, where up until two weeks ago, you could see a grown man in spandex swinging around a Broadway theater...singing! Historically, US comics started here, until 2015, the two biggest publishers can be found here (DC is going west coast to join their Warner Bros backers...)... but, where are the comics? Sure, Toys R Us has  Lego Hulk and there are many comic book stores scattered around the city, bootleg superheroes can be found in Chinatown and Times Square... but this isn't getting the comic book into tourist hands.

Compare this to Sao Paulo, Brazil, 7th biggest metropolitan area in the world ( New York is at 4). There, newsstands- found on every block, in every mall, in all parts of town- they are all littered with comics! Translated comics, original comics, mangas,graphic novels, imports and art books, comics in English and Spanish to teach the languages, educational comics, activity books...these are street sized meccas promoting literacy and imagination at every corner. Sao Paulo alone has more than 14 comic publishers of various sizes, putting out new and previously released material.

There is a reason for this. Historically, the collected comic book started as promotional packages. They were then sold exclusively at newsstands, with the promise to the vendor that unsold comics can be returned. This is still where Brazil is...newsstands and distributors have a rotating shelf for comics. Most have a 1 month- 75 day lifespan and after that they are returned to the publisher who oftentimes fulfill mail orders.

Around the 70's, comic book stores sprouted up all over the US, promoting collections and increasing the value of back issues. This meant comics didn't need to be returned to the publisher quite so often and they didn't have to return their profits. Back issues were cherished and promoted. Collector editions, reprints and sets allow the reader to catch up on long histories. Collectible variant covers and pack ins added value and assured various copies of the same issue were bought by serious collectors. Comics fell from newsstands leading to this month when Marvel clarified that they will no longer be sending floppy single issues to Barnes and Noble-one of the last remaining American bookstore chains. Comics are digital or found in Comic Book Stores...

Photos taken by Ana Carolina Diederichsen, Sao Paulo, Brazil 

Back to Brazil: comic book stores are scarce but starting to gain speed. Bookstores, newsstands, grocery stores all have the newest adventures of favorite comic characters. Sebos- used book stores often have stacks of old comics, sometimes back issue bins- it is not uncommon to find a whole room dedicated to used comics sold at a discount. Comics are being sold online, plagued with high prices and high shipping cost- but available nonetheless.  Children's libraries have whole reading rooms, filled with back issues. Reading comics seems to be promoted and encouraged. Not surprising that FIQ-Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos(International Comic Festival held in Brazil) is the largest comic convention in the Americas.


As I search for a comic in New York's Port Authority- I yearn for comics to have this level of accessibility and acceptance. Digital is great but nothing beats a page turner.
Jeff**