Marvel Digital Comics - Free Mondays (3/15/2010)

Welcome to FREE Mondays! Each week we focus on all of the newly digitized books you can read for FREE inside the greatest collection of Marvel comics available online: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited! Plus, we’ll let you know what’s coming up next week for FREE, too! With each book, not only are you getting a free peek inside Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, but each free Digital Comic either gives you a look at a book featured in a recent collection or a comic that’s in stores now.

How would you like to have five free digital comics to help get you through the school and work week? Here ya go!

SPIDER-MAN: LEGEND OF THE SPIDER CLAN #1
SPIDER-MAN: LEGEND OF THE SPIDER CLAN #2
SPIDER-MAN: LEGEND OF THE SPIDER CLAN #3
SPIDER-MAN: LEGEND OF THE SPIDER CLAN #4
SPIDER-MAN: LEGEND OF THE SPIDER CLAN #5

Find out what next week’s five free digital comics will be below!

ULTIMATE X-MEN #63
ULTIMATE X-MEN #67
ULTIMATE X-MEN #68
ULTIMATE X-MEN #69
ULTIMATE X-MEN #70

Disney’s ‘DigiComics’ iPhone App Launching Worldwide In 2010

Disney is rolling out a digital comics application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch and Sony’s PlayStation Portable globally beginning in Italy and soon to include the U.S. and UK, with rollouts in key markets throughout the world in 2010.

Disney DigiComics will begin by offering a relatively modest fifty downloadable comics featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and other familiar Disney characters via in-app purchases, according to the Disney Comics Worldwide blog. The company will then begin adding five to ten new comics weekly, continuing storylines.

The comics were originally created for newspapers and magazines in Disney-crazy Italy, though in the future new content may be created just for the application. Series available first, according to the report, are X-Mickey, Wizards of Mickey, The Canterville Ghost, and Phantom of the Opera. Wizards of Mickey is published in the States by Boom! Studios (see “Boom’s Disney Standards”).

Up to 50,000 stories from the Disney archives are eventually planned for release through the app, according to Italy.

The new application represents a divergence from Disney’s digital strategy for desktop, where it’s pursuing a subscription model. Disney Books is now offering over 500 titles online by subscription for an annual fee of $79.95 (see “Disney Makes Children’s Books Available Online”).

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DC’s ‘Blackest Night’s’ Reign Continues

Thanks largely to the success of its Blackest Night event, DC dominated the top ten once again with eight out of the top ten titles in November. Blackest Night #5 actually boosted its circulation by 5% with help from a special ordering incentive that featured seven differently colored "Lantern Promotional Rings." A similar promotion was potent enough to lift Booster Gold #26 into the top 25 at #19. Four other Blackest Night tie-ins, Green Lantern #48, Justice League of America #39, Adventure Comics #4, and Green Lantern Corps #42 all made the top ten.

The top Marvel title was Captain America: Reborn #4, which came in at #3, didn’t ship in November where its absence hurt the Marvel line-up, which couldn’t manage better than a seventh place finish. Marvel still managed to secure 14 out of the top 25 spots with 25th place going to the Thor Giant Size Finale written by JMS, which in spite of a slew of variant incentives (1:25 and 1:50), suffered an 18% decline in sales from the previous JMS issue (#603), which came out in September.

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Marvel Digital Comics - Free Mondays (11/16/09)

Welcome to FREE Mondays! Each week we focus on all of the newly digitized books you can read for FREE inside the greatest collection of Marvel comics available online: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited! Plus, we’ll let you know what’s coming up next week for FREE, too! With each book, not only are you getting a free peek inside Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, but each free Digital Comic either gives you a look at a book featured in a recent collection or a comic that’s in stores now.

How would you like to have five free digital comics to help get you through the school and work week? Here ‘ya go!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #36
X-FACTOR #40 (2005)
WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #1
X-MEN LEGACY #220
X-MEN: MANIFEST DESTINY #4

Find out what next week’s five free digital comics will be below!

DAREDEVIL NOIR #1
DARK AVENGERS #2
MIGHTY AVENGERS #21
NEW AVENGERS #52
PUNISHER #1 (2008)

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Jack Kirby Estate Goes After Marvel Properties

It’s as inevitable as the tides. Once something becomes a genuine industry to the tune of a $4 billion dollar marriage, the lawsuits quickly follow. On the heels of the Siegel and Shuster lawsuits that dismantled the world of Clark Kent comes a lawsuit from the estate of Jack Kirby that targets all things Marvel. According to The New York Times, the Kirby heirs have sent 45 notices of copyright infringement to Marvel, Disney, Paramount, Fox, Sony, Universal, Hasbro, and just about everyone else in the world. Kirby created (or co-created alongside Stan Lee) just about all the big Marvel characters so anyone using them must now face the the Kirbys and Toberoff & Associates. (The same law firm that handled the Siegel and Shuster lawsuits, which is no coincidence.)

The Kirbys seek to win the copyrights back to Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc., and claim some (or all) of the profits. If they win back the copyright, it wouldn’t kick in until 2014 so presumably they wouldn’t be able to claim the “back profits” the characters have made, but anything going forward would be a problem. As Bleeding Cool notes, Disney and Marvel will always own the trademarks, and the movie studios would probably also be safe in their acquisitions, but continuing to publish anything Kirby created would be problematic.

The attorney Marc Toberoff declined to comment on the case, but Disney released an official statement that shrugged off the lawsuit, noting “the notices involved are an attempt to terminate rights 7 to 10 years from now, and involve claims that were fully considered in the acquisition.” This will undoubtedly be a case fraught with as many tangles as the Siegel and Shuster suit was. Will Marvel end up owning Iron Man’s armor, but the Kirbys will own Tony Stark and Pepper Potts? Will it create problems for Marvel Studios down the line? We shall watch and see.

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Marvel Digital Comics - Free Mondays (8/3/09)

Welcome to FREE Mondays! Each week we focus on all of the newly digitized books you can read for FREE inside the greatest collection of Marvel comics available online: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited! Plus, we’ll let you know what’s coming up next week for FREE, too! With each book, not only are you getting a free peek inside Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, but each free Digital Comic either gives you a look at a book featured in a recent collection or a comic that’s in stores now.

How would you like to have five free digital comics to help get you through the school and work week? Here ‘ya go!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #574
INVICIBLE IRON MAN #8 (2008)
UNCANNY X-MEN #480
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #274
X-MEN: LEGACY #219

Find out what next week’s five free digital comics will be below!

ETERNALS #7 (2008)
HEROES RETURN #1
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS FINALS #1
THOR #600
WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #13

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Marvel Digital Comics - Free Mondays (7/27/09)

Welcome to FREE Mondays! Each week we focus on all of the newly digitized books you can read for FREE inside the greatest collection of Marvel comics available online: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited! Plus, we’ll let you know what’s coming up next week for FREE, too! With each book, not only are you getting a free peek inside Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, but each free Digital Comic either gives you a look at a book featured in a recent collection or a comic that’s in stores now.

How would you like to have five free digital comics to help get you through the school and work week? Here ‘ya go!

IRON MAN #9 (2004)
THUNDERBOLTS #126 (2006)
CABLE #4 (1995)
GHOST RIDER #30 (2006)
NEW AVENGERS #48

Find out what next week’s five free digital comics will be below!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #574 (1999)
INVICIBLE IRON MAN #8 (2008)
X-MEN: ORIGINAL SIN #1 (2008)
SPIDER-MAN: FEAR ITSELF #1
X-MEN: LEGACY #219 (2008)

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San Diego Comic-Con Wraps Up Another Great Year

<–Chairman of Comic-Con’s first committee Ken Krueger

The 40th annual San Diego Comic-Con wrapped up Sunday, with another capacity crowd enjoying a smoothly run show. Ken Krueger, the chairman of the very first Comic-Con, was one of several members of the original organizing committee who were invited back to celebrate the 40th anniversary. Other committee members from Comic-Con’s early years were also present as guests.

The massive presence from Hollywood shifted a bit this year, with a greater emphasis on television. Comic-Con Director of Marketing and Public Relations David Glanzer described the shift. “There was certainly a lot more presence from television this year,” he said. “And there may have been less movies in some instances. But not everybody has a project they want to promote to this group every year.”

We asked Glanzer about the continual sellouts of the show, which are capping its growth. “The mayor has appointed a task force on the expansion of the convention center, and they will render a decision on that in September and the mayor says that he will abide by whatever their recommendation is,” he said.

The convention utilized tents for some signing space, as well as the main ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront as additional space this year, and use of outside space may grow in the coming years, Glanzer told us. And although the convention did not increase the number of tickets this year despite the additional space, that step may be taken in future years, allowing a greater number of attendees despite a maxed-out convention center. .

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‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Releases Issue #600

“The Amazing Spider-Man” hit another milestone this week-the publication of its 600th issue.

As a celebration, the issue features the return of Doctor Octopus, a guest spot by Daredevil, a wedding and the return of Mary Jane Watson.   In addition, there are several short stories by some of the iconic writers for everyone’s favorite web-slinger, including a new story by Stan Lee.

This milestone in the making will feature four different covers by father and son artists John Romita Sr, John Romita Jr, master painter Alex Ross and Marvel Editor in Chief, Joe Quesada.

The issue weighs in at 104 pages and is currently available at a comic store near you.

Marvel Digital Comics - Free Mondays (7/20/09)

Welcome to FREE Mondays! Each week we focus on all of the newly digitized books you can read for FREE inside the greatest collection of Marvel comics available online: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited! Plus, we’ll let you know what’s coming up next week for FREE, too! With each book, not only are you getting a free peek inside Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, but each free Digital Comic either gives you a look at a book featured in a recent collection or a comic that’s in stores now.

How would you like to have five free digital comics to help get you through the school and work week? Here ‘ya go

MOON KNIGHT #26 (2006)
NEW WARRIORS #5 (2007)
UNCANNY X-MEN #377
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED: THE ODYSSEY #1
BUG #1

Find out what next week’s five free digital comics will be below!

WAR MACHINE #1 (2008)
THUNDERBOLTS #126 (2006)
CABLE #5 (1995)
GHOST RIDER #33 (2006)
NEW AVENGERS #48

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