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DC Comics and Vertigo graphic novels arrive on Google Play, Sandman and all
If you've looked up to Google Play and DC Comics and shouted "save us money" without hearing any whispered responses, there's a reason: they were waiting. Today, DC Entertainment announced that it's brought a whole slew of its comics and Vertigo graphic novels to Google's online storefront in the form of collected editions. This "extensive lineup" is available now and includes Watchmen, Sandman and a chunk of the recent DC Universe. ComiXology is getting the same deal, but unlike Google Play's previously sparse selection, a lot of what's listed after the break was already available within the digital comics app. It may not be as comprehensive of an offering compared to what's available on other marketplaces, but hey, it's a start.
Batman Zing! Whammo! Pows! his way to YouTube's top superhero spot (video)
Bruce Wayne may be on permanent vacation with Selina Kyle, but that hasn't stopped Batman from topping YouTube's list of most popular superheroes. Based on views and amount of content, the Dark Knight is number one, racking up 3 billion pairs of eyes on 71,000 hours of video. That's 213 trillion hours you spent watching the antics of a flying rodent with daddy issues -- or roughly 42,000 views per hour of footage. More surprising than that though, is who came in second place. It wasn't Spider-Man (seventh with 340 million views of 7,400 hours of video) or Tony Stark (fourth with 1.7 billion views of 20,000 hours of video). If you heard thunder, you heard right. Thor has 2.1 billion views and 66,000 hours of video, but only around 32,000 views per hour of tape. What does it all mean? Mjolnir's owner is around 33 percent less popular (views per hour) than Gotham's First Son -- and he's a god. Ouch. That Bats has a pair of killer video games benefiting from repeat walkthrough viewings probably helps, but we imagine clips like what're after the break do the actual heavy lifting. If you want to see if your favorite made the cut, hit YouTube's blog from the source link below. [Image credit: Tony Sak]
DC Comics' entire lineup released to iBookstore
Comic book publisher DC Entertainment has announced that its complete line of periodical comic books is now available on the iBookstore. The release includes all DC Comics and Vertigo periodical titles, perfect for fans of the Justice Leagues, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and more. The announcement comes one day after DC announced that it had inked deals for distribution by the three largest electronic book resellers. The titles are also available from the Amazon Kindle bookstore and NOOK Store. A full press release from DC Comics is included below. Show full PR text DC Comics' Entire Line-up, Including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Many Others, Now Available for Direct Download from All Major e-Bookstores DC Entertainment, the #1 comic book publisher in the U.S., announced today its entire line of periodical comic books are now available for download from the top three e-bookstores including Kindle Store, iBookstore and NOOK Store™. The precedent setting new digital availability brings bestselling DC Comics and Vertigo periodical titles, including JUSTICE LEAGUE, BATMAN, SUPERMAN, DETECTIVE COMICS, ACTION COMICS, BATGIRL, WONDER WOMAN, GREEN LANTERN, FABLES and AMERICAN VAMPIRE, among many others, to an even broader audience of digital readers. "As e-readers and tablets continue to explode in popularity it's important for us to offer consumers convenience and choice in how they download digital comics and graphic novels and these new distribution deals with the top three e-bookstores do just that," said Jim Lee, co-publisher, DC Entertainment. "We're very excited to work with Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble to bring bestselling DC Comics and Vertigo periodicals to their e-bookstores." DC Entertainment is now the only comic book publisher to offer its periodical line-up across all major e-bookstore platforms. The deals reinforce a long track record of digital comics industry leadership and innovation from DC Entertainment that dates back to its game-changing decision to make its entire line available same-day digital with the launch of DC COMICS – THE NEW 52 in Sept. 2011. That launch is widely seen as reinvigorating the comic book industry, and has led to increased sales of both digital and print comics. Lee continued, "We were the first to offer our entire comic book line same-day digital and now we are the first to offer fans the convenience of multiple download options." In addition to now being available for direct download through the top three e-bookstores, DC Entertainment will continue to deliver periodical comics online at www.readdcentertainment.com, through the DC Comics and Vertigo apps, and all comiXology platforms. Prior to this announcement only DC Entertainment graphic novels were available through the top three e-bookstores.
DC Comics makes deal for Kindle, iBookstore, and Nook
I've written a few times here about Comixology and its strong hold on comics on the iPad, and DC Comics has now signed a deal to put its funny books on three big digital platforms, including Apple's iBookstore. iBooks already had some DC graphic novels available, but this deal is set up to bring DC's monthly releases to customers there as well. DC says that digital sales per title top out at about 40 percent, but overall are up 197 percent year over year, showing that there's a huge amount of potential in selling digital comic books over devices like the iPad. This news is bad for Comixology. While that company still has a great app, a huge userbase and licenses for all kinds of awesome content, you have to think that the iBooks audience is bigger, and Apple's licensing department can eventually get whatever it wants. If comics become a big deal on the iBookstore, that seems like it can only hurt Comixology's sales. Comixology is a company that's being run very well, and I have no doubt that they're already thinking about how to compete with iBooks. But for now, this is just good news for comic book fans; you'll have one more way to grab your monthly issues on the iPad.
DC Comics brings a veritable justice league of titles to Kindle, iBooks and Nook Stores
Not that there's been any lack of ways to get Batman or Supes on your chosen tablet, between Comixology and the devoted DC app, but if you happened to need on more, the publisher announced today that it will be bringing its entire line to three prominent e-bookstores. Justice League, Batman, Superman and a slew of others are hitting the Kindle Store, iBookstore and Nook Store. Never let it be said that your tablet doesn't support Flash. check out some thoughts from co-publisher, cartoonist and all around awesome dude Jim Lee after the break.
iBooks gets its first DC Comics title: Batman: Earth One
DC Comics has been publishing titles on the iPad for a while now, both in the official DC Comics app and in the Comixology app (which, as you may know, actually produces the official app anyway). But DC is now finally turning to iBooks to sell comics as well, with an iBooks version of the Batman: Earth One story that passed through the official Batman lines recently. This is DC's first title on the iBookstore, and it joins a slew of Marvel titles, as well as quite a few independent titles already selling comics in this way. Most of the "big" line titles in the iBookstore are trade paperbacks -- bigger collections of Marvel and other titles that combine more than one monthly comic together. But that's not necessarily the only option out there: Some companies have released single issues on the iBookstore, available for just a buck or two per issue. Because the market is so open, these companies can do whatever they want. Obviously, releasing titles in this way helps comic companies dodge the extra fees behind using Comixology's software to sell their books, but then again they miss out on Comixology's significant audience and discovery features that bring in new readers to old and obscure books. These days, comics companies will likely try whatever they can to sell these digital copies, and we'll see which method works best in the future.
DC Comics arrive on Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble lets you watch, zoom the Watchmen
When we initially did our Nook Tablet / Kindle Fire battle royal, the choice between the devices for comics fans largely came down to the preference between the Marvel and DC universes. The lines, however, are blurring. Thanks to today's announcement, Justice League fans should find as much to love in the Nook Tablet and Color as Avengers devotees. DC has brought more than 100 graphic novels to the aforementioned devices and Android tablets running the Nook app. Barnes & Noble also used the opportunity to announce the new Zoom View feature, which lets readers focus on individual panels -- functionality that sounds fairly similar to what Comixology offers in its own popular app. For more information about Crisis on Infinite Nooks, check out the press release after the break.
Warner Brothers releases Batman: Arkham City Lockdown for iOS
Although it's not yet live in the US Store as of this writing, Warner Brothers has released Batman: Arkham City Lockdown in the NZ App Store, and it will be rolling out in other countries over the day. "Scour the rooftops and the seedy underbelly of Gotham City through a series of one-on-one battles with the Joker, Two-Face and more, as well as the Batman: Arkham City Lockdown exclusive -– Deathstroke," the game's description notes. While the gameplay and graphics aren't likely to be as intense as the full Arkham City game on consoles and PCs, the game does use the same Unreal Engine as Infinity Blade 2, which makes for some very impressive-looking screenshots of the app in action. Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is a universal app for both iPhone and iPad, compatible with iPhone 3GS and above, 3rd generation iPod touch and above, and all models of iPad. Like other graphically-intensive iOS games, however, you'll probably only get the best visuals on the iPhone 4S or iPad 2. The game is available in the New Zealand App Store for NZ$8.29, and it should be available in the US Store later today at a price of US$5.99.
Barnes & Noble pulls DC Comics from shelves over Kindle kerfuffle, risks Martian Manhunter's wrath
Frankly, we'd advise against crossing anyone given to costumed superheroics, but a policy is a policy. Book selling giant Barnes & Noble has begun pulling select DC Comics from store shelves this week, in response to a deal struck between the publisher and Amazon, which will make digital copies of a number of comics exclusively available through the online retailer for use with the forthcoming Kindle Fire. The move is part of Barnes & Noble's policy to remove physical books from its shelves if the available digital version of the text is not offered up to the company. According to an exec, "To sell and promote the physical book in our store showrooms and not have the e-book available for sale would undermine our promise to Barnes & Noble customers to make available any book, anywhere, anytime." J'onn J'onzz has yet to weigh in on the matter.
Publishers' choice: Will the iPad be the hero or villain of the comic book industry?
Music piracy rose to epidemic levels at the beginning of the 2000s (although, according to Wired, those days are now over). There were many causes of this growth in piracy -- high speed internet access, easy-to-use P2P software -- but perhaps the biggest accelerator of music piracy was two-fold: the emergence of devices that allowed us to easily copy and then consume music (namely CD-burners, and then MP3 players) away from the computers we downloaded them on, and the reluctance of the record industry to embrace new technology. In other words, once people had the hardware for consuming digital music, the record industry failed to give listeners the digital music they wanted at a reasonable price and in an easy-to-access centralized location. The same factors that lead to mass music piracy are now in place to disrupt another flavor of media -- comic books. The excitement and media attention around Free Comic Book Day yesterday shouldn't deceive anybody about the fact that there's trouble around the corner. Why is the comic book industry set for a piracy tipping point? After all, people have been able to illegally download comic books on the Web for years. Why should it suddenly accelerate? One factor: the iPad. Before the launch of the iPad, people who illegally download comic books read them on their computers -- compared to a printed comic book, a decidedly inferior experience. However, with the advent of the iPad and the tablet form factor that closely mimics a comic book, Apple's tablet is liberating illegal comic book downloads from the computer monitor and allowing them to be consumed in a much more appealing and natural way. I first noticed this last year when I was talking to a friend who was complaining that his local comic shop was out of a specific issue of a comic book he wanted. I suggested to him that he buy it through Marvel's iPad app. However, Marvel's app didn't offer the issue in question. That's when another friend asked what issue the first friend wanted. The next day, friend #2 emailed him a CBR (Comic Book Archive) file containing a pirated copy of not only that issue, but every Marvel comic that shipped that week.
Community Detective Issue #18: DC Universe Online [Updated]
Welcome to another issue of Detective Comics, er... Community Detective, yeah. Between punching and kicking my way past hordes of villains, riding ziplines up the sides of skyscrapers, and listening to Harley Quinn's hysterical Mistah Jay accent, I'm a little out of sorts. This week I'm going to mix up the format a bit, both because it helps my sanity and because the current title I'm discussing demands it. That title is DC Universe Online, and I've spent the past couple of weeks playing SOE's new superhero actioner quite heavily. First off, let me start by saying I've been a DC Comics fan for eons, so SOE would've had to screw up pretty spectacularly for me to dislike this game. That said, all is certainly not well in Gotham or Metropolis from a community standpoint, though it's not the community's fault. What exactly do I mean by that? Use the travel power of your choice to get past the cut and find out.
SOE shows off DC Universe Online newbie video
For those of you who haven't run through DC Universe Online's tutorial instance 36,000 times by now, SOE has posted a new video to its Facebook page previewing a bit of the goings on aboard Brainiac's prison/invasion/newbie ship. The one-minute clip is full of furious fists, physics-based combat and flying containers -- and in a bit of a spoiler -- the Man of Steel himself shows up to lend newbs a helping hand. Curiously, Superman's video voiceover isn't performed by Adam Baldwin, but other than that, the footage is exactly what you'll experience after you've fired up DCUO's character creator and taken your first steps into a larger world. Check it out after the cut and visit the game's official website for more details.
The Daily Grind: Are you a chat Luddite?
So DC Universe Online's voice chat is broken, according to many of the commenters on this and other MMO-centric websites. Ironically, even if the game had no voice chat at all, it would be less broken than the abject disaster that serves as the superhero title's text chat interface. While the game is enjoyable enough in most respects, I scratch my head as to how a development firm with SOE's considerable expertise could scrimp on something as vital as in-game text chat. The cynic in me says that it's because the PS3 version takes priority, but whatever the reason, DCUO's social tools (at least on the PC) are in dire need of someone who cares. That brings up an interesting point regarding voice chat vs. text chat. While third-party programs such as Mumble and Ventrilo have been the norm for "serious" MMO guilds for years now, it's only recently that games have started incorporating voice chat (and players have started expecting it). Sure, voice can be vital for raids, PvP, and challenging endgame content, but is it really necessary (or desirable) for most of the things we do on our way to the level cap? Today's Daily Grind is all about your stance in the voice vs. text chat debate. Are you a chat Luddite? Do you refuse to play a game without voice chat? Inquiring Massively minds want to know. Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
DC Universe Online is SOE's fastest selling game [Updated]
How's DC Universe Online performing after a week or so in the wild? Sony Online Entertainment hasn't released official sales or subscription numbers, but company president John Smedley recently stated that "it's our fastest selling game ever." Smedley delivered the news via his Twitter account, and also revealed that DCUO topped Steam's sales charts last week. The title also seems to be exceeding SOE's expectations given the fact that Smedley alluded to a stock shortage. "Working on out-of-stock problems," he tweeted, adding that more copies of the game should become available early this week. DC Universe Online is currently available for PC and Playstation 3, and you can learn more at the game's official website. [Update: John Smedley updated his Twitter feed in response to questions concerning the PC/PS3 sales numbers. The PS3 is currently leading at 52%.]
The Daily Grind: Is the sub fee preventing you from playing DC Universe Online?
Superheroes have been generating a lot of discussion around these parts of late, and SOE's DC Universe Online is the primary reason. Whether you side with the folks who view the new title as a worthy genre competitor or those who label it MMO-lite and move on, it seems like most gamers have an opinion one way or the other. Interestingly, SOE chose to go with the traditional monthly subscription model for DCUO, flying in the face of the F2P bandwagon that's gripped the industry over the past year. Ostensibly the sub fee will cover ongoing content updates -- which SOE has repeatedly said will come on a monthly basis -- in addition to the usual costs of maintaining and improving a large-scale online service. All that said, comment threads here and elsewhere have featured gamers who write off DCUO because a) it requires monthly payment and b) it doesn't have a free trial. For this edition of The Daily Grind, we're curious where you stand on the issue. If you're not playing DC Universe Online, is the sub fee the primary culprit? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
SOE's Smedley talks platforms, sub fees, and DCUO post-release content
While thousands of DC Comics fans are rolling up spandex-clad superheroes (and villains) in SOE's newly launched DC Universe Online MMO, SOE itself is busy extolling the virtues of what some are calling the first real console massively multiplayer title. In an interview at Eurogamer, SOE boss John Smedley talks a bit about the challenges of building an MMO for two platforms simultaneously. "This game is built from the ground up to be playable on both the PlayStation 3 and PC, so it really makes a big difference as opposed to just porting it," he said. Smedley goes on to answer a few questions related to the size of the post-release development team (between 50 and 75 people) as well as whether or not the much-hyped monthly content updates will carry a charge above and beyond the sub fee (they won't). "The monthly subscription fee means players can expect a lot of new content from us. And I say a lot -- I really mean that. This is something that we feel obligated to the players, because they are paying monthly sub fee," Smedley explained. Check out the full text at Eurogamer and hit up the official DCUO website for more info on the game.
View NBC's The Cape premiere via iPad app (or not)
NBC's new superhero-themed show The Cape officially debuts its two-hour premiere on TV this coming Sunday night (9 PM EST), but there's at least one way you can get a look at its first hour, legally. The free DC Comics app on iPad now has a link that allows users to view the first hour of The Cape, or at least a late, unfinished cut of the episode. While the announcements about this new feature make one think you need the DC Comics app to view the video, the appearance of a "Safari" button at the top of the window allows you to send the video's link directly to the browser, where you can copy the URL and view it in any other browser or even download the video entirely. Oops? So, either make DC Comics and NBC happy and view the video within the official iPad app, or go view it here. Up to you (for now). (UPDATE: Looks like the video was taken down from the app due to "high traffic" issues.)
The Daily Grind: DC Universe -- PC or PS3?
Well, it's officially official. The MMO space will have its newest superhero contender on January 11th courtesy of SOE's DC Universe Online. Whether you're a DC Comics fan, an SOE fan, or that guy who has to try every new game that comes down the pipe, chances are a good number of you will be strapping on your cape and tights soon after the first of the year. The only question is your platform of choice. SOE is taking the unusual step of releasing DCUO on the traditional PC platform as well as the PlayStation 3 console simultaneously, adding another title to the latter's rather sparse MMO lineup. Today's Daily Grind is an easy one: What's your preferred DCUO launch hardware? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Curse of the Worgen #2 comic now on sale
If you're like me and you enjoy both werewolves and comic books, then you'll be happy to hear that Curse of the Worgen #2 is now on sale. Published by DC Comics, Curse of the Worgen #2 continues the adventures of Detective Halford Ramsey as he investigates a string of grisly murders. It also looks into the history of this ferocious race, and the convoluted connections they hold with the night elf druids. I have the first issue myself, and I highly recommend this series. The script is by Micky Neilson and James Waugh, and art is by the famed Ludo Lullabi and Tony Washington. You can pick up Curse of the Worgen #2 online or at your local comic book retailer.
New DC Universe video shows off Area 51 alert
It's hard to tell which pending AAA MMO release has folks more worked up around these parts. In one corner, you've got Trion's forthcoming RIFT fantasy opus, and in the other corner you've got perennial contender SOE and its heavyweight intellectual property courtesy of DC Universe Online. Score one for the crusty veteran, then, as DCUO's Facebook page has just updated with a new video that throws a stiff jab at the competition. The clip features game director Chris Cao talking about the title's alert system, a quick-grouping mechanic that allows players to jump in to action-packed scenarios for vital defense missions at locations around the globe. The video showcases the infamous Area 51 research facility and features a group of players breaching the compound in order to fend off Brainiac's nefarious takeover plans. Area 51 is the first alert mission you'll tackle as either a hero or villain character, so be sure to give the video a look-see (on the official Facebook page or right here after the cut) to get a heads up.
