digitalcomics
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Alan Moore's Electricomics promises to reinvent the medium, but not too much
If you've seen V for Vendetta, Watchmen or even The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, you've encountered the work of Alan Moore. He's one of the comic industry's most prolific and influential authors, and now he's trying to take the medium into the modern era. Moore is building a digital comics app designed to serve as both comic itself and a collection of open-source tools for creating the next generation of digital comics. The project, due for launch in early next year, is called Electricomics -- but don't expect books published on the platform to be animated or overly interactive: Moore insists that adding digital effects to comics won't make them better.
Amazon Publishing launches Jet City Comics with Symposium #1
As of today, Amazon Publishing is entering the wonderful world of sequential art publishing with its new imprint, Jet City Comics. Its inaugural issue, Symposium #1 by Christian Cameron, is sure to please fans of Neal Stephenson's The Foreworld Saga. Also joining Jet City Comics are sci-fi/fantasy luminaries like George R.R. Martin and Hugh Howey. Martin will be teaming up with artist Raya Golden on an adaptation of Meathouse Man, a story so twisted, it makes Game of Thrones look like a Disney fairytale. Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray (currently tearing it up on Batwing) will translate Howey's series of dystopian novellas, Wool, into a six-issue mini-series this October with a collected print edition to follow in 2014. For more information, check out the full press release after the break.
This week on gdgt: HX50V, Minx Air 100, and Moto X customization
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
Digital comic publisher threatened by Apple over adult content
Digital comics publisher Izneo has pulled much of its content from its App Store app, after being cautioned by Apple about selling adult content on the iPad. Izneo has been on the App Store since 2010, but Apple only recently reached out to the company, saying that it had just 30 hours to remove all "adult" comics. Apple didn't identify the offending titles, so Izneo first pulled over half of its content, and then restored some of the (apparently) less-explicit content later. Still, about 1,500 titles are still absent. Prohibiting pornography on the App Store is reasonable, but Izneo has been selling comics (mostly French and Belgian titles) for years there now. Obviously that content was only part of a much larger collection. It's a little disturbing that Apple elected to censor content that's clearly labeled as being for adults (the app is marked for ages 17+) in such a vague, arbitrary fashion. Izneo is obviously working to stay on the App Store rather than challenge Apple in its own domain, but this seems like this could have been handled differently. [via TechDirt]
Marvel offers over 700 free first issue digital comics, might involve great powers and responsibilities
Looking to revise the whys, hows and who's who of the Marvel universe? Well, the movie-spinning comic book company wants to help you out, offering hundreds of first issue editions across the company's entire history. The free digital editions will cover perennial favorites like Spider-Man, the X-Men and Avengers, as well as slightly less mainstream hits and spin-offs. The promotion kicked off yesterday and -- tying in with the company's presence at SXSW -- will run until 11PM ET on Tuesday. The titles can be downloaded through either Marvel's official comics app or its web-based digital comics shop, although it appears US readers are having more luck downloading the digital comics -- we're getting error messages when trying to access it elsewhere. Of course, if you've already signed up to Marvel's Unlimited subscription service, there might not much here to pull you in, but this limited-time offer is unashamedly courting new readers and comic dabblers. If that sounds like you, start hunting down those hundreds of freebies at the source.
Sony shuts down PSP Comic Store after October 30th, leaves most of us in the lurch for now
PSP Comic Store, we hardly knew ye. No really, we hardly knew ye -- which is probably why Sony is warning PSP owners that its comic book portal is shutting down after October 30th. Come Hallowe'en, we'll lose the option to download the necessary app or buy additional titles. Any currently owned comics will be available to download again until mid-January, but readers will be on their own to preserve existing libraries after that. Outside of Japan, that creates significant problems for literary PlayStation fans: while PS Vita owners in Sony's home country will get a Manga store and reader in October, there's no equivalent crutch for other countries (or any PSP owners) at this stage. The console maker is non-committal and says there's nothing it can discuss "at the moment," which to us is a hint that we shouldn't plan our reading hours around a PSP or PS Vita in the near future. [Thanks, Sooraj]
Marvel announces augmented reality app, exclusive digital comics at SXSW
Not content with simply doling out free digital comics to fans who favor the tangible page, Marvel is now giving readers a new reason to reach for their tablets: augmented reality. Android and iOS devices will be able to look beyond the page using Marvel AR, an Aurasma-powered app slated to launch alongside Avengers vs. X-Men #1 this April. When pointed at a compatible comic, the app will server up creator commentary videos, extra art and interactive 3D models of Earth's greatest heroes.Don't worry, your standard Marvel Comics app isn't being replaced -- in fact, it's getting a new line of sequential funnybooks called Marvel Infinite Comics. "Writers and artists now have a whole host of new tools at their disposal to redefine the comic book medium," Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Axel Alonso said at SXSW this week, "Current tablets and smartphones, along with comiXology's Guided View technology, allow us to develop new, full length stories for a different medium that are very much truly comics -- but experienced by readers in a way no other major company has ever executed." The digital-exclusive series kicks off with Avengers vs. X-Men #1 Infinite, which incidentally, will be free to folks who pick up the similarly named physical book. Ready for the revolution ReEvolution? Check out the links below for Marvel's official announcement and CNET's hands-on video.
Marvel Comics greets true believers with free digital copy for select print titles
With great purchasing power apparently comes great affordability for Marvel Comics fans. Starting this June, folks who purchase any Marvel super hero comic priced at $3.99 will also get a free digital copy for Android or iOS. Examples of Marvel titles that will come with free codes include the Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Mighty Thor and Invincible Iron Man. The new program continues the trend of comic book publishers invading the digital space like famished planet-eaters -- Dark Horse, for instance, recently made a deal with Barnes & Noble. Similarly, DC Comics inked an agreement with Amazon, a move that got some DC titles sent to the Phantom Zone by B&N. Judging from the positive response to digital codes included in the Ultimate Comics line and Avenging Spider-Man, Marvel expects the expanded code program to act like a radioactive spider bite for comic book stores, boosting repeat visits. Feel that tingling? That's your own Spidey sense telling you to swing past the break for Marvel's official PR.
Excelsior! Marvel Comics to offer digital releases same day as print
Sure, we may have established that Stan Lee doesn't really know what to do with his iPhone on the last Engadget Show, but that doesn't mean your friendly neighborhood Marvel employees aren't ready to embrace the digital wave with full-force. According to Gizmodo, the comics publishing powerhouse will be bringing its full line of books (save for some third-party licensed titles) to digital platforms the same day they're released in stores, a move that comes as the company's chief competition, DC, has been aggressively establishing itself in the digital space. The transition is expected to be completed by the end of March. 'Nuff said.
PSP Digital Comics set to launch in US today
If you feel like geeking it up (or, as they say back east, "getting your geek on") there really is no better combination than gaming and comic books -- that's why we're stoked to hear that the PSP comic store is set to go live at 3:00 PM today. In addition, the European PlayStation blog states that the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa stores should become available at 5PM GMT, while the store in Ireland is being held up due to technical issues. The store boasts "hundreds of new and classic collections," including your favorites from Marvel, IDW, Titan, iVerse and 2000AD. Check out playstationcomics.com to give it a shot yourself -- but not before peeping the video after the break.
Ihnatko says Apple tablet could play hero to comic books
Speculation based on rumor can be frustrating. But when the rumor is of Apple's fabled tablet, and the speculation is of a new golden age for comics, the 13-year-old kid in me comes alive. Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Andy Ihnatko says there are hints that Apple is getting into the digital comic book market, a statement he likens to saying "Apple is helping to create the digital comic book market." Digital comics today, he argues, are where digital music was in 2002. Legitimate businesses are so fractured, clumsy, and behind the times that pirated comics (online illegally one day after hitting store shelves) provide the best user experience. Enter LongBox, a company that has made the rounds at comic book conventions this year pitching an iTunes-like store for buying and selling digital comic books. Ihnatko talked with LongBox CEO Rantz Hoseley, peppering him with questions and looking for reasons that LongBox was doomed to failure. What he found instead was a company that respects the comic book as a medium, that has made publishing to the LongBox format (.LBX) as simple as adding a plug-in to the software publishers already use, and that has plans for outfits as big as Marvel or DC all the way down to the lone artists publishing on their own.
Yesterday's PlayStation news, all in one place
Sony had itself quite a day yesterday, effectively reinvigorating the PlayStation brand with the $300 PS3 Slim and a host of upgrades and updates to the PSP, the PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Network. Now that the dust has settled, we thought we'd throw down a little recap in case you didn't catch it all -- it's clear that the lower-priced Slim has a lot of people talking about finally buying a PS3, but we think things like PSP Minis "snackable" games and the new PS3 firmware 3.0 might be equally important in the long run. Here's the full breakdown: Liveblog: Sony's GamesCom presser coverage live at Joystiq! Live from Sony's GamesCom Press conference (at Joystiq) PS3 Slim and PS3 classic: Sony unveils slimmer PS3: $300, lands in September (updated!) PlayStation 3 Slim unboxing and hands-on! PS3 Slim sized up: smaller, deeper, no Linux or PS2 compatibility Sony sneaks PS3 Slim through FCC under pseudonym, 250GB model discovered Sony finally hacks $100 from 'old' PlayStation 3 price, starting today Sony announces PS3 firmware 3.0, European PlayStation Video Store, Digital Reader comics viewer Editorial: A slimmer, cheaper, better PS3. Was that so hard? PSP: Sony announces 'snackable' 100MB Minis for PSN Store Sony announces three new PSP-3000 colors for Europe PSP Minis, Digital Comics get their own promo videos
PSP Minis, Digital Comics get their own promo videos
The PS3 Slim might be getting all the attention today, but the new PSP Minis bite-sized games and PSP Digital Comics service are actually potentially game-changers as well -- so of course they get their own promo videos. Minis are 100MB or smaller games that will launch on the PlayStation Store the same day the PSP Go arrives, and while the launch lineup doesn't have any standout must-haves, we think they'll be quite popular. The real sleeper might be the Digital Comics service, though, which will launch with Marvel titles and eventually add more publishers -- although pricing and other details haven't been announced, we've got a feeling quite a few PSP owners will be into the idea of getting comics on the go. Innovative new ideas or clever reaction to games and ereaders on the iPhone? Hit the break, watch the videos, and sound off.
