DC is starting to take longer strides in the march towards digital publishing with today's announcement that Batman Beyond #1 (you can pull it here, no matter how you consume it!) will be available in digital form on Playstation Network, DCComics.com, and ComiXology on the same day, and at the same price as retail comic stores.
This isn't the fist time DC have experimented with digital day and date releases, as they've had Justice League: Generation Lost available on their apps, as well as Young Justice #0, and Driver Special #1 previously. On the other hand, Marvel has steadfastly stuck to library backstock in their digital offerings thus far.
If I were to speculate about what a move like means, I would say that it's a toe in the water for a book that was possibly underordered on a retailer level. Since pre-orders come in 3 months early, a publisher has a lot of lead time to decide they have nothing to lose by also offering it digitally, and get the files coverted to the correct format for the panel by panels app. It's also the kind of title that could appeal to readers outside the regular Wednesday crowd, with its TV series history, so they're experimenting in that way as well.
As far as I'm concerned, every move like this is a good one for those of us who would be fully invested in digital day-and-date comic book releases. At the same time, it's certain to make some retailers nervous about their exclusivity on Wednesdays, which is certainly understandable.
If you support this kind of release and you were going to try this title anyway, here's your chance to cast your vote. It it works and sales pick up, you'll see more of this.
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I’ll cast my vote. . . by writing to their letters page!
For clarification, ComiXology, only works as an iPhone/Mac app, right? My PC can have nothing to do with it?
@ottobott no, ComiXology works on the PC as well. Just point your browser to comics.comixology.com
@OttoBott no. you can access ComiXology on your PC via https://comics.comixology.com/
I was gonna trade wait on this but i love the way comics read on my itouch so i’m sold, boom
Just bought the first issue. Looks good.
Isn’t Ultimate Thor digital day-and-date?
Not “Same Day Digital” ? 😉
I just picked this up on DC’s site. I wasn’t going to get this book in print or in trade but this seems like a good book to test the digital waters.
Looks like you’ve gotten 3 more of my precious dollars, DC!
Nice to see, but i wish it was cheaper than a printed issue.
Just got an iPad for Chrstmas, and I’m friggin’ LOVING the DC app. immediately downloaded all of Blackest Night and Flash: Rebirth and, surprisingly, liked reading them even better on the ped. I am totally in for this.
Awesome, I may get this online when I get home.
@roivampire:
Don’t say itouch…it sounds like the sister product of the fleshlight.
There isn’t a comic shop in my town, so I mostly buy things in trade. However, I just downloaded this for my PSP, and it’s great. I hope to see more like this!
Hmm hmm.. thinking about it..
Same price as printed issue = no purchase
Sure I wish digital comics would be cheaper, but Walking Dead is absolutely worth $2.99 an issue in whatever format.
Marvel has had a couple of day and date digital releases. The one that springs to mind is the Invincible Iron Man Annual.
I’ll buy the comic book. Digital makes no sense to me, personally.
@RoiVampire Same boat for me. Good work DC! Plus I get to try something new on the new PS3, so win/win!
I am in love with the iPad and bought more digital issues this weekend than I’ve bought in my LCS in weeks. I will buy this not because I favor the title, but because I want to reward DC for the concept.
I’m definetly on board. I was on the fence about picking up Batman Beyond, but now that I can get it on my ipad “same day digital” I’ll give it a whirl. I’ve been on board with JLA:GL on my ipad since it was released, and love having all the issues easily accessible on my ipad.
I’d love to see this become a trend, and will certainly support the digital release, if only in hopes that this will spur on DC to release more books digitally in the future.
It’s a good time to be a comics enthusiast, and an ipad owner. I’ve read issues 1-66 solely on my ipad, and love it.
Same price as the physical comic? smh
Why Batman Beyond? Are they trying to get people who liked the cartoon, but don’t read comics?
@muddi900 I will say what I please, because that is my right as an American. Plus I got tired of saying iPod Touch.
@muddi900 because it makes sense for batman beyond to go digital because it’s all futuristic and shit, or whatever
Digital comics allowed me, on the spur of the moment, to start and almost completely catch up on Irredeemable and Incorruptible. It was great for catching up, but now I’m stuck 2 issues behind.
Same Day Digital would certainly cause me to buy more books right when they come out, and then I can talk about them with everyone else.
I bought this and have no interest in Batman Beyond, just love Day/Date releases and what it means. $2.99 price point is the goocher for me though. Not sure how far I would support that price once more issues become available digitally day/date.
@ctrosejr You mean the Invincible Iron Man Annual that was split into 3 parts and sold for $1.99 each? Didn’t get that one.
I bought it. Was going to pick up this series anyway. Wish they’d do this with everything, but one step at a time. Maybe digital subscriptions for current titles would be a good way to get them to commit to more titles. Like, you pay ahead of time and get it same day, but if you don’t you have to wait a week or two? Anything that helps me get my titles on the same day and helps me cut down on physical stuff taking up space is good.
@OttoBott There is also an android app in beta for comixology
If the day and date digital release is priced the same as the paper copy, I don’t see a jump in sales… keep it at the ‘standard’ $1.99 or less and maybe it will grow more of an audience
I personally am waiting the subscription based price model for DC titles like Marvel has for theirs…
@roivampire
Woukd it help if I said please?
@Poopmonster: Touche. Yes, that one. I can totally understand why people might not have bought that one, or considered it a true test of digital day and date release.
I believe they have also done day and date with Ultimate Thor. (In fact, I think there was a whole brouhaha because an issue of Ultimate Thor was actually made available on a Wednesday, despite the fact comics came out on a Thursday that week, and Marvel somehow managed to electronically prevent people from reading the comic they had legally purchased.) And, I know that Marvel recently announced day and date with the Ultimate “Death of Spider-man” storyline.
@rjspring: I am ok with the $2.99 price point for digital comics. It will keep a lot of current readers from abandoning the brick and mortar stores completely (see impending Borders bankruptcy.)