Marvel to bring comics online

Marvel Entertainment will start a Web site that will feature access to thousands of its comic books and the famous heroes who populate them. To prepare for the launch of the offering, Marvel has recolored and redigitized some of its offerings to present the titles in a quality format.

In an interview, Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Publishing said, “This is a major new piece of my overall publishing plan. It’s a different entertainment experience, online versus reading a book.”

According to ZDNet:

Marvel plans to offer access to 2,500 comics, Buckley said. It will make 250 available for free to entice people to pay up, but for a limited time, a company statement explained.

The Digital Comics Unlimited site then will add 20 additional books a week, including a mix of new and vintage comics.

Marvel plans to charge subscription fees of $4.99 a month if people sign up for a year, or $9.99 per month. Titles must be in print for at least six months before they will go online though.

By Buckley’s admission, its comic book business has been contracting in the past 10 years. Hence, it is clear that Marvel needs to do something to shore up its business.

The question, though, is whether bringing its comics online is a stroke of genius or an act of desperation.