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Marvel: House Of Ideas At C2E2: Blame The French

Matthew Diener writes furiously at C2E2 for Bleeding Cool. You go, Matthew, you go!!!

The Marvel: House of Ideas panel at C2E2 was the first Marvel panel of the show and the company pulled out the big guns for it. One stage for the discussion was Marvel CCO Joe Quesada, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, Marvel Digital Media Group Executive Editorial Director Agent M/Ryan Penagos, with Arune Singh, Marvel's Director of Communications serving as the moderator. The focus of the panel was on Marvel's digital offerings, and the company's enthusiasm for these initiatives was obvious from the start.

Singh started off with a quick overview of where Marvel currently stands with their digital comics. He said that there are currently 10,000 Marvel comics available digitally and that Marvel was the first major publisher to go to the iPad when the device was first announced, and that the Marvel app is now available on the iPhone, the iPad, Android devices, and the Nook Color and Nook Tablet.

Singh told the audience that from now on all $3.99 Marvel comics will include a code for digital edition of the comic. He said, "Because Marvel also wants to make sure customers are still going to the comic stores, users will have to choose a retailer from which they bought the print comic when using the code, and that stores will benefit from customers who identify them as the print source of the comic." All the print Marvel Season One graphic novels will also have digital codes in them, giving buyers a free digital copy of each. This includes the already released Fantastic Four and X-Men graphic novels as well as the upcoming Daredevil and Spider-Man volumes.

Singh also mentioned Marvel's promotion in which readers who used the Marvel comic app received a $5 coupon to use in local comic store and assured the audience that "Marvel wants to make sure they are driving customers back to comic shops. Marvel digital and print are not exclusive, they work together."

We then saw a slight that said The Future of Comics Is Here! followed by Marvel Revolution and the floor was passed to Axel Alonso.

Alonso told the audience, "Marvel ReEvolution is the next evolution of comics. It is a combination of print and digital that will use Augmented Reality (AR) within the Marvel app. When readers download the Marvel app and hold their digital device over the comic, AR features will be unlocked. These may include behind the scene looks at the creation of the comic, Joe Quesada giving you the inside scoop, or Axel Alonso walking across the comic," a tip of the hat to Alonso's AR appearance in Avengers Vs. X-man #1. Alonso stressed that Marvel is just learning about this stuff. "We are having fun with it at the moment, and we will get better and better at it. Some of what we do will be hits, and some will be whiffs."

Next up was the introduction of Infinite Comics the first of which is AvX #1: Infinite. It tells what happened to Nova before her crashed in New York City during AvX #1. This comic was created specifically for the iPad screen. Quesada said something that sounded like it was created using "Paintbrush on iPad," but it wasn't clear what software he meant.

Joe Quesada took over to introduce the initiative by saying, "This reminds of back when we were doing cybercomics in 1998. We are playing with format, of what are digital comics, what is the future. Motion comics were a first step. It was like full-on animation." Quesada then went on to tell the audience how two or three years ago he stumbled across a French artist exploring what a digital comic could be. This artist kept the purity and sanctity of what a comic book was but with a way of controlling how the story and image were presented to the reader. It allowed the creator to control the timing of the images by tapping on the screen. Quesada was excited by the idea and went back to Marvel, "I said we got a do this; then someone sat me down and said, 'We aren't ready to do, this and the audience isn't ready.'"

Apparently things have changed since then, as Quesada said, "This is the way we will be making comic books."

We were then shown slides of AvX #1: Infinite and various audience members were brought on stage to read the issue on an iPad. Any reader who buys a print copy of AvX #1 will receive a download code for AvX #1 and AvX#1: Infinite. Singh said that users "may need to change your Marvel app settings. If images aren't swiping in, you need to change the setting." AvX #1: Infinite will also come packaged with the digital edition of AvX #1. You can also but AvX #1: Infinite for $0.99 as a standalone product.

Singh mentioned that Joe Quesada shares even more on the Infinite format in his Gizmodo interview here: http://gizmodo.com/joe-quesada/.

Marvel.com or tweet at Ryan.

The first audience member to be brought on stage to see AvX #1: Infinite was Matt Baum from The Two-Headed Nerd Comicast. He described an example of the Infinite reading experience: "The character is unconscious, and the image is blurry. He's unconscious and everything is real fuzzy. When you tap on the unconscious character, he comes to, and Captain America is standing there in focus."

Quesada said, "As a storyteller, it allows me to be more like a film director, but it is still a drawn medium."

Matt noted, "You can't see the big reveal in the next panel, unlike print."

Quesada said that, "There is one panel in Infinite #1 that resonates with me, and it is a black screen."

Quesada went on to say, "Originally comics were Sunday strips, and were not made for that comic book shape. They had to be chopped up and book into the comic book form. This is no different. Taking paper comics and chopping them up for digital. Soon we will be making comics for digital and putting them together for print."

Ryan Penagos said that, "We are doing AR for all the new digital comics. There is a lot of fun extra content coming." Singh added that, "Issue #3 of AvX Versus (the all-fight series) will have brilliant use of AR," suggested by Nick Lowe.

Penagos told the audience about the New Marvel home page and about streaming the Avengers premiere live on the site (the video is still available). Five years ago Ryan was the only person creating content for Marvel.com; things have changed a bit since then.

Marvel currently has two podcasts running: The Mighty Marvel Podcast and This Week in Marvel. This Week in Marvel (http://marvel.com/podcasts/10/this_week_in_marvel) launched November 4, 2011 to cover new releases and fan questions, tweets, and comments. Penagos said, "It is meant for direct communication with folks reading comics and counting on them for questions." Penagos said he is also doing a lot of interviews, including an interview with Shia LeBeouf at C2E2 earlier in the morning. According to Penagos, LeBeouf is a really nice guy and a big Marvel fan.

Next up was a discussion of the Marvel Social Network. Penagos said, "We do some fun celebration, some giveaways. Some fun with our Facebook community. Twitter for us is a bigger thing." Penagos posts under @Marvel and @Agent_M.

Marvel is posting content on the new Avengers move under Facebook.com/Avengers on Facebook and @Avengers on Twitter.

With the mention of the Avengers movie, Quesada could hardly contain his enthusiasm. He said he has seen it multiple times throughout the production process and that the premiere of the Avengers film was "ridiculous" with the number of stars present and the positive response from everyone in attendance. He then pass on this anecdote: "Jeph Loeb has always said his favorite superhero movie was the original Superman. After seeing the premiere he said, 'My favorite superhero movie is Avengers.'"

Needless to say, everyone in the audience is hoping there is a print of the movie in Chicago and that an unannounced screening will happen at some point over the weekend.

Next there was a discussion of how Marvel is using GetGlue, which was described as "a FourSquare for media; you can check into your favorite media." Users can get exclusive theatrical and publishing stickers for checking into Marvel media. These are real stickers for free.

Marvel is post a lot of original video content for YouTube. Battlecenter is a fun sportscast on AvX. Penagos then announced a special screen of Marvel SuperHeroes: What The?! as "maybe the more violent thing we have ever recorded." The stop-motion short made with Marvel Legends action figures told the real story of how AvX started, and was as violent as promised but also hilarious.

Finally, the panel talked about the Marvel Gaming Universe, specifically Avengers Alliance on Facebook. Singh said there are, "New costumes, new characters all the time. There are a lot of X-Men, Iron First, Ms. Marvel, Storm, World War Hulk. It's like crack. I never see my fiancée anymore because she's always playing it, and she's a videogame snob."

The panel then opened up for question. One audience member said that without a local comic shop she has to rely on subscriptions delivered through the USPS, which can often arrive a month after they appear in comic book shops. She asked if Marvel could send subscribers digital codes on release instead of waiting for USPS to deliver print edition. Singh responded that, "There will be a major overhaul to Marvel's subscription service in the next month. It will alleviate the delivery issue." As for codes being sent to subscribers, Singh said, "It's possible. "

Another audience member reacted to reading the Infinite comic by saying, "Instead of interacting with the comic you are actually participating in it." That's a pretty strong endorsement.

Quesada was asked whether a compendium edition of Ash was scheduled and said one was not in the works. The question did lead Quesada to say more on the overall digital initiatives at Marvel, "I couldn't be more impressed with how Marvel is handling the digital side. At the end of the day this is all beta testing. We are really happy. We are finding solutions as we jump into the digital world. It's not unlike when this editorial team took over in 2000. Marvel was not in trade paperback. Once we jumped into the pool, people thought it was the end of the monthly comic. I thought there were three types of fan: weekly, bookstore casual fan who preferred trade paperbacks, and a third: the person who likes both. I think there is the same thing with digital. If we play it right, we will cultivate a new digital fan, bring back older fans with the new format, and serve the print fan who wants print and digital.

Alonso said that digital can also breathe life into books that may be struggling. He said, "Fans lamented the death of a book that didn't sell enough copies. This allows us to monetize in a new way."

On a question of what benefits comic shop owners could expect if their customers say they bought print editions at their stores, the panels said that store owners will see more digital buyers buying print since they will get both print and digital for one price. Additionally, the growth of digital comics will grow readership. Someone just read something digitally; they may now want to explore more of the comic series in print. The $5 comic coupon is also driving traffic to stores. Readers will be motivated to buy collected edition if they fall in love with digital edition.

Alonso actually said, "Digital isn't reading print. Readers will get something more from print. There will always be multiple ways to read comics."

When asked about the renumber of collection within a single series, the panel said the point was to keep collections easily approachable and more comfortable. If a reader doesn't know where to start or what to read next, one of the great things about comic shops is that readers can talk to the staff about where to start. Quesada also said that, "A collection #150 can be daunting to a new reader. "

When asked about QR codes for buying digital books, Singh said that Marvel has used QR codes that he was, "not sure that the Marvel app could read QR codes and buy the book. There is no way to credit back to the store and give the shop credit for coupons redeemed (cash back to retailers)." Again, Marvel emphasized their desire to keep readers buying from comic book shops. They clearly recognize the role played by the shops in supporting readers and creating new ones.

When asked about whether digital comics could be lower priced because the current price point of print comics makes them hard to introduce to new readers, Singh said, "You can get rid of printer, but you still need a writer, an artist, and a digital producer. You can get rid of the printing but there is still a cost to it. We believe are comics are worth the money that Marvel is charging for them. Print vastly outsells digital. Digital is growing, but it is nowhere close to print. This allows us to keep the costs where they are. If we just remove the print factor, it does not remove most of the costs."

Quesada added that, "With print, we have the distributor and the retailer. With digital, we have partners as well. The idea of price point is in flux, we don't know where it will end up."

Singh said that, "Every Monday and Friday there are $0.99 sales. Digital comics go down over time. Removing print from the cost would not alleviate price point pressure."

Quesada then said, "There is no proof that reducing the cost of a comic by a dollar will increase sales. Quality is what sells comics, not price."

Finally, when questioned about problems with digital codes that don't work. All on the panel were adamant that they would do everything help customers with codes that don't work. Penagos said, "Call us and we will fix it or email onlinesupport@marvel.com." Singh added, "You paid for it, dude, and you deserve to get what you paid for."

Overall, the panel underlined Marvel's growing commitment to their digital business and their view that it can live and thrive next to their print comics.

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