Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics | Tagged: comixology, sxsw, veve

The Big Change Veve Made To Marvel Comics They Aren't Talking About

Also at the Marvel Comics SXSW panel was the digital collectible company Veve, known for their extensive licensed NFT offerings.

Also at the Marvel Comics SXSW panel (and probably paying for it) was the digital collectible company Veve, known for their extensive licensed NFT offerings, including Marvel Comics, which seems to have fallen out of favour of late as the market crashed. They seem to be pivoting now into digital comics and, in the wake of Comixology fouling the bed over at Amazon, a new alternative digital comic book reading experience with the Veve Comics app, and signing Marvel Comics up for their launch, promising first-day releases and a premium comic book offer. Launching with 300 titles, and with comics added weekly on the same day the titles are released in print, it still seems small beans compared to Marvel Comics' own app. But they do seem to be adding one thing – and ability to pay more for the comics.

"Being passionate readers and collectors ourselves, we recognized that digital comics fans have been calling for a more immersive experience," said David Yu, CEO and co-founder, Veve. "Our aim is to create a platform that makes comics discovery fun and easy—one that's centered on function and design, fosters community and accessibility for all. We understood those pain points and created VeveComics to be the solution."

The company states that "Vevealso leveraged community members as part of its design process, optimizing their input to craft a user experience tailored for comic book enthusiasts. With instant delivery of comics, Veve Comics users, via a free app download (iOS and Android), can easily sort collections and their comic books using Quick Lists, while Veve's guided reading experience puts the reader in the heart of the story. Veve's technology allows users to read comics panel by panel, one at a time. VeVe has dedicated significant effort to ensure that the entire app experience is an enjoyable one for comic enthusiasts. Each page is meticulously converted into a panel by panel experience by hand—creating a seamless reading and viewing experience for app users.  "

Which is basically what everyone else, since Comixology pioneered that a decade-plus ago, does. And their PR doesn't demonstrate any actual difference aside from saying "Whether you're building a library to read online or offline, collect issues from your favorite comic cover artist in Veve Comics or seeking to sell or buy limited edition comics and explore other limited edition digital collectibles in Veve, we want the experience to be seamless" and promising "introducing the benefits of limited edition digital comics verified on the blockchain" confirming that, yes. this is an NFT thing. But not actually detailing any benefit to the reader. All their announcements that have any relevance to readers, are what Comixology and Marvel Unlimited have already been doing for ages.

So, sigh, looks like this will be Bleeding Cool's job. You can pay the standard fee for the comic. But if you pay double, you get to read the comic on the AR side of the app. And that is new, though Veve seem reluctant to talk about it. So basically you can read the comic as if it were suspended in the air, and can flip pages in a physical fashion, wuth the comic fixed in position for VR reading experiences like an actual comic. You can also get a variant cover with the chance to get a rare or even rarer cover. Does that count as gambling? Maybe, and maybe that's why they are not highlighting it. And then you can also sell your digital comic if you wish, using their platform.

And maybe that's the biggest change, a secondary market for digital comic books. As Comixology readers discovered when that reading experience changed, you haven't actually bought the comic, just the opportunity to read it digitally, through whatever changing reading app the company allows you to. If that changes, you can't get your money back.

Here, at least, you get the opportunity to get some of your money back. Even if you have to pay almost twice as much to get that change. Maybe they'll advertise that fact in their press releases at some point. Or maybe not.

The next question must be… will Veve add DC Comics? If so, everyone else will follow suit.

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