DC Comics go online with Justice League 1

The online revolution continues to spread its wings, moving on from the music industry to movies, TV shows and series, books, magazines and newspapers – and it shows no signs of slowing down. Webcomics have proved that they can compete with old school comics, but it is time traditional powerhouses like DC Comics took a closer look at what the digital format can do for comic books. Downloaded copies of comics hardly contribute a decent amount to the company’s bottomline, but DC Comics hopes to turn things around by launching the new Justice League comic today – where future DC Universe comic books will also be made available online the same day that printed editions arrive at newsstands and comic book stores for sale.

Once Justice League 1 arrives today (which we talked about yesterday), the whole month of September will see another 51 #1 issues arrive from DC Comics, where the digital versions will be similarly priced as the print editions – that is, $2.99 for the regular sized comics and $3.99 for comics with some extra pages. These digital copies will be made available via Comixology – a service that allows the downloading and reading of comics on PCs and Macs, in addition to other platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7.

I myself prefer the physical copy of a comic book – I’m not sure how digital versions will alter the market rate of issues that mark the first appearance of a future star, or even the death of a legend. One thing’s for sure – comics from the Diamond and Silver age will definitely see their prices continue to rise in due time, but don’t expect the digital copy of yours to be worth more than the $2.99 you paid for today in 10 years’ time.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Computers
Tags: dc