MARVEL Announces New Ventures at SXSW
At the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas over the weekend, Marvel announced the new projects they’ve been teasing for the last month or so.
Infinite Goes Weekly
Wolverine leads off the new Marvel Infinite stories, with a 13-week Jason Aaron-penned arc called Wolverine: Japan’s Most Wanted. This kicks off July 9th, just in time for the movie release, and is the first of several Infinite titles that will have weekly releases, expanding on the format fans saw with Avengers vs. X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy. Each issue in the run will drop on Tuesday.
“What we’re doing with Infinite Comics is developing a new language for telling comic book stories,” says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. “We’re getting more and more sophisticated as we move along. We see a progress with each venture, and an expanding of capabilities. The technology improves and allows us to do things that we weren’t able to do before.”
Marvel Unlimited
In partnership with mobile application studio Chaotic Moon, Marvel is releasing the largest digital library available for streaming on your mobile device — iPad, iPhone, iTouch — with Marvel Unlimited, which builds on the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited initiative launched in 2007. The library currently has over 13,000 comics and grows weekly.
The Marvel Unlimited app will allow fans to download digital comics to their mobile devices or web browser.
“Marvel Unlimited was born from two key things: our fans’ input and the latest in digital technology,” explained Peter Phillips, SVP & General Manager, Marvel Digital Media Group. “We now offer seamless digital comics subscription access across the web browser, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. And we’re excited to say this is the first in a series of major enhancements to this now-cutting edge product.”
It’s a subscription-based service, and Marvel is offering new members a reduced price: $59.88
Project Gamma
Marvel Entertainment, Momentum Worldwide and CORD announced a partnership that will take digital comics into a new realm of possibility — adding sound and a more immersive experience for the reader. Each digital comic will have music and sound that adapts to the individual reader’s pace and reading style.
Senior Vice President & General Manager of Marvel’s Digital Media Group Peter Phillips says “the audio is key to the story.” Experiences will differ with Project Gamma in that the music matches up with all reading styles, making it innovative and unique. “The music will not speed up as you flip the page,” he explains. “It’s modulated in such a way that whether you’re a fast reader or a slow reader, it will stick with you, it’ll be by your side. This is embedded music to enhance the experience of what you’re already enjoying. And it paces itself to how you’re reading. So that’s really the key.
“If there’s a piano expected to be on there for 30 seconds and plays music for 30 seconds, after that time is over it’s going to randomize in a way that’s completely intuitive. As you’re flipping back and forth throughout pages, it’s not going to be buffering; the audio will enhance that experience and take you back to where you were. You’re not going to hear any break in the music.”
https://youtu.be/8ORXua9MaP0
