Advertisements
Marvel's No. 1 Issues: Comic Book. In comics, the first issue is where the story starts and the legend begins.
For readers, a print copy of issue one can be hard to find and
expensive to buy. But those rules don't apply to tablets, laptops and
smartphones both for comics fans and those curious about characters they
may have seen in film or on television.
Part of that fascination with superheroes and their growing
cachet in popular culture is why Marvel Entertainment, home to the
Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Avengers, among others, is making more
than 700 first issues available to digital readers starting Sunday for
free through the Marvel app and the company's website. After Tuesday,
they'll be sold for $1.99 to $3.99 per issue.
The titles go from the 1960s Silver Age to contemporary issues with
characters including Wasp, Mr. Fantastic, Power Man and Iron Fist, said
David Gabriel, senior vice president of sales.
"This is aimed at attracting fans from all walks of life those who
know our characters from the big screen, those who were readers but fell
out of the habit and our long-term fans too," he said. "We believe that
if we get those fans in the door, they'll stay and help grow this
industry, with purchases both in comic stores and via digital comic
outlets."
The publisher went through its catalog of more than 13,000 titles
that are already available digitally and plucked out the No. 1 issues
with historic ones like "Amazing Spider-Man" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
or the "Fantastic Four" by Lee and Jack Kirby as well as modern titles
like "Civil War," Joss Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men" and characters and
teams like the Uncanny Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, too.
"We never want fans to feel like they need to have read it all. Of
course we want them to want to check out those stories, but the beauty
of these No. 1 issues is that each is an entry point," he said. "So with
a character like Iron Man, you can choose if you want to start with the
recent `Iron Man' series from Kieron Gillen or go back a few years to
when Matt Fraction launched `Invincible Iron Man' or even before that."
