Posted in: Comics, Digital | Tagged: Comics, dark horse, digital, entertainment, marvel, sxsw, top shelf

Digital Runaround – Marvel SXSW, Dark Horse Free Eve Online, Top Shelf DRM-Free, Fantagraphics On Sequential

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2014 14:43:57 -0600

Bleeding Cool has been running the news that Marvel is planning to consolidate all its digital app into one easy to handle app.

Could SXSW in Austin be the place to do it? Expect better planning than the 300 free comics that were suddenly very unavailable…

First, at 1:30pm (CST) on Saturday, March 8^th, on the SXSW Geek Stage presented by comiXology, join Axel Alonso (Editor in Chief, Marvel Entertainment), Kristin Vincent (VP, Digital Products), TQ Jefferson (VP, Games) and Ryan Penagos (Executive Editorial Director, Digital Media & @AgentM on Twitter) for Marvel: Your Universe! Learn how fans are a unique part of the Marvel Universe, be the first to hear exclusive news about Marvel's hottest games and get a first look at new footage from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the hit series airing Tuesdays on the ABC network.

Then, at 1:15pm (CST) on Sunday, March 9^th, on the SXSW Geek Stage presented by comiXology, Marvel's all-star lineup returns for Marvel: House of Ideas! This is the panel no fan will want to miss as Marvel unveils new initiatives that will redefine the world of comics as you know it! After the panel concludes, fans in attendance will receive a limited edition Winter Soldier: The Bitter March #1 (while supplies last) and a chance to have it signed by Alonso, Jefferson, Vincent and Penagos in a special Marvel signing session.

Top Shelf have also begun offering graphic novels DRM-free, so they can be read without any proprietary software. As well as selling "combo packs", print comics alongside digital versions for a combined deal price.

And Dark Horse is giving away its first issue of EVE Online-based comic EVE: True Stories, "Thieves Among Us," as a free download from Dark Horse Digital or via the Dark Horse Android and iOS apps.

Issue #1 of the EVE: True Stories graphic novel dramatizes the opening throes of one of the greatest gaming stories of the last decade – the fall of the player alliance known as the Band of Brothers. Filled with action and intrigue, "Thieves Among Us" is inspired by actual player-driven events. Issue #1 is written by legendary writer Daniel Way (Wolverine: Origins, Deadpool) and features the artwork of Tomm Coker (Daredevil Noir, Near Death) with cover art by David Palumbo (ALIENS, Heavy Metal). Future instalments of EVE: True Stories will arrive digitally on 5^th March, 19^th March and 2^nd April 2014, via Dark Horse Digital. The hardback prestige collected edition of EVE: True Stories, containing all four comics, will go on sale in book and comic book stores, 4^th June, 2014.

And finally…

ComiXology has signed up Zenith Press, and will begin offering their graphic history books today.

Illustrated and written by Wayne Vansant, these 100% historically accurate graphic history books bring to life some of our nation's most pivotal moments in history through "illustration that truly captures the agony, worry, frustration, danger, and action of war" (– Wired.com).

Zenith Press graphic history books include:

CIVIL WAR

Gettysburg: The Graphic History of America's Most Famous Battle and the Turning Point of The Civil War (AVAILABLE NOW)

Grant vs. Lee: The Graphic History of the Civil War's Greatest Rivals During the Last Year of the War (AVAILABLE NOW)

WORLD WAR I

The Red Baron: The Graphic History of Richthofen's Flying Circus and the Air War in WWI (AVAILABLE MAY 2014)

WORLD WAR II

Bombing Nazi Germany: The Graphic History of the Allied Air Campaign That Defeated Hitler in World War II (AVAILABLE NOW)

Normandy: A Graphic History of D-Day, The Allied Invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe (AVAILABLE NOW)

Zenith Press graphic histories are "an excellent choice for introducing younger readers to the battle, a worthwhile read for anyone wanting an overview of the crisis… and it can remind us of why we got interested in history in the first place"(– ArmchairGeneral.com).

Writer and artist Wayne Vansant (Mableton, Georgia), who served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, was the primary artist for Marvel's The 'Nam for more than five years. Wayne is one of the foremost writer/artists working in military-themed graphic nonfiction today.