Tidbits from Marvel’s House of Ideas Panel at Comic-Con International

Despite the fact that Marvel is currently promoting their new editorial mandate, Marvel NOW!, the company took time today to focus in on their digital ReEvolution.  The House of Ideas panel talked at length about the steps Marvel has taken and will continue to take to push their digital initiative.

Marvel’s Director of Communications, Publishing and Digital Media Arune Singh had the following comments:

There is nowhere you can read more digital comics than Marvel.

We’re also the only company who gives you a free code for a digital comic in all our big books.

We wanted to make sure the print books had extra added value, which was giving you the full free digital download.

We made the jump to all our $3.99 or higher books to include that code.

Interestingly though he also noted that the possibility was still out there for the $2.99 books to recieve the same treatment as their $3.99 brethren.

Beyond that tidbit, the features of augmented reality were discussed and shown

Here’s a bit of the write-up from Comic Book Resources:

Singh introduced Marvel AR next, and briefly introduced the concept of augmented reality to the audience and said the team has created a lot of fun execution for the Augmented Reality, specifically referencing “AVX VS” #3 where the AR app translates Russian to English. The panel also showed an AR video where a doctor commented on the likelihood of Wolverine surviving his fall from the Avengers Quinjet in “Avengers Vs. X-Men.”

Arune Singh then shared an example of Marvel AR and how it will relate to Marvel NOW!:

All our books in the Marvel NOW! Initiative, every first issue will have activation on their covers where you can hold your phone up to the cover in the store and get a recap.  You’re going to see a lot of great augmented reality execution as well.

The panel consisting of Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, Executive Editorial Director for Marvel Digital Media Group Ryan Penagos, Senior Vice President of Sales David Gabriel, SCP & GM Digital Media Group Peter Phillips, Senior Editor Nick Lowe and Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, talked about a lot of different things but the only real new announcement came at the end when they confirmed a new program, Marvel Advisors.  In this new shindig fans will get early access to sneak peeks and the ability to give feedback on Marvel digital titles.  Beyond that they discussed the Avengers facebook game, the cryptic future of the Infinite line of digital comics and the forthcoming second screen app for Marvel’s The Avengers.

So what do you guys think?  Are you excited to see Marvel continue to expand their digital realm, or should they stop and focus on just print books?  Sound off with your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

SOURCE: Comic Book Resources & Marvel