Monday, December 8 2003
Smack! Blam! Crash! Comic-book fans can now get closer to their favorite illustrated superheroes with Digital Comic Books (DCBs), a new form of DVD entertainment combining comic books and film.
DCBs present comic books in the form of a film by blowing up each comic-book panel to a full-screen image and providing sound effects and actors to voice the text. Each DCB can be viewed on a DVD player or as a digital data file on a PC or Mac computer.
Miami-based Intec Interactive began producing DCBs to bring attention back to comic books and to appeal to a new generation of interactive consumers.
"We wanted to create a new form of reading/viewing," Intec president Claudio Osorio says. "E-books failed to capture the masses, because they only worked on PCs. Most people get very tired of reading long documents on a screen."
Intec partnered with comic-book publishers CrossGen and Marvel to license content for its DCBs. It has already released 20 titles in two waves, Sept. 15 and Nov. 7, which included volumes of Daredevil, the Hulk, X-Men and Scion. The next group of titles will be released early next year.
Each DCB includes such bonus features as footage from that comic book's original issue. Marvel volumes also include a special offer for three free comic books.
DCBs are carried at 10 major retail chains, including Suncoast, Toys "R" Us, Hastings, FYE and Electronics Boutique. Osorio would not provide sales figures on the titles Intec has released, though he says that interest is building at stores and with consumers as the holiday shopping season begins. CrossGen titles are selling for $9.99, while Marvel titles are $13.99.
In the future, Osorio will release DCBs day-and-date with their print comic-book counterparts.
Source:
http://www.reuters.com
