Called a “tentative move onto the Internet” and also “perhaps the comics industry’s most aggressive Web push yet” in the same article, Marvel comics is posting online versions of the original runs of franchises like, Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four online to reach younger audiences who have only encountered the characters through recent movies. About 2,500 issues will be available at launch of the subscription-based Marvel Digital Comics, with 20 more being released each week, and newer issues will be posted at least six months after they first appear in print. The move is hoped to stimulate sales of the ‘bread-and-butter’ books, which used to be available freely at dime stores and other kid haunts, but now are increasingly only available in limited distribution via specialty shops.
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