Earlier this month, Marvel Comics made some waves when they announced they would be putting out new issues of a few of their titles like Hawkeye: Freefall, Ant-Man, and Ghost-Spider, which began or were originally solicited as physical series, as digital-only releases. Now Marvel has announced some additional new single issues that will only be available digitally, to be released digitally throughout June and the first Wednesday of July.
The following single-issue comics will now only be available digitally from Marvel, before eventually making their print debut in collected editions:
Wednesday, June 3:
AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #5
REVENGE OF THE COSMIC GHOST RIDER #5
2020 FORCE WORKS #3
SCREAM: CURSE OF CARNAGE #6
Wednesday, June 17:
VALKYRIE: JANE FOSTER #10
ANT-MAN #5
2020 IRONHEART #2
GHOST-SPIDER #10
Wednesday, July 1:
HAWKEYE: FREEFALL #6
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: THE BLACK CAT STRIKES #5
RAVENCROFT #5
STAR #5
Along with new issues of the previously-released digital titles, new additions to the slate include the final issues of miniseries 2020 Force Works and Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider, and new issues of ongoing series Scream: Curse of Carnage and Valkyrie: Jane Foster.
The news isn’t entirely surprising. As we reported yesterday, Marvel’s digital-only releases appear to have been fairly successful, and they have dozens of other titles that haven’t yet been rescheduled for physical release. Releasing some of those as digital-only titles is an easy way to get the work out for people to read, and avoids flooding comic shops with a ton of new books to order in a short period of time.
Look for these digital-only titles from Marvel next month, and keep an eye out as more books make the jump in the future.
Comic buyers should NOT reward this behavior.
So I guess Scream and Valkyrie are both cancelled? It’d be crazy to continue an on-going series as only digital with collected editions later on. Looks like I’m dropping Valkyrie. And it was a good title, too!
I’d rather reward this behavior than variant and Incentive covers.
Nathan Aaron totally the same. It is rewarding them to not publish the last of the physical issues as the solution I suspect will be if you want the last two issues you will have to buy a trade with all the old material you ready own.
DC and Marvel are both going to get a huge drop list at my LCS.
@ Steve Flack,
I don’t support those behaviors either!
But in this case, I’m concerned about what is essentially a ‘bait and switch’ tactic to boost digital sales.
If it starts from issue one as digital, I’m good with that.
Marvel is making it really easy to walk away as a long time buyer.
The irony here is quite amusing. If the people expressing outrage at these decisions had actually bought the books to begin with, then they’d still be published physically.
At least this way the tiny number of people buying them can finish the story.
@ Simon Cooper,
I was a buyer of the Terrifics, which is getting this same print to digital treatment. I won’t be making the switch to digital on that title.
Simon Cooper, uh… that’s exactly what we’ve done. I’ve bought every single issue of Valkyrie. I’m sure others on here have done the same with their specific titles. So your “ironic” callout is a little unjustified.
At some point every comic is gonna be a Batman/Superman or Spider-Man book because those are the only characters that sell big numbers. Yawn. Comics title diversity has flown out of the comics industry window. And that’s a sad thought.
Hell no I’ve just lost 5 titles I collect I will never read digital nor will I pick up a trade, thanks marvel you just made me pocket my money and leave
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