Here it comes #newbooks
Here it Comes
So I don’t know that I have a lot to talk about today. The main thing though is to highlight a bit of stealth publishing. Earlier this week The Black Medallion became available on Amazon. You may remember it as a recent long story cycle.
I went a little different with this one than books from the past. This one is currently available through Kindle Unlimited. There also isn’t a print version (but that will change shortly.)
This could be where I go into a long spiel of the various advantages and disadvantages of the different ways we have available to purchase books and such. But I don’t know about you, for me that would be incredibly boring. Instead I ran across something this week that I thought a bit odd or something… (notice I have deflected the thoughts of the day from me and things I have done to outside forces. Why do we do things like this? Or maybe I am just horrible at self promotion…)
Anyway, around the beginning of every month ComiXology Unlimited brings in new titles (at least new to the service). They also lose some as well but that is just part of the flow. I noticed something odd this week. There were a few titles from Marvel coming in.
For the longest time, the big players (Marvel and DC) have kept their comics out of the service. Marvel has their own service where you can read the majority of the comics in their library (but you are stuck with only Marvel).
Now there are more than enough comics within CU every month to keep you busy already so if you are like me, you don’t really notice a lack of entertainment. But something I noticed that got me to download a few of the titles, they made some classic storylines available. We’re talking storylines and art from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. If you were a collector, this could be a great opportunity to read some great comics in your collection without actually diminishing the value of the comics you have squirreled away.
I spent a bit of time digging through the catalogue of Marvel titles to see which ones made it into CU. They trended toward characters that tied in with their current cinematic universe more than anything else. Well that and a few of the new lines as teasers to try and draw readers into the current stuff. Mind you, I haven’t been impressed with some of the newer stuff (don’t get me started on the horror show they are doing with Captain America).
But overall it is a great marketing ploy. By broadening the access of their older lines, they are leveraging their cinematic tie ins. The fans of the movies now have an approachable way to find some of the classic stories that formed what they see on the screens.
Yeah, I say all this as I have been reading some old Daredevil stories over the past few days. You add in some Iron Fist comics that are continuations of a storyline I started a while back among a bunch of other stories I am working through … Have you ever just stopped and looked around at your TBR list and realized there isn’t enough time in the day? I mean seriously, I have about 10 digital comics I am reading through, plus some physical graphic novels, as well as the growing list of books I have set aside on my desk and in my kindle. Sometimes you have to pick one and push through to the end before the shiny hits your view again and pulls you in a different direction.
So what is our take away from all of this? I honestly have no idea. Although I did find it interesting that the people over at Marvel did something different the same time I did something different. They may be copying me…
Pick up a copy of The Black Medallion and help support the madness.