Comic Books & The Digital Age

Marvel is giving away some digital comic books for free this week.  There are three titles (Deadpool, Iron Man, and Wolverine) and, for each, you get two issues at no cost (if you follow the links I've provided to the series, be sure to scroll down to the listing of the individual books and you'll see the first two offered for free).  For me, this is a win-win situation because: free.  I have a hard time not enjoying the heck out of anything I don't have to pay for--this was a serious detriment when I used to review movies for a small, local newspaper.

So far I've read Deadpool: Gauntlet Infinite #1 & #2 and Iron Man: The Fatal Frontier Infinite #1 and, guess, what?  I enjoyed the heck out of them.

First of all, I haven't had a lot of previous experience with digital comics and I had no idea the extent to which the Marvel Comic Reader app-thingie made the experience far more like watching an animated short than reading a comic book.  Panels appear and disappear in a way that give you a sense of movement.  This is particularly impressive in the scene in Deadpool: Gauntlet Infinite #1where Deadpool is slashing through some bus exhaust, trying to hit what he thinks is a vampire who has turned invisible (the vampire actually hopped on top of the bus.) Also, the way that the opening "credits" were done in Deadpool was a very obvious James Bond movie nod.

Really well done (plus, I like Reilly Brown's art tremendously.)

So, if you've never read a digital comic book before, I might simply recommend any one of these as a 'just try the experience' kind of recommendation.  Because, it really is quite nifty.

As for the stories... one thing I LOVE about comic books is that they tap into my willingness to suspend all disbelief and roll with Soviets on the moon and vampires in London.  You know, sometimes as a writer, I get really caught up listening to that internal editor who is always so busy telling me that my ideas are ridiculous and silly.  Then, I pick up a published issue of a Marvel comic and I think, "Yeah, no, I'm good."

That's not to say that I thought the stories were stupid.  No, just the opposite.  The writing entertained a very secret part of me that wants to go back to the Moon, even if it's to fight a disgruntled Soviet machine who feels we stole the moon from them, or that would like to raid Egyptian tombs for living mummy brides for Dracula.  I mean, yes!  So much yes!  These are the stories that, if I think about them too hard I will find problems with, but my inner thirteen year old is like, "Go!" and that ignite and rekindle my sense of wonder.