Marvel’s announcement at South by Southwest that it was making 700 Marvel first issues free on all comiXology platforms for three days, until Tuesday, swamped comiXology’s servers and made it frequently impossible to order comics online or in the company’s apps on Sunday and Monday. “We expected a high degree of excitement for the Marvel initiative – and had believed ourselves prepared—but unfortunately we became overwhelmed by the immense response,” comiXology CEO David Steinberger said.
The company suspended the Marvel promotion Monday afternoon, instead collecting the e-mail addresses of those who wanted the free issues and promising its resumption at a later date. As of late Monday night, the company’s sites appear to be functioning normally.
Marvel made several other announcements at the festival.
Project Gamma, launching later this year, will add audio to comics “that dynamically tailors itself to both the events in the comic and the individual reader’s behavior, from lingering on panels to quickly swiping between pages.”
Marvel also announced Marvel Original Video, digital-first video documentaries, reality programming, and other original content. First up will be Marvel’s Earth’s Mightiest Show, a weekly pop culture and lifestyle series, hosted by Blair Butler, with news, interviews, and more.
Marvel rebranded its subscription site, nee Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, to Marvel Unlimited, and announced that it will now be available via iOS apps in addition to its Website. The all-you-can-eat offering includes 13,000 issues at $59.88 if subscribed before April 15th.
Marvel has just launched Guardians of the Galaxy Infinite Comics, a new free be-weekly digital series by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Oeming, Ming Doyle, and Mike Del Mundo.
On July 9th, Marvel will launch a new weekly Infinite Comics series featuring four of the company’s most important characters in 13-issue arcs. The first series will be Wolverine: Japan’s Most Wanted.
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