Encouraged by the demographic similarity between the typical comic book reader and the average Net user, Marvel Comics is bringing its stable of heroes to Marvel Zone, an online entertainment area slated to launch in late March or early April.
Distinct from the existing, marketing-oriented Marvel site, the new subscription realm will include original Shockwave comics, fan fiction, trivia stories, a battle arena, and, significantly, comic creator Stan Lee's own site. Free to AOL subscribers, Marvel Zone will cost other surfers $3.95 a month, roughly the price of two comic books.
Marvel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, threatening the future of Spiderman, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and a throng of other suited superheroes. The company has since captured a slew of film and television adaptations, and now hopes to find solvency in new media. "Online is a high-growth area, so no matter what financial stuff is going on, the executives back us up," says Paul Kallis, senior VP of Marvel Interactive. "It's important for Marvel to be a player in electronic media."
Without abandoning the box-based storyline of comic books, The Marvel Zone Cybercomics also contain audio loops and Shockwave effects. While electric wires sizzle and meteors shimmer on the screen, readers click to reveal dialog and progress through the adventure. Produced in New York, the original stories are created by Marvel writers and artists, whose imaginations must stay inside Marvel continuity. "The Marvel universe characters cross paths a lot. If you mess that up, the fans will let you know," says Kallis. "And with email, they'll let you know a lot faster."
Publisher Lee is very much a character in that universe, appearing across titles both in comic form and via his monthly column, "Stan's Soapbox." As synonymous with Marvel as Hugh Hefner is with Playboy, his is a direct, boosterism-infected persona that seems tailor-made for the Internet.
"I've been so busy working on our movie, TV, and animation projects that I never thought I'd have the time to get involved in Marvel's online programs," Lee said via fax. "But when [editorial manager] John Cerilli told me of all the fantastic, far-out features coming up in the Marvel Zone, I figured there's no way I'd let the other guys have all the fun."
Kallis says: "One of the things Stan was always proud of is that Marvel is a user participation experience. With his site, it's instant gratification."
Down the road, Marvel hopes to expand its lucrative merchandising to include limited edition, authenticated downloads of digital trading cards available at Marvel Zone.
"Kids today are more likely to go online than to buy a comic book," says Kallis. "Since there are so many kids with computers, we want to open the world of comics to them. It also helps bring the audience to the next level, keeps them interested in the books. It's really a different experience from picking up a comic book - I think the two will always co-exist."
