Every once in awhile Zampzon can’t resist sending me a bit of news that I wouldn’t have found in the normal channels. Considering the latest tidbit came from MacWorld its no wonder his email first exposed it to me. This article brings to light the “rise in digital comics” that is occurring thanks to Marvel releasing it’s old (40 years) comic series in digital format. The writer of this article, Jason Snell, abashedly admits his love for comics and goes on to describe the changing face of comic book companies.

Apparently Marvel has begun releasing complete runs in PDF on DVD. (Why do people insist on continuing to call them DVD-ROM’s? That’s like saying www before an Internet address) I’ll have to admit I like what they’re doing and highly encourage it. If it wasn’t for the $50 dollar price tag ($40 at Amazon) I might even purchase my own copy but then I personally have trouble buying that which was originally released for print. How many of you are in the same boat? I love purchasing web comics in print but for some odd reason I only want the hard copy version of my favorite Marvel and DC comics.

Moving on there’s an exploration into why aren’t comics released through something like iTunes? Now here is a topic I can jump on. This sounds perfect for web comics. What’s the biggest problem with web comics? They’re on the web! Why is it that when find something fantastic the best thing about it is always what is holding it back. There have been so many attempts at bringing comics off the web and down into whatever is the latest device. Let me count the ways: Clickwheel on iPod, Media Manager on PSP, countless companies for your mobile phone, and then what’s mentioned in this article. I vaguely remember hearing about CBR and CBZ as the comic standard but I’m more interested in these comic viewers. They’re getting more flexible and useful by the year. I’ve taken a look at ComicBookLover before and enjoyed it but it will be surpassed and purhaps that’s when we will no longer be known as web comics.