The age of digital comics is upon us, now further expanded by the PlayStation Network digital comics store.
The PlayStation Network digital comics store was teased with a free comic offer a month ago, but has now launched and is in full swing. Comics purchased on the store can as of yet only be viewed on a PSP, as long as it has firmware 6.20 installed along with the PSP’s digital comics reader.
The initial offerings up on the PlayStation Network are pretty decent, with some true gems amongst the crowd. Joss Whedon’s entire 24 issue run of Astonishing X-Men is well worth dropping some bones on, and at $1.99 an issue the digital versions end up being cheaper than the trade paperback collections’ retail prices (though maybe not their discount Amazon.com prices). $1.99 seems to be the average price of all the available digital comics, thankfully lower than the price of most physical comics that often come in at $2.99 to $3.99.
Reading comics on the PSP is easy, and with the digital reader’s semi-cinematic “AutoFlow” feature and added sound effects it can feel like watching a motion comic. I read comics mostly for the stories, not necessarily to collect, so I can see purchasing certain series through a digital comics store if it will save me a little money. I still feel like $1.99 might be a little too much to make me a regular customer and in the future I would like to see some kind of subscription model or a discounted collection price.
As long as the digital comics reader and store both continue to evolve, the digital comics section of the PlayStation Network could become a weekly destination just as physical comics stores are today. Here is the full list of all launch titles:
* 2000AD Prog
* Aleister Arcane
* The Amazing Spider-Man (1963)
* The Amazing Spider-Man (2003)
* Annihilation (2006)
* Archie & Friends
* Astonishing X-Men (2004)
* Astro Boy: Movie Adaptation
* Astro Boy: Underground: Movie Prequel
* Atomic Robo
* The Beagle Boys
* Burke & Hare
* Cages
* Captain America (2004)
* Captain America Comics (1941)
* Clive Barker’s The Thief Of Always
* Daisy Duck
* Daredevil: Yellow (2001)
* Donald Duck
* Donald Duck Agent Qu-Qu 7
* Durham Red: Empty Suns
* Durham Red: Scarlet Cantos
* Durham Red: Vermin Stars
* Dynamo 5
* Eternals (2006)
* Fantastic Four (2003)
* FX
* G.I. Joe
* G.I. Joe: Classics
* G.I. Joe: Official Movie Prequel
* G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra: Official Movie Adaptation
* Gladstone Gander
* Gyro Gearloose
* House of M (2005)
* The Immortal Iron Fist (2006)
* The Invincible Iron Man (1996)
* The Invincible Iron Man (1998)
* Invincible Iron Man (2008)
* Iron Man (2004)
* Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2004)
* Judge Dredd: Mandroid
* Judge Dredd: Total War
* Kingdom
* Leviathan
* Magica De Spell
* Marvel Knights (2000)
* Marvels (1994)
* Mickey Mouse
* Neozoic
* New X-Men: Academy X (2004)
* Rogue Trooper: The Future Of War
* Runaways (2003)
* Scrooge McDuck
* Shakara
* Sláine: Book of Invasions
* Star Trek: Alien Spotlight
* Star Trek: Archives – The Best of Peter David
* Star Trek: Assignment Earth
* Star Trek: Mirror Images
* Star Trek: Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment
* Super Human Resources
* Superduck
* Transformers: All Hail Megatron
* Transformers: Classics
* Transformers Official Movie Adaptation
* Transformers Movie Prequel
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Movie Adaptation
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Prequel Alliance
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Prequel Defiance
* Transformers Spotlight
* Wallace & Gromit
* The Warriors
* White Picket Fences
* Wizards of Mickey
* World War Hulk (2007)
* X-23 (2005)
* X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (2005)
* X-Mickey
* Young Salem
* Zombies vs Robots
