Online comics are vivid, but will they lure fans? - Los Angeles Times

Online comics are vivid, but will they lure fans? - Los Angeles Times: "I couldn't help thinking about that beloved and tattered newsprint artifact as I got my first experience with the new 'digital comics' from Marvel that made their splashy premiere earlier this month at marvel.com/digitalcomics. In essence, Marvel has taken thousands of classic issues (among them every 1960s issue of 'The Amazing Spider-Man,' 'The Avengers' and 'The Fantastic Four') along with selected current titles and re-engineered them panel-by-panel to make them into something akin to a sleek Internet slide show. The elaborate venture is a bold one but it was driven as much by anxiety as ambition; even though comic-book heroes now bring robust returns as film and video-game franchises, the printed comic book is fading from the cultural consciousness of youngsters. Next year, the superhero comic book will celebrate its 70th year as a uniquely American contribution to pop culture, but it's now a foreign object to most kids. "