Coming on the heels of DC’s massive, line-wide move to same-day digital and an impressive first week of sales that saw both the Comixology app and the DC Comics custom app make the top ten list of highest-grossing apps on iTunes, two other major American comics publishers made digital announcements today.Marvel took the initiative to start selling collected editions of single issues, essentially digital editions of existing graphic novels, starting with ten popular stories including Captain America: Winter Soldier, Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage and the first arc of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. Buying as an arc will save a little money, but not very much, much like buying in trade paperback. Starting with only ten collections is a bit conservative, too, but given that Marvel is getting a leg up on DC with a digital move that’s unlikely to alienate their friends in the direct market is in itself worth keeping an eye on.
