Thursday 18 November 2010

Comic books online, on the stands, and in the App Store

In the run-up to last Christmas, I posted a bunch of mock-up comic book covers - y'know, just for fun. The covers here are a little different. These are eight full-size, full-color comic books that will be on sale in the USA early next year - the first wave of a 32-issue run comprising the whole of the Jack and Estelle story. (But not necessarily the whole of Mirabilis: Year of Wonders, as we have plenty of other plotlines up our sleeves.)

Those are guaranteed to be worth waiting for as, along with the story itself, you'll get the RMS letters columns and a cornucopia of wondrous paintings by Martin. But the good news is, you don't have to wait. The whole Winter season will be available in trade paperback (two volumes) in just a few weeks. That's 224 pages of thrills and spills as only Leo and Nikos can serve it up. Look for those on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

That's still not the really exciting news, though. Because the Mirabilis app is on course for a December release and you really need to buy, borrow or steal yourself an iPad right now. Thing of beauty though the iPad is, I honestly haven't seen anything on it to compare to the knock-down gorgeous graphics of Mirabilis. It fairly crackles with luminously sharp empyrean energy. Okay, don't actually resort to stealing. But do anything and everything else to make sure you have an iPad to hand on Christmas Eve as you will not want to miss the opening salvo in the Year of Mirabilis. Did I mention that the opening chapter is absolutely free?

6 comments:

  1. So do you have any estimates on pricing for both the books and the app store?

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  2. Hi Dermot - yes indeed...

    The trade paperbacks will be $19.99 each (£12.99 in the UK, 15.99 euros in Europe).

    The app will come with the first issue free, then the subsequent seven issues are $1.99 each. So you can get the entire Winter graphic novel on iPad for $13.93 and that is most definitely worth having. Even if you've seen Mirabilis in print, you haven't really seen it till you experience in refulgent AppColor. Oh, and as a bonus the individual issues not only have 20-25 pages of comic each, they also feature a Royal Mythological Society letters page.

    Then if you want the comic books early in the new year, they'll be $4.50 each, meaning you can get the whole Winter season (8 issues) for $36. But they're going to be on sale in the USA only.

    Or British fans could wait for the deluxe hardbacks. Those are likely to cost around £14 each with Amazon's typical discount - so a little pricier than the trade paperbacks, but they're bigger format (a whopping 9"x12") and with a print quality to make them real keepers.

    Now, if I were you: iPad version as soon as it's live because you can't miss that. Then the trade paperbacks as a gift for a loved one, because Mirabilis is at least as much fun as watching the Christmas afternoon Harry Potter movie. Then buy yourself the hardbacks when they come out later in the year!

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  3. God these covers look absolutely gorgeous Dave!

    Fantastic! I'm off to order the deluxe hardback and I'm going to have to get my paws on the U.S. 32 issue run - those covers are just amazing!

    Really exciting news!

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  4. I don't think you can order the hardbacks yet, Peter - we still have to "ink the contract" as they say. But it should all proceed very swiftly once we do.

    The trade paperbacks and iPad versions, on the other hand, will be on sale in a matter of weeks, in good time for Christmas. And the comic books will be available in January.

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  5. This is wonderful news! Congrats to the whole talented team.

    I may have to get an iPad now...

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  6. Thanks, Sandy. We'll be working right up to the wire, but so far everything looks good for a Mirabilis-filled Christmas.

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