Marvel CyberComics

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[edit] History

Marvel CyberComics or Webisodes were Shockwave comics, produced from 1996 to 2000.


First CyberComics were created by Marvel Comics in the summer of 1996 as a part of a promotional deal with America Online. The CyberComics were placed into the AOL/Marvel Zone and were exclusively available to AOL users. In 1997 Marvel built their own website at MarvelOnline.com and the CyberComics were freely available to all users through registration on MarvelZone.com (a due to the contract with AOL).

On September 17th, 1999 NextPlanetOver.com(NPO), a now-defunct online comics store, announced a one year marketing and content licensing deal with Marvel Comics. Terms included a year of run-of-site advertising on Marvel.com. In addition, NextPlanetOver.com was sponsoring monthly CyberComics created exclusively for them by Marvel. As NPO got bought out less than a year later and went bankrupt in 2000, the CyberComics were renamed into Webisodes and made available at Marvel.com for free without any registration.

The first characters to star in CyberComics were Spider-Man and Wolverine, soon followed by several others. The comics were not only cannon to the mainstream but tied-in directly with Marvel's newsstand offerings. They came out on a monthly basis, mostly in four parts consisting of eight pages each.

Utilizing Macromedia's Shockwave software, Marvel's CyberComics had the polish of comic books. Readers guided the action by clicking through word balloons and following panels complete with animation, sound effects and music. Nevertheless CyberComics were still very much in the comic book or strip genre - result was a cross between comics and animation.

Due to financial reasons the production of new CyberComics ceased in 2000 and Marvel removed them from their website.

Having a huge back-issue archive, Marvel decided to save money and started putting out an all-new dot-comics line-up of repurposed comic books. By presenting comics online, Marvel was hoping to actually encourage people to buy them offline. In the last week of December 2005 they were renamed in digital comics. There are currently (December 2006) 126 digital comics online.

[edit] Spider-Man

From 1996 till 1998 there was a run of the Spider-Man Cybercomics. They appeared monthly for 14 months in four eight-page, weekly installments/episodes. After the 52nd episode Marvel remade them officially into storylines:


Spider-Man Storyline # 01 - 01-04 (July 18, 1996):

Written by Scott Lobdell, penciled by Mark Bagley, guest-starring Chamber and Vertigo.

Spider-Man Storyline # 02 - 05-08: The Menace of Mysterio

Guest-starring Mysterio kidnapping J. Jonah Jameson.

Spider-Man Storyline # 03 - 09-12:

Guest-starring Morbius and the Lizard.

Spider-Man Storyline # 04: Shock Value - 13-16

Guest-starring The Hand, Kingpin, The Rose, Hammerhead, Shocker and Green Goblin. The fourth chapter of the story was penciled by Daerick Gross.

Spider-Man Storyline # 05: The Gamma Gambit - 17-20

Penciled by Daerick Gross, guest-starring Green Goblin and The Hulk.

Spider-Man Storyline # 06 - 21-24:

Spider-man in the Savage Land, featuring Ka-Zar, Shanna the She-Devil and Zabu.


Spider-Man Storyline # 07: Sandblasted - 25-28:

Peter Parker's latest gig as a freelance photographer is no day at the beach, thanks to the Sandman's untimely emergence. Featuring the Sandman at Coney Island with art by Daerick Gross.

Spider-Man Storyline # 08: Strange Heads
(This Storyline was included as a promo on a CD in Marvel Vision #25 and Ka-Zar #8)


  • Issue #31 (February 13, 1997): Spidey and Doctor Strange confront the power of Hammerhead and the mystical might of the amulet of Aagara! It’s all-out head to head Hammerhead action! By John Lewandowski and Nghia Lam!

Spider-Man Storyline # 09: Electric

  • Issue #33:

Spider-Man Storyline # 10: Black Tarantula

  • Issue #37:
  • Issue #39:

Spider-Man Storyline # -1: Flashback

  • Issue #42:
  • Issue #43 (May 8, 1997): A Flashback-Month tie-in! The first multimedia crossover ever done! Joe Robertson is forced to choose between covering a news story – or becoming a part of it! By Tom DeFalco and Mark Badger!
  • Issue #44 (May 15, 1997): A Flashback-Month tie-in! Concluding the first multimedia crossover ever done! Joe Robertson is given a choice between covering a major news story or becoming a part of it!

Spider-Man Storyline # 11: Venom Saga

  • Issue #46 (May 29, 1997): At last! Spider-Man tangles with the man who framed him for murder – and his name is Venom!
  • Issue #47 (June 5, 1997): Spider-Man in an all-out, knock-down, drag-out fight with his most dangerous enemy: Venom!

Spider-Man Storyline # 12: Deathlock Solution


  • Issue # 50:
  • Issue # 51 (July 3, 1997): Swingin’ on data! Trapped in the Cyberverse, Spider-Man and Deathlock attempt to stop Ryker’s cyborgs from rewriting their programming, from the inside! By Andrew Ball and Nghia Lam!
  • Issue # 52 (July 10, 1997): The concluding chapter of the Spider-Man/Deathlock saga! Cyberspace was never this exciting! By Andrew Ball and Nghia Lam!

Spider-Man Storyline # 13: Path of Vengeance


  • Issue # 53 (July 30, 1997): Part One! Someone has targeted Osborn Industries for destruction – and Spider-Man fears it could be his worst enemy, back from the dead! By Glenn Greenberg, Pat Chau and Mark Badger!
  • Issue # 54:

Spider-Man Storyline # 14: Maximum Plumage


Spider-Man Storyline # 15: Doom Control

(In five parts; 1998) His name is Von Doom. Victor Von Doom. And only Spider-Man can stop him from seizing control of all the minds in Manhattan. The first three parts (0-2) can be seen here. By D. G. Chichester and Daerick Gross.

[edit] Heroes


  • Heroes Return (In five parts; 1997) It took place between issues #3 and #4 of the Heroes Reborn: The Return Limited Series. The Wall-crawler takes on the Green Goliath and encounters the Heroes Return super-heroes! By Tom Defalco, Casey Jones and Rob Haynes.


  • Nick Fury / Black Widow: Jungle Warfare (In four parts) Nick Fury and the Black Widow race to diffuse a bomb buried in the banks of the Panama Canal - without setting off any political landmines. Art by Casey Jones.

[edit] Mutants

  • Gambit: The Hunt for the Tomorrow Stone (December 27, 1999) Was the first CyberComic referred to in a printed comic (in the pages of Gambit #12). The plot occurred approximately after Gambit #10 - Gambit helps Spat obtain the Tomorrow Stone to stop her de-aging and save her life. In his quest for it he encounters Sekhmet who needs the Stone herself to save her mother from the suspended animation she was put in by her husband. Sekhmet finally gets the Tomorrow Stone but provides it to Spat and saves her life. After that, Sekhmet goes on looking to find help for her mother (Assumedly, the Sekhmet story would have come up again in the Gambit comic, if it continued under Fabian Nicieza, but didn't since it was cancelled). Art by Daerick Gross.


  • Deadpool: Ride My Hard Drive, Baby! (In four parts; February 2000) In this quirky tale of everyone's favorite Merc-With-A-Mouth, Deadpool gets interactive as he ends up being downloaded into the computer, owned by his good buddy Weasel, and mayhem ensues in Cyberscape! Featuring appearances by Quasimodo, Vision, Captain America and Iron Man. "Ride My Hard Drive, Baby!" is written by Joe Kelly, with art by Casey Jones! You can see the art from it here and here.
  • Wolverine: Merciless is the Mongrel by Tom DeFalco and Daerick Gross (In four parts; July 1996). This was one of the two fist Marvel CyberComics ever (the other one was with Spider-Man). Pale Flower is playing a dangerous game, with Wolverine in the middle. Can she control a tiger by the tail? Features first appearances by Mongrel and Pale Flower.


[edit] Marvel's Excelsior Theatre

Scoop:
The only "movie" in this "theatre" was called "The Secret Adventures of Captain America - Far Flung in the Far East" and came out in five parts in 1999-2000. It was conceived by former editor and Stan-hattan Project founder James Felder and co-written by James Felder, Ben Raab and Joe Kelly with art/designs by John Cassaday and edited by John Cerilli. The idea was to do a Flash animated series with actors contributing the characters' voices. Sort of a retro-modern version of the old movie serials with a bit of the Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre radio show vibe. It was discontinued after the fifth episode without bringing the story to an end for unclear reasons.

Story:
Chasing down a mysterious phenomenon in East Asia during the WWII, Cap confronts the nefarious Mandarin! A certain Sergeant Fury is present and accounted for as well, but with allies like these...

Other appearances include Dum Dum Dugan and Sgt. Fury's Howling Commandos comprised of Dino Manelli, Reb Ralston, Gabe Jones, Percy Pinkerton and Izzey Cohen.

  • Episode 1: Valley of Death
  • Episode 2: In the Clutches of the Mandarin
  • Episode 3: The Valley of Lost Spirits
  • Episode 4: The Road of Frozen Hells
  • Episode 5: Fireworks

Review:
The adventure featured numerous "firsts", including a new first meeting of Captain America and Nick Fury; one that is decidedly different then the one featured in the pages of Sgt Fury comic. Much more advanced than the CyberComics, it had music and actors performing their parts and more advanced animation. Oddly the story seemed to take the stand that Nick Fury was somehow opposed to Captain America beforehand, seeing him as some kind of glorified piece of propaganda.

[edit] External links