Dark Horse Comics makes history again with the announcement of a revolutionary new partnership with Dynamics Inc. Dynamics is an innovator in next-generation payment devices, and will now launch a new comic book experience application for ePlate™ mobile payment devices.

The innovative offering brings a new kind of experience to comic book fans by enabling them to earn access to exclusive Dark Horse digital comics with every purchase made with the ePlate™ device. This groundbreaking technology will link payment devices with exclusive Dark Horse comic content, and empower consumers to engage with Dark Horse and other brands that excite them with every swipe or online purchase.

At any time, users can decide to use the Dark Horse Experience™ application for the ePlate™ payment device. The Dark Horse application allows users to earn pages of exclusive Dark Horse comic books with each purchase. After all pages of a particular comic are obtained, the user is provided with a complete digital comic.

After a certain number of digital comic books are collected, Dark Horse provides, at no cost to the user, a collectible print copy of each exclusive comic book earned. Users will be able to earn comic books faster with purchases made at Dark Horse affiliates, sponsors, and retail outlets. At any time, a user can also decide to earn Dark Horse credits instead of exclusive content so that the user can earn any product from DarkHorse.com.

“Dark Horse is always looking for new ways to expand the comics-reading audience,” said Mike Richardson, president and founder of Dark Horse Comics. “Our new partners at Dynamics have created a platform which gives not only existing comics fans, but a wide variety of consumers, the ability to obtain exclusive Dark Horse content just by making day-to-day purchases.”

“Dark Horse hit the nail on the head with its Experience™ application,” said Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics. “Dark Horse Experience leverages unique content—available nowhere else—and provides participating merchants with an exciting promotional tool to attract customers.”

For additional information, see DEMO’s article on Forbes.com.

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In the third installment of the official Diablo III comic book, our mopey hero returns home seeking the punishment he has been craving since the first issue.

The issue begins on a cool note, as a band of Khazra goat demons argue with the thugs who are pursuing Jacob. In a truly creepy moment, the thugs’ leader, Ivan, starts bleeding from his facial orifices as he strikes a bargain with the demons.

It soon becomes apparent that Ivan is possessed by a sinister force—a force that offers to make the Khazra great again if only they will reveal Jacob’s location. The Khazra spend about five seconds contemplating the offer before declaring that Jacob and his wizard friend, Shanar, are hiding beneath them.

Thankfully for Jacob, Shanar has some more nifty wizard tricks up her sleeve, and she deploys several new in-game spells, including Mirror Image and Electrocute. Meanwhile, Jacob engages in some expository combat with Ivan that reveals that the madness affecting Jacob’s people is apparently spread by blood.

A well-placed lightning bolt from Shanar knocks Ivan to the ground, which gives Jacob an excellent opportunity to rid himself of the madman who has been pursuing him for the past three issues. Common sense suggests that it might be a good idea for him to use his flashy magic sword to lop off Ivan’s head. Sadly, common sense is not Jacob’s strong suit.

Instead of killing Ivan, he uses his sword to carve glyphs into his chest. Shanar is naturally confused, and Jacob explains that he will return to his home city of Staalbreak with Ivan and the other thugs so that he can face justice for killing his father.

The problem is, Jacob’s plan is epically stupid. I understand that he feels guilty about killing his father (he has, after all, been moaning about that since the first issue), but the idea that he will find justice back home is just laughable.

He knows his people are suffering from an insanity-inducing plague of unknown, but undoubtedly sinister, origin, yet he is willing to let them sit in judgment of him. That is not nobility. That is not ‘doing the right thing.’ It is a logic fail of titanic proportions, and Jacob richly deserves the slap that Shanar administers to try to jolt some sense into him.

Naturally, things go to Hell as soon as Jacob returns home. The townspeople start to stone him as soon as he enters the city. He is dragged before the constable (who has the face of a demonic Kewpie doll) and is cheerfully informed that there will be no trial. Jacob was found guilty as soon as he fled the city. Jacob begs for a chance to address the people, and the constable agrees, provided Jacob surrenders his super powerful magic sword.

Because Jacob has all the common sense of a head of cabbage, he agrees to this proposal and is promptly hung from a gibbet by his wrists. The townspeople start stoning him again, and they refuse to listen to his attempts to warn them about the plague. He spends an entire night hanging from the gibbet before Shanar saves his sorry butt once again.

Throughout the issue, readers have cause to question Jacob’s intelligence. If he did not know about the blood plague, then his decision to return home to face justice would seem noble, but he knows something is rotten in Staalbreak. He watched his father go crazy. He saw Ivan and his minions eat a boar while it was still alive.

Heck, he even heard Ivan speaking in the voice of a demon! All these things suggest that Jacob’s countrymen are under the influence of something nasty, but he seems oblivious to the danger he faces. He apparently believed that all he had to do was address the people, and they would realize that something evil was afoot. Calling him naïve would be the understatement of the year.

This is the second time Jacob’s masochistic guilt has gotten him into a dicey situation from which Shanar has had to rescue him. We can only hope he has finally learned his lesson.

The article Diablo III Sword of Justice: Issue 3 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Marvel ReEvolution is here—and comics will never be the same. The future of comic book publishing was unveiled on Monday to the raucous crowd at SXSW Interactive’ s ScreenBurn Arcade courtesy of industry superstars Axel Alonso (Editor  in Chief, Marvel Comics), Peter Phillips (SVP/GM, Marvel Digital Media) and Jeph Loeb (Head of Marvel Television) during the historic Marvel: House of Ideas panel.

An industry first, the Marvel ReEvolution seamlessly brings the worlds of print and digital media together for a comics experience like no other. The first two elements of this exciting new initiative were revealed as Marvel Infinite Comics, a new comic book format, and Marvel AR, the first major augmented reality app from a comics company. And fans will not have to wait long to get in on the action as they will both be released with the hotly-anticipated Avengers X-Men #1 on April 4, when the two biggest Super Heroes teams in the world go to war.

“Marvel’s always led graphic fiction industry in digital media innovation and the Marvel ReEvolution is a quantum leap into the future of publishing,” said Dan Buckley. Publisher & President of the Print, Animation & Digital Divisions, Marvel Worldwide, Inc.

“We see print and digital product as complementary, not competitive—so we’ve made sure that not only do we have new digital content but also digital products that enhance the printed page. The release of Avengers VS X-Men #1, the biggest story we’ve ever told, is the activation point for the re-evolution of comics as a whole.”

Marvel Infinite Comics represent a new form of comic book storytelling, using tablets and smartphones as a new canvas for storytelling, taking advantage of modern technology while staying true to medium’s greatest strengths.

The first comic released in this format will be Avengers VS X-Men #1 Infinite, from acclaimed creators Mark Waid and Stuart Immonen and available on April 4 for purchase on the Marvel Comics app, free with the redemption of the code found in print copies of Avengers VS X-Men #1 or included with the purchase of the digital version.

“We call these Marvel Infinite Comics because the storytelling possibilities are, frankly, infinite. Writers and artists now have a whole host of new tools at their disposal to redefine the comic book medium,” said Alonso.

“Current tablets and smartphones, along with comiXology’s Guided View technology, allow us to develop new, full length stories for a different medium that are very much truly comics—but experienced by readers in a way no other major company has ever executed.”

The Marvel AR app, powered by Aurasma, will be released in April for iOS and Android devices. By opening this app and scanning select Marvel products featuring the Marvel AR logo, you’ll unlock exclusive content starring the world’s most popular Super Heroes — including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk and many others! Go behind the scenes of your favorite comics, see new footage, hear from creators, catch yourself up on past events and more.

“Marvel AR is a perfect example of how digital innovation not only gives added value to print comics, but also brings a delivers an entirely new reading experience,” explained Phillips. “Now fans will have access to more behind-the-scenes material from their favorite Marvel products than ever before—and it’s all absolutely free.”

Check out www.marvel.com for more information on the Marvel ReEvolution and stay tuned for exciting developments as the comic industry changes forever.

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