'Iron Man' will cost more in digital

Joe Quesada has confirmed that the digital version of Invincible Iron Man Annual #1 will cost more than the print.

There has been intense speculation on the relative costs since Marvel announced that the comic would be released simultaneously on two formats.

"The Iron Man comic is over 60 pages, and in print it's priced at $4.99 (£3.42), but on average for that kind of page count, we would have priced it at $5.99 (£4.10) or broken it up into three $2.99 (£2.05) issues," Marvel's editor-in-chief told CBR.

"Our comics on the Marvel App are priced at $1.99 (£1.36) and the way the annual is written it breaks up nicely into three chapters perfectly, so that's how we'll break it up in the app.

"So, when you do the math on this one, the direct market comic shop has the advantage in price on this one, and we've already received word from retailers that they feel this is the best way to set this test up."

Quesada said that digital comics opens the medium up to new readers and that he hopes they would be lured into comic shops for more issues, implying that the digital release was a one-off test rather than an entirely new direction in comics distribution.

Invincible Iron Man Annual #1 will be released on June 30.