In what may be a supersonic punch to comic book traditionalists everywhere, the days of buying a comic book in ordinary paper form from the local comic store may soon become a thing of the past.
In the same way that encyclopedias and mail order catalogues eventually found themselves moving online with the times, comics are finally turning digital. And it looks like Apple might have something to do with how we get them.
According to a recent interview with Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Joe Quesada, new 'motion comics' have been developed over the past several years with new and old comic book readers in mind.
Motion comics offer a heightened graphical experience, using the traditional panel by panel design, but with movie-like soundscapes and dialogue voiced by vocal actors for added realism.
Mr Quesada told Marvel.com he had been discussing for several years the idea of taking "existing comic art, the flat, static art, and [being] able to animate it."
Comics are no stranger to the web, as scanned comic books already exist online, both as high quality downloads that incur a small fee or as special archived editions, hosted on fan sites. However, none of these digital copies offer the same engagement that motion comics promise with their unique audio-visual style.
According to Marvel.com, iTunes is among the planned distribution channels for Marvel's Motion Comics like Astonishing X-Men and Spider-Woman.
To see what they look like, watch this video of Marvel's Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic below. Unlike a "regular" cartoon adaptation, animation is subtler, and the framing of scenes is designed with a comic book feel in mind. In a nutshell, it reminds us of anime.