Marvel Teases ‘Infinite Comics’ Before SXSW Announcement

What is Infinite Comics? If the hype is to be believed, the mysterious new Marvel Comics project is something that will bring print and digital formats closer together and "bring more readers to comics than ever before," with the name referring to the endless possibilities of the future of storytelling as a result. Wondering just what all this could actually mean? Don't worry; all will be revealed this Sunday at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas.Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada started teasing Infinite Comics last Friday, tweeting three cryptic messages that "The future is ," "The possibilities are " and "The future of storytelling is ." No further explanation for the messages came until yesterday, when a Marvel press release titled "Marvel Infinite Comics Debuts" invited fans to "join the revolution," noting that "It's coming to the historic Marvel: House of Ideas panel Sunday, March 11 at 1 PM on the Arcade Stage presented by IGN at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, TX."

Marvel was more forthcoming in an earlier press release for that event, sent out at the end of January. The earlier release listed the panel's guests as Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Axel Alonso, Marvel Television chief Jeph Loeb and Marvel Digital Medial SVP and General Manager Peter Philips, and described the event as one that would "bold new multimedia plans that include the premiere of Marvel's revolutionary new way to read comics," including exclusive animation footage. The same release quotes Marvel Publisher and President of Print, Animation and Digital Dan Buckley as saying that the company is a "big [believer] that both print and digital can work hand-in-hand to bring more readers to comics than ever before - and if you're at SXSW Interactive you'll be the first to see just how we're going to do that."

But what, exactly, is Infinite Comics? The presence of representatives from print, television and digital suggest that we may be looking at some kind of online (and potentially animated) extension of story lines from the comic line, a suggestion perhaps underscored by the "It's coming" from yesterday's announcement (That being the tagline of the upcoming Avengers vs. X-Men). But it's unlikely to be straight animation, as Quesada yesterday tweeted that he was "drawing my first cover," adding "It's not what you think, but it it kindah is."

Expect more hints as to the secret of Infinite Comics throughout the week, with the official announcement arriving this Sunday. As long as it's not all a lead-up to a new series of Infinity Gauntlet-related comics, this could turn out being something worth paying attention to.