Going digital: Animation World Magazine examines how comics publishers -- particularly manga publishers -- are experimenting with cell phones, Internet streaming and video on demand as ways to market and distribute their titles:

"In general, manga and anime property owners are ahead of the leading U.S. comicbook publishers — Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse — in experimenting with these technologies. The main reason for this is that the core manga/anime customer tends to be an early adopter of advanced technologies such as broadband, digital television and smartphones, all of which make transmission of graphics-driven and animated content possible. For example, virtually 100% of U.S. anime/manga distributor Central Park Media's customers already had DVD players two years ago, according to John O'Donnell, CPM's managing director, while only about two-thirds of the populace at large owns such a device today. Traditional comicbook publishers tend to target a more mainstream, younger audience, which is less likely to have the technological capability to receive comics through nontraditional channels."