I’m glad we could end up with one place to organize our digital comics, even if [you can’t sync your Dark Horse collection to Comixology just yet](https://twitter.com/DarkHorseComics/status/613020680964210688).
Tag: digital comics
Interesting business model. I doubt we’ll see any of the major publishers signing up for it anytime soon, though.
This one is particularly interesting:
> According to Chip Mosher after the panel, comiXology didn’t lose anyone after the move to Amazon. I had heard a rumor of a 1-2 publishers maybe bailing, a rumor Mosher shot down pretty quickly.
Good to hear. I think Comixology is doing a good job as a leader in digital comics.
I guess the rumors were true. Now, let’s see which publishers actually enable this features. Hopefully, there is some pressure on DC and Marvel to do it.
This would be awesome, but I am not holding my breath.
Take a look at the great books that are being offered as part of [this Humble Bundle](https://www.humblebundle.com). If you pay $15, you can get the first volume of 8 of the best comic series available[^fn1] It’s a great way to start building digital comics buying habits outside of Comixology.[^fn2]
[^fn1]: As well as volume 20 of *The Walking Dead*.
[^fn2]: If, that is something you want to do.
There has been [a](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/04/26/comixology) [lot](http://verynicewebsite.net/2014/04/comixology-removes-in-app-purchases/) of [outrage](http://www.marco.org/2014/04/28/gerry-conway-comixology) about [Comixology’s decision to remove in-app purchasing](http://comixology.tumblr.com/post/83931330905/important-changes) from its primary comic reader app.
Some of the responses, such as [this one from Gerry Conway](http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/04/27/gerry-conway-the-comixology-outrage/), have been well thought out:
> This is a very big deal, because it strikes to the heart of what made Comixology’s app a near-perfect venue for discovering and falling in love with new comics, a venue creators and publishers have been searching for since the collapse of mainstream newsstand distribution in the late 1970s-early ’80s: it destroys the casual reader’s easy access to an impulse purchase. And that’s a terrible development for the future of comics.
But none of the responses seem to take into account the realities of the digital comics market. Before people get too up in arms about Amazon’s and Comixology’s actions, I encourage people to take a look back at [Jim Zubkavich’s breakdown of digital comics profit](http://www.jimzub.com/okay-but-what-about-digital-comics/). Jim points out just how much that 90[^foot] cents off the top of a $3 issue really impacts how much money is distributed to creators. *(SPOILER: Not paying Apple its cut means that the creators could be getting up to 40% more profit per book sale.)*
I full understand that it is slightly more inconvenient to have to buy comics from the website, but when looking at the numbers, I have a hard time naming Amazon and Comixology as the only villains in this scenario.
[^foot]: As a friend of mine pointed out, it seems ridiculous that Apple is taking a 30% cut on this type of in-app, content-only sale. I have a hard time believing they are playing any more of a role than a standard payment processor in these transactions, and a payment processor would only end up taking somewhere between 2-5%.
Chip Mosher, comiXology's VP of marketing:
There are many advantages to shopping at comiXology.com. Because of the content restrictions our mobile partners have, shopping on the web provides even greater selection of comic books and graphic novels. iOS customers will now be able to save money with comiXology’s exclusive web-only bundles, take advantage of subscription features and enjoy eGift cards. We also made our website more tablet/mobile friendly on all devices to make the purchasing process that much easier. And in Safari on iOS, customers can easily save a shortcut to our webstore with the “Add to Home Screen” feature.
Wow. Having to come up with garbage like that must be a really fun job.
You’ll still be able to read comics you’ve purchased through in-app purchasing in this new version, but you will need to sync purchases with the new app via the Restore function. And if you want, you can continue to read your existing comics through the old app; you just won’t be able to purchase new comics with it.
This is kind of a bummer. Doing everything through the iOS app was just so much easier.
Count me amongst those who think this is related to comixology being bought by Amazon.
This is a bummer. I liked being able to support my local comic book shop with my digital code redemption.
Sonia Harris writing at *Comic Book Resources*:
> When did people first start talking about “banned” books which were actually readily available on the ComiXology website? It seems like a relatively recent phenomenon. Before some unhelpful reporter coined this misnomer what did we call these so-called “banned” books? We probably just called them mature-reader books, which is what they are. More often than not, when someone writes about a digital book being “banned” because it’s not on the app, I have immediately found it highlighted on the ComiXology home page with an attractive graphic as if to let people know that “yes, actually we do sell it, sorry about all the lies you’ve been reading.” I wish there were a way to see through every bit of inflammatory bollocks which is published in the name of “news”, but at least in this instance don’t believe the hype – if there’s a book you want, check the website first.
Exactly. The outrage over “banned” books has been ridiculous. Just go to [Comixology.com](http://comixology.com) and buy them there.[^fn1]
[^fn1]: Or buy them them directly from [Image Comics’s website](http://imagecomics.com) and get ac completely DRM-free version.
Categories
ComiXology Debuts Subscriptions & Bundles
This was the best digital comics news of the week…until [Image announced a DRM-free digital comics store](https://johnkiv.us/2013/07/02/image-comics-launches-a-new-website-with-drm-free-digital-comics/).
> “Our theory on digital has been that it’s not going to hurt print sales,” [Director of Business Development Ron] Richards said, addressing the former. “Digital will just emerge as another channel that has the potential to reach a different audience. Image has been doing digital since ’09, so there’s a few years of data now, and we’re seeing growth in the direct market, growth in the book market and growth in the digital market. Now, if there was growth in our digital market but decline in the direct market, then you could maybe posit that there was cannibalization happening. But there’s growth in both.”
Digital comics increasing comic publisher profits but not cannibalizing print sales is exactly what people[^fn1] said would happen if publishers would fully embrace digital comics. I am glad Image is taking such a bold step forward.
[^fn1]: Well, people other than owners of comics shops.
Speaking of things I did not see coming. Major props to Image Comics for going DRM-free on its digital comics. A huge move, and one I hope other publishers follow.
Seriously. Why are you still here? Go download it.
This story is exploding all over the comics blogs, I figure it is only a matter of time before it hits the tech and Apple blogs.
The next time that someone asks me how they can get started reading digital comics on his or her iPad, I am going to just point them at this article and Callum’s [How to Start Reading Comics](http://withironhands.tumblr.com/howto) page.
Wow. This came out of nowhere. Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin launch the first issue of their new comic with no-DRM[^fn1] for any price you want[^fn2].
It will be interesting to see how the industry reacts. I have a feeling this could be huge.
[^fn1]: It’s available in PDF, CBZ, and CBR formats
[^fn2]: In their [FAQ](http://panelsyndicate.com/help), they recommend 99 cents per issue.
Not a huge percent off sale, but it does apply to all of Marvel’s 2012 books. It’s in place until Thursday and only available on Comixology’s website.
> I found the digital copy stunning in comparison. The subtle palette’s warm and cool colors complimented Mignola’s immaculate compositions and storytelling in ways I had missed on my readings of the print edition
> …
> But the print edition now looked even worse compared with the digital copy.
Really interesting breakdown by Mr. Rugg. This kind of process stuff, especially related to the digital versus print, fascinates me.