Digital Comics

I look back and recall the interesting events of 2011. What's my choice for the biggest event of 2011? Read and find out!

Comics+ is giving away a copy of STAR TREK #1 in their app -- but only until 3 pm EST. Use code FMST01 in the app for the free book. STAR TREK #1 features the classic characters in the alternate timeline of the reboot, overseen by Robert Orci with writer Mike Johnson and artist Stephen Molnar. #1 reimagines the original pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”

It was the year of the gift tablet -- and while cluelessly materialistic kids may have been plunged into the slough of despond at not getting an iPhone under the tree -- some may have rejoiced over getting a Kindle; Some 4 million Kindles were sold in December.

It was the best holiday-ever for the Kindle family. In fact, customers purchased more than 1 million Kindle devices each week, with the Kindle Fire tablet leading the pack with most sales, followed by the Kindle Touch and the original Kindle ereader. Kindle devices were also the best-selling products on Amazon in the U.K., Denmark, Spain and Italy.

Christmas Day was, as we predicted, the biggest day ever for Kindle downloads, according to Amazon head Jeff Bezos -- unBoxing day as Torsten has dubbed it.

ComiXology was the #11 grossing app on iPad for 2011 -- and they just announced a new beta storefront.

Digital comics provider iVerse has just rolled out a new version of their interface Comics+:

Publisher of the Year candidate Drawn & Quarterly has finally broken the seal on literary comics going digital with a two book deal with Kobo Vox which will see Chester Brown's LOUIS RIEL and PAYING FOR IT released. According to associate publisher Peggy Burns, the deal is non-exclusive, and next year will see more titles and platforms for D&Q. Literary comics publishers Fantagraphics and D&Q are along the last holdouts among publishers going digital -- partially due to their authors' ambivalence (or dislike) of the platform -- so even this tiny toe-dipping into the digital world represents a big step forward. In this case, Chester Brown actually encouraged the move -- and it doesn't hurt that Kobo is, like D&Q, a Canadian company.

Dave Castelnuovo had a few words about the state of digital comics and the old arguments are coming up again. Pricing, retailing and formatting are still points of contention. The interesting dynamic here is the extent to which retailers are driving the digital process. Yes, this sounds backwards, but publishers have been bending over backwards trying not to upset the retailers since the dawn of digital. I'm sure there are a lot of retailers who don't feel that way, but I've had multiple publishers tell me they were holding back progress to pacify the retail channel for years.

by Dave Castelnuovo-- Just like the Arab Spring that changed much of the Middle East, It seems like Arkham Spring is upon us and will soon change the comics industry. Tensions are finally coming to a head as the comic industry continues to transition to the digital era. Creators are starting to speak out more about their potential opportunities in digital and are questioning why the industry is holding onto old practices that are preventing their comic from being accepted by more people. A good example of this comes from writer and illustrator Brian Wood in his blog post “The Digital Question Mark”. In it I think he presents a solid case as to why this dance between publishers and retailers is screwing up opportunities to give his book the best possible chance of success. It doesn’t matter whether the industry will eventually get to cheaper digital content in the next couple years, his book will be canceled unless readers buy it today. He has a good plan for making this happen but politics are getting in the way.

Well now, comiXology took one step toward becoming the next Diamond as IDW is now powering its stores via comiXology. IDW, always considered one of the most aggressive companies in terms of digital, also announced they will be fully day and date —at full cover price. IDW had formerly used iVerse to power their standalone stores for series like GI Joe, Transformers and Ben Templesmith, so this is quite a switch.

Over at CBR, Kiel Phigley had a chat with John Rood, DC's Executive VP-Sales, Marketing and Business Development, about DC's digital sales and it's worth taking a closer look at. The biggest question, which is still utterly unanswered, is how many copies these digital comics are selling. The second biggest question is where these sales are coming from and Rood does get into that, just a little:

Eddie Campbell's long out of print DAPPER JOHN has been released as an iPad app, he writes:

As the fallout from the Dark Horse digital initiative continues to blow like a glowing cloud over the internet, one other digital initiative has been trashed pretty thoroughly by a bunch of retailers in public and private: comiXology's digital storefronts. The rollout of terms was poorly handled and pissed off a lot of retailers with fears that it was just a front for comiXology to get their customer information. Perhaps in light of this, comiXology has just made a lengthy release about the program's first few months with news that money has been paid out early and at a lower minimum payment. Also a new TOS perhaps more to the liking of retailers will be released, along with other improvements. And the retailers that did use it have called it a big success. 100 stores -- listed below -- are taking part in the program. So -- consider this a new sales pitch: "Take a look at me now."