Digital Comics

Top Shelf has just announced a team-up with comiXology that includes their own iOS app, and a separate app for the Kids Club line. Books from LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN to OWLY will be available across various platforms. Interestingly, Top Shelf is the first "alt.comix" type publisher to go whole hog with digital. D&Q and Fantagraphics and most of the smaller indies have remained remained aloof to the ecomics world. Although most art comics are best suited to the paper medium -- and are, indeed the very type of objects that will keep print books alive for quite some time -- a lot of indie cartoonists read just fine on the screen — we've found some of the "panel grid layout" types even look great on an iPhone. It seems like only a matter of time before everyone has their own app and storefront...but how long?

Looking to expand the "buy print, get digital free" model for their comics which began with this month's AVENGING SPIDER-MAN, Marvel has announced that every issue in the Ultimate line will be sold with a code for a free digital download of the issue. The price will remain $3.99. David Brothers interviewed Marvel's David Gabriel and Peter Phillips for all the details. The rollout begins with ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #6, ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #7, and ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #7, but the downloads will be available ONLY for Marvel's DCU store on iOS and Android and the Chrome browser -- the codes can not be redeemed via comiXology's Marvel store. According to Phillips, "We've got right now two different digital offerings: we've got the [back issues] of MDCU, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited... and then we've got the brand new stuff that comes out that you can buy on a by-issue basis digitally. [The codes] are focused on the latter."

Everyone is kookoo for that nutty digital thing!

Since the feverish excitement over the announcement of the Kindle Fire, there has been much speculation over just who and what would be comics-based partners for the platform. Although the comiXology app was prominently displayed on promo materials, all involved were mum when asked about the pact. And there has also been speculation about whether Amazon's panel view mode would be competition for comiXology's Guided View. Well, it is now official: the comiXology app will be available at the Kindle Fire's debut:

ICv2 catches the fact that two volumes of NARUTO will be released digitally before the print edition. Vol. 54 and Vol. 55 will be available as part of the shift to Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha, the digital weekly that's replacing the print edition. The availability window is pretty steep -- NARUTO Vol. 54 is available now; the print version drops January 3. It's just a scheduling anomaly but it is still startling to see one of the world's best selling comics available in digital first.

And....another digital provider heard from, as iVerse -- which powers the IDW store and has partnered with Diamond for their own digital distribution -- has announced a new $4 million funding from the PS&J Group. The money will be used to expand its offerings and for promotion.

Although keeping their GN backstock in print isn't a Marvel priority, the new Nook Tablet was just announced this morning with Marvel as a very active partner. Marvel's Ryan Penagos was at the unveiling and live tweeted it and was around to answer follow ups -- including avoiding the question of whether this is an exclusive or not. First the hardware deets; The 7-inch Nook Tablet will run $250 and offer 16 GBs storage, with an SD expansion slot which supports 32 GB SD cards. Netflix, Hulu Plus and Pandora will be available. Like its predecessor, the Nook Color -- which remains available for $199 -- the tablet will have browser and email capabilities. Here's an early review.

by Bruce Lidl -- The digital drumbeat continues, as Marvel’s announcement of full day-and-date releases of digital makes clear.  And on the demand side, e-Readers with high comic book potential continue to crop up, particularly as the holiday season rapidly descends upon us.  First the new Amazon Kindle Fire got announced, then the Kobo Vox showed up and now the next contender to enter the ring is the new version of the NookColor from Barnes&Noble.  The original NookColor has been out for almost exactly one year, and has done decently from a sales point of view, although much of the on-line enthusiasm for the device centered not on its qualities as an e-Reader of Barnes&Noble books, but on the ease with which users could hack it to be a full-fledged Android tablet device (myself included).  

This is just the news day for comics folks developing their own apps. Former Nickelodeon Magazine comics editor Chris Duffy, and his co-workers Laura Galen, and Carmen Morais all had some free time when the magazine was canceled. And now they've come up with Comixer, an iPad app aimed at kids that allows them to mix and match panels in various genres to make their own stories. The app is on sale for 99¢ at launch. More here:

Continuing the frantic pace of digital comics announcements, acquisitions and positioning, Graphicly has announced its acquisition of Double Feature, an application for mobile phones that was developed by the studio of Tim Seeley of HACK/SLASH fame. While the app was originally built to showcase the work of Seleey and his studiomates, apparently it will be available for more content from Graphicly.

Marvel is committing to making virtually all its comics available digitally day and date, accoridng to a story at Gizmodo. The plan will roll out over the next six months, with "print and digital for nearly all comics will be same day release by April 2012" according to Marvel's Ryan Penagos on Twitter. The books will shift over as they reach new "jumping on points" meaning the roll-out will be staggered. However the adults only MAX line and licensed books, inclduing the Stephen King adaptations, will NOT go to the DaD system.

Despite all the attention the Kindle Fire has generated in the weeks since its announcement, there is another very similar device coming to the market, even before the Fire arrives on November 15. The Kobo Vox eReader is available for purchase today at $199, the exact same price as the Kindle Fire, and in fact they share the same size, form factor and screen resolution (1024x600). The Kindle has a dual core CPU while the Vox’s is single core, they both have 8Gb of internal storage, although the Vox is expandable to 32GB with a MicroSD card, and both the devices run heavily modified versions of the Android operating system, that discourage, but do still allow users to install their own choice of apps, in contrast to Apple iPads.