Digital Comics

Bam, the other shoe has dropped: as long anticipated, Diamond is starting a program to offer digital comics sales. Comics will be offered day-and-date exclusively through participating retailers -- with a 30-day exclusive for these stores. Products offered include regular downloads for $1.99 with "Digital Plus" comics -- extras offered with a print purchase -- for $.99, all in hopes of becoming a revenue stream for stores and publishers alike.

Apple's app stores -- the middleman of all middlemen -- have been the target of a stampede of old media magazines, newspapers, books and comics as the vehicle for sales in the new digital era. But several recent moves make it clear that Apple isn't in this game as a helping hand for anyone. Or, to put it in a more neutral light, Apple is a PARTNER, not a platform. The uh-oh feeling started yesterday when it was revealed that Apple had rejected Sony's e-reader app. This app like the Kindle, Nook, and other "storefronts" sent buyers to a website where they could make purchases without incurring Apple's 30% fee.

Problem solved! ComiXology, the leading digital comics provider, is going to let brick and mortar comics shops set up affiliate storefronts on their sites, building on comiXology's existing programs for retailers, such as digital pull lists and so on. Prominent retailer Chris Powell explains, “Having seen comiXology’s Retailer Tools and Pull List services, we trust comiXology’s technology to help us thrive in a market where customers are interested in both print and digital comics.  ComiXology will help us provide the one-stop shopping that customers are looking for.  Digital comics can be a great tool for reaching out to new or lapsed customers, and retailers should not be afraid of this new format.  Instead, they should look for ways to make the digital format complement their existing print business."

As more folks start off their year with funding announcements, Graphicly has just announced that they have received $3 million in VC via various...

A minor market segment, these box sets offer what most fans are clamoring for: ownership of the actual file instead of an app, affordable comics (even at $50, the per-comic cost is usually below twenty-five cents), and extras which turns these collections into electronic omnibuses. However, due to sticker shock, and the experience of reading these comics on a horizontal screen, many fans have been reluctant to purchase these collections. Which means that now, as the digital marketplace transitions to apps and browser-based readers, these older CD- and DVD-ROM collections are being sold at clearance prices. So, dear readers, in these challenging economic times, we offer you this bargain bin listing of select titles found on Amazon.com. We make no money from directing you to these forgotten gems, and, as with anything on the web, caveat lector et emptor.

It's strange, I suppose, to find a show so entrenched in geek culture as CES almost completely devoid of comics influence, only to discover a porn show roughly three miles away swimming in the stuff.

Over at the CO2 blog, Gerry Giovinco suggests that in all the app madness, we're missing something petty obvious:

Speaking of digital, which we were, and of those -- and there are many -- who think giving 30 percent of most everything to mega-middleman Apple is not a good thing, Warren Ellis points us towards the Not .99 Method whereby you can sell comics for devices at any price you wish and not share a penny with ANY middleman.

Over at his forum, 2010 bestseller Mark Millar urges us to put the brakes on for downloadable comics. This despite his WANTED topping comiXology's sales list. I'll take the liberty of posting his objections in full since what he has to say is pretty important:

Long-running comics publisher Archie is taking the plunge to become the first comics publisher to put its entire line for sale in print and digital at the same time, it's been announced on their blog. DC announced day and date with BATMAN BEYOND last week, but this is the first time a publisher has made the whole line available. The policy goes into effect on April 1, and will include KEVIN KELLER #1, starring the popular gay character.

So, as happens frequently in America, we treat History like a Cassandra, reading and studying, but choosing not to believe or remember the lessons it teaches us. I know Cassandra's fate, and thus the dangers of saying "I told you so". So instead, I'll quote Gene Wilder in " Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory": Oh, you should never ever doubt what nobody is sure about. So, what can we expect in 2011?

Very knowledgeable webcomics folk Xaviar Xerexes, Brigid Alverson, Larry Cruz, Lauren Davis, Brian Heater, Rick Marshall, Gary Tyrrell and, inexplicably, The Beat gather together to look at the present and future of the digital comics medium.  Pairs well with Comics Alliance's Digital December in which they talk to comics publisher digital czars for a nice state of the union.