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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."

The Bonfire Agency is a new entity that is looking to do a lot with the nerd world. Co-founder Ed Catto talks about what he;s learned on the way and what Bonfire can do in this exclusive interview.

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

2011 is going to be a tumultuous year for comics. Heck, it's already tumultuous. There's going to be consolidation and retrenchment. So over the next few weeks we'll be checking in at a few companies to see what's going on -- some of it's great and some of it is not so great. We will start with Top Cow which announced last week that they were consolidating many of their functions at Image Central, including production, marketing and sales efforts.

Okay, so a member of the Fantastic Four died in FF #587 -- a comic which would normally be on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, like usual, but went on sale early at selected retailers. At the same time, a story hit the wires, NPR and just about every other media outlet with a "DEATH IN THE FAMILY" type story, effectively spoiling what had been a pretty well kept secret until then. Twitter was fluttering from the moment the stories hit. Whether you were outraged or shrugged your shoulders at the spoilage it was yet another example of a Big Two publisher planting a major media story and having no good option for timing. This also happened, famously, with the death of Captain America, the death of Batman, and surely many others stories we are too jaded to remember.

http://www.youtube.com/v/kikA9pUAnWs&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3 Although this morning's Oscar nominations revealed a paucity of comics-themed movies -- IRON MAN 2's SPX nom being the only one for Team Comics...

In light of yesterday's announcement of James Kochalka being appointed "country's first ever" Cartoonist Laureate in Vermont, it appears that one other state has previously named a cartoonist laureate, Chad Carpenter. And what state would that be? Alaska. That's right, the 50th state in terms of population density per square mile named a Cartoonist Laureate before states like Oregon, Washington, California, New York and the ever-burgeoning Vermont. These states are pregnant with cartoonists, illustrators, animators and graphic novelists. When asked about the erroneous credit The Center For Cartoon Studies co-founder, James Sturm, stated, "I should have known. Alaska is the only state in the country that has a longer cartooning season than Vermont." For those down south, cartooning season lasts as long as there is snow on the ground and whiskey in your mug.

While the timing, abutting yesterday's Wizard announcements, would seem to be connected, there's no mention of Gareb Shamus in today's news of $1.5 million in capital being raised for GeekChicDaily. Shamus launched the daily newsletter last year along with Peter Levin and $1 million in seed money from producer Peter Guber.

Last week the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the winners of the 4th Annual International Manga Award. The International Manga Award - the...

While the industry reacted with equal parts nostalgia and disdain to yesterday's announcement of the end of Wizard nagazine (see next post), and quite rightly pointed out all the harmful, childish attitudes it enshrined, we'd like to dwell for a moment, if we may, on the magazine's one very positive legacy: all the great people who worked there.

Over at iFanboy, one of the former Wizard employees has given a tell-all exit interview that's pretty juicy. Here's how the employees found out what was going down:

Numerous reports this morning that the print version of Wizard Magazine is shutting down, effective immediately, with all staff laid off and assignments canceled. According to Bleeding Cool, ToyFare magazine will continue. And based on the number of tweets coming out of the Wizard World convention business, the Wizard World shows will also continue. According to a press release just released from Gareb Shamus, Wizard will continue as an online "Wizard World" Magazine. In addition, the previous Wizard corporation is being replaced by Wizard World, a new public company, which is being traded as a penny stock.