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Graphicly, the digital comics distributor, announced a big redesign and some new features for its browser-based comics yesterday — including the ability to embed comics anywhere, a YouTube-like interface that Micah Baldwin discussed with Kiel Phegley:

“Rather than being the iTunes for comics – which if you’ve seen Apple’s announcement this week, they want to do that themselves for all publications – we want to be more of a YouTube for comics and storytelling. Anybody can now load up content to our system. It’s all reviewed and curated by the community as well as us. And then, just like YouTube, you can take any comic that’s in our system and embed it just like you can with a video in any blog, Facebook or anywhere else you’d want to put it. Essentially, any place you can see a YouTube video, you can see one of our comics.”


The result is based on HTML5 rather than Flash for maximum versatility. Graphicly is also opening its process to individual creators.

We didn’t find much to interest our own tastes in the comics Graphicly is offering upon a very cursory glance that only went through A, but the embedding thing is way better than Issuu, for instance, even if the one we chose at random — TRUE GRIT — is hard to read on screen.

More in the link and PR below:

Online storytelling just got a bit friendlier as Graphicly continues to innovate with the launch of the new HYPERLINK “http://graphicly.com” Graphicly.com website. Unveiling an enhanced web-based comic book reading experience, expanded community integration, as well as the ability to HYPERLINK “http://graphicly.com” share comics and stories around the web, Graphicly continues to be a leader in online publishing and distribution for both readers and publishers.

The new Graphicly builds upon its current momentum; in the first two quarters of 2011, Graphicly has doubled its user base, and has seen more than one book downloaded every minute across the Graphicly Network. Additionally, each comic is read 3.8 times, and each social action undertaken by a Graphicly member is seen more than 400 times by other Graphicly members and friends.

“What has become clear is that there are great stories being told and shared online, and fans want to connect to their favorite creators. That, though, is difficult to impossible to accomplish with the current online tools,” said Micah Baldwin, CEO of Graphicly. “With our focus on HTML5, storytelling, collaboration and sharing that you can be done anywhere online or mobile, Graphicly’s full vision is becoming a reality.”

Taking what worked best in the early version of the Graphicly products – the commenting, sharing and the community requests – the company has built the new Graphicly.com to enhance community sharing and commenting, evolving the digital media experience. By working with Google and other leaders in the HTML5 community, Graphicly has provided a highly HYPERLINK “http://graphicly.com” improved storytelling and reading experience, with an expansive comics catalog and large database of characters, publishers and creators.

“We all fell in love with ‘stories’ because someone introduced us to the story,” explained Baldwin. “It was important that we created the same experience with Graphicly.”

HYPERLINK “http://graphicly.com” Every comic book on Graphicly.com can now be shared and embedded, much like many online videos and photos. Fans are able to show their support for a creator or story by simply embedding their favorite comic into their blog or site, or sharing on other networks.

On the publisher side, Graphicly is unveiling new creator tools to help publishers – from the newest to the established creators – tell and share their story. Each story is reviewed by Graphicly and curated by the community. Additional tools will become available, and creators will not only see their work uploaded to Graphicly, but Graphicly will also distribute content on their behalf to any platform they choose (Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, etc.)

The new Graphicly website can be seen at HYPERLINK “http://www.graphicly.com” http://www.graphicly.com and content can be submitted to [email protected].

1 COMMENT

  1. “Fans are able to show their support for a creator or story by simply embedding their favorite comic into their blog or site, or sharing on other networks.”

    Unless I am confused about this, doesn’t it seem like people are sharing comics online for free? How does the creator get paid for a YouTube style viewing of his comic?

  2. Well it’s a good thing they’ve discovered the brilliant innovation of HYPERLINKS. I think in 2011 the adoption of HYPERLINKS is pointing the way toward the future! And Graphic.ly plans to put its superior minds into bringing to its readers the innovative wonder that is the HYPERLINK.

    P.S. HYPERLINK.

  3. This is brilliant!

    @Al – Some are free, most you pay for.

    @Laroquod- This goes pretty far beyond just hyperlinking to a website. You can embed a viewable comic on to any website or blog. A comic can be hosted on the site, then embedded onto a publisher or creator’s own website.

    @jless – once you begin reading, hover over it and hit the “full screen” option.