A few months ago, comiXology announced its Digital Storefront Affiliate plan which would allow comics shops to sell digital comics — the implementation plan is different from Diamond’s, but the intent is the same — to allow storefronts to make money off digital comics.

Now, DC and several other publishers (Image Comics (including Shadowline and Top Cow), BOOM! Studios, and Dynamite Entertainment) have anounced they will be joining the initiative.

PR nelow, but more news on this tomorrow live from the Diamond Retail summit.

From Metropolis to Gotham City, retailers everywhere will be able to sell digital comics from DC Comics through comiXology’s recently announced Digital Storefront Affiliate program, an initiative focused on empowering merchants to thrive in the digital marketplace.  In addition, Image Comics (including Shadowline and Top Cow), BOOM! Studios, and Dynamite Entertainment have joined the program to have their content sold digitally through retailer Web sites with a comiXology-powered store and reader. Additionally, as announced at Comics Pro, retailers can sign up for a DC exclusive stand alone store.
 
“Publishers have quickly recognized that the Digital Storefront Affiliate Program is a win-win situation for both themselves and the retailers to sell more comics,” said David Steinberger, CEO of comiXology. “Having DC, Image, BOOM!, Dynamite and all the other publishers on board shows their continued commitment to the vibrant retailer community and ability to continually innovate.”
 
Publishers who are participating in the program will gain additional distribution channels on the Web while also strengthening their bonds with comic stores. Retailers will also benefit from the program by having the ability to sell the participating publishers digital comics directly through their Web sites without adding any additional inventory to the stores.
 
“We are pleased once again to work with comiXology on a truly significant program to create new opportunities for publishers to distribute their work and grow the market,” said Hank Kanalz, SVP Digital, DC Entertainment. “The Digital Storefront Affiliate Program enables all comic book publishers to strengthen their relationships with retailers and put them in a better position to flourish.”
 
To request more information about the Digital Storefront Affiliate program, retailers can visit http://retailers.comixology.com/digital_form/
 
Additional participating publishers include:
 
·       A First Salvo
·       A Wave Blue World
·       AdHouse
·       Alterna
·       Antarctic Press
·       Arcana Comics
·       Asylum Press
·       Bluewater
·       BOOM! Studios
·       Com.x
·       DC Comics
·       Devil’s Due
·       Digital Webbing
·       Dynamite Entertainment
·       EigoMANGA
·       Evil Twin Comics
·       Keenspot
·       Kickstart
·       Image Comics (including imprints)
·       Markosia
·       Moonstone
·       Red 5
·       SLG
·       Th3rd World Studios
·       Viper Comics
 

1 COMMENT

  2. Someone help me out here. I’m confused about this. When you pay comiXology, you get to read a comic online, correct? You do not download a file to keep.(right?)

    So when retailers get involved, you still pay to read a comic online, but the retailer gets a cut? And you still do not get a comic to keep. How is this any better for the customer?

  4. This program is so ridiculous, I dont understand how it will draw more business to the comics industry. Who wants to pay for something they wont own often at the same price as print. This is doomed to fail.

  6. Someone help me out here. I’m confused about this. When you pay comiXology, you get to read a comic online, correct? You do not download a file to keep.(right?)”

    My internet was down for a few days and Comixology was still working on my iPad. When I checked my storage I found a lot of files there too.

    So as far as I can tell, you are getting a file to download. But I’m still pretty new to this iPad thing.

  7. The way I understand it, you’re buying a comic that you can read via Comixology apps. But you’re not really downloading a pdf file.

    When you buy a song from iTunes, you actually download an mp3. Yes, there is DRM on it, but you can burn it to a CD, put it on different machines, etc. It’s a digital file you buy.

    When you buy a comic via Comixology you don’t really download a file you can do anything with that I understand.

  8. The comics I have downloaded from Comixology are all still there. If I were to delete the Comixology app from my iPad, they’d go away. Just like your old comics would go away if you deleted the longbox from your house.

    I agree that this sounds like a lot of sturm und drang just to artificially include a cut for meatspace retailers in a transaction that does not need them. But if this is the (admittedly rather convoluted) incremental baby step required to get day-and-date material from the Big 2 onto my iPad each week, so be it. That’s the goal they should be working toward.

    It’s weird that I can read six-month old issues of Green lantern digitally, but not the stuff that was released last month. And there’s really no reason for it.

  9. Comixology is a quasi-cloud solution. You download the comics to your device to read, but Comixology can take them away at any time. So, it’s kinda like renting the comics.

  10. Aaron: one reason is that additional time is needed to prep the files for Comixology (the zooms, pans and scans etc.) and that apparently takes longer than it does to print and ship comics through Diamond. Line-wide day and date will require longer lead times, tighter deadlines and more designers working simultaneously.

  11. “When you buy a song from iTunes, you actually download an mp3. Yes, there is DRM on it, but you can burn it to a CD, put it on different machines, etc. It’s a digital file you buy.”

    I’m pretty sure they scrapped DRM back in 2009.

    I guess we have to have this period of comics repeating all of the mistakes of the music industry.

  12. Carr says “additional time is needed to prep the files for Comixology (the zooms, pans and scans etc.)”. I have a hunch that this was a coding exercise, done once. I think the only thing that is required to allow you to read the comic online is for DC to upload the artwork files to a server.

    I’ve checked out comiXology.
    I do not own an iPad or iPhone, so I login and read the comiXology copy on my laptop. I need to connect to their site, where my viewable comic is stored.

    I think 99¢ is a fair price to read a new comic. That should be the default price.
    I think $2 is too much, since I don’t actually purchase a digital copy of the comic, I just get to read it online.

    My reading copy has no resale value, no collectable value, and is not portable unless I purchase a portable device at my own expense.

    Maybe publishers will get an earful from people like me, and find a way to “sell” a standalone digital copy that I will really own.

  13. My reading copy has no resale value, no collectable value …”

    From the look of things, with rare exceptions like Walking Dead, most comics from the past couple of decades have no resale or collectible value either, unless you package them into long runs at less than face value.

  14. And today it seems that in Europe all the big BD publishers are getting together to have a single sales portal and a single format.

  15. Have to say, Chad’s right. Most of your reading comics have *no* resale or collectible value. Aside from WALKING DEAD and CHEW and a few other titles, I can’t think of too many comics that have any kind of market for which back issues have appreciated.

    But, honestly, that’s been true for a long time, only some people have clung to it, being old enough to remember a time that SPAWN #1 might have sold on the speculator market. The back issue market for “current” comics is largely vestigial at this point.

    I still have great difficulty in seeing how there will be any interest for purchase of digital comics at brick and mortar stores, even if there’s a kiosk right there or you can use the wireless connection at the shop to do your transaction. It’s adding a step to a process that simply doesn’t need one. I might see something like gift certificate sales going to these consumers, but not much beyond that.

    And without day and date releases on digital comics (yes, I appreciate that there’s extra effort involved in putting a comic on Comixology’s platform), you’re not going to get rank and file Wednesday buyers to even look at them.

  16. On iTunes, you can buy season passes to shows such as Bones and CSI: Miami which I indeed have passes for. The newest episode automatically downloads to my iPad when I open iTunes.

    A comic app that would had season passes to say Fables and Hellboy would be one I use as I don’t keep floppies once I’ve read them as I only collect the compilations.

  17. And today it seems that in Europe all the big BD publishers are getting together to have a single sales portal and a single format.

    Imagine that. And link, please?

  18. While at Barnes & Noble today, buying some Vertigo trades, I realized what would be nice is if I could buy the same trades for $5 or $10 from a DC app or whatever. Even something as simple as that isn’t available.