Digital Comics

At yesterday's Dark Horse panel, more details of their digital initiative were announced. It will be proprietary, available on every web browser, and sold for iPad and iTunes. (However, Apple only accepts prices that end in .99 -- one of the controlling things that folks were complaining about on Thursday --- so it's not entirely clear how that will work. There will be 170 titles available at first, with some titles available day and date.

Announced only via tweet from retailer Chris Butcher at this morning's Diamond retailer's breakfast. Dark Horse is announcing exclusive in-store downloads for those buying their digital comics, which will be priced at $1.49, according to Milton Griepp yesterday.

Moving forward with digital was the theme of today's ICv2 Comics and Digital conference, which kicked off New York Comic Con with an afternoon of panels and idea sharing. And for those who are moving, they are doing so with zeal and purpose. As opposed to previous such industry gatherings, where digital was timidly referring to in veiled terms, left the Gods of Tradition strike the heretics dead, almost all of today's speakers are living in a world where digital is already a part of their revenue stream. It made for a lively day of engaged attendees.

Not Comics, but it does shed some light on behavior. While we're rounding up some scientific jargon, GigaOM reports that millennials need Wi-Fi the way previous generations needed fresh air and vitamin C. (Millennials are here defined as 17-29 year-olds.)

Filipino comics artist/self-publisher Gerry Alanguilan (Elmer), was supposed to deliver an address at a symposium called "Future of the Book" but he was forced to bow out, so instead he posted his speech for all of us to read. While reading the whole thing is the best way to approach it, the gist can be conveyed. Although Alanguilan is basically married to the idea of print publishing, he thinks it can exist with digital:

Mark Waid has reconstructed his controversial Harvey night speech and made what he was getting at much clearer:

“Yes, Professor Waid, you hippie freak, sharing is all well and good, but how does that pay my bills?”

Everyone's talking digital comics, and they're going to get a thorough investigation in October as part of a one-day ICv2 Comics & Digital Conference, to be held Thursday, October 7, right before this year's...

ComiXology app for iPads, iPhones and Ipods. IDW has a bunch of storefronts via iVerse, while Dark Horse mostly sells comics through their own standalone apps. New Image comics are selling for $1.99, which is about industry standard. Initial offerings include CHEW, YOUNGBLOOD, and SAVAGE DRAGON. In case you're wondering what to get first, Chris Sims has a good guide to what to download.

ROBOT 13, the stylish steampunk fantasy comic by Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford, has just become one of the first independently produced comics to push past the 100,000 download mark on iTunes and Android, according to a press release from e-distributor Robot Comics. The app is free on both platforms, so it hasn't been a cash cow for the creators -- however, there are three print issues available and the first has sold out. Nonetheless, it's an impressive feat for a relatively unknown indie comic. The downloadable version has many bells and whistles, says Robot Comics.

Studios and the digital comics provider Graphic.ly have announced an exclusive agreement, Graphic.ly's Micah Baldwin explains in a newsletter: We are excited that Archaia has decided to work with us exclusively! Over the past couple of months, PJ and I have had a lot of conversations about the benefits of presenting Archaia's books digitally to a community of passionate fans. We will be able to do interesting and innovative things around story lines, creators and characters.

by special correspondent Bruce Lidl Techland Presents: Comics and Digital Piracy A “hastily thrown together” panel on the last day of the Con made for some lively discussion about the realities and moralities of pirated...

by special Beat correspondent Bruce Lidl Late Thursday afternoon, as Comic-Con began to really hit its stride, as the shift from panel and show floor to party mode started to occur, the second annual “Digital...