ComiXology

ComiXology

Founded	July 2007 (2007-07)
Products	Comics by ComiXology
Services	Over 75,000 comic books
Owner	Amazon.com
Website	www.comixology.com

ComiXology (styled comiXology) is a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics, with over 200 million comic downloads as of September 2013.^[1] It offers a selection of more than 50,000^[2] comic books and graphic novels across Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Windows 8,^[3] and the Internet.^[4][5] In April 2014, ComiXology became a subsidiary of Amazon.com.^[6]

ComiXology's digital platform with Guided View reading technology is used in the company's own branded applications, and is the engine used by most major comic book publishers in the United States, including Marvel Comics and DC Comics for their privately branded digital services.^[7] With the release of the third generation iPad and its Retina Display, ComiXology released a high-definition comic format dubbed CMX-HD.^[8] The company also provides tools for brick-and-mortar comic book retailers to participate in digital comic sales.^[9]

Products

• ComiXology.com was launched July 2007 as an online community for comic book fans; the website allows readers to identify upcoming releases and develop pull lists (individual pre-orders) from local brick-and-mortar comic shops. The website displays weekly listings of new titles that can be viewed by issue: displaying cover art, credits, description, price, page count, and other information; the site also includes weekly columns, blogs, news, and podcasts. Users can rate and comment on individual comic books. As of July 24, 2014, ComiXology offers DRM-free downloads (in PDF and CBZ formats) for the comics available from selected publishers on its online store.^[10]
• Pull List (launched December 2008), a mobile comic book store locater providing readers with a digital Pull List tool, allowing fans to pre-order comics for pick up from local stores through the app. This app has been replaced by the Comics by comiXology app and the web app have the retail store locator included.
• Retailer Tools (launched February 2009), a suite of out-of-the-box web solutions for brick-and-mortar comic book retailers to optimize their presence online. Numerous retailers worldwide have integrated comiXology's Retailer Tools into their operations, representing about 2% of all pre-orders in the market.
• Comics by ComiXology (launched July 2009), a digital comic book reader and store for mobile devices, including iOS (launched April 2010), Android, Windows 8 (via the Windows Store), and the Internet (web reader launched June 2010), that allows users to access their digital comic collection across multiple devices.

History

The company was founded in 2007 by CEO David Steinberger, CTO John D. Roberts, and Peter Jaffe. Subsequent to winning the business plan competition at New York University, the company received seed financing from Kit McQuiston, New York Angels and Rose Tech Ventures.^[11]

In May 2016, the company launched "comiXology Unlimited," a subscription service that gives access thousands of comics to read from most major publishers for a monthly fee of $5.99, however Marvel and DC are not included.^[12]

Patent

ComiXology's patent-pending Guided View technology allows readers to read through comics in full screen or from panel-to-panel, mimicking the natural movement of the eye as though readers were experiencing reading a print comic book.^[13]

Content relationships

• ComiXology currently holds exclusive distribution rights on iOS to DC Comics digital content through branded apps and comics by comiXology.
• ComiXology holds exclusive digital distribution rights to:
  • All of Robert Kirkman's titles - including The Walking Dead^[14]
  • Youngblood and Armageddon Now from Rob Liefeld, original co-founder of Image Comics.^[15]
• ComiXology’s first original digital title, Box 13, has been acquired by Red 5 Comics for print distribution. ComiXology also commissioned a sequel to the comic, titled The Pandora Project. Both Box 13 titles were created by the Harvey Award-winning team behind the Zuda Comics title High Moon - David Gallaher and Steve Ellis^[16]
• Moon Girl is an original comic published by ComiXology, based on a public domain comics character. The creative team on Moon Girl is Tony Trov, Johnny Zito, and Rahzzah.^[17]

Publishers

Controversies

In March 2013 during SXSW, an issue arose when Marvel Comics attempted to distribute over 700 comics for free via ComiXology for the Marvel #1 promotion.^[19] The ComiXology servers were unable to keep up with user demand, preventing users from obtaining the promotional comics, as well as from reading comics they had purchased. This led to a formal apology and the promotions being delayed.^[20] Soon afterward, the promotion was offered again and was reported to have "worked flawlessly".^[21] In the aftermath of the ensuing difficulties some users have raised concerns regarding access to their files should the platform ever shut down.^[22] To respond to this concern, in July 2014 selected publishers allow for DRM-free downloads of their comics.

On April 9, 2013, writer Brian K. Vaughan issued a statement^[23] on Fiona Staples's blog that Apple Inc. had prohibited the sale of Saga #12 through iOS. This statement was quickly reported by the media, the impetus for the "ban" was speculated to be in response to two panels that depicted oral sex between men in a small, inset image violated Apple's restrictions on sexual content. The issue was available through the ComiXology and Image Comics digital comics website stores. The ban was criticized by artists and writers, who pointed to similarly explicit content in previous issues and in other works sold through iTunes. William Gibson and others suggested that the restriction could have occurred specifically because the drawings at issue involved gay sex.^[24] A day later, Comixology announced that it had been they, not Apple, who had chosen not to make the issue available, based on their interpretation of Apple's rules, and that after receiving clarification from Apple, the issue would be sold on iOS devices.^[25] Brian K. Vaughan then issued a statement apologizing for the miscommunication.^[26]

After Amazon's controversial purchase of ComiXology, the company removed the option of purchasing comics inside the iOS app. This change resulted in immediate internet backlash from the comic book reader community, criticizing Amazon's acquisition of the distributor.^[27] This change to ComiXology's structure has made readers concerned about the future of digital comic distribution.^[28]

Reception

In September 2011, ComiXology's Comics application was the highest-grossing application in the App Store, and together with the branded applications for other comics publishers, accounted for a majority of the five top-grossing iPhone apps.

Having consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing iPad apps in iTunes, ComiXology was called the "iTunes of comics" by The New York Times in May 2012.^[29] In 2011, comiXology ranked as number 10 in the top 20 grossing iPad apps for year and also powered two other apps in the top 20 — Marvel and DC.^[30] In 2012, comiXology was ranked as the number 3 top grossing iPad app — the only app from 2011 to stay on the top ten list.^[31]

References

External links

• Official website