Tag: digital comics

NYCC | ‘The Comixology Originals program is here to stay,’ declares the head of Comixology

The digital comics platform held an event during New York Comic Con to announce new Originals titles and talk about the future of the platform.

During an event at Amazon’s New York office this week, Comixology’s Jeff DiBartolomeo announced the next wave of Comixology Originals titles as well as teased 17 newly acquired projects.

More than that, though, he showed that the original digital comics program — and Comixology itself — is still alive and moving forward inside Amazon.

“The Comixology Originals exclusive digital content line plays a key part in our business,” said DiBartolomeo. “The Comixology Originals program is here to stay. We’ve been busy signing deals for 17 new creator-owned projects with new teams joining the family and some fan favorite creators returning to work with us again. We’re thrilled to help both new faces and industry veterans bring their stories to the public through Comixology Originals. To say we are excited about the future is an understatement.”

It’s been almost two years now since Amazon laid off a large portion of the staff working on Comixology and a year since Comixology announced plans to retire the stand-alone Comxiology app. Since then, we haven’t heard much from Comixology about its future, although they have continued to announce and release new additions to the Originals program.

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DC Go brings original webcomics to DC Universe Infinite

The vertical scrolling comics include new stories featuring Harley Quinn, Nightwing and Raven.

In the days leading into this weekend’s New York Comic Con, DC has announced DC Go, a new initiative that will bring mobile-friendly comics about Harley Quinn, Raven and Nightwing to their DC Universe Infinite digital comics app. They also plan to add “vertically reformatted DC and MAD Magazine classics,” starting with Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s Batman: Hush.

Wayne Family Adventures, one of several comics DC launched on Webtoon in 2021, has found great success, which I’m guessing has led to DC turning to their own app for this new line of vertically scrolling webcomics.

“DC has the largest library of comics on the planet, going back nearly 90 years, and with the addition of DC GO! to DC Universe Infinite there’s now a new collection of webcomics for fans to read,” said DC’s GM Anne DePies. “Our goal with the DC GO! collection is to create fun, compelling, reader-friendly, mobile DC stories that readers will enjoy on the go. Like DC Compact Comics and DC Finest, this is another example of our commitment to finding new ways to engage with fans and readers.”

Previews of the first two original titles, Harley Quinn in Paradise and the cheeky-titled Nothing Butt Nightwing, can be read now, both in the app and on the web for members and non-members alike. The comics will officially launch on Nov. 20. A preview of Batman: Hush will be available later this week, with the full comic also coming in November. The press release says it’ll soon be joined by All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely.

You can read more about the original titles and their creative teams below.

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More than 100 digital comics went up for sale today on the Shortbox Comics Fair website

The annual event features brand-new comics from creators around the world.

The annual Shortbox Comics Fair kicked off today, offering more than 100 new digital comics from artists all over the world. It runs from today through Oct. 31.

If you ever attended a small indie comics show — Small Press Expo, APE in San Francisco, etc. — this is basically the online equivalent of walking down the aisles and seeing just a ton of really cool comics by both veteran and up-and-coming indie creators. Only the creators are from around the world and you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home to read their stuff.

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SDCC | Comixology Originals announce ‘Groupies’ by Helen Mullane + Tula Lotay

“Our story is a blood-soaked and acid-drenched journey into the heart of darkness …”

Superstate writer Helen Mullane and Somna co-creator Tula Lotay will turn it up to 11 in Groupies, a five-issue miniseries about sex, drugs and the “true cost of rock’n’roll.”

The supernatural tale set in a world of parties and excess will arrive in October from Comixology Originals.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the lives of groupies,” Mullane said. “The daring fashion, devil-may-care lifestyle, and the girls’ determination, getting their kicks despite most people’s censure and judgement. It’s a world of glamour and darkness, where some people have their wildest dreams come true, while others are chewed up and spat out. Our story is a blood-soaked and acid-drenched journey into the heart of darkness, where most people are out for what they can get. But just because the girls are living in a world that sees them as disposable, doesn’t make them any less extraordinary.” 

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SDCC | Get your digital DSTLRY comics signed at Comic Con this week

DSTLRY is rolling out two new innovations for digital comics owners at their SDCC booth.

While shifting from buying print comics to digital comics has some advantages (storage space!), one of the downsides is that you no longer have something for creators to sign at conventions. DSTLRY plans to change that with DSTLRY Remarques, a new feature that, along with one called DSTLRY Proof, will debut this weekend at the San Diego Comic Con.

“DSTLRY Remarques and DSTLRY Proof exemplify our mission to merge the traditional comic experience with groundbreaking digital advancements,” said DSTLRY co-founder David Steinberger. “These features not only enhance the collector’s experience but also ensure that our creators are continuously supported through perpetual royalties via our digital marketplace.”

Per the press release, DSTLRY Remarques “allows creators to sign and sketch on digital editions of DSTLRY issues and books, creating completely individualized and re-sellable editions.” DSTLRY only offers digital single issues through their own proprietary marketplace, rather than through other platforms like Comixology. That gives them some control over additional features they can add to enhance the experience — like this one.

Here’s how it’ll work:

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SDCC | Ariela Kristantina returns to Comixology Originals for ‘The Girl Who Draws on Whales’

The new graphic novel arrives on digital in October and in print from Dark Horse Comics next March.

Ariela Kristantina, the artist of the Comixology Original graphic novel Adora and the Distance, is working again with the digital comics platform on a new original graphic novel she’ll both write and draw: The Girl Who Draws on Whales.

The OGN will arrive on the digital platform in October, and features colors by Sarah Stern, letters by Bernardo Brice and edits by Will Dennis. Inspired by her homeland of Indonesia, Kristantina’s post-apocalyptic story is about a flooded Earth where the remaining villages are separated by water — but connected by the art they draw on whales.

“Creating The Girl Who Draws on Whales has been a deeply personal and exhilarating experience,” Kristantina said. “Living in the island nation of Indonesia, surrounded by the beauty and mystery of the sea, I drew inspiration from the rich landscapes and diverse cultures of our islands. Through Wangi and Banyu’s story, I wanted to capture the bravery it takes to defy expectations and the strength found in siblinghood. This journey of art, courage, and discovery reflects the resilience of our spirit and the magic that storytelling brings to life. I hope readers feel the same sense of wonder and connection that I felt while crafting this tale.”

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SDCC | Comixology + Dark Horse announces ‘Neptune’ by Michael Conrad + Nathan Ooten

The graphic novel will arrive on the digital platform in September, followed by a print edition from Dark Horse next year.

Comixology Originals will publish the revenge tale Neptune in September by Tremor Dose writer Michael Conrad and debuting artist Nathan Ooten.

They’re joined by letterer Kyle Arends on the project, which is described as “a bleak examination of the capitalist machine.” The story revolves around a former prison inmate investigating the mysterious death of his brother.

“Following books like Tremor Dose and Double Walker isn’t easy, I remain quite proud of both of those stories,” Conrad said. “With Neptune, I wanted to rip something from the headlines and address it in a graphic novel. The result feels far less like ‘entertainment’ and more like observing a car crash, a thing you don’t wish to see, but can’t look away from. Nathan Ooten nailed it; each page manages to be at once a beautiful display of his multimedia approach to sequential art, and a profane representation of quite vile subject matter.”

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Victor Santos’ ‘Ginger’s Revenge’ is now available from Panel Syndicate

Pay what you’d like for a tale of teenage retribution.

It seems like new releases from Panel Syndicate, the digital comics imprint that first brought us The Private Eye, Barriers and Friday, have slowed down in recent months, so I was happy to get an email announcing a new title on their site — Ginger’s Revenge by Victor Santos.

Like all of Panel Syndicate’s release, Ginger’s Revenge is a “pay what you’d like” title, which you can then download as a PDF, CBR or CBZ file. It’s available both in English and Spanish.

And while many of the site’s titles are ongoing series, this is a complete story about one girl’s quest for retribution. It also includes a sketchbook section at the end, showcasing Santos’ process artwork.

Santos previously syndicated the story on Substack under the title Ginger Revenges, “a deliberate orthographic mistake” according to the creator, but he decided it was too strange and corrected the mistake.

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Jordan Alsaqa + Ray Nadine will ‘Raise Hell!’ on Comixology next week

The coming of age horror story arrives digitally on Tuesday.

Jordan Alsaqa and Ray Nadine are bringing a little Hell to Comixology next week.

The writer of Terminal Protocol, Finding Peace and more has teamed with the GLAAD award-nominated cartoonist on Raise Hell!, a six-issue coming-of-age horror/comedy miniseries about three friends who decide to summon a demon one summer, which makes the upcoming school year hell — well, even more hellish than normal.

“Raise Hell! is a love letter to our own teen years,” said Alsaqa. “When Ray and I met, we bonded over our mutual love of Ska, horror and the anime of the mid-2000s. It’s a time period we’re nostalgic for, so many of our story ideas come from recalling our favorite childhood memories and injecting the supernatural and demonic into them.”

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DSTLRY launches their digital marketplace

Digital comics bought from the company can now be sold to other collectors, with creators getting a stake of each sale.

When DSTLRY co-founders David Steinberger and Chip Mosher first announced the new publisher, there were three key points that seemed to set them apart from most other comics publishers — a different approach to ownership, where their “founding creators” would have a stake in the company; larger-sized editions that were more akin to the comics you find in France than you would normally see here in the U.S.; and a company-run digital marketplace, where you could buy and sell the digital editions of their comics.

It’s taken them a good year to bring that third point to life, but today DSTLRY launched their digital marketplace. If you’ve bought any of their digital comics in the past, which have only been available for a limited time, then you can now list them on the marketplace and sell them. The new owner receives access to the digital comic, along with the other benefits that DSTLRY offers, like early or exclusive sales of other digital comics, access to web streams (like they did recently with Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay) and more. According to DSTLRY, creators will receive a royalty from each resale.

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Clay McCormack + Ricardo López-Ortiz tag-team on the wrestling crime drama ‘Hard Style Juice!’

The five-issue digital series will debut from Comixology Originals on April 16.

Just in time for Wrestlemania, Comixology Originals has announced Hard Style Juice!, which brings together the worlds of family crime and pro wrestling.

Writer Clay McCormack, artist Ricardo López-Ortiz, colorist Heather Moore and letterer DC Hopkins have formed a stable and will bring the story of King Castro and his family to the arena. Or, in this case, to Amazon and their digital comics platform.

“Pro wrestling and comic books have always felt like two sides of the same coin for me, so combining the two was a no-brainer,” McCormack said. “Hard Style Juice! is a crime drama, but instead of organized crime the family is dedicated to the glitz and spectacle of professional wrestling.”

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Quick Hits | NFT collectibles company VeVe launches a digital comics platform

Plus: Dog Man teams with Little Free Library, the direct market at 50, Todd Klein and more.

Here’s another story coming out of Marvel’s South by Southwest panel in Austin yesterday — VeVe, an online collectibles site that sells NFT collectibles and artwork, has launched a digital comics storefront that now includes more than 300 titles from Marvel.

VeVe already has partnerships in place with Marvel, DC, Todd McFarlane and more to sell NFTs. Now they’ve expanded to selling digital comics that can be read in their app (much like Amazon), as well as “limited edition” versions of those same comics. These cost more but are collectible NFTs that can be sold in their marketplace and read using their augmented reality reader (which I’m very curious to see, especially if it can be used with the Apple Vision Pro). Each limited edition comic comes in a variety of variant covers, which apparently you buy “blind” and hope you get a rare one.

While Marvel is the only company currently on the platform, VeVe says they plan to expand that in the future.

“Being passionate readers and collectors ourselves, we recognized that digital comics fans have been calling for a more immersive experience,” said David Yu, CEO and co-founder of VeVe. “Our aim is to create a platform that makes comics discovery fun and easy—one that’s centered on function and design, fosters community and accessibility for all. We understood those pain points and created VeVe Comics to be the solution.”

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