Last Wednesday (9/22) with no official announcement Image Comics and Comixology released the Walking Dead #77 the same day as the print edition. The trend started with DC’s quiet release of Justice League: Generation lost seems to be catching on slowly.
With HBO and IDW’s True Blood comic being one of the most popular app downloads its no surprise Image would go this route with the much anticipated Walking Dead television show debuting Oct 31st. It will be interesting to see if they can get new readers on a series almost 9 years into the story and if the retailers and print sales will diminish enough to notice. The Walking Dead has consistently sold well in the trade paperback editions from book stores and Amazon.com so the chances of negatively affecting those sales are a possibility as well.