Happy Halloween Roboteers! We here at BSR all hope you’re having a good time today with the tricking, treating and miscellaneous spooky activities. A question comes to mind though… What are you going to do when the festivities are over and you still are full of Halloween spirit? Sure, you could pop in a Hammer Horror film or listen to Monster Mash for the billionth time (and you really can’t go wrong with either), but for those of you who want a new All Hallow’s Eve tradition, we’ve a suggestion from you…

That’s right, comics! In particular, we want to offer you the chance to win a free copy of Dracula the Unconquered #1! This comic begins a  new digital comic paradigm that addresses the problems inherent with digital as it stands now, namely the digital rights management and the price. The book is written by the ghastly Chris Sims, drawn by the vampiric Steve Downer with lettering from the unholy talent of Josh Krach. Drac the Unconquered takes place in the early days of the 20th century and the resurrection of ‘ol Fang Face himself. A 6-page preview can be viewed here.

Now here’s the skinny. We’re giving away 5 copies of this fine publication to five lucky readers. Why? Well, honestly, it’s because the whole project is incredibly ambitious, and something I see personally as a giant step in the right direction for digital comics as a whole. $1 for 24 pages of Dracul-Action is frankly, a steal. I’m hoping that even if you don’t win the contest, you’ll give the book a shot, and support the work of independent creators. Trust me, the preview is great, but the real meat of the story is contained in the full issue. I don’t want to give the story away, but Drac himself gives a certain Belmont clan a run for their money in the whip-wielding department, and there is a truly epic battle to be had as well!

Honestly, I can’t praise this book enough. as first issues go, this one has everything you need. It has action, the premise is set up, and you’re introduced to the principle characters. Best of all, it’s done in such a way that it never comes off as an exposition dump, but at the same time even if you don’t know Dracula from Adam, you can jump in and enjoy the book just the same! Highly recommended all around.

OK, I’ve pontificated and praised the book enough, I’m sure you all want to know how to win the damn thing. That’s really easy. Just add a comment, post on the facebook page for this story or just outright email me at “shaz at bigshinyrobot.com” with your favorite interpretation of Dracula, and why it’s your favorite. Please Note: Since this is a digital giveaway I’ll need your email address regardless of how you enter. This will also be a quick contest, I’ll only be taking entries until midnight (CST) tonight! The contest is open to anyone in the world (the magic of digital giveaways), so get your entries in asap!

PRESS RELEASE: October 14th, 2011

Hot off the presses! Just announced today at a press event at New York Comic Con – the countdown to the launch of digital WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA!

VIZ MEDIA TO DEBUT WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA

NORTH AMERICA’S ONLY NEAR-SIMULTANEOUS

DIGITAL MANGA MAGAZINE

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA Brings Fans The Most Popular Manga In The World Faster Than Ever Before

October 14, 2011 – VIZ Media, the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in the North America, announces the countdown to the launch of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA (WEEKLY SJ ALPHA), a weekly serial anthology of some of the most popular manga series in the world: BAKUMAN｡, BLEACH, NARUTO, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN, ONE PIECE, and TORIKO. The first issue of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA goes on sale January 30, 2012, and will be available through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga apps for iPhone™, iPod™ touch and iPad™.

Each new digital issue of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA brings manga fans in North America the latest chapters of their favorite series only two weeks after it debuts in Japan’s massively popular WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP Magazine. Currently, Japanese releases are often several months to years ahead of North American print titles; WEEKLY SJ ALPHA eliminates the delay in unprecedented fashion.

“Simultaneously publishing an official translation of the most popular comics magazine in the world has been a dream since manga publishing began in North America in the 1980s,” said Alvin Lu, Senior Vice President & General Manager. “This is how manga is meant to be read in English – weekly, current, authorized and on the go. Now with WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, it’s about to happen for real.”

WEEKLY SJ ALPHA will be made available through an annual membership that provides access to 48 weekly issues for 52 weeks for just $25.99. Single issues of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA can be read for a four-week rental from the time the reader purchases it for only $0.99. Each issue, once received on one device, can be read on all other enabled devices through the easy-to-use integrated VIZ Manga app and website.

To prepare fans for the debut of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA, VIZ Media is also offering the SHONEN JUMP DIGITAL WARP, a limited collection of digital graphic novel speed-ups that will bring North American readers up-to-date with Japanese releases. In some cases, the digital speed-ups will jump ahead of the print releases in North America. The SHONEN JUMP DIGITAL WARP will begin with NARUTO Volume 53 (available now) and BLEACH Volume 49 (coming soon).

As more fans migrate to the digital WEEKLY SJ ALPHA edition, VIZ Media plans to phase out the print edition of SHONEN JUMP Magazine. The popular, one-of-a-kind monthly magazine led the rapid growth of the manga market for much of the last decade and was VIZ Media’s flagship publication since it launched in 2003. The farewell April 2012 issue hits newsstands March 2012.

For more information on WEEKLY SJ ALPHA and exclusive subscriber offers, please visit ShonenJump.viz.com or VIZManga.com.

In a move that seems to be from business theory and practice in a time before the internet; The LA Times is reporting that Barnes and Nobles book sellers is deciding to pull DC comics in a deal involving digital comics.

It’s pretty simple; DC offers it’s comics as books in Trade Paper Back format and Barnes and Noble sells them. Barnes and Noble has an e-reader called the Nook. But DC has signed an exclusive digital distribution deal with Barnes and Nobles main competition Amazon.com for the sale of it’s comics in a digital format. SO – Barnes and Noble decided to make the move of refusing to stock the physical copy of DC’s books if they didn’t get access to the Digital format as well.

It can’t be denied that Barnes and Noble is a giant force in publishing world. With Borders all but fully in the ground they are hands down a 2,000 pound gorrilla in the room that the VAST majority of publishers literally can not afford to ignore because they make up such a large market share of retailing. More importantly they KNOW it. But while a tactic like this might have a lot of leverage with a smaller book publishing company with a less than tech savvy demographic base. But what with comic books traditionally being a main stay of the nerd and geek crowds – will a douche move like this really so anything but bite Barnes and Noble in the butt?

It comes down to the question of WHO is buying what? Are digital comics drawing in uninitiated readers? Or does that giant bookshelf of TPB’s at B&N bring in more new comic fans? Do either really or is word of mouth really what still gets new people to pick up their first comic? Then of seasoned comics fans – will this effect them at all? I know that personally – I am not really ready to make the leap to digital, and if I want to pick up a DC print run in it’s trade paper back collection I PREFER to help the closest tradition comic shop to me if I am able to shop at such a store. Then there is the fact that according to this decision now Barnes & Noble won’t have the digital copy OR the physical copy for sale either. When Amazon.com will have BOTH, and often times in the case of the physical TPB – for less than cover price.

Chime in to let us know how this will effect your buying habits if at all. OR to just make snarky comments. I prefer the snarky comments really.

DC Announced today that they would have 100 graphic novels available for the Kindle Fire. This is a pretty big deal for Amazon, since I think comics on tablet devices are a big deciding factor for some geeks. Add to that the fact they have access to the Kindle Library and streaming media they can wirelessly stream to their TVs, and it looks like Amazon might have a huge hit on their hands. Hell, even I’m tempted to get one (but not for reading, I need eInk for that).

We’ll see how this shakes out, but I think it can only mean good news for readers and creators. Also Amazon. Now if we could only get them to pay sales taxes and treat their employees better. They’re starting to get to be worse than Wal-Mart.

From the DC release:

BURBANK, Calif., Sept. 29, 2011- DC Entertainment, the first publisher to offer more than fifty comic book titles on the same day in digital and print, is now taking the world of digital books by storm. The comic book giant has worked with Amazon to bring 100 of its original graphic novels exclusively to Amazon’s newly announced Kindle Fire, including best-selling graphic novels WATCHMEN, BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY and SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE, which are available for the first time digitally.

“We’re thrilled to work with the leader in digital books to bring many of the world’s most beloved and best-selling graphic novels to Kindle readers,” stated Jim Lee, co-publisher of DC Entertainment. “We’ve learned from the success of DC Comics – The New 52 that making our graphic novels available whenever and wherever our readers want is critical to the future growth and health of our publishing businesses–both in print and digital format.”

“We’re excited that DC Entertainment has made 100 of their graphic novels available for customers to read exclusively on our just-announced Kindle Fire,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President, Kindle Content. “Some of these graphic novels, including ‘Watchmen,’ the bestselling — and considered by many to be the greatest — graphic novel of all time, have never been available before in digital format, and we think customers will love them.”

DC Entertainment graphic novels will be available to Kindle Fire customers. WATCHMEN and SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE are available for pre-order now in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) and readers can soon purchase other DC Entertainment graphic novels.

The following 100 DC Entertainment titles will be available in the Kindle Store, with more titles to be added in the near future.

All Star Superman
All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, Vol. 1
American Vampire Vol. 1
Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn
Batman and Robin, Vol. 2: Batman vs. Robin
Batman and Robin, Vol. 3: Batman Must Die!
Batman and Son
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Hush
Batman: R.I.P.
Batman: The Black Glove
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
Batman: Year One
Blackest Night
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 1
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 2
Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps
Brightest Day, Vol. 1
Brightest Day, Vol. 2
Brightest Day, Vol. 3
Daytripper
Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile
Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm
Fables Vol. 3: Storybook Love
Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers
Fables Vol. 5: The Mean Seasons
Fables Vol. 6: Homeland
Fables Vol. 7: Arabian Nights (and Days)
Fables Vol. 8: Wolves
Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince
Fables Vol. 11: War and Pieces
Fables Vol. 12: The Dark Ages
Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
Fables Vol. 14: Witches
Fables Vol. 15: Rose Red
Green Lantern Vol. 3: Wanted Hal Jordan
Green Lantern: Agent Orange
Green Lantern: Blackest Night
Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Green Lantern: Secret Origin
Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War
How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less
Identity Crisis
Kingdom Come
MAD About Oscars
MAD About Superheroes
MAD About Superheroes
MAD About the 50’s
MAD About the 60’s
Marzi
Planetary Vol. 1: All Over the World and Other Stories
Planetary Vol. 2: The Fourth Man
Planetary Vol. 3: Leaving the 20th Century
Planetary Vol. 4: Spacetime Archaeology
Superman for All Seasons
Superman: Earth One
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
The Flash: Rebirth
The Joker
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol. 1)*
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol. 2 )*
The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes
The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll’s House
The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists
The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You
The Sandman Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections
The Sandman Vol. 7: Brief Lives
The Sandman Vol. 8: World’s End
The Sandman Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
The Sandman Vol. 10: The Wake
The Sandman: Dream Hunters
The Sandman: Dream Hunters (P. Craig Russell)
The Sandman: Endless Nights
The Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity
The Unwritten Vol. 2: Inside Man
V for Vendetta
Watchmen
We3
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2: Cycles
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 4: Safeword
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 5: Ring of Truth
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 6: Girl on Girl
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 7: Paper Dolls
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 8: Kimono Dragons
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 9: Motherland

This is a post originally published on my blog, Epic Randomness, but since I feel it’s an important issue and needs to be seen by as many people as possible, I have been given permission to re-publish it here on BSR.

It’s no secret that I love digital comics. They cut down on space, fire hazards, and it’s a nice and easy way to look for a specific issue. That being said, the vast majority of comics available digitally are no older than 10-15 years. Maybe 20 at the most. When older comics are released digitally, they have usually been recolored, resulting in a much more vivid look, without the pitfalls of newsprint (bleeding edges, yellowed pages and the like). That is, until now.

DC Comics, in their partnership with comiXology, have recently released a slew of bronze-age comics digitally, mainly to coincide with their “RetroActive” line of one-shots. This initially had me thrilled! Not only can I get a bunch of comics that had never been reprinted before, I could get them for a measly 99 cents apiece. Joy and Rapture, DC was finally digging into their 70+ years of archives to share their catalog. Then I actually bought some of the books…

The book I’m using to highlight my point is Justice League of America #120, which has a cover date of July, 1973. It ties in really nicely to the recent “DC RetroActive 1970s Justice League of America #1”. They both feature adventures of Adam Strange dealing with the villainy of Kangar-Ro. When you open the digital version, this is what you get (page truncated for detail):

JLofA #120 via comiXology

I’m sorry, but I believe the correct term for the image quality is fugly. This is obviously a scan taken from an original newsprint issue, but someone was screwing around in Photoshop too much to make the yellowed newsprint look white. As a result, the image looks very washed out, and is kind of a chore to read. In short, I felt a bit cheated of my buck. As an aside, when Marvel releases a bronze age book, be it on Marvel’s Digital Comics Unlimited, or their comiXology powered app, the book always gets the re-color treatment.

So, being appalled by the (lack of) quality of the book, I decided to see if I could do any better. Surely if I could do a better job at presenting one of their books digitally, DC would wise up and not pull this on their consumers again, right? That’s what I’m hoping, at least.

I made two plans of attack when trying to make my case. First, I just got a scan of the page myself with no frills, just to show what the page would look like if you actually opened up a paper copy:

JLofA #120 via scanned copy

As you can see, while the scanned page isn’t as white as the one available for purchase digitally, there are more discernible details. For instance, the caption boxes are actually yellow, the blues in particular look better, and the background itself doesn’t turn almost completely black. If DC decided to release the comic like the above image, I’d still wonder why they didn’t re-color it, but it would at least be readable and I would be a satisfied customer.

So the question of course is why? Why didn’t DC take the time to re-color the book for digital release? I’m sure arguments could be made that it is cost-prohibitive, or too painstaking a process to do for a single digital issue they don’t plan on releasing anywhere else. If that’s the case, it speaks volumes about how DC feels about digital. Sure, they are about to release their entire line digitally the same day as print, but moves like this make me imply that they do not care about their digital presentation. Even if digital is just another revenue stream for them, wouldn’t it behoove them to make it appealing enough to have repeat customers?

While I am of course just speculating, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. Would it cost DC any sort of money besides labor to re-color their classic books? The short answer I came to is “no”. Using only free tools, I was able to re-color this page in less than 20 minutes, here is the result, and then I’ll explain my process.

JLofA re-colored by me.

Admittedly, my attempt is slightly crude. If you’ll notice, some letters are missing, and some lines aren’t there. There is also some artifacting in the background. This is due to me working from a scanned image. I would hope DC’s own archive has better tools than I do. As for what I did, I got to thinking about the original printing process. Mind you, I’m not a colorist, but I do know that in newsprint, the CMYK process is used. CMYK uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black) to make all variety of colors. This is why comics are sometimes referred to as 4-color adventures. Anyway, with that in mind, using free tools, I converted the my scanned image into CMYK color (most computer images use RGB). After I did that, I was able to isolate the Key plate, which was akin to just have the black and white ink work.

From there, I used the colors from comiXology’s copy of Justice League of America #122, which ironically was recolored, due to it being reprinted before. Here’s the image I got my new RGB values from.

JLofA #122 used as a color guide

From there, it was a simple process of adding the colors where appropriate. Now don’t get me wrong, doing this to every page of every issue released would take a lot of time, but if I, a relative novice can be that effective using only the tools at my disposal, all I can say about DC at this point is that they are lazy. That being said, if anyone at DC is reading, pay me a modest sum and I will do this for you, gladly, Just to preserve your classic work for not only a new generation of readers, but for all time.

Yesterday I was asked a question regarding my feelings about DC revamping their comic books. DC has decided that they are going to make two pretty major game-changing moves. The first move they’re going to make is that they will be rebooting 52 of their current series. That means, 52 DC titles will be restarting with a number one issue, starting fresh, and forgetting most of what came before in the storyline.

I personally don’t blame DC for making this move. JLA,  Wonder-Woman, Superman, Batman, all of these titles have a TON of issues behind them, most clocking in at over 600 issues currently. This is great for people who jumped on the series when it first began, and have been following ever since, but what about the person who just discovered comics? Or the person who is a “sometimes” reader, and wants to come back to the series? This means that you have to read a TON of comics to get yourself caught up, and even if you do that, there is no guarantee that you’re going to have any idea what is going on.

I think, if done correctly, this move can inject new life into some of the older brands. There were rumors that the reboot was going to happen a few months ago when “Superman: Earth One” came out. When I read “Earth One”, I was extremely pleased with what I got. They didn’t spend 4 pages telling Superman’s origin, they did it with flashbacks. They didn’t make him the “Man of Steel”, they humanized him into a young 20’s guy who didn’t know if he could rise to the occasion and become Earth’s savior. They did something to Superman that hadn’t really been done before: they humanized him. They humanized him in a way that you could understand what he was going through, and how difficult the decisions in his life were, and you didn’t just see him as an indestructible alien. As a chick in her mid-20’s, I could understand the character and see him as something other than the undefeatable. If they stick to the plan that they followed with “Earth One”, I think that DC will come out on top.

It’s not like this idea hasn’t worked before either. Evey person who read golden aged comics went through it when comic companies had a resurgence during the silver age, and the silver agers went through it when we entered the bronze age of comics, and the bronze agers went through it when the modern age came up. And that all happened in under 100 years. Sure it sucks for a few months while you’re adjusting, but it’s introducing a whole new generation to the series. Maybe the “modern age” will just become the “titanium age” or something. And I mean, it’s not like the guys in charge (Jim Lee, Dan Didio and Geoff Johns) are going to take this task lightly either. These are guys who have been in the business for decades and know the DC characters like no one else. They don’t want to see this fail.

The second major change at DC is that they are finally making the move to become digital. This is a move that Marvel did MONTHS ago. I think it’s fantastic that both of the major companies have made this move. With all of the technology in the world, it’s where the future is heading. It gives people an opportunity to read back issues of series that they enjoy, without having to lug around graphic novels and individual comic books. It helps save trees, and it looks fantastic on something as small as an iPhone. Also, DC will be releasing the digital version of their titles the same day as the paper version, so the gratification is immediate. After four weeks, the price of the digital version will drop to a dollar less than the paper version as well, making it more affordable for the consumer.

There is a flip side to this decision, however. I love comic book stores. I love going to them, I love the smell of them, I love finding something awesome that I didn’t know I wanted while going through back issues. I love everything about comic books stores. Digitizing comic books could spell the end for shops, and that scares me. Sure, there will always be people out there, like myself, who prefer the paper version to the digital version, but I feel like we’re a dying breed. I like to touch the book. I like to feel it in my hands. I do it with novels as well as comics. There’s just something about touching the product that can’t be replaced in my mind. However, with the invention of the iPad and the Kindle, life is made easier. You don’t need to leave the house to go pick up your “hold”, and you don’t need to run to the Barnes and Noble to pick up the new Sookie Stackhouse book, you simply need to plug in a cord and it’s there. It’s almost sad to me, because you’re missing out on the human element. You’re missing your chance to have other periodicals suggested to you by a person. You’re missing out on having a geeky conversation with the guy who runs the store.

I also have friends who make a living selling comic books, and I don’t want to see them go the way of the video rental store. They’re great guys, who do great promotions not only in their stores, but also in their communities. They organize fund raisers, they throw parties when there is a comic anniversary, they go waaaaaay out of their way to accommodate everyone at Free Comic Book Day (which is NOT free to them), and they hold food drives for local food pantries. They are great people who give back.

I guess what it comes down to with the digitalization of everything is that the people will be divided. They will be split into the collectors (like myself), and the readers. There isn’t really a bad way to go in this situation. On the one hand, it puts comic books into peoples hands who may not have had access to them previously, and cuts down on overall waste, and on the other hand, you have people who like having physical copies, and people who are trying to make a living in the industry. It’s a hard call to say one is better than the other. Digital is the way life is going though, so at the end of the day, it’s a great move for DC. I’ll just be very sad to see the day when comic book stores are a thing of the past…

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of digital comics. They have a few advantages over print comics. Among other things, they’re easy to organize, they don’t clutter a room, and they are much less of a fire hazard. There are of course some disadvantages, as well. Digital comics are still in their infancy, but it’s hard to deny the impact they’ve had already. Case in point, the Comics by comiXology app was recently inducted into the iPad app Hall of Fame. There is still a lot of room to grow, in my opinion. That was foremost in my mind when I was given the opportunity to interview comiXology’s CEO David Steinberger. We touched on a variety of topics, so as not to bury the lead, here’s the interview!

comiXology CEO David Steinberger

Shaz-Bot: The Comics by comiXology app has been inducted into the iPad App Hall of Fame. For our readers not familiar with it, what exactly is the App Hall of Fame, and what apps do you share this prestigious honor with?

David Steinberger: The Hall of Fame is aimed at presenting the “very best of the best” and contains 50 apps for iPhone and iPad, both paid and free. It’s pretty awesome to be listed next to apps such as Angry Birds, Evernote, Facebook and Epicurious.

Shaz-Bot: comiXology has had a great presence on the various iDevices, but you’re available on the web so even people without an iPod/iPad can enjoy digital comics. Your Flash interface on the web is quite good, but will you developing an HTML5 interface for even greater compatibility?

David Steinberger: We’re available on the web and Android devices as well. For now, the reader will stay in Flash, but we’ve been experimenting in HTML 5. We expect at some point to have comics available through HTML.

Shaz-Bot: Is comiXology spearheading any initiatives to get consumers to buy physical copies of the books you sell from their local comic shop?

David Steinberger: Actually, comiXology started as a website to help consumers see what comics were coming to their local comic shop. We even have an iPhone app called PullList that shows the comics coming to your store. We have full Pull List functionality for print books on the site, and you can even connect to our local store partners to pick up your pull list at your local store.
All of our apps have a retailer finder built into them, so you can use the geo-location ability of the device to find a local store
We’ve recently launched our comiXology Retailer Sites, giving retailers a full website, calendar, blog, and pull list tools. A couple of examples are legacycomics.net and samuraicomics.com.
We’ve also announced a digital comics affiliate program for retailers, and soon they will be able to sell comiXology digital comics on their websites.

Shaz-Bot: In the beginning, comiXology was a bastion of small press/creator owned works. Now your focus seems to have shifted to the larger companies. How difficult is it for a creator to get their book released on your platform nowadays?

David Steinberger: comiXology is still and will remain a bastion for small press/creators, which is why we launched our Guided View Authoring Tools program a few months back (http://pitch.pe/101663). The Guided View™ Authoring Tools program will help level the playing field by giving independent creators and publishers an equal chance for visibility in the digital marketplace through a standard format and ubiquitous platform.
The final product will be part of a comprehensive online system, allowing seamless submission for digital publishing for all comic book creators and publishers in an iTunes-like model. Creators and publishers can sign up for consideration for a Beta spot at http://www.comixology.com/self_authoring_signup/

Shaz-Bot: One of the only complaints I have about comiXology is that any Marvel titles that I buy are confined to you iOS apps. I am sure this is more of Marvel’s policy than it is yours, but is there a chance that I’ll be able to read the books I’ve purchased on the web or on my Android device anytime soon?

David Steinberger: Marvel is a valued partner of ours and we are continually working with them to expand to other platforms.

Shaz-Bot: In a similar vein, do you see comiXology taking on a bidding war? That is to say, making deals with companies not currently on your app, such as IDW and Dark Horse? (Note: This interview was conducted before the debut of Dark Horse’s digital comic platform.)

David Steinberger: We’d love to work with IDW, Dark Horse, and many other publisher not currently on our platform. We don’t think that a bidding war is necessary to make that happen.

Shaz-Bot: You periodically have sales pertaining to a particular character or storyline, do you foresee any plans to sell digital trades at all, similar to the Atomic Robo collections you already sell?

David Steinberger: Yes, we look forward to having many more collected editions. We’ve had great success with Atomic Robo and The Walking Dead, among others.

Shaz-Bot: Archie Comics has a digital day and date initiative for their app that is frankly intriguing. comiXology also sells Archie books, even some day and date titles. Will this expand to their entire line as it is on other devices?

David Steinberger: Archie is always pushing the envelope with their initiatives and for such an iconic brand, it has been a blast to help them out with their digital strategy. We currently have all the same day and date titles as any other platform for Archie.

Shaz-Bot: How would you personally like to see digital comics expand in the future? What can we, the readers do to make it a reality?

David Steinberger: Our first focus is in the reading and presentation of the stories. Second is on a great discovery process so people can find comics they’re interested in. On top of these we can add in other features and abilities.
We love the idea of anyone who has a professional comic being able to distribute them, so our Self Authoring platform is something we’re really looking forward to.
We love hearing from our fans and hearing what they’d like to see. So find us on Twitter or Facebook and let us know what you’re interested in seeing in the apps!

Shaz-Bot: Finally, are there any surprises comiXology has in the near future than you can share?

David Steinberger: We don’t pre-announce anything but do have a few great announcements in the pipeline.

And, there you go.  There really is nowhere for digital comics to go but up. What form they’ll take as time goes on remains to be seen, but you can be sure that comiXology will be there, leading the way. Now, go grab the app or hit the website and read some comics!