The Latest

1
ComiXology played itself, and its audience, over Saga #12

The second addendum I was thinking about this morning to the whole Saga vs Apple thing is exactly what Brothers says above and I alluded to, but did not go far enough: who is handling the standards and practices at ComiXology? To me, this thing sounds like a rookie mistake—it may be a simple misunderstanding on the part of a new hire. That’s probably too simplistic.

None of it matters—the fact remains this kind of thing only happened because of ComiXology’s practices. I’m not bagging to pile on, because I rely on this service to get SAGA and other independent books I don’t have access to anymore. I agree with Brothers that ComiXology is the new Diamond, and I think Waid gets to some truth of the matter as well. Now I’m fairly worried about my interaction with the company.

digital comics
saga vs comixology vs apple
david brothers
Mark Waid
brian k. vaughan
fiona staples
264
Follow-up from BKV: APPLE vs. SAGA #12. A follow-up to yesterday’s press release: I wanted to apologize to everyone for this entire SAGA #12 kerfuffle. Yesterday, I was mistakenly led to believe that this issue was solely with Apple, but it’s now clear that it was only ever Comixology too conservatively interpreting Apple’s rules. I’m truly sorry. I never thought either company was being homophobic, only weirdly inconsistent about what kind of adult material was permissible. I’m grateful that the situation was cleared up so quickly, and I’m delighted I can go back to reading smutty comics on my Retina Display iPad.

Brian K. Vaughan, via fionastaples.

What’s especially interesting is Fraction’s post as well:

Let me shape these two cents in the form of a question mark: in the wake of Brian and Marcos’ experiment with THE PRIVATE EYE last month (week? when? what is time?), have we not heard the bell tolling for digital middlemen, and if not, why the fuck not?


What I find oddly missing in this whole discussion is in the appearance that this digital comics thing only became a topic of conversation because it was bringing mainstream comics and “name” creators to the Internet, like the web needed validation. Why does it seem like there isn’t much credit being given to people who have long been doing digital comics? People like Kevin Church, Chris Onstag, and the Act-I-Vate crew were doing this thing, for free, with hardly any kerfuffle of this variety before there was a business model like ComiXology on the scene. The whole thing wreaks. 

digital comics
brian k vaughan

The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood by Christy Blanch and Chris Carr.

Embeddable comics, huh? Okay. What really gets me about this comic is I was in the interview process to teach in a prison, but I couldn’t do it because of my student loans, which prison officials consider them an avenue for convicts to blackmail me (yes seriously; I didn’t believe it either), so I didn’t get the job. And then I read this and see a reason that is pretty much why I couldn’t even enter the prison. Sure, I’ll suspend belief, because then I’m not sure how much of a story there would be in this strip. Other than the deeply personal relationships and stories that could come out of teaching an English class in a prison. Embeddable comics though. Neat.

christy blanch
chris carr
thrillbent comics
Digital Comics
4
The Private Eye, comic by Brian K. Vaughan & Marcos Martin at Panel Syndicate. Oh my God, oh my God:  Welcome to Panel Syndicate, where artist Marcos Martin and writer Brian K. Vaughan deliver original comics directly to readers around the world, who pay whatever the hell they want for each DRM-free issue. Our first new storyline is THE PRIVATE EYE, a forward-looking mystery we created with colorist Muntsa Vicente. Set in a future where privacy is considered a sacred right and everyone has a secret identity, The Private Eye is a serialized sci-fi detective story for mature readers. You can download our 32-page first issue right now, for any price you think is fair. 100% of your payments go directly into our greedy mitts and will help fund the rest of a story that we’re both very proud of (we hope there will be around 10 issues total; an old-school “maxiseries!”), so thanks for reading…

The Private Eye, comic by Brian K. Vaughan & Marcos Martin at Panel Syndicate.

Oh my God, oh my God: 

Welcome to Panel Syndicate, where artist Marcos Martin and writer Brian K. Vaughan deliver original comics directly to readers around the world, who pay whatever the hell they want for each DRM-free issue. Our first new storyline is THE PRIVATE EYE, a forward-looking mystery we created with colorist Muntsa Vicente. Set in a future where privacy is considered a sacred right and everyone has a secret identity, The Private Eye is a serialized sci-fi detective story for mature readers. You can download our 32-page first issue right now, for any price you think is fair. 100% of your payments go directly into our greedy mitts and will help fund the rest of a story that we’re both very proud of (we hope there will be around 10 issues total; an old-school “maxiseries!”), so thanks for reading…

brian k. vaughan
Marcos Martin
awesome with a side of awesome sauce
the private eye
Digital Comics
51
MARK WAID » So I’m Asking For Your Help.

I love that Waid is doing this.

For the last few months, a talented university teacher named Christy Blanch has been putting together a college-level course called “Gender Through Comic Books”–but it’s not limited to college students. It’s the world’s first comics-related Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)–meaning that it will be FREELY AVAILABLE to ANYONE across the world who has web access and who’s interested in comics and in the creative process. There’s no obligation, NO COST, and all you have to do is take thirty seconds to enroll at the following site:

As I’ve started teaching in the last year, I’ve been working out how I can bring comics into the classroom. It’s been a project of mine since last Spring, but I think I’ve finally got something solid. More soon. 

digital comics
mark waid
comics in the classroom
3

Chris Arrant talking with Warren Ellis on Digital Comics.

  • ARRANT: Something I wanted to ask you about is your thoughts on how the digital distribution of comics has, surprisingly enough, strengthened the format of the single-issue comic over longer-form works like graphic novels. What are your thoughts on digital comics and the way they’re served and read?
  • ELLIS: I’d be happier, I think, if the walled-garden services advertised their wares as “rentals.” Because if comiXology went away tomorrow, I wouldn’t have a clue how to prise my comics out of my iPad app, and I imagine many people may agree. Don’t get me wrong, I think comiXology is a good service, and I have no wish to single them out. But “rental for life of service” or some similar language would seem to me to be a clearer statement of the situation.
warren ellis
chris arrant
Digital Comics
3
Because the myth among us comic book folk is that webcomics guys, ah, yeah there’s a couple of them making a little bit of money, but by and large they’re all losing their shirts. You know: little kids doing their little thing on the side, that’s the myth. And the reality of it is, no, actually a lot of guys are making a decent living doing this, a lot of guys. And it doesn’t mean everybody can, but it means that there’s a lot more to that, there’s a lot more money in that ecosphere than you dreamed, and some guys are making really good money doing that stuff. And while making really good money is for me not the goal, it’s just to make enough money to keep doing it, the idea that it can be done is great. And what’s also great about the webcomic community is that I have yet to encounter any sense of selfishness, any sense of proprietary ownership, any sense of trade secrets and people being very hush hush with what they’re doing, because that’s stupid. Comic books tend to do that because we’re selling to an audience of 90,000 people, but among the webcomics guys they seem to get the fact that the potential audience is 6 billion people. There’s room for all of us out there. We’re not worried about competition yet among each other.
Mark Waid, in this great interview. The guy is the shit.  
Mark Waid
Digital Comics
8
Smallville Season 11 #13 was really bad-ass. I love the characterization between Clark and Lois, and the Batman hook was laid out well. While reading I began to think about my issue with digital delivery and their price point when I came to the conclusion that this .99 cent comic is 20 pages, and how they combine (I think it is two) digital issues of Smallville Season 11 to be $3.99 at 40 pages of content for the print edition. I haven’t bought the print editions of the issues because I’ve been reading it digitally and for the most part enjoying it. So I’m trying to figure out how other publishers are able to justify the $3.99 digital price point for what is essentially ninety-nine cents of content. As Slim rightfully pointed out: the creative value, which without question is something that is totally, one thousand percent, valid. And don’t think for a second that I’m being facetious or snarky or disingenuous, that value is exactly how much whomever thinks it should be and one could make the argument in either direction of under value or over-value, but that argument would be very much like watching a dog chase its tail.   Smallville Season 11 #13 was really bad-ass. I love the characterization between Clark and Lois, and the Batman hook was laid out well. While reading I began to think about my issue with digital delivery and their price point when I came to the conclusion that this .99 cent comic is 20 pages, and how they combine (I think it is two) digital issues of Smallville Season 11 to be $3.99 at 40 pages of content for the print edition. I haven’t bought the print editions of the issues because I’ve been reading it digitally and for the most part enjoying it. So I’m trying to figure out how other publishers are able to justify the $3.99 digital price point for what is essentially ninety-nine cents of content. As Slim rightfully pointed out: the creative value, which without question is something that is totally, one thousand percent, valid. And don’t think for a second that I’m being facetious or snarky or disingenuous, that value is exactly how much whomever thinks it should be and one could make the argument in either direction of under value or over-value, but that argument would be very much like watching a dog chase its tail.  

Smallville Season 11 #13 was really bad-ass. I love the characterization between Clark and Lois, and the Batman hook was laid out well. While reading I began to think about my issue with digital delivery and their price point when I came to the conclusion that this .99 cent comic is 20 pages, and how they combine (I think it is two) digital issues of Smallville Season 11 to be $3.99 at 40 pages of content for the print edition. I haven’t bought the print editions of the issues because I’ve been reading it digitally and for the most part enjoying it. So I’m trying to figure out how other publishers are able to justify the $3.99 digital price point for what is essentially ninety-nine cents of content. As Slim rightfully pointed out: the creative value, which without question is something that is totally, one thousand percent, valid. And don’t think for a second that I’m being facetious or snarky or disingenuous, that value is exactly how much whomever thinks it should be and one could make the argument in either direction of under value or over-value, but that argument would be very much like watching a dog chase its tail.  

Digital Comics
Smallville Season 11
bryan q miller
chris cross