ComiXology launches beta of Web-based comics app
comiXology has announced it is extending its popular mobile comics-reading application, Comics by comiXology, to the web. Fans will be able to view comics bought in the original app online. Using existing comiXology credentials, fans can login to the web-based application at Comics.comiXology.com to explore their personal comic collection from anywhere without downloading additional software, according to the comiXology release.
“Building a web reader is a significant step toward making comic books universally available to the global comic market,” said David Steinberger, CEO of comiXology, in the release. “The key to uniting the comic community– retailers, readers, publishers and creators—is making discovery easier for everyone. With Comics by comiXology now on the web, we’re opening up the excitement of comics to an even larger audience”.
The site is launching in beta for current comiXology users, and the company is actively seeking feedback. The Comics by comiXology web beta is now available to current users of the app on other devices. To access the web reader, users can login at Comics.comiXology.com. The Comics by comiXology reader will launch publicly this summer. New users can sign up at www.comiXology.com/signup.
- Matt Price
Alison Haislip’s Trading Eights reaches mid-season finale
Alison Haislip in "Trading Eights."
The noir comedy web series “Trading Eights,” starring G4′s Alison Haislip, has its mid-season finale airing online today. The episode, “Take Five,” follows unlikely couple, Hildy (Alison Hailsip) and Grant (Sean Owens), as they attempt to capture and transfer another Zodiac assassin to the city, according to a release.
Check out the show at tradingeights.com, or click past the cut to watch.
Will iPad lead fans back to printed comic books?
Marvel Comics' iPad app.
Iron Man, Spider-Man and the X-Men have become movie stars in the past decade, but their original home was comic books. While comics showed growth in the direct-sales market of comic shops and in the bookstore market of the past decade, some question if comics will change as more media becomes available digitally.
With Apple’s iPad device being showcased as a next generation of print, what does that mean to people who still make their living with print, in particular, Oklahoma’s comic book retailers?
“In a way, the progression towards digitized comics is an inevitable one,” said Rob Vollmar of the
Rob Vollmar (drawn by Pablo G. Callejo)
Atomik Pop comic book store in Norman. But, he doesn’t think that sounds a death knell for printed comics and those who sell them.
The publishers at the 2010 ComicsPRO members’ meeting of retailers in Memphis, Tenn., reiterated their support for the direct market of comic book sales. Most expressed the hope that digital comics will work primarily to reach readers outside the direct-market system and a desire to point digital readers back to the direct market.
Chris Staros of publisher Top Shelf said some print fans will switch to digital comics, but some fans will be introduced through digital and migrate to print.
While every publisher represented aimed to increase its digital presence, each stated that it was doing so with the hope of also increasing its print market. Keynote speaker Robert Kirkman said “The Walking Dead” and “Invincible,” two books that he writes, have been available on the iPhone for seven months, and sales in print have gone up in the same period.
“I don’t think that we’re in a position where we’re going to start losing the (print) readers that we do have,” Kirkman said.
David Steinberger, president of ComiXology, which has an online app selling digital comics for the iPhone and iPad, says he hopes digital will help push new customers to print.
“We have the retailer finder in the iPad, and we hope to have more and more innovative ways to move readers from digital to print in every new version of the app,” he said.
Buck Berlin of New World Comics
Buck Berlin, of New World Comics in Oklahoma City, said while the retailers will be cut out of that initial digital sale, it is retailers’ responsibility to find ways to draw new readers into stores.
“It’s good for getting comics into the hands of people who normally wouldn’t read them,” he said. “It’s up to us to find a way to deal with it.”
Vollmar pointed out that the problem of piracy in comics, as that in the music industry, means that thousands of comics are already changing hands digitally — and illegally — without making the publishers a dime.
Marvel Comics’ app for the iPad ranked among the top apps in the opening weeks of the iPad’s availability, which is good for the visibility of Marvel. But will that positioning translate into sales?
“The question that we’re going to have to answer in the years to come is how much of that business is new business, and how much is siphoning off the print product,” Vollmar said.
- by Matthew Price
From the Outlook 2010 section of The Oklahoman
Champions Online mini-game joins Facebook
Cryptic Studios, developers of Champions Online and Star Trek Online, has partnered with Lolapps to create a Facebook adventure set in the world of Champions Online.
According to a release, The Champions Online mini-game expands upon the story told within Champions Online, giving players a view into the events leading up to the alien Qularr attack on Millennium City. By working with Lolapps, creator of games such as Yakuza Lords and Diva Life, Cryptic Studios intends to introduce a broader audience of Facebook users to Champions Online.
“This is a great way for us to reach a new audience and introduce them to Champions Online,” said John Needham, CEO, Cryptic Studios, in a release. “The team at Lolapps has created a fun new adventure that dives into some of the back story of the Champions Universe and we’re very excited and happy to see their efforts go live.”
In the Champions Online Facebook mini-game, players will fight against a number of classic Champions villains and discover the origins and goals of the mysterious Sinister Syndicate.
Find out more at http://apps.facebook.com/championsonline
Marvel motion comics finalists named
Aniboom has announced the finalists in its Marvel motion comics contest. The motion comics chosen adapt either a Jeph Loeb-written Wolverine vs. Hulk fight or a Dan Abnett-Andy Lanning “Nova” tale.
The five finalists — from Los Angeles, New York, New Hampshire and Australia — will each receive $2,000 to expand their motion comic into a full-length story. These five, plus one additional “Wildcard” finalist, will compete for the grand prize of $10,000 and the opportunity to showcase their work across Marvel’s digital network, according to the release.
The winner will be announced Nov. 16, after a week of voting at aniboom.com.
Click past the cut to see the five finalists’ videos.
- Matt Price
Hulu may charge by 2010
Hulu.com, which I’ve told many people is the greatest invention on the internet, may be about to get a lot less useful.
Broadcasting & Cable announces that News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey says “Hulu … needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.” And Carey assumes that will happen by at least 2010.
Paying for a subscription to Hulu when you already pay for a cable subscription seems like double-dipping. And if you’re using Hulu without cable, it’s possibly because you don’t want to spend a ton of money on your television viewing.
Hulu provided a way to get caught up on shows that you might be behind on in an easy, cleanly formatted way. And I never had a problem watching a few ads to do that. I’m not one who wants to pirate anything — I like obeying the law — so going to get illegal torrents just isn’t going to do it for me. On the whole, if Hulu becomes a pay site, and the cost isn’t relatively negligible, my response will be to simply watch less TV.
Entertainment Weekly already has 200-plus comments on the story, with most promising to stop using Hulu if it becomes a pay site.
- Matt Price
High Moon takes Harvey Award
Congratulations to former Oklahoma resident David Gallaher, whose “High Moon” was named Best Online Comics Work at this weekend’s Harvey Awards in Baltimore.
Check out the comic for yourself at http://www.zudacomics.com/high_moon or in the recent print collection.
The Beat has the full list of winners.
- Matt Price
Related posts:
Oklahoma among inspirations for High Moon series.
Online show The Guild coming to DVD, comics
Rather than spending her spare time playing online video games, actor/writer Felicia Day decided it would be more productive to write about them. Thus began “The Guild,” the popular online program now in its third season.
“Around the time I started writing ‘The Guild,’ I was very bored with what I was doing,” Day said in a recent phone interview. “I’m not necessarily your typical Hollywood girl. And I worked enough to keep the bills paid, but not enough to keep me occupied every day.”
She funneled that energy into “The Guild,” based on her experiences with online role-playing games. “The Guild” features the interactions of a group of gamers.
“If I make fun of the characters, it’s only because I’ve lived that or been that myself,” Day said. “So, hopefully there’s an authenticity to it because I am a gamer.”
Day, who plays Codex in “The Guild,” was in the cast of Joss Whedon’s Web series “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” The series, which starred Neil Patrick Harris as a singing supervillain, recently won an Emmy.
“It gave a huge boost to online content in general, as well as to ‘The Guild,’” Day said.
“The Guild” soon will make its debut in yet another medium. A comic-book series, to be written by Day and published by Dark Horse Comics, is in the works.
“I like to write very verbosely, so I have to be a lot more Spartan with the words, and also think more visually,” Day said. One thing the comic book will do that the Web show does not is visit the in-game world of “The Guild.”
“We are going to go in the game world. That was one of the reasons that I wanted to do it,” Day said. “Because I could kind of invent this fantasy world that the characters were living in.”
Meanwhile, the Web series continues. Wil Wheaton is a guest star on Season 3 of the series, and Seasons 1 and 2 recently were released on DVD.
“I think that’s a really cool story of empowerment and how you don’t have to wait for permission to make your art and be able to get your creation out there,” Day said. “I just love the idea of opening the door for other people, and also doing things outside the system. Because I’ve lived in the system for a while, and it can be very frustrating for someone who wants to create.”
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Norman writer Rob Vollmar tweets comic book script
In what may be a first-of-its-kind experiment, Norman writer Rob Vollmar (“Bluesman,” “The Castaways”) is writing a comic book script, 140 characters or less at a time, on twitter.
At www.twitter.com/robvollmar, Vollmar is tweeting one page each day. The reading process is a little unusual – as it is, by the nature of the medium, backwards – but this is an experiment that bears watching.
- Matt Price
Olivia Munn to host Bingathon
Olivia Munn and Jason Sudeikis host “Bingathon” at Hulu starting at 7 p.m. Central.
Other than promoting the new search engine Bing, I’m not sure entirely what the Bingathon will be — my best guess judging from Olivia Munn’s blog is that it’s some sort of variety show/telethon parody which will feature Fred Willard. So, yeah, I’m in.
- Matt Price
