comixology
Latest
Amazon is officially killing the Comixology app, forcing users over to Kindle
The Comixology app is shutting down as of December 4. After that, users will have to use the Kindle app to access any comics, manga and graphic novels purchased or borrowed from the platform.
Comixology’s Marvel Comics app is shutting down in June
Marvel announced today that its Comixology-operated Marvel Comics app is shutting down this June. Fortunately, comic fans who bought issues in the app can access them in the company’s self-operated Marvel Unlimited app. The shutdown comes several months after layoffs at Amazon (Comixology’s owner since 2014) reportedly hit the comic storefront especially hard.
Amazon promises to fix Comixology after making the service nearly unusable
Nearly four months after integrating Comixology into its other services, Amazon acknowledged the platform was left worse off.
Amazon's ComiXology integration includes a few headaches
Amazon has shed more light on how it will integrate ComiXology with its other services.
Amazon delays ComiXology integration to early 2022
Amazon has delayed its plan to integrate ComiXology purchases and the platform itself into its broader ecosystem.
The best subscription gifts for new grads
Among the dozens of subscription services and boxes available now, particular ones are quite useful for new grads. Here are the best subscriptions you can gift to new graduates.
The comic industry would rather grind to a halt than go digital
Wednesday is usually New Comic Book Day but, with everyone on lockdown due to coronavirus, this week’s selection was a little light. The main distributor, Diamond, ceased shipments both to and from its warehouse — a seemingly logical move given that many stores are shuttered anyway. Less logical is that, unlike literally every other media industry, the product wasn’t simply released digitally to consumers stuck at home. Instead, the entire comics world has been on hold.
Comixology adds DC Comics to its unlimited plan
Comixology added Marvel to its $6-per-month Unlimited plan in 2017, but DC has so far been absent from its all-you-can-read subscription. That's about to change, io9 reports, as DC Comics will now be available on the service. Thousands of comics from DC and Vertigo, including single issues, full collections and graphic novels, will soon be accessible on the Unlimited plan as well as through Kindle Unlimited. Curated collections of DC and Vertigo graphic novels will also hit Prime Reading on a rotating basis.
Gift cards and subscriptions to give as last-minute gifts
Sometimes it's better to pick out a gift for someone yourself and other times it's a good idea to let that picky loved one choose their own. (And if you've waited this long to buy gifts, that might be your easiest course of action.) This is where gift cards and subscriptions come in particularly handy, and we've selected a few of the best for our 2018 holiday gift guide. For TV lovers, we've recommended subscriptions for HBO Now, Hulu Live TV and YouTube Premium, but we've also got your gamers covered no matter which system they use. For the readers on you list, how about a curated book subscription based on their tastes or an unlimited subscription to Comixology? A pre-emptive note: Some services that you or your friends use (like Apple Music, say) didn't end up on this list. That doesn't mean we don't recommend them -- we do! -- but for people who are starting fresh without a paid music subscription or what have you, these are the services we feel bring the most value. Can't hurt, of course, to do some sleuthing first and see what your giftee is already using and go from there.
Comixology adds Marvel to its all-you-can-read service
Digital comic retailer ComiXology offers an all-you-can-read service for $6, which nets you stacks and stacks of virtual graphic reading from Image, Dark Horse and IDW. The big two — Marvel and DC — have been notably missing from the Netflix-style app for a while now, as both offer their own digital systems. Today, however, Amazon-owned ComiXology announced that it had finally harpooned one of the big white whales, adding select Marvel titles to its library. You'll also be able to grab several Marvel collected editions via Amazon's Prime Reading service and Kindle Unlimited.
Cruise through your Kindle comics with ComiXology's Guided View
ComiXology's Guided View is a great way to experience digital comics. Designed for mobile devices, it allows readers to view things on a panel-by-panel basis, mimicking how you read a print comic. Now, that feature is available on Amazon's Kindle app for iOS.
ComiXology Unlimited offers all of the comics for $6 a month
ComiXology, Amazon's online comic book service, unveiled a new unlimited content subscription option on Tuesday. The $6 per month ComiXology Unlimited plan gives subscribers unfettered access to the service's archive, which includes titles from Image, Dark Horse, IDW and a bunch more -- basically every notable publisher outside of Marvel and DC. ComiXology will continue to sell individual issues from the Big Two, it just won't offer them on the unlimited plan.
'Attack on Titan' gets same-day release for English speakers
English-speaking fans of Attack on Titan no longer have to badger their favorite scanlation group to speed it up. The hit manga's publisher, Kodansha, has teamed up with comiXology and Amazon to make each chapter available in English on the same day it's released in Japan. That means you can download the latest chapter every week as soon it's out for either the comiXology or the Kindle app. You can even buy all the previous releases if you want the full collection.
Amazon's Marvel deal puts 12,000 comics in the Kindle store (updated)
Amazon has a virtual monopoly on digital Marvel comics, but it's just opened up another way to get them. Kindle owners can now purchase single issues through Amazon's store without needing the Comixology app as before. You can still get Marvel comics through Comixology, but of course Amazon acquired it last year, so the money goes to Jeff Bezos either way. All told, you'll be able to purchase up to 12,000 back issues of titles like Guardians of the Galaxy, Daredevil and The Amazing Spiderman at the Kindle Store. Moreover, all titles will be available the same day they arrive in regular stores.
Comixology now offers DRM-free comic backups, but only from select publishers
When Amazon purchased Comixology, it was a herald of change: iOS users lost the ability to purchase comics in-app, Android users were gifted with a new purchasing system and, now,the digital book seller is going DRM-free. Sort of. Comixology CEO David Steinberger announced today that DRM-free backups of select comics are now available to download in PDF and CBZ format, giving readers the ability to enjoy their content outside of the Comixology ecosystem for the first time. That said, it's somewhat limited: backup downloads are only available to book published by Image Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Zenoscope Entertainment, Thrillbent, Top Shelf Productions and MonkeyBrain Comics -- in other words, publishers that have already dabbled with DRM-free comic distribution.
Comixology is giving away free comics for 20 days
If you're an iOS user, you're no doubt unhappy that Amazon made Comixology pull in-app purchases on your platform of choice. However, the service is offering a nice consolation prize: it's giving away 20 free comics over 20 days, regardless of what technology you're using. You only need to "buy" a freebie within 24 hours to add it to your collection. You'll have already missed out on the first offer as we write this (sorry!), but there's 19 more to be had through June 14th -- that should be enough reading to keep you busy on your big vacation.
The curious case of Amazon.com's iOS apps
There has been a lot of conversation about changes that Amazon has made to the Comixology app. Specifically, the company removed the customer's ability to buy comics through the app. On this week's Back to Work, Dan and Merlin talked about how the App Store rules make the it so that Comixology cannot even link to its own store from Comixology comics. Before now, if you finished one issue of a comic, the last panel would ask if you wanted to buy the next issue (if available) or other related content. Now it's just blank. Similarly, Kindle books cannot be purchased through the Kindle app, nor can a book in a series suggest that you might want to read the next one. Turns out that's not the weirdest thing that Amazon has done when it comes to dealing with the iOS App Store restrictions. That hönor goes to the Audible.com app for iOS. It has an entire tab called "More Books" that leads to...nothing. Well, there's the text you see above: More Books Audible is home to a vast catalog - you'll find bestsellers, sci-fi, romance, classics, human, and more. Five navigation tabs at the bottom of the app, and one of them is basically empty. It was obvious to me that this was empty because of the same App Store restrictions, but I was curious to see what Audible support would say about this, so I emailed them and asked them about the purpose of the "More Books" tab. Here's the reply I received (emphasis mine): The "More Books" feature is just a placeholder for now, as the option to purchase a book through the app is currently not available. To be able to get new books within the Audible app, you have to purchase them on the Audible website. You can purchase Audible titles by opening the mobile web browser on your iPhone/iPad and going to audible.com. To access our Mobile Store on your device: 1) Please tap the Safari icon on your iPad. 2) Please tap the address bar and enter www.audible.com. 3) Tap "GO" and you're off to the Audible Store If Amazon had made this decision strictly for the purposes of making Apple look bad, a customer email would have been the perfect opportunity to say something like "the option to purchase a book through the app is currently not available due to Apple's restrictive policies" or something like that. If Amazon had made this decision to hurt iOS and make Android look better, this would have been the perfect opportunity to say "Well, you can't do this on iOS because of Apple, but if you bought a Kindle Fire or Android tablet, then you could!" Instead, all I got was "the option to purchase a book through the app is currently not available" which is about as generic and bland of a response as you could get. If you know the history and the policies behind this situation, then you'll understand why, but leaving that mostly-blank tab in the Audible.com app still seems like a really weird decision to me. Episode 63 of the Accidental Tech Podcast also had an extended discussion of the Comixology/in-app purchasing situation. John Siracusa argued that Apple needs to try to make a deal with Amazon because the experience of buying Kindle and Comixology (and Audible, although it wasn't mentioned explicitly) is worse on iOS and reduces customer satisfaction with the platform. Marco Arment made a counter-argument that Apple doesn't need to address this because people are angry at Amazon/Comixology, not Apple. The episode was a good overview of the various issues around this topic.
ComiXology's App Store rating dive bombs after Amazon changes
We recently reported on the drastic changes made to the iOS version of the ComiXology store, removing the ability for users to make purchases directly from within the app. This move allows ComiXology's new owner Amazon to get around paying iTunes its 30 percent cut on in-app purchases. For some creators this news is a good thing, meaning more money in the pocket of comic book writers and artists. Others, like Mark Waid (Kingdom Come, Captain America), see this as a bad thing for the comic book industry. On his blog Waid posted the following explanation of why this is such a big deal for the comic book industry as a whole even if some users don't see what the big deal is. You already buy comics online? Good for you. You're not the ones we need to be worried about. Seriously, you can look down your nose all you want at in-app purchasers and gloat to your heart's content that only Luddites couldn't figure out how to go find the website and then set up an account and shop through the website and then download their comics separately through the app, it's not all that hard, that's how the Kindle buying works on my iPad, yes?, and you're absolutely right, it's not that hard, but guess what? That doesn't matter. What matters is that it makes buying comics–makes finding comics–more difficult for new readers discovering the medium, not easier, and that is pretty much the last thing anyone in comics needs right now. Long-term, because this means Apple no longer gets their 30% cut off of comics bought off an iPad because you can't buy them that way anymore, that means more money for comics publishers and comics creators. That's great. It's also something that no casual consumer gives a rip about. Short-term–and I will happily report back to you if I'm wrong–there's no way that 30% bump will compensate for the sudden loss of impulse buyers who were buying with one button tap and/or using iTunes cards because they're too young to have credit cards or PayPal accounts. There's just one hitch in that plan. For it to work, iOS ComiXology readers need to stick around, and if the iTunes reviews are any indication, Amazon/ComiXology has a massive problem on their hands. It's important to note that not everyone is unhappy. There are a few users -- mostly ones who already used the ComiXology website to buy their books -- who don't see what the big deal is. Still positive reviews for the changes are roughly 1 for every 17 negative ones. Are you a ComiXology customer? We'd love to hear from you about how the changes have affected your buying habits. This week included the first new sales day since the changes -- new comic book titles are released on Wednesday -- so it will be interesting to see if the move has negatively impacted ComiXology's sales or not. As a long standing user and fan of the service, I'm hoping this situation can be resolved.
ComiXology removes in-app purchases for iOS app after Amazon purchase
The digital comic book retailer ComiXology has been a massively profitable addition to the iOS landscape, but after a number of run-ins with Apple on content, the company is changing things up. On Saturday, April 26, ComiXology quietly announced some major changes to its iOS and Android apps. Android users were given a brand new in-app purchases interface with an improved cart system, but iOS users found an important feature had been removed; in-app purchases. From now on ComiXology readers using iOS devices will have to buy their digital comic issues via the company's website and then sync the titles to their device, completely bypassing the iOS marketplace. This method of purchases is significantly less direct from consumers, but it allows ComiXology to get around Apple's "morals" issues which have caused content to be blocked from sale in the iOS store in the past. There's just one issue; that option was always available to iOS ComiXology users, which means iOS users now have a more complicated process of buying their titles than before. For iPad or iPhone readers, there's really no good news here. Some creators, like Chris Roberson of Moneybrain Comics are thrilled with the changes. No longer allowing in-app purchases via iOS frees up the 30% cut that Apple made on sales made through their devices. In Roberson's eyes this means more money to go back to creators. I have always recommended people make their @Comixology purchases through the site and not the app, since creators get more money that way. - Chris Roberson (@chris_roberson) April 26, 2014 Now, readers will be spending the same amount on their @Comixology purchases, but the creators will be getting a bigger cut across the board - Chris Roberson (@chris_roberson) April 26, 2014 You'll notice he prefers that all users, not specifically iOS users, buy through the website. All in-app purchases through Android and Apple are subject to the same 30% cut of the profits, the money is just sent to different corporate overloads. So why did ComiXology kill in-app purchases for iOS devices, but expand its Android store with a new cart and other features? Perhaps it's this little fella. ComiXology was recently purchased by Amazon, and Amazon's Kindle Fire uses the Android platform. By making it harder to buy comics via the iPad, they've just managed to quietly prop up the Kindle Fire as the easiest option for comic readers thinking about which tablet is right for them. Of course this is simply conjecture on our part, but if there's anything we've learned from Captain America books it's that everything happens for a reason. Also, don't trust Nazis. To ease the transition for possibly sore readers, ComiXology is giving everyone who has ever made a purchase through the app a $5 credit as a thank you for sticking with them. As of right now, only the main ComiXology app for iOS has had in-app purchases removed; the ComiXology powered iOS apps for Marvel, DC, IDW, and Image are still allowing customers to buy books on their devices. ComiXology remains the best comic book reader and marketplace available for iOS users. Will these changes to ComiXology drive you to another digital comic retailer? Let us know in the comments. In the meantime here's ComiXology own quick guide for adding a link to their webstore on your iOS home screen. It's at least something.
Amazon gets rid of in-app comic book purchases in Comixology's iOS app (update: Comixology responds)
Ever try to buy a Kindle book through Amazon's iOS app? Good: then you understand how Jeff Bezos feels about giving Apple a 30 percent cut. Just two weeks after acquiring the comic-book store Comixology, Amazon is putting the kibosh on in-app purchases in its iOS app so that it can avoid paying Apple a commission. (You can still buy comics from the Android app.) As a result, the iPhone and iPad apps are being retired; you'll instead need to download a new version that forces you to purchase comics through Comixology's mobile website. Once you complete the transaction there, you can go back into the app and sync your account so that you download any new purchases. All told, then, it's just like buying Kindle books on iOS, which is to say, it's a less-than-seamless experience. As a peace offering, Amazon is offering a $5 credit to anyone who's ever bought anything at Comixology. You better hurry, though: that free money expires within 30 days. Update: We've since talked to Chip Mosher, Comixology's VP of Communications and Marketing, about the change. Here's what he had to say regarding the reason behind the removal of the digital storefront: "As we move to complete the acquisition with Amazon, we are shifting to the web-based purchasing model they've successfully used with the Kindle, which we expect will allow us to strike the best balance between prices, selection and customer experience. There are many advantages to shopping at comiXology.com. Because of the content restrictions our mobile partners have, shopping on the web provides even greater selection of comic books and graphic novels. iOS customers will now be able to save money with comiXology's exclusive web-only Bundles, take advantage of Subscription features and enjoy eGift Cards. We also made our website more tablet/mobile friendly on all devices to make the purchasing process that much easier. And in Safari on iOS, customers can easily save a shortcut to our webstore with the "Add to Home Screen" feature. In the new Android 3.6 upgrade we have a new comiXology in-app purchase system and a great new shopping cart, one of our most requested features. In the new app, customers may be prompted to update your payment information to continue purchasing books. This is a one-time action after which you can purchase inside the app." As for whether Marvel and DC apps will also have their digital storefronts removed -- both apps are powered by Comixology -- he said that "would be a better question for them." We've reached out to both Marvel and DC for a response.
