The growing demand for digital comics
Business Technology | January 28, 2014
Tablets have become hot sellers. Consumers seem to love these devices. As Forbes columnist Ethan Gach wrote in a recent column, consumer experts predict that tablet sales will outpace the sales of laptops and desktop computers combined by 2015. But tablets aren’t just a boon to the retailers selling them. They’re also delivering a boost to a relatively sluggish comic-book industry.
A perfect match?
The publishers of comic books, including the biggies of Marvel and DC, were initially reluctant to embrace digital publishing, Gach wrote. But the companies quickly realized the profit potential of letting consumers read their books with their computer screens. Tablets are a perfect match for comics, and reading the graphic tales on these mobile devices is truly a pleasurable experience. Not surprisingly, then, big tablet sales mean increased business for comics publishers, Gach writes.
Comixology
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the growth and development of the tablet is Comixology, an online retailer of comics. A few months ago, Comixology reached 200 million comic-book downloads, Gach writes. That’s a remarkable number, considering that the comics industry has not been a hot one lately.
More readers?
Comixology operates in the digital arena. This means that it can offer a greater selection of comics than your average comic-book shop. Brick-and-mortar retailers face limited space. Digital sellers like Comixology don’t. They, then, will offer more obscure titles, benefitting the comics industry in general. And for fans? Digital comics are a way for them to start reading most any title they would like.
Tablets have become hot sellers. Consumers seem to love these devices. As Forbes columnist Ethan Gach wrote in a recent column, consumer experts predict that tablet sales will outpace the sales of laptops and desktop computers combined by 2015. But tablets aren’t just a boon to the retailers selling them. They’re also delivering a boost to a relatively sluggish comic-book industry.
A perfect match?
The publishers of comic books, including the biggies of Marvel and DC, were initially reluctant to embrace digital publishing, Gach wrote. But the companies quickly realized the profit potential of letting consumers read their books with their computer screens. Tablets are a perfect match for comics, and reading the graphic tales on these mobile devices is truly a pleasurable experience. Not surprisingly, then, big tablet sales mean increased business for comics publishers, Gach writes.
Comixology
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the growth and development of the tablet is Comixology, an online retailer of comics. A few months ago, Comixology reached 200 million comic-book downloads, Gach writes. That’s a remarkable number, considering that the comics industry has not been a hot one lately.
More readers?
Comixology operates in the digital arena. This means that it can offer a greater selection of comics than your average comic-book shop. Brick-and-mortar retailers face limited space. Digital sellers like Comixology don’t. They, then, will offer more obscure titles, benefitting the comics industry in general. And for fans? Digital comics are a way for them to start reading most any title they would like.