First, it appears that comiXology Unlimited, the subscription service that the company launched two years ago (see “$5.99 Per Month Now Includes Marvels”), is translating to download-to-own customers. “It’s been super successful,” Steinberger said. “I’m happy to say that 55% of our new buyers are coming in from comiXology Unlimited.” Steinberger also added that the subscription service is also introducing existing customers to new publishers and content. Subscribers to the service do get a 10-15% discount on comics from several publishers including Marvel, Image, IDW, and Dynamite.
In an industry first, comiXology will be releasing one of the titles in the new wave of Originals in English and Japanese simultaneously. Goliath Girls is written by Sam Humphries and drawn by Indonesian artist Alti Firmansyah, who previously partnered on Star-Lord And Kitty Pryde. The five-issue miniseries centers on three best friends who are orphans of the Forever War against monstrous kaiju and adoptive parents of a baby strange beast. The first issue is available now.Humphries and Firmansyah were on hand for the event. “Platforms like comiXology are dissolving barriers,” Humphries said when asked about the appeal of the book to manga fans. “We are evolving into a global comic book connected marketplace that unites comic book fans around the world.”
The rest of the new comiXology Originals slate includes the following titles:- Grave Danger, a five-issue miniseries by Tim Seeley (Batman Eternal, Revival) and Mike Norton (Revival), about a clandestine espionage organization that handles supernatural crimes. The first issue is available now.
- Hit Reblog: Comics That Caught Fire, a 120-page anthology of viral webcomics edited by Hope Nicholson (The Secret Loves of Geeks series). The title is available now for an MSRP of $6.99 on Kindle and comiXology and $9.99 for print-on-demand via Amazon.
- Teenage Wasteland from Magdalene Visaggio (Kim & Kim) and Jen Vaughn (Betty & Veronica: Vixens), a five-issue miniseries about a jerkhole new girl in school who is recruited into a group of Earth’s secret defenders. The first issue is available now.
In the coming months, comiXology will also release The Dark by Mark Sable and Kristian Donaldson, an original graphic novel about a former supersoldier and biopunk who fight to stop the biological internet that is forcing humanity to connect to it; Delver, a five-issue fantasy series from writers C. Spike Trotman and MK Reed and artist Tish Doolin; and Kel McDonald and Tyler Crook’s The Stone King, a four-issue young adult fantasy adventure.
These titles are in addition to those released earlier this summer (see “comiXology Announces New Originals”). All are available for free to comiXology Unlimited, Amazon Prime, and Kindle Unlimited subscribers. The collected editions are available POD via Amazon.
Click on the Gallery for cover images.