Comixology Free Comics

[Josefa Palsgrove]

OnDecember 4, 2023, the shell turned to dust and from its ashes rose a putrid, loathsome thing. Broken and distended, born beneath the eclipse, it shambled onto screens, mewling and screeching. We knew it for what it was: usurper, destroyer, hellspawn. All that remained of what was once comiXology was finally, forever more, gone.

Guided view is my friend. Smartphones make for a poor, traditional comics page experience, especially in 2014-2015. I find a happy medium and sail through issues after issue, hungrily gobbling up stories week after week, month after month. Once I am out of the woods, newly en-laptoped, and out of the country, I switch to the larger screen.

One day, my computer tells me it is nearly out of storage. The app, in its infinite wisdom, decided that deleting the comic did not delete the library download. I must manually sift through reams of files named 888hotn37w30h934y6 to remove the offending comics that are already gone but remain a phantom, haunting my hard drive. The same for stuck downloads.

Soon, I return to the US and go to college. More and more comics companies join the platform. This is good for the unity of my library, and for the reading experience, though perhaps the true beginning of the end for all the other non-comiXology reskin shops. I begin taking advantage of DRM-free downloads and the slowly expanding roster of who is participating. I remain disappointed Dark Horse is not among them, even on their own store.

The app is dropped and I finally switch credit cards. I learn to tilt my computer sideways. That lasts for a few months until I can get an actual, real, honest-to-goodness tablet. Offline downloads, a sleek reading experience, and in-app purchases change the game.

I remain hopeful more companies will join the DRM-free project. I remain hopeful features like two-page reading or a local reader for PDFs/CBZ files will come to the app. I remain hopeful, despite signs that everything has stagnated.

There is at least one (bittersweet) silver lining to this whole fiasco: I am, perhaps, less tied to the lure of the new than I had been in previous years. I think my fellow Multiversity staff might disagree with that statement though. That is still one area in which I struggle, despite my years of griping. The compulsion towards completionism is a curse, a curse not even the collapse of comiXology could cure.

ComiXology was a monopoly and its dissolution in such a catastrophic manner is, I hope, good for the digital comics space. It has, at the very least, clarified for me what I want out of where I get my comics. It has reaffirmed my love of backbreaking physical omnibuses and saved my thumb quite a lot of pain. Yet I still mourn.

Elias is a lover of stories who, when he isn't writing reviews for Mulitversity, is hiding in the stacks of his library. Co-host of Make Mine Multiversity, a Marvel podcast, after winning the no-prize from the former hosts, co-editor of The Webcomics Weekly, and writer of the Worthy column, he can be found on Twitter (for mostly comics stuff) here and has finally updated his profile photo again.

Iconology Inc.,[1] d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), was a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads as of September 2013[update].[2][3] At its height it offered a selection of more than 100,000[4] comic books, graphic novels, and manga across Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Windows 10,[5] and the Internet.[6][7] In 2023, the ComiXology app was officially retired and the material was made available exclusively on the Amazon Kindle app.

ComiXology's digital platform with Guided View reading technology is used in the company's own branded applications, and is the engine used by most major comic book publishers in the United States, including Marvel Comics and DC Comics for their privately branded digital services.[8] With the release of the third generation iPad and its Retina Display, ComiXology released a high-definition comic format dubbed CMX-HD.[9] The company also provides tools for brick-and-mortar comic book retailers to participate in digital comic sales.[10]

The company was founded in 2007 by CEO David Steinberger, CTO John D. Roberts, and Peter Jaffe. Subsequent to winning the business plan competition at New York University, the company received seed financing from Kit McQuiston, New York Angels and Rose Tech Ventures.[12]

In late 2014, Amazon acquired ComiXology for an undisclosed sum, which The Motley Fool argued was an attempt to control the comic book market after Amazon Publishing's Jet City Comics imprint failed to achieve major market share after its July 2013 launch.[13][14]

In May 2016, the company launched ComiXology Unlimited, a subscription service that gives digital access to thousands of comics to read from most major publishers for a monthly fee of $5.99.[15] The service offers more than four thousand issues to its subscribers and launched on May 24, 2016, with available content updated on a monthly basis.[16][17] According to the company, the service offers the widest subscription selection of digital comics in the world. ComiXology Unlimited contains a selection of titles from Image Comics, Dark Horse, IDW Publishing, BOOM! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment, Kodansha Comics, Oni Press, Valiant Entertainment, Archie Comics, Fantagraphics Books, Humanoids, Action Lab Entertainment, Aspen Comics, Magnetic Press, Zenescope Entertainment and more.[15] ComiXology Unlimited is currently limited to the U.S.[18]

ComiXology's Guided View technology allows readers to read through comics in full screen or from panel-to-panel, mimicking the natural movement of the eye as though readers were experiencing reading a print comic book.[19]

During 2021 Amazon.com was to close the ComiXology website in a move to integrate ComiXology into Amazon Kindle, but was delayed to 2022, due to community feedback.[21] During February 2022, the ComiXology website updated their FAQ on their website with new information to indicate the coming changes which were brought about on February 17, 2022, to which ComiXology is only available on Amazon.com[22] or through their update to the ComiXology app that was done two days earlier on February 15, 2022.[citation needed]

In March 2013 during SXSW, an issue arose when Marvel Comics attempted to distribute over 700 comics for free via ComiXology for the Marvel #1 promotion.[36] The ComiXology servers were unable to keep up with user demand, preventing users from obtaining the promotional comics, as well as from reading comics they had purchased. This led to a formal apology and the promotions being delayed.[37] Soon afterward, the promotion was offered again and was reported to have "worked flawlessly".[38] In the aftermath of the ensuing difficulties some users have raised concerns regarding access to their files should the platform ever shut down.[39] To respond to this concern, in July 2014 selected publishers allow for DRM-free downloads of their comics.

On April 9, 2013, writer Brian K. Vaughan issued a statement[40] on Fiona Staples's blog that Apple Inc. had prohibited the sale of Saga #12 through iOS. This statement was quickly reported by the media, the impetus for the "ban" was speculated to be in response to two panels that depicted oral sex between men in a small, inset image violated Apple's restrictions on sexual content. The issue was available through the ComiXology and Image Comics digital comics website stores. The ban was criticized by artists and writers, who pointed to similarly explicit content in previous issues and in other works sold through iTunes. William Gibson and others suggested that the restriction could have occurred specifically because the drawings at issue involved gay sex.[41] A day later, Comixology announced that it had been they, not Apple, who had chosen not to make the issue available, based on their interpretation of Apple's rules, and that after receiving clarification from Apple, the issue would be sold on iOS devices.[42] Brian K. Vaughan then issued a statement apologizing for the miscommunication.[43]

After Amazon's purchase of ComiXology, the company removed the option of purchasing comics inside the iOS app. This change resulted in immediate internet backlash from the comic book reader community, criticizing Amazon's acquisition of the distributor.[44] This change to ComiXology's structure has made readers concerned about the future of digital comic distribution.[45]

On February 17, 2022, Amazon replaced the original ComiXology website using Amazon's native online storefront, as well as updating the app, and closing ComiXology's Submit program in favor of Kindle Direct Publishing, which is also used to self-publish eBooks on Amazon Kindle. The new changes on publishing have also led to concerns about the lower amount of royalties, as well as requiring publishers to manually format their works in order to make them available on the new website.[46][47]

In September 2011, ComiXology's Comics application was the highest-grossing application in the App Store, and together with the branded applications for other comics publishers, accounted for a majority of the five top-grossing iPhone Book apps.

Press reception for the launch of ComiXology Unlimited was mostly positive, with journalists and bloggers focusing on the low price point, the 30-day free trial and the diverse collection of independent comics, graphic novels, and manga available at launch.[52] Some critics pointed out, however, that only some trades in the series are available in the program,[53] undermining the "unlimited" aspect of the subscription.

After Comixology became integrated under Amazon's native store front as well with the new app to replace its original store and reader in February 2022, it received massive negative criticism by both readers and its creators. Many criticized the new storefront as well as using the Kindle app as to read comic books which were considered unreadable by many readers.[46][54]

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