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Well it’s been a while since we had some of these but they never get tired: comic book creator collectible cards, coming courtesy of Comixology. And they come with free comics! Collect em all! Card will be given away at all 10 of Comixology’s panels and given away at various times at the booth. There […]

For years we’ve been wondering when a streaming comics model would be introduced that really opened up comics to the popular Netflix model of reading. There have been many attempts, but Comixology just hit a slam dunk with Comixology Unlimited, a $5.99 a month streaming service that offers everything from The Walking Dead to Attack […]

Back in the long ago days of the TokyoPop original English manga explosion, one of my favorites was a book called I Luv Halloween by Keith Giffen and Benjamin Roman, a world building comedy about a Halloweentown where people could be very naughty indeed. Giffen has gone on to many other things, like helping reinvent […]

By Bruce Lidl The digital comics landscape has settled down significantly in recent months. Since Amazon’s acquisition of ComiXology in April 2014, it has become essentially the de facto standard for digital comics and now distributes just about every publisher around. Unless a real industry-wide Netflix-type subscription model ever takes off, it is hard to see […]

It’s a great time for buying spooky comics on the cheep, and Comixology is getting in on the action with a 50% off Halloween sale for Submit, their creator owned comics portal. Among the books available, theindie comics anthology Sleep of Reason, John Carpenter’s Asylum, the indie vampire comic Day Black and many more. There’s […]

Image Comics expands its digital footprint onto your Kindle.

ComiXology Submit is getting into NYCC big time by sponsoring Artist Alley. (You’ll recall Deviant Art withdrew from a similar sponsorship at SDCC, so seeing someone pick it up for NYCC is promising.) As part of this they’ll e GIVING AWAY special limited edition print variants of hit comiXology Submit comics each day during creator […]

  Force Friday is here! A brand new holiday established to make people line up and buy toys.  If you can find one, Hasbro’s magnetic BB-8 droid is probably the most desired. My inbox tells me that you can also buy many toys at Target. An exclusive, remote controlled BB-8 droid from Hasbro that moves and sounds just […]

Digital manga—more available than ever before. Both Weekly Shonen Jump and Kodansha have just joined Comixology and the Kindle store. The digital Weekly Shonen Jump makes such favorites as One Piece, Bleach, Blue Exorcist available on the same day as the Japanese release throughout North America, the U.K., Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. […]

  Add Blask Mask to the list of publishers who will be available on both ComiXology  and Amazon’s Kindle Store. Starting today you can read titles such as We Can Never Go Home, Godkiller, Space Riders, Ballistic, The Disciples and upcoming titles  Young Terrorists and Sinatoro by Grant Morrison and Vanesa del Rey.  Black Mask launched a […]

A whole generation, myself included, grew up in an era where Archie Comics were relegated to supermarket newsstands.  Recently, however, Archie has found new life in the direct market.  From the widespread attention that Death of Archie received, to rousing success of the Dark Circle imprint, and finally to the flagship title relaunch with Saga superstar Fiona Staples on […]

Comics business has generally been on an upward trajectory of late, but there are several signs that’s things are slowing down a bit. No disaster, maybe just a leveling out as some sales methods used to goose things (variant covers and so on) lose some of their punch. So no surprise that a few raw […]

Comixology releases Delcourt comics via their Soleil imprint, featuring the finest creators and the best comics this side of the French publishing house. This week see’s a lot of diversity amongst the titles offered including The “Modern” Day, a look at one male’s sex life that is now burned into my memory. As we told you last […]

Comixology has partnered up with Delcourt, a French publishing house to deliver comics from across the pond. The titles contain wonderful art and a sense of intrigue not usually evoked from American comics. We sifted through this week’s releases via Comixology to give readers a taste of what they can expect to see from each title.

Elves #1

Writer: Jean-Luc Istin

Artist: Kyko Duarte

Colorist: Saito

Translation: Christina Cox-De Ravel

The Blue Elves of Ennlya, a small port town of Nordrenn, have been murdered!

Lanawyn, a Blue Elf, and Turin, her human ally, set out to discover who is responsible. The trail they uncover leads back to a clan of Yrlans – Northern men who hate Elves.

At the same time, Vaalann, a young Blue Elf, undergoes a dangerous test, that of the Water of the Senses. Her future, as divined by The Mother Prophetess, is closely linked to the Sacred Crystal… A powerful artifact, which enables the wielder to control the Ocean itself!

Could Vaalann be the messiah that the Blue Elves have been waiting generations for?

Elves #1 takes a high fantasy approach to the elves concept complete with individuals riding polar bears. Pure awesomeness. The comic’s coloring via Saito meshes well with the pencils of Duarte, realizing a complex and imaginative world. The series is a slow burn, as is the case with most of the titles in the genre, but this is a land that seems well realized and worth the time sink. Expect lots of characters, locations, races and more. The translation is easy to follow as well.

The Call of the Stryx #1: Shadows 1/2

Writer: Eric Corbeyran

Artist: Richard Guérineau

Colorist: Isabelle Merlet

Translation: Studio Charon

Southwest United States, in the Mojave Desert on the border of Arizona, the President officially inaugurates a new military complex – a secret base with a warehouse full of weapons and nuclear warheads. But during the visit, a terrorist group attacks and tries to eliminate the President, and a mysterious woman suddenly appears out of the blue…

Stryx is another Delcourt title taking place in Arizona, the series is an espionage comic. The title features an engaging set of pencils from Guérineau and the piece as a whole channels the feel of artists like Marcos Martin– especially in the way that the title is colored by Isabelle Merlet. The way that the story imagines the fictional locales through an outsider’s eyes is made impressive with a lot of really tiny lines crammed into nearly every panel of the comic.

The story has some interesting sci-fi elements and a stunning cliffhanger of an ending to its first issue. This is a great story to really study the colors of, as the palette of each scene changes ever so slightly to match its tone. I would love to see this effect used more in Image, Marvel and DC Comics.

Hauteville House Vol. 1: Zelda 1/2

Writer: Fred Duval

Artist: Thierry Gioux & Christophe Quet

Colors: Carole Beau

Variant Cover: Mahmud Asrar

1864, under an imaginary Second Empire, Napoléon III uses his army and his secret service to study certain phenomena relating to the occult and to popular legends. His goal is quite simple: achieving world supremacy.

I might sound like a broken record at this point, but Hauteville is yet another comic book with stunning lineart. The series has a steampunk vibe, containing lots of ships comprised of stirring technological splendor. The artwork excels when Gioux and Quet are working with the backgrounds and architecture to instill mood into the story. The creative team has made a sprawling and beautiful world larger than those of most Image comics.

I don’t think that readers of interesting comics should pass up these new titles from Delcourt.

Good news for comic book fans. French independent comic book publisher Delcourt Group has debuted an exclusive line of English language digital comics through comiXology, the Amazon owned digital comic book publisher.

This release is the first time that Delcourt has made its content available directly to the English language market. The new line launches with three titles this week including The Curse of the Wendigo from artist Charlie Adlard known for his work on The Walking Dead.

\"The French comic market is one of the most diverse in the world, and it’s fantastic to be a part of this game-changing deal with Delcourt,\" stated co-founder and CEO of comiXology David Steinberger. \"The English language audience is more diverse than ever and Delcourt’s compelling titles will speak to comiXology fans. It’s high time that French comics take their rightful place as a major comics category – today marks the beginning of the ‘French Invasion’ of comics in the English language market!\"

Comics fans have really taken to ComiXology over the past couple of years, but they have been extremely contentious with one comics publisher who has refused to take their wares over to the digital comics storefront: Dark Horse. Now the company has ceremoniously decided to take their acclaimed licenses and series over to the digital platform. The publisher broke the news in a press release sent this morning which CBR wrote up. UNFORTUNATELY, Dark Horse single issues are only accessible via their main application — Dark Horse Digital. This means that the Dark Horse trades and graphic novel collections will be available from ComiXology — a good solution for trade readers — but bad for the digital Wednesday warriors.

Dark Horse even went through the trouble of delivering a countdown clock with a Mike Mignola styled teaser image hinting at the announcement of Dark Horse comics available. Expect Buffy, Mass Effect, Fear Agent, Hellboy and more on the digital store as well as a beautiful assortment of sales of the various titles in the Dark Horse Debut celebration.

“We are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement which brings the Dark Horse catalog found in the Kindle Store to the comiXology platform,” said ComiXology Publisher and President Mike Richardson in the press release. “For the first time, hundreds of Dark Horse graphic novels will be available to comiXology’s devoted readers. The technology is stellar and we are pleased that our books will be showcased flawlessly.”

So…that’s upwards of 800 comics, start reading now!

The latest issue of Monkey Brain‘s digital first comic High Crimes is available at Comixology. I have read the review copy and it’s exceptional and chilling. Page one gives you the same cold feeling when you open a walk-in freezer. Christopher Sebela’s striking and circumstantial words pair with Ibrahim Moustafa’s art on various levels. Lesley Atalnsky’s colors have a Laura Allred feel, and help create the grim mood.

All the characters are detailed from their extreme weather clothing to their facial expressions, word choice, and body language. New readers will appreciate the strong pace and look forward to catching up with the back issues. BTW, I wouldn’t skip the user’s guide if I were you.

I say it’s worth the $1.

High Crimes #10
Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Ibrahim Moustafa
Price: $0.99
Pages: 21
Rating: 17
A partner in distress, a team of killers, a dead body full of secrets, the roof of the world. Only a few hundred feet separate Zan from all of them, but in the last desperate stretch towards the summit of Mount Everest, they may as well be miles away.

Read the first few pages below:

Click here to go to Comixology and read High Crimes.

Got some Christmas loot you’re itching to spend? Various comics publishers and digital vendors have just what you need in the form of some tempting sales.

SEQUENTIAL, the “Criterion” of digital graphic novels is having a big sale, with more than 180 graphic novels from Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, NBM, Knockabout, and Koyama Press at 50-80% off. The list includes such 2014 best ofs as The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez, Beauty by Kerascoët, How to Be Happy by Eleanor Davis, and more. Also From Hell, works by Lucy Knisley, James Kochalka, Mike Dawson and tons more good stuff. See the entire list here.

As joked above, Sequential offers its digital graphic novels with added material like commentary tracks, bonus art and more. If you got an iPad for Christmas, or just upgraded it, a stop at this sale (which goes until January 6th) is definitely called for.

Comixology is also having a bunch of sales including

A 50% off sale on Image comics published before 11/12, including Saga, Sex Criminals and 4000+ other titles. 2014 was the year of Image and if by some bizarre chance you’ve missed out on some of the great new books coming out, here’s another chance.

Comixology is also having a 50% off sale for Submit books, including the Testament Omnibus, Spike Trotman’s essential Poorcraft, minis by Becky Cloonan and Andrew Tsurumi, Aw Yeah Comics and tons more. Take a chance on something new!

Look at the size of that thing! Dark Horse is having a Star Wars farewell Megabundle sale. Just $300 gets you the entire Star Wars comics collection from Dark Horse, many of them excellent books that may never see the light of day again. As you know, starting in January, Marvel takes over the Dark Horse license and these books have been deemed not part of canon, so get ‘em while you can.

The listing doesn’t say how many pages are in this collection but there are 568 issues so its…thousands and thousands of pages of Star Wars. Good deal.

You can’t spell “horror comics” without EC—these finely drawn masterpieces of the macabre set a standard for illustrated chills that were so unsettling, they nearly got the whole comics industry shut down.

Fantagraphics has been reprinting the EC comics in handsome books devoted to various artists, including the late great Al Feldstein, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Graham Ingels and John Severin. And they are on sale from Comixology until 11 pm tomorrow night.  Each book is only $10.99, and pound for pound this could be the best back for your horror buck possible.

You may have seen the stories excerpted here there and everywhere, but if you’ve never experienced these tales in quantity, this is a fine jumping on point. And shhhhhh, Harvey Kurtzman’s great war comics are also on sale.

We all know that Amazon’s acquisition of Comixology changed the digital comics landscape. While the benefits that Amazon can bring for Comixology are evident, and still developing, it wasn’t without some steps backwards. When Comixology stopped making in-app purchases due to Amazon/Apple tensions, many publishers saw a drop in digital comics sales.

As we’ve noted before, other players are stepping in to promote their services.

So it should come as no surprise that ComicsPLUS, the digital comics app from iVerse that has long been the second player in the digital comics world, is getting a big makeover starting in November. iVerse CEO and owner Michael Murphey gave us a peek at the new app at New York Comic Con, and it has several shiny new features, including a new uView enhanced reading experience; enhanced search functions; a streamlined interface that offers comics series not only in chronological order but also a “Storyline” view that offers all the books in a given storyline. And the new app will also offer the ability to import any drm-free PDf, ebook or iTunes file into the service where it can be streamlined via uView and be searchable under its name.

uView is the ComicsPLUS version of “Guided View” and I’m told it does not conflict with the patent that Disney holds on that version of “enhanced viewing experience,” to give the non trademarked name for panels that zoom and flow on a tap. It’s entirely user controlled, and based on the preview Murphey gave me, it’s dead simple to use – you basically pinch and zoom to get panels moving in your preferred way. I’m not sure now many comics readers will want to go through all their comics and “uView them up” – but publishers or creators can also use this system themselves. In other words, yet another job for the intern.

I asked Murphey if this would lead to an iVerse version of Comixology’s “Submit” program and he pointed out that “we don’t turn people away.” Although they occasionally reject material that has problematic content, anyone can sell their comics via ComicsPLUS, and uView will offer a way for creators to take control over the viewing experience.

The “Storyline” feature is perfect for people who follow mainstream comics events. The revamped iVerse interface offers a very streamlines view of issues in a series, with the newest one on top. You can also see all the issues that tie in to a storyline—in reading order. Like I said, this is very useful if you’re catching up on Final Crisis or any Big Two event from the last 15 years. It would also be useful for something like Love and Rockets which has a twisting storylines that even experts have a hard time following. (Note, Fantagraphics books aren’t available on iVerse, I’m just spitballing here.)

The search function is basically a smoother application, and the goal is eventually to have a more “Netflix-like” interface. So if you read Punisher, for instance, you could be offered “more comics featuring amoral hitmen.”

Finally, there’s the import function, which for a digital hoarder such as myself could be useful. Basically any legally purchased book you own in epub or pdf format (possibly others, my notes are a bit hazy here) can be imported into the ComicsPLUS app and indexed along with your purchases in the app.

iVerse is definitely putting some muscle into this update, which will roll out starting in November. Some of the features will go live in early 2015. Of course, there is still the matter of publishers: iVerse offers Dynamite, Valiant, Marvel trades and many other publishers. But not DC at this point. Valiant has the biggest parnership with iVerse thus far, having put their entire library on the platform.

Is there room for another digital comics platform? I’m told that Apple would be thrilled to have their piece of the digital comics pie again: Comixology was frequently the top grossing app for iPad, and it firmly put digital comics on Apple’s radar. It was Amazon’s dislike of giving Apple their 30% cut of in-app purchases that led to them being removed from Comixology’s app. (You can still buy comics directly on the CX website, however.) So yeah, there are some pennies to be made there. If digital comics become some kind of status symbol in a tug of war between Apple and Amazon, it means more money thrown into the pot.

I’m also told several publishers are considering being available on multiple platforms for obvious reasons. Amazon’s feuds, price wars and heavy handed tactics are all well and good when you want to buy cheap pants, but you don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of the equation.

iVerse has developed into a player in the library market so it will be interesting to see where this goes.

Although they’ve gone Amazon on us, Comixology is still hanging out with comics folks, and doing a fine job of it. Although it hasn’t been as widely announced as it was last year, when you register your badge at NYCC you get some free digital comics from Comixology. And they’ve announced a bunch of panels and a party Saturday night so-sponsored by Dynamite, benefitting the CBLDF. Here is the poop:


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9th
PANEL:

ComiXology Submit: The Future of Self-Publishing
When: Thursday, October 9th, 6PM-6:45PM
Room: 1A21
To date, comiXology Submit has released over 2000 independent comic books, graphic novels & manga from celebrated indie creators like Shannon Wheeler, Becky Cloonan & more. Join John D. Roberts (Director of comiXology Submit) along with Submit breakout successes Joshua Fialkov (The Bunker co-creator), Charles Forsman (Oily Comics Publisher and TEOTFW creator), Bethany & Ruben Romero (The Agency co-creators) for a tell-all discussion on how you too can create, submit & reach the ranks of comiXology Submit stardom! Moderated by comiXology’s Chip Mosher.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10th
PANEL:

Comics: Where to begin?
When:  Friday, October 10th, 6PM – 6:45PM
Room: 1A21
Just getting into comics but not sure where to start? We’re here to help! Join some of the industry’s biggest professionals as they dig into their vast comic knowledge to personally recommend series just right for you! Join comiXology co-founder & CEO David Steinberger as well as Bill Jemas(Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.), Calvin Reid (Publishers Weekly Senior News Editor), Jen Vaughn (Fantagraphics Books Marketing Manager), Shannon Watters (BOOM! Box Editor and Lumberjanes co-creator), Frank J. Barbiere (Five Ghosts co-creator), with moderating byChip Mosher (comiXology), as they guide you through the awesome world of comics!
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11th
PANEL:

ComiXology: Ask Me Anything 
When: Saturday, October 11th, 5PM – 5:45PM
Room: 1A18
From how to publish your own comic book through comiXology Submit to a “how-to” on beginning your own successful start-up just like comiXology co-founders & panelists David Steinberger & John D. Roberts, ComiXology spills the beans on everything you’ve ever wanted to know about digital comics, publishing, LIFE & more! Moderated by comiXology’s marketing maven, Chip Mosher, this panel will answer your burning curiosities in a no-holds-barred Q & A of epic proportions! 

PARTY:
ComiXology NYCC Party Benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Hosted in Part by Dynamite Entertainment
When: Saturday, October 11th, 8PM-10PM
Where: Tir Na Nog – Time Square, 315 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018
Cost: Suggested $10 admission fee. (All door proceeds go to the CBDLF)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12th
PANEL:
Successfully Crowdfund Your Comic 
Time: Sunday, October 12th, 1:15PM – 2PM
Room: 1A01
Get in on the self-publishing revolution! From crowdfunding your own comic on Kickstarter to self-publishing with comiXology Submit, this is a panel you can’t miss. Join John D. Roberts (Director of comiXology Submit), Jen Vaughn (Fantagraphics Books Marketing Manager), Jimmy Palmiotti (multiple-Kickstarter success story), & Hope Nicholson (Nelvana of the Northern Lights Publisher) for an in-depth discussion that will give you the knowledge to successfully create, fund & promote your own comic! Moderated by comiXology’s Ivan Salazar.

By Bruce Lidl

A number of comics publishers today joined comiXology’s no-DRM initiative, and will start offering their titles without digital anti-copying technology. Comixology’s announcement at San Diego in July that publishers could now distribute DRM-free focused on a small group of early enthusiasts, including Image Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Zenescope Entertainment, MonkeyBrain Comics, Thrillbent, and Top Shelf Productions. From conversations at San Diego, it was clear a number of publishers at San Diego would be embracing DRM-free digital comics soon, and  IDW Publishing, Valiant Entertainment, Oni Press, Fantagraphics Books, Aspen Comics, Action Lab Entertainment, Th3rd World Studios, A Wave Blue World, Blind Ferret Entertainment, Caliber Comics, Creative Impulse Entertainment, Devil’s Due Entertainment, GT Labs Comics and Kingstone Media have just made it official.

It is not clear to what extent the publishers will be extending DRM-free backup capabilities to the whole range of their titles, or to back issues that were previously distributed with DRM. In a quick scan of offerings Fantagraphics has already made some titles available, including today’s release of Cosplayers #2 and Jim Woodring’s Jim. IDW has made today’s Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Ongoing #33: Dawn of the Autobots DRM-free but Godzilla: Cataclysm #2 is not. It may be that it will take time to implement the DRM-free option, or it may be that particular deals with license-owners or individual creators do not allow it. Time will tell how far DRM-free gets extended by these publishers.

As a trend, though, the indications are clear that more and more publishers are embracing a flexible approach, giving their customers increased options and autonomy over their comics purchases. The movement is strong among small to medium publishers, but should put some pressure on the Big Two (and Dark Horse) that have so far resisted the call for less restrictions on their crown-jewel intellectual properties.

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Mobile Device Sizes Changing Rapidly

by Bruce Lidl

While the landscape for digital comics continues to develop in the post-Amazon takeover of comiXology era, the devices upon which those comics will be consumed are evolving as well. New announcements and new devices appear almost daily, with a number of eagerly-awaited devices rumored to hit in the next few weeks, most notably new, larger iPhones. Trends seem to be shifting towards ever bigger mobile phone devices, while tablets begin to cool. Taken together both indications may actually point to a brighter future for digital comics.

The iPad, of course, popularized the tablet category and has remained the segment leader since its launch in April 2010, with almost unheard of sales figures, even while maintaining relatively high price points. Competing devices have flooded the market in the iPad’s wake, but the generally cheaper Android powered devices have mostly filled market niches, while providing a large diversity in size, performance, appearance and media tie-in. Newer models with improved screens continue to appear from Amazon (Fire HDX), Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, Asus, Toshiba and many more in the $175-299 price range, while sales and refurbished older models can bring the prices of modest but name-brand Android tablets down under $100. This wave of tablets, especially those from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, have also had the effect of weakening interest in traditional black and white eReaders, a category that limps along at this point.

In a surprise to many, however, the tablet boom is beginning to slow down considerably in recent months. In Apple’s last financial releases, iPad sales numbers have declined both quarterly and in year-to-year figures. Tablet sales from other manufacturers also seem to be declining, raising the question of where tablets fit into the mobile device ecosystem and why tablet owners are not replacing them as fast as smartphones. Is it a lack of innovation in new tablets? A lack of new use-cases or new applications, that might spur sales? Are older models still capable of doing everything that users want from their tablets (primarily media consumption, web browsing and light email)?

On the other end of the mobile device spectrum, sales continue to climb for smart phones, and will likely only jump further with the release of new iPhones, possibly as early as next week. Tellingly, the major innovation that is expected from the iPhone 6 is screen size: according to the most reliable of Apple watchers, the new phones will continue to increase screen real estate. The original iPhone had a 3.5 inch screen with a 480×320 resolution, while the latest 5S has a 4 inch 1136×640 pixel resolution. The expectations for the iPhone 6 is 4.7 inches with a 1334 × 750 resolution, and an even larger iPhone 6L at 5.5 inches and 2208 × 1242, pushing the latter device firmly into the hybrid category sometimes called “phablet.” Samsung has been the leader in the bigger is better smartphone segment with it’s Android Galaxy Note devices, which have had screens as big as 5.3 inches since 2011, and the latest model, the Note 4 just announced yesterday, is 5.7 inches at 2560 x 1440 resolution. Other highly anticipated upcoming devices include rumored Motorola Nexus devices (“Shamu”) at 5.2 and possibly 5.9 inches. And just to show how expectations of smartphone size has changed, a recently announced device from Chinese manufacturer ZTE, the Nubia 5S, with a screen of 4.7 inches, 1280×720 pixels, is called the “Mini.”

Is there a link between the slowing in tablet sales and the ever increasing phone screen size phenomenon? Does owning a device like the Samsung Galaxy Note make also carrying a tablet superfluous? Could larger iPhones cannibalize iPad sales, at least of the iPad Mini (7.9 inches, 1024×768 or 2048×1536)? Evidence at this point is very sketchy, and it’s also quite possible that larger phones will just drive tablet manufacturers to increase screen size as well, and in fact there are rumors of a new, larger iPad in the works with a 12.9 inch screen. The next few months, leading into the holiday buying season will clearly indicate the direction the mobile device trends are going in, and whether or not we will have to start looking for pants with larger pockets to hold our monster sized phones.

From a digital comics perspective, the evolution of mobile screens could have a very large impact, particularly as they remain the primary consumption device for such comics. The rise of comiXology matches in many ways the growth of the iPad, and it’s not a coincidence that Amazon wanted to purchase a key digital content distributor to integrate with its hardware offerings. While a weakening tablet market may be somewhat worrisome to digital comics sellers, the explosion of interest in larger sized phones may be a far more beneficial development. Reading comics on smaller phones, even with Guided View type applications, can be very frustrating, but as those screens get bigger and better, smart phones may indeed become more suitable for comics consumption. Reading comics on a 5.7 inch Samsung Note 4 phablet is actually a pretty decent experience and not that far off of 7 inch Kindle Fire in any case. And even more so, if Apple does, indeed, embrace this size trend wholeheartedly with a 5.5 inch iPhone, a device with the prospect of true mass acceptance, the landscape of digital comics friendly devices could grow explosively in the near future.

Just in case you were at your mountain retreat over the weekend, the big news was that the new Amazon/Comixology moved swiftly to disable in app purchases via ioS. Comixology issued a new app, where you can sync up your purchases after download. There were also changes to the Android app: now you CAN purchase comics via the app, although not through Google Play any more. Thus both Google and Apple have been removed from their piece of the digital comics pie.

Customers were not happy, downgrading the new app to one star from its previous five. The move, of course, takes away Apple’s 30% cut of purchases; in theory there are two benefits to this. Now Comixology and publishers/creators get more of the money and Apple’s restrictions will no longer come into come into play. Comixology’s Chip Mosher answered some questions about the move, while avoiding the Amazonian elephant in the room. Advantages are laid out thusly:

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.

Of course, there was much more brou to the ha ha. Long time comics creator Gerry Conway has a widely quoted piece about the move, which mourns the loss of the app as the new comics storefront, a feeling echoed by many many people.

Wrong. This is a very big deal, because it strikes to the heart of what made Comixology’s app a near-perfect venue for discovering and falling in love with new comics, a venue creators and publishers have been searching for since the collapse of mainstream newsstand distribution in the late 1970s-early ’80s: it destroys the casual reader’s easy access to an impulse purchase. And that’s a terrible development for the future of comics.

Obviously, discoverability is the big worry here. Apparently, the new app doesn’t allow you to follow series or storylines the way the old one did. In the best event, this will be a stress test for digital comics readers: is the content compelling enough that the loss of a user friendly environment will quash enthusiasm? Or will readers be willing to make a few more clicks?

Looking forward, this was one of the first changes to the new Comixology that people predicted. And I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that eventually, Comixology will be more integrated with the entire Amazon system of reading and recommendations and so on. As I keep saying, consumers like buying things from Amazon, so that won’t be a problem. For the short term the new Comixology app is definitely going through consumer discontent. Will this last or fade away the way most internet grumbling does?

Time will tell and more to come, you betcha.