Big news today as it seems that a deal has finally been struck between online retailing giant Amazon and the electronic comic hub Comixology. USAToday is reporting that this deal was finalized today. According to ComiXology CEO David Steinberger, ComiXology will still continue to exist, but it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon. Steinberger founded ComiXology back in 2007 in Seattle and has since built a strong presence in the comic book community by providing a place to purchase, read, and store digital versions of comic books.
David Naggar, Amazon VP of content acquisition and independent publishing, stated that he has always admired ComiXology for the experience they create for their readers, specifically talking about the “Guided View” that allows readers to slide from panel to panel when reading a comic book from their site. “It felt like a really strong ability for us to work together and learn from each other,” Naggar said. He continued that there is currently no plan to change anything about the ComiXology app or the customer reading experience.
How will this impact your subscriptions? At this time, if you have an account with ComiXology, you will still be able to read any books in your account and purchase additional comic books as they continue to become available. I am not sure at this time how it will effect the self-publishing portal. This was a great move for the two companies and I think it can all be summed up in this quote from Steinberger in an interview with Micheal Cavna at the Washington Post:
Comics is big enough to be interesting, but not enough for bigger [digital publishing] companies to spend the time to do it right. We’re the only multiplatform provider of this type of material that [gives comics] the care and love they deserve.
good. maybe comixology will be less terrible now.