A trio sits on a humble stage, tucked away in the SXSW Gaming Expo, while literal bells and whistles go off in the background. Co-founder and CEO of ComiXology, Davis Steinberger, moderates a panel consisting of himself, fellow co-founder John Roberts, and indie comic book creator and ex-Austinite Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man, Oil and Water, New Yorker cartoonist). The group from the comic book application is here to promote its new ComiXology Submit, which offers creators everywhere the easy ability to digitally self-publish. Creators who choose to use Submit will have the opportunity to reach the same wide audience that receives digital comics from high-profile comic companies like DC Comics and Marvel, and on the independent side, comic books like Atomic Robo, The Walking Dead, Adventure Time, and Saga.
ComiXology has had a steady growth since first entering the digital comics world. In 2009, there was simply the task of applying dynamic masking. By 2010, Marvel and DC Comics both obtained apps, ComiXology now had a webstore and reader, and the application made its appearance on Android. When 2011 hit, the company launched an app with 80 comics and 8 publishers, which Steinberger says was, “maybe half a percent of the print market.” DC Comics’s decision to go day-and-date with digital and print publication forced ComiXology to increase the quality of its software. By coming pre-loaded on the Kindle Fire and adding IDW Publishing to its roster, the company had brought on tens of thousands of customers with a “flip of a version number.”
The company didn’t have a chance to let up though as 2012 saw digital first comics like Marvel Infinite, one million downloads, availability on Windows 8, and the app moved on to become the top grossing non-game app and third top grossing iPad app. In that year, ComiXology had people download more than the previous three years’ worth of comic books combined. This year, the comics app has made the move to go international (you can now have your Walking Dead zombies in France too) and is playing more with what’s possible with digital comics that separates them from simply copying the print version to its library.
John Roberts says, “Digital is the intention and not the afterthought.”
One such property playing with the concept of digital comic books’ different abilities is Atomic Robo: Two-Fisted Tales. It’s not quite animation, but it’s also definitely not the static images of a printed page.
Acting as an indie comic book ambassador for the company, Shannon Wheeler says, “In the same way that photocopy machines enabled me to do stuff… now with the internet and the digital world, these guys are opening up making comic books to a lot more people.”
In fact, 40 percent of sales head overseas, with digital comics removing the limitation of the indie creator who can often only distribute as far as he or she can physically travel to drop off books at friendly stores.
When asked about the possibility of bringing ComiXology to gaming consoles, Roberts says, “We’d bring it to microwaves if we could.” The problem right now seems to be that gaming consoles are in a state of flux, so it’s become a wait-and-see situation.
Steinberger adds further incentive to creators considering using ComiXology Sumbit: It only takes two days to review the majority of books before they’re added to the release schedule. Seven more books have been approved since Wednesday.
Profit splits 50/50 between creators and ComiXology, but the company obtains no rights. Your book is allowed to be distributed digitally or in print to whomever you want or to be sold for movie/TV rights without any interference on the part of ComiXology.
To see more about how ComiXology Submit works as a reader, go here.
If you’d like to try your hand at creating comics and want to submit projects, go here.
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