Now through December 20th, comixology will reveal a new free comic every day for the next 12 days. You'll have 24 hours to get your free gift!
Todays comic is "Batman (2011-) #13"
12 Days of Free Comics
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Awesome. Anyone not reading Snyder/Capullo's Batman run - you have no excuse now, check it out, it's brilliant.
As someone who's not into the comics scene but is thinking about it, I find it quite tricky to figure out where to start. This Batman deal is a good example of the problem: they give you a single issue free, which appears to be mid-run BUT is the start of a mini-story (I think??) Sure it's free, but is this even a good place for a newcomer to start reading?
I really just want a "get ALL releases in this run" option (preferably with suitable bulk-buy discount) but they've broken it down into a bunch of collections, HOWEVER those collections still don't seem to include all the issues in that run (specials, annuals, whatever), and it's difficult to tell whether the other random issues are worth it, or even whether or not you've got everything. I have no idea if by skipping those issues I'm missing out on important stuff, etc etc.
I don't know if I'm asking for help, or just having a first-world-problem whine - just wanted to mention it, I guess :)
They have the Wolverine Japan's most wanted series all on sale for 99c today
http://www.comixology.com/Wolverine-Japans-Most-Wanted-Sale/…
Most comics have multiple story arcs and they are generally around 6 issues per arc.
I think the idea of this is that they are presenting you with what they consider the strongest story arc in order to get you to buy the previous ones, and the future ones. Some comics it won't work with (e.g. Saga, Walking Dead, East of West), but Superhero titles tend to be easier to pickup and know whats going on because even though you don't know this Batman, you know what Batman is generally about, and you might know many of the characters in them.My only suggestion is that if you are looking to collect comics online, consider whether comixology is right for you. If you buy comixology, you are locked in with them, and you can't access your reading material through any other source. You don't actually own any of the material, you are just renting lifelong access to it exclusively through comixology. The reason I won't buy through them anymore is because if in 15 years they go bust, and I have my 15 year comic collection entirely with them, I lose everything.
If you are looking for DRM free and enjoy non superhero stuff, go through image comics website. It's not the best layout, but what you are getting is DRM free, multiple format direct from the publisher material.
Pretty much the same for any digital collection though (including itunes, Amazon etc). I do have a habit of downloading 'back ups' of stuff I've bought in comixology (and often a second time in hardcopy the books I really love).
Comixology has alluded to them having made arrangements should they close up shop.
To me format is important. It's the reason I don't subscribe to Marvel Unlimited as they app is pretty woeful. Love the Comixology app and it's what keeps me coming back.
Thanks for your thoughts Modokun. As SirFlibbled mentions, this is the case with pretty much any digital service involving DRM. I have a lot of games in my Steam library and if I lost access to those, I'd be… "disappointed", to say the least.
This is part of a much larger general discussion, but I guess you just have to be aware of the risks and weigh them against the benefits. From my limited understanding, Comixology seems like it'll be safe for at least a while.
Some stuff I'll want close to release, but for most other stuff I'm a person who can wait a while and then buy a 'full season' of something (or "game of the year" edition, if we're talking about games) and plow through it.
I don't really have a sense of whether Comixology's prices for compilations are reasonable - random example: on Comixology, Walking Dead Vol 1-8 adds up to $104.92. Is this ok? No idea, but I can buy dead-tree-version of compendium 1 (vols 1-8) online for $60-odd. Without going into the relative merits of the different formats, in most cases I think digital versions of books should not be more expensive than their real-life counterparts - especially if DRM is involved. Maybe that was a contrived example though - not sure.
honestly 99% of what I buy on Comixology is on sale. If it's not 99c an issue (or I buy the code from elsewhere for the same) then I don't buy it.
Image comics does all of their series through their own website these days (in addition to making it available on comixology), and it is 100% DRM free. When you buy a comic, you get it in PDF/CBZ/CBR and can redownload it at any time and store local copies. I feel a lot safer having legal backups.
What does everyone use to read their comics on anroid? Been a while since I've got them. Last I was using was Comic Rack I believe which was pretty good. Can't remember if it read pdfs though?
Well, this deal is specifically for Comixology, which has its own Google Play Store app. It's a pretty good comic reader too. It has a cool 'flow' mode where you can zoom in on each panel one at a time as you read.
The flow mode is fantastic. Its more than Panel by Panel, sometimes it has wicked zoom effects where you reach a speech bubble, and then it zooms out and you see what it's in relation to. best one I have found so far is the end of Nowhere Men issue 1.
Also works brilliantly on 'Guided View Native' books, such as the aforementioned Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted, and the supplemental 'infinite' issues from Avengers vs X-Men
Modokun it's interesting you love the reading modes in Comixology, yet in the discussion above you say you no longer buy their stuff due to DRM concerns. I'm not trying to call you out or anything because I think it's a totally legit standpoint - just curious at what point their service/reader/etc becomes so great that it's "worth the risk" that they'll take away all our toys further down the track.
Or, conversely, how much money do you have to sink into a given DRM system before you start to worry that you'll lose that "investment". I definitely started having that feeling about Steam in recent years, especially after amassing a back catalogue of games I've bought on sale that I haven't gotten around to playing yet. I guess that tipping point is different for everyone.
I'm more concerned with a somewhat unproven company having 100% ownership and drm control over my comic collection when I spend around $2000 on comics each year. When I go through image directly, I get to back up all my own stuff… It's safe and it's mine. Comixology are happy to say how many downloads they have, but they are hesitant to release how many sales they have made. That rings alarm bells with me.
Lets say the company has poor storage and they get hacked and all records removed, lets say they have poor management skills and end up in the red and file for bankruptcy, lets say that I have a dispute with them because they thought I was using a fake credit card when in fact it was mine and they locked the account without anyone I can escalate to (Amazon have been known to do this on occasion, as have other digital distribution companies). In 10 years time, I am one bad business decision away from losing access to my $20,000 collection I have accumulated. That worries me too much to get in on it.
Steam is a bit different for me with my games. Valve has pushed the envelope in so many aspects that I trust them to keep doing the right thing. Valve isn't a company that makes games available, they also built some of the best games ever made. I got Half Life 1 the moment I had a computer that could run it. It's a company I trust, and to a degree have grown up with.
Edit: I'll just say too, that I generally only buy games on Steam these days through Humble Bundles where I am paying $6 for 4-5 great games and 2 duds. Most of my gaming these days takes place on my android tab, or my PS3, and if google goes bust, the least of my concerns will be access to some $3 games.
If Comixology were in the market to the point where they were developing their own brilliant series and getting deeper into the industry, that might be the point where I start considering going down their track again, but they are nowhere near that point yet.
No idea why people voted you down for expressing your opinion and explaining your reasons, but I guess this is the internet.
In your case, you're rather more heavily invested than I would be, so you've got a slightly different viewpoint (which is fine with me!).
To your point about Comixology not releasing sales figures - sadly this appears to be the norm with digital distribution. I recognise your other issues, but I'm not sure this one by itself should ring alarm bells - Valve don't release Steam sales figures either. I guess it's within distributor's rights not to release this information but it's frustrating for industry observers, while digital sales are gaining with respect to physical sales. I feel like it's slowly eroding the quality of data that people use to understand the market.
I also agree that Valve are a relatively trustworthy company, but regardless of that, a large Steam library can still be considered a single point of failure, which is what I'm concerned with. Hasn't stopped me picking up Steam games but it's something to consider.
In the end, digital collections are fundamentally different from physical ones and they require different thinking.
Yeah no idea why I got downvoted either. I think theres a trend that if you disagree with someone, you downvote them, but maybe I said something which people took offense too.
Thanks for appreciating my response.
I didn't realise that Valve never released their sales figures, but I have almost 15 years of history with them in an industry that is constantly growing, and has been growing for over a decade. I don't think they are hiding their success behind free games, where as I know most of my downloads through comixology are free issue ones.
Sometimes I buy issue two of a series through comixology as a thank you for giving me issue one for free, but I will end up buying that issue two in a DRM free format too. It would be great if I could pay for a version of a comixology reader, where they give guided view from CBZ files. I'd be happy to give them a once off $10 payment for that.
If they address what could happen if they close down with more than "We have things in place, but it doesn't matter because we are here to stay" I would be willing to give them more of a go.
Cheers for the discussion.
I tend to buy most of my digital books through cheap codes via Marvel. While this is linked to Comixology, I'd be interested to know if, for example Comixology closes, what will happen to my Marvel books as they were technically bought/redeemed through Marvel not Comixology.
For me I'm happy to just have a digital collection now. If I lose it in the future then I lose it in the future.
Lazarus #1 by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark is the free comic of the day. It's another very good choice and well worth picking up.
I'll be grabbing that for sure. Thanks!
Red Sonja #1 from Dynamite is the free comic of the day.
Day 4 Judge Dredd #1 (IDW)
Revival #1 from Image is today's free book. Another one that is defintely worth picking up, it's a cracking read.
If I missed a day, there's no link to grab those issues, right?
Yeah, once they are gone, they are gone. Yesterday was My Little Pony, so you didn't miss much there. Today is The Bunker.
It's more the ones between Batman and my Little Pony… :(
Hawkeye #1 is the free book for today.
amazing book
Love me some free comics!