This was worrisome to some ComiXology fans, - a major push by Amazon could provide significant competition to ComiXology's platform and potentially even draw away support from comic publishers that wished to align with the larger Amazon platform. Amazon launched its Jet City Comics imprint as an extension of Amazon Publishing last year, putting its offerings in direct competition with ComiXology since the smaller company also created original comics.
Originally, Amazon was seen as more of a threat to ComiXology than a potential boon. The company also offers a web-based platform that users can access over the Internet, as well as related features such as "Pull List," which helps readers find local comic book stores to buy or preorder physical comics. The company's platform hosts comics from both major and minor publishers, is the exclusive digital platform for The Walking Dead comics, and crossed the 200 million download mark late last year (which is impressive, since it had only hit 100 million the year before.)ĬomiXology now hosts over 40,000 comics in 50 genres and has clients for a wide range of devices including the iPhone and iPad, Android devices, and Windows 8 devices. With ebooks and digital media seeing increasing market share, both Marvel and Time Warner's ( TWX) DC Comics (as well as a host of smaller publishers) needed to find a way to make that transition or be left behind by the competition.
Licensing of comic book characters for toys and other merchandise is a significant source of income, both for the companies licensing the characters and merchandisers like Hasbro ( HAS 0.44%), which produces toys based on both Marvel and DC characters. When Walt Disney ( DIS 0.28%) reported its full-year financials for 2013, for example, it attributed the growth in its Consumer Products segment specifically to Marvel's strength. Not only does ComiXology bring with it a lot of connections in the comic industry, but the potential synergies between it and other Amazon platforms like the Kindle could be significant.īefore we get into all of that, though, let's take a moment to look at ComiXology and see what makes it such a powerhouse in the digital comics world.Ĭomic books are a big market, and this has only been helped by the success of comic-inspired blockbusters such as The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and The Dark Knight Rises. While this news may have been overlooked as minor by some, this acquisition could mean big things for Amazon moving forward. Earlier this month, ( AMZN 0.51%) announced that it had acquired the Seattle-based digital comic retailer ComiXology.
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