Graphic.Ly falls...

electric_mayhem

Out of the App business...

http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a375092/graphicly-bows-out-of-comic-apps-market.html:

Graphic.Ly has announced that it is withdrawing from the comic apps market.

The digital distributor is shifting its focus towards the e-books sector, and will act as a supplier for platforms such as Apple's iBooks, Amazon's Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook.

Graphic.Ly's official app has been removed from various storefronts. Customers who bought comics through the service can keep their purchases providing they do not delete the app. Accounts will remain active via a browser-based HTML5 interface, though this is yet to launch.

"To say we're excited about this step forward would be an understatement. If you own an iPad or an Amazon Kindle Fire, or Barnes and Noble Nook or any other device, you'll be able to access a wider library of titles and enjoy them in an optimised way, getting the most out of your device," read a statement from the firm.

CEO Micah Baldwin was keen to point out that the firm is no longer limited solely to the comics market having extended its reach to "all graphic-based work".

"Have we lost our love for comics? No. But we know that comics are just one way to tell great stories; there are many others, and all deserve to be seen," he said.

Is this the Rise of Comixology?

Zhurrie

And highlights the problem with the current state of digital comics. "Customers who bought comics through the service can keep their purchases providing they do not delete the app."

That's great until you need to do a reset, have a device fail, get a replacement, send it in for repair, etc. Then it is all gone with no recourse.

John_Steed

"Customers who bought comics through the service can keep their purchases providing they do not delete the app."

Poor Graphic.ly users. This is like a slap in the face. Glad to be a customer at Comixology....for now(???) #:-S

DarthKramer

Their app was terrible! It rarely loaded correctly on my tablet, and when it did it would shortly freeze up or crash.

kfreeman

They were used by the Action Lab guys (and the book I wrote for them). I hope they find an alternative, if they haven't already.

John_Steed

They were used by the Action Lab guys (and the book I wrote for them). I hope they find an alternative, if they haven't already.

I've been hoping for a while now that Action Lab would one day be available through Comixology [-O<

Not easy to get their books living over here....

LibraryBoy

Weird. Downloaded the app last week and actually found a book I was considering buying through it, but the free book I downloaded to test it out was so hard to read on my phone that I went and deleted the whole thing. Total time Graphicly spent on my phone: 5 minutes. Terrible interface. But, they had a whole lot of indy content that I didn't see on Comixology. Here's hoping those books can find a new digital venue.

DarthKramer

Weird. Downloaded the app last week and actually found a book I was considering buying through it, but the free book I downloaded to test it out was so hard to read on my phone that I went and deleted the whole thing. Total time Graphicly spent on my phone: 5 minutes. Terrible interface. But, they had a whole lot of indy content that I didn't see on Comixology. Here's hoping those books can find a new digital venue.

Yeah, the only reason I downloaded it was to try and get the Four Star Double Feature books, which I didn't do because of how crummy I thought the app was.

PeanutButterMustache

I tried the app and It was NOT user friendly. I wonder how the ifanboy guys are dealing with this. If the app/comic side has failed will this have any impact on their site/podcast. I wish them the best but this really has me wondering.

BlackUmbrella

My experience with the Graphic.ly app was horrid. I had to uninstall it because it crashed repeatedly and wouldn't close. I would have been willing to check them out again in the future, but as things are I will not miss them at all.

That's great until you need to do a reset, have a device fail, get a replacement, send it in for repair, etc. Then it is all gone with no recourse.

This was one of my primary concerns before jumping into digital at the launch of the New 52, and I really thought a lot about it. I had to distill things down to two essential facts about myself:

1) I never read 99% of the floppies I bought more than once. I'd read them one time, bag and board them, and the vast majority sat in a box, never to be opened again.

2) As far as enjoying having a collection of back issues around, it really was never about having boxes and boxes of books. What I liked was seeing all the covers and remembering the books as I organized them. I had a fantasy that one day I would go through my books pulling out old favorites to experience again, but I almost never did. I bagged and boarded "The Killing Joke" in like, 1988. I pulled it out and read it again in 2008. Ridiculous.

So, recognizing that comics (for me) were more like purchasing movie tickets than buying bars of gold, I went with Comixology full tilt. If they go under, I don't really care. I had my fun, and I can buy the rare issues I want to read again some day.

That said, I've found I get more out of the digital books.

1) I frequently read issues I enjoy two or three times. That hasn't been the case since I was in high school.

2) I now use Comic Collector to track and list my purchases, and have also entered just about every issue I've ever read or owned over the decades. I find I enjoy this way of browsing a "collection" far more than digging through longboxes.

Zhurrie

I just pulled out a ton of old Image issues the other day in honor of their 20th anniversary and truthfully spent the past two nights so incredibly happy to have them that my experience couldn't be more different. I loved reading the letter pages and some of the ads and notes from the editors and stuff like that and some of the covers (even gimmicky ones) still made me smile. I only keep what I truly love and do actually re-read, so I've never had the problem of a bunch of long boxes just wasting space. I have 6 short boxes and trades on shelves. I have re-read or referred to everything in them many times over the years. I'm re-reading all of Deathblow and the related books currently.

DRM and buying comics that I don't own (regardless of format) is not for me and I really think digital has a long way to go and solidify before I'd jump in with reckless abandon.

electric_mayhem

My experience with the Graphic.ly app was horrid. I had to uninstall it because it crashed repeatedly and wouldn't close. I would have been willing to check them out again in the future, but as things are I will not miss them at all.



That said, I've found I get more out of the digital books.

I frequently read issues I enjoy two or three times. That hasn't been the case since I was in high school.

Same here. Digital is great for ME and my friends have slowly come around. One cannot stand to read comics on the compute but LOVES his iPad. While another has realized the paper and tactile feel pales in comparison to getting cheap comics displayed brilliantly and doesn't take up space in the house.

Digital rules...

BlackUmbrella

I confess, I sometimes stop in the comic shop just to see the books on the shelves and flip through a few. But even last night I was at Barnes and Noble and opened up an issue of Justice League, and it looked dull to me in print. That was a bit of a surprise.

I only keep what I truly love and do actually re-read,

I agree. I have one long box left with my old heavy hitters and childhood treasures. The final year that I had an LCS pull list (2009?) I got sick of bagging and organizing and sent stacks to Heroes4Heroes.

brydeemer

This is exactly why DRM needs to go away.

Comixology may be safe for now, but they are still a very small company. If Marvel or DC decides to open their own stores and cut out the middle man (which they really should do and it can only be a matter of time), Comixology will fall quickly and then millions of comic fans will be stuck with a bunch of comics they can't read.

This, combined with the high price point, is why I haven't been buying tons of digital comics. I'm back to reading only trades as I wait for the digital scene to shake itself out.

Bry

electric_mayhem

This is exactly why DRM needs to go away.

Comixology may be safe for now, but they are still a very small company. If Marvel or DC decides to open their own stores and cut out the middle man (which they really should do and it can only be a matter of time), Comixology will fall quickly and then millions of comic fans will be stuck with a bunch of comics they can't read.

This, combined with the high price point, is why I haven't been buying tons of digital comics. I'm back to reading only trades as I wait for the digital scene to shake itself out.

Bry

I get the concern for the DRM. Same as for the concern for the basement flooding or the garage going up in smoke where our comics could be stored. Logical and prudant to wait.

The high price point? There are ways to get around that. You pride yourself on being a savvy shopper, sir. How about the .99 Marvel Mondays on Comixolgy? And the price drop from DC makes it only a 12 cent difference from the monthly DCBS shipment, eh? 12 cents and it doesn't take up room in the house. Tell me the missus won't love that!

Zhurrie

This is exactly why DRM needs to go away.

Comixology may be safe for now, but they are still a very small company. If Marvel or DC decides to open their own stores and cut out the middle man (which they really should do and it can only be a matter of time), Comixology will fall quickly and then millions of comic fans will be stuck with a bunch of comics they can't read.

This, combined with the high price point, is why I haven't been buying tons of digital comics. I'm back to reading only trades as I wait for the digital scene to shake itself out.

Bry

That is one possibility, but if one of the big two were to acquire Comixology, imagine the fallout, and you can be sure customers will have a mess with the comics they "bought" from the other losing companies. When I can buy a digital comic and have a truly DRM-free copy, I will start to buy some things that way with no question. Until then, unless it is free it has no appeal to me. Could not agree more Bryan.

It will mature eventually, but we're still a long way off. Look how long other dinosaurs like Music, TV, and Film are taking to get it right.

John_Steed

I only go digital for the books I otherwise wouldn't have (easy and/or immediate) access to.
Most of the time you find me looking out for the reduced or free stuff (love those 0.99 sales). Sometimes I will buy a book in order to follow the discussion within the interwebs and on podcasts ( spending time with you folks usually ends with me looking for the next fix...)

I don't collect digital. The books I truly love end up on my shelves in their best available packaging.

I couldn't care less who's selling the digital content as long as it is convenient and nice looking on my device. The prices will come down eventually. In that regard more competition would be welcome.

I'm a Comixology customer and like their service. But if they close tomorrow I wouldn't shed a tear. Digital for me is just a quick and dirty way to read a comic. My haptic stimulus will only be satisfied with the real thing.

SolitaireRose

Isn't Graphic.ly the app that Waid announced he was going with for his new line?

dubbat138

Stuff like this is why I doubt I ever get into digital comics. Until they goto a system like all the pirated scanned comics use. Give me a cbr or cbz file that I can use one of many reader programs to read. Or I can even unzip it and read it that way.

brydeemer

The high price point? There are ways to get around that. You pride yourself on being a savvy shopper, sir. How about the .99 Marvel Mondays on Comixolgy? And the price drop from DC makes it only a 12 cent difference from the monthly DCBS shipment, eh? 12 cents and it doesn't take up room in the house. Tell me the missus won't love that!

The Monday sales from Marvel are always old stuff I read years ago. Not interested. And since I read way more Marvel than DC, and Marvel doesn't discount their month-old comics, I don't really benefit from that pricing plan.

And riddle me this: If I buy a print-edition copy of a Marvel book that costs $3.99, I get a free digital copy. Cool. But if I buy a $3.99 digital copy of a Marvel book, what else do I get? Nothing! How does that work? Shouldn't I at least get a coupon for a dollar or two off of my next digital book? The math of the whole thing doesn't work. It's completely broken. Add to that the DRM issue and no matter how much I want to dive it (digital comics where made for me), I just can't do it, yet.

Bry

electric_mayhem

@brydeemer, good points and I understand where you are coming from.

I agree on the Marvel side of things, their price point shows that they want to keep things the same. I see no innovation for their digital offerings either. Personally I haven't bought a Digital Marvel comic either. But one day, their .99 sale might get me to bite.

fredzilla

I like what Marvel is doing in that I get digital and physical copies. When I get around to spring cleaning my collection, I can get rid of the physical and still have the digital to read years later (that is if the tech stays the same... right!). A subscription plan would probably be the most ideal (e.g. Apple's "season pass" for TV shows), but I would be fine if they priced comics like Apple does music: $0.69, $0.99, & $1.29. Apple has recently had its 25 billionth app downloaded--that's just apps that are free and mostly $0.99. Imagine how that would translate to the comic market if the conditions were right.

On a side note, the eBook market is in the same position (even though e-sales outnumber physical sales). Most of the eBooks I've seen or have wanted to buy cost the same amount as a physical copy. Give me a book I want for $5 and I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

popcornsamurai

This is exactly why DRM needs to go away.

Comixology may be safe for now, but they are still a very small company. If Marvel or DC decides to open their own stores and cut out the middle man (which they really should do and it can only be a matter of time), Comixology will fall quickly and then millions of comic fans will be stuck with a bunch of comics they can't read.

This, combined with the high price point, is why I haven't been buying tons of digital comics. I'm back to reading only trades as I wait for the digital scene to shake itself out.

Bry

Bryan Marvel and DC do have their own stores and have for probably a couple of years. I was kind of upset recently that I had to use the Marvel app to download the free digi version of A v. X when I prefer to keep them all in the same app. It's even more annoying since comixology runs the app for DC and Marvel.

Comixology is a small company but they have also, at times, been the top grossing app in the iTunes store.

At this point, I think if someone bigger bought the company they would make arrangements to make our libraries transferable to the new custodians. I don't think the new company would want to offend their future consumers.

I hope action lab will get their books on comixology because I am really wanting to check them out.

LibraryBoy

Weird. Downloaded the app last week and actually found a book I was considering buying through it, but the free book I downloaded to test it out was so hard to read on my phone that I went and deleted the whole thing. Total time Graphicly spent on my phone: 5 minutes. Terrible interface. But, they had a whole lot of indy content that I didn't see on Comixology. Here's hoping those books can find a new digital venue.

Yeah, the only reason I downloaded it was to try and get the Four Star Double Feature books, which I didn't do because of how crummy I thought the app was.

That was what I was going to get, too. Glad I took the "try before I buy" approach by finding a free book first, for so many reasons.

KyleMoyer

And riddle me this: If I buy a print-edition copy of a Marvel book that costs $3.99, I get a free digital copy. Cool. But if I buy a $3.99 digital copy of a Marvel book, what else do I get? Nothing! How does that work? Shouldn't I at least get a coupon for a dollar or two off of my next digital book? The math of the whole thing doesn't work. It's completely broken. Add to that the DRM issue and no matter how much I want to dive it (digital comics where made for me), I just can't do it, yet.

This is the part I don't get at all. For $3.99 I can get the digital book. Or for $3.99 (or usually less, since most regular readers get at least some sort of discount through an LCS if nothing else), you can get the digital AND the print copy. And if the DRM doesn't bother you at all or gets eliminated, you can still get the $3.99 print copy through DCBS (or an LCS with a subscriber discount), get the digital code and throw the comic away (or sell it on eBay or give or sell to a friend or whatever, but that doesn't make my point as dramatically as throwing it away so we'll stick with throwing it away). You get the exact same thing and you spent less money and you got the opportunity to kill a tree and fill up a landfill for no reason at all. Bargain!

choanata

I bought AvX and went to go use my free code to download the free digital version as well as the Infinite comic thing, I was really looking forward to checking that out. I created an account, entered the code, and the AvX digital comic popped up! Cool, flipped through to check out the interface on my netbook/tablet convertible and it was pretty bad, but manageable. Then I tried to read the Infinite comic and it was nowhere to be found. Then I went to look at the "My Comics" tab...and there was nothing there. And now the code doesn't work anymore. So I got completely screwed out of my free comics.

That makes me really hesitant to actually pay money for their digital comics, even if it is on sale for 99 cents. And now Graphic.Ly closing highlights the major problem you guys have already mentioned, in that if you lose the app, you are S.O.L. And while a roaring fire could wipe out my collection, the odds of that happening are a lot less than a start-up folding. And if you bag and board right, then a minor flood won't be much of an issue. Your comics are still readable. It's not like your eyes float away in the flood waters and you can't get new eyes to view your comics.

popcornsamurai

I bought AvX and went to go use my free code to download the free digital version as well as the Infinite comic thing, I was really looking forward to checking that out. I created an account, entered the code, and the AvX digital comic popped up! Cool, flipped through to check out the interface on my netbook/tablet convertible and it was pretty bad, but manageable. Then I tried to read the Infinite comic and it was nowhere to be found. Then I went to look at the "My Comics" tab...and there was nothing there. And now the code doesn't work anymore. So I got completely screwed out of my free comics.

That makes me really hesitant to actually pay money for their digital comics, even if it is on sale for 99 cents. And now Graphic.Ly closing highlights the major problem you guys have already mentioned, in that if you lose the app, you are S.O.L. And while a roaring fire could wipe out my collection, the odds of that happening are a lot less than a start-up folding. And if you bag and board right, then a minor flood won't be much of an issue. Your comics are still readable. It's not like your eyes float away in the flood waters and you can't get new eyes to view your comics.

The infini comic is in the same file as a vs x 1 you just have to keep tapping until you get to the end and it will start up automatically.

choanata

I logged into the app on my phone, and oddly, both comics were there. I don't know why they didn't show up on the website on my laptop. I must say, I kinda liked the interface on my phone...

Gargoyle

I've read that Graphic.ly's web reader is tablet compatible so you'll at least be able to read books online there. It's still very poor going and has given even an avid digital reader like myself pause for thought.

This is one of the reasons I limit my comic purchases to books which I'm happy to pay for, read once and if I never get to read them again not feel cheated. For me that means 99c or 1.99 books, unless I absolutely love something I won't pay cover price and I'be dropped all Marvel books due to their insane pricing model.

chrisruggia

LongBox made quite a splash a few years ago when it launched, but I haven't heard anything about it in a long time. Ranz's pitch sure sounded good (no DRM, among other benefits). But development seems to have stalled out. Has anyone heard anything?