comixology

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Baauer of "Harlem Shake" sued over unauthorized samples.

- Surprise hit "Harlem Shake" was a shock for artists heard on it.

- "Sweet Brown" sues Apple and radio stations for unauthorized interview.

- SXSW: Marvel to give away 700 first-issue digital comics.

- Marvel giveaway crashes Comixology's servers.… Read more

AUSTIN, Texas -- Following a catastrophic server crash that occurred hours after Marvel Comics and Comixology announced a massive giveaway, Comixology has suspended the promotion.

Comixology CEO David Steinberger acknowledged that his company had "let down" customers. Previous orders under the "Marvel Comics #1" promotional, time-limited giveaway would be honored, he said, and he asked fans to fill out a form so they could be alerted when the promotion returns.

Because of Comixology's unique place in the digital comic-book distribution business as an iTunes-style marketplace with few, if any, direct competitors, other publishers' sales were … Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--Marvel Comics announced yesterday at its 1 p.m. South by Southwest panel here that it was giving away 700 first-issue comics, spanning its entire publishing history, via its Comixology-powered app.

Barely six hours later, Comixology tweeted that its servers had buckled under the traffic load.

The comics deal was slated to last only until the end of SXSW Interactive on Tuesday, giving fans of Spider-Man, Wolverine, the X-Men, and the Avengers around 60 hours to download as many of their favorite No. 1 comics as possible.

Both Marvel Comics and Comixology declined to comment for this story. It's currently not known when their servers will be back up, or if the giveaway might be extended.… Read more

Digital comics sales are on the rise, according to DC Comics, and the publisher today has started to expand its weekly books beyond its app.

Starting today, the Kindle Store, Apple iBookstore (iTunes link), and Nook Book Store will offer the same weekly issues previously limited to the Comixology and DC Comics apps. New issues of DC's superhero New 52 line, as well as its Vertigo imprint, will publish on the same day and date in the proprietary e-bookstores, the Comixology app, and in physical comic bookshops.

"It's not a move [away from Comixology], it's an … Read more

SAN DIEGO -- After several years of percolating, digital comics are about to go ka-boom with marketplace and reader app Comixology at the center of the explosion.

If you wanted to be glib about it, you could describe Comixology's strategy as "divide and conquer." The company has made a series of digital comics "gets" by creating book-specific apps to accompany a number of exclusive agreements to add books to its regular, unbranded Comixology app, that further cement it as the largest digital comics marketplace around.

"Comics stores are like vinyl [record] stores. It's … Read more

A new interface designed to emphasize creators and book discoverability arrived today in Comixology's Comics app (download).

Comics 3.0 brings to Android the changes that people with iPhones and iPads got last fall. Chief among these is a redesign that allows Comixology to make the app more usable, but in fact the app has been entirely re-coded.

The new layout, download speeds, and searchability are a key part of Comixology's "download once, read anywhere" strategy, co-founder and CEO David Steinberger said in a statement. The app loads noticeably faster than before, offers expanded categories for … Read more

Comixology continues to dominate the mobile comics-reading app market with new features for its iOS app, including high-definition comics that take advantage of the new iPad's Retina Display.

Updated earlier this week, Comixology's Comics 3.1 (download) lets you read comics on the new iPad with double the resolution of comics on previous models. It also supports sharing your comments on comics via Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail; and offers a Read Now button which lets you begin reading a comic before a comic has fully downloaded.

Support for the Retina Display almost didn't make it into Comixology 3.1, said Chip Mosher, the company's vice president of marketing. "Our developers turned around HD support in about five days. That's a testament to how dedicated they are."

The difference in resolution is apparent when holding a new iPad next to an iPad 2 and looking at the same comic. If you've downloaded a comic for the iPad 2, Comixology will let you download it again in HD at no extra cost.… Read more

Comic books--or at least, the superhero comics that have been a mainstay of American youth culture for 70 years--have been in a crisis. Comics sales were plummeting, direct market brick-and-mortar comic book shops that are essentially the only outlet to purchase the monthly issues of said comics were closing under the recessive economy, and the industry was in desperate need of new readers. With its new day-and-date digital initiative and line-wide reboot, DC Comics might've provided just that.

Or they might've killed it outright. It's hard to tell, on the first full day of their relaunch. Thirteen … Read more

Comics apps have been around for a couple of years, but the rise of the tablet has seen a resurgence of interest in digital comic books. Comixology, Graphicly, and the Vintage Comics Droid are three apps that bring superheroes and more to your fingertips.