Amazon and Comixology have seriously reduced their staffs and services. Is digital dying?
WHAT HAPPENED?
Recently, word hit social media and reliable online sources that Amazon, which had seen a huge increase in services and profits during the recent pandemic, had fired many of their employees and reduced services. That included comiXology, the digital comics publisher/distributor purchased by Amazon in 2014. Apparently, 50 to 75 percent of the comiXology workers have now been let go.
Many of the people who were released went on to Twitter and other social media platforms to let others know what happened and to make friends aware of their availability for new positions.
Shortly after all this took place, news arrived that Marvel Comics was shutting down their app in June. The ability to buy comics on that app was being removed. This app had been run by comiXology.
Users of the Marvel app could access the digital comics libraries they bought there by May 2nd in the Marvel Unlimited app. They needed to link their Marvel Comics account to a Marvel account by June 2nd. Any redemptions of Marvel digital comics must take place in that Marvel Unlimited app. Free promotional comics, such as the Marvel Previews magazine, would no longer be part of a fan’s library in that Marvel Unlimited app.
Readers will still be able to purchase Marvel Comics through Amazon. Select digital Marvel graphic novels will be available for purchase through Google Play Books, Apple iBooks, Nook, and certain other digital library services.
What about the comiXology Originals program? We’ll just have to wait and see what happens!
I’d look for other comics producers to follow suit and reduce or remove their online apps if they haven’t already!
THE END OF DIGITAL COMICS?
Of course, this will significantly reduce fan access to many digital comics, particularly from Marvel. Honestly, though, digital hasn’t lived up to initial expectations. In fact, there was a time when industry analysts expected that local comics shops would close their doors since fans would instead go into online FTP sites to buy and download their weekly comics from home.
That didn’t prove to be the case.
Paper versions have continued to be the overwhelmingly central means for fans accessing comics. As some have pointed out, reading comics on your personal computer or other device just didn’t match the experience of holding a comic in your hands, something fans have enjoyed for decades.
It also doesn’t hurt that collectors still continue to seek out paper copies for their individual sets. In fact, some fans actually bought more paper editions as they thought these might become scarcer when digital editions were expected to reign supreme.
On my podcast, I often asked comics pros what they thought the future of comics was going to be—digital or paper. Many of them simply shrugged their shoulders and replied, “I don’t know. I don’t think anybody does.”
I think we can actually call it now! It’s paper by a landslide!
IS THERE A FUTURE FOR DIGITAL COMICS?
So, instead of wondering if digital comics will eliminate paper copies, people are asking just the opposite at this time—will paper copies remove digital versions completely?
While I think, based on how some of my friends are reacting, that digital will always be around, it seems they will appear in a reduced capacity. One of my formerly digital friends has gone back to paper editions. Another has reduced the number of digital comics he buys. Two others have left buying comics completely.
That’s not a good sign.
Still, since I do a weekly comics podcast, I often ask a comics professional I’m going to interview if I can get a digital version of the book we’ll be discussing so I can look it over and hopefully ask better questions about it. Also, reviewers need them to read and evaluate the comics for their columns and podcasts.
If we had to go back to paper editions and waiting for them to be sent then arrive in the mail, that would make these functions a LOT more difficult.
I still know some fans who won’t give up reading their comics on computer screens because they feel the colors and sharpness are vastly superior. If that’s what they enjoy, great! We need them in the industry, too!
I continue to buy digital versions when I cannot locate a paper edition. I only do that so I can keep up with the storylines I’m interested in! The vast majority of comics I buy are of the paper variety, believe me!
Of course, this isn’t to say that things couldn’t turn around for digital comics in the months and years ahead. I mean, Amazon could finally make their website actually work for comics. It was almost exactly a year ago that I wrote a column fussing with them about how tough it was to buy comics there. When I do a search there, I still get boatloads of meds and other items I don’t want when I’m looking for comics! Really!
Right now and for the foreseeable future, paper is king in comics, and digital is cast in a supporting role!
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