#CS100

Yeah, I know. Been another long stretch of nothin'. For what it's worth, I have a couple story ideas I may want to put down on (digital) paper. I may be a little more active here again soon. But, then, I've been having too much fun on Panels On Pages. You remember me talking about that, right?

I need to start listing those pieces here, too. Maybe later. But, if it helps, having too much fun on Panels On Pages is kinda why I'm here right now.

Kit, Here's The Scoop on #CS100. You heard me talk about on it on Twitter all day yesterday. It came from a love of reading. And writing. And wanting to explore the "micro-blogging" properties of Twitter. #CS100 will accomplish all of the above.

This past weekend, ComiXology offered up 100 (!) titles from their "Submit" initiative for only $10 (!!). Of course I jumped on that. Not just because it worked out to a dime per title, but because it was all independent creators, which is where my tastes lie more nowadays.

I should probably back up a bit and explain what's going on for the uninitiated. Comixology is a digital comics platform where you can buy and read comics without all the messy paper. Comnixology Submit is their independent arm, launched a year ago at SXSW (where things like that apparently happen now). Instead of going for Marvel or DC (who it pains me to say is really tanking right now, at least in terms of quality), I've been leaning more towards smaller, independent books. Because more often than not, that's where the quality is at*. So, when they offered up 100 (!) titles from their "Submit" initiative for only $10 (!!), of course I jumped on that. Wow, deja vu.

I'm gonna have a blast reading each one of them. Yes, each one of them. And you get to come along for the ride and share in my madness, because each of the 100 titles will be reviewed on Twitter in no particular order. There'll also be a tie-in on the aforementioned Panels On Pages in a couple weeks. Now, this isn't the only thing I do on Twitter, so you'll know if it's a review by seeing the #CS100 (as in, Comixology Submit, 100 books) hashtag.

This is gonna be too much fun. Hope you come along for the ride.

* - Case in point: World War Mob by my pal, Vito Delsante. Imagine a croup of capos having to take out a hit. In the middle of the biggest war in our planet's history. This is good stuff, 2 issues in. And it's only about $2 an issue! Looking forward to more. I promise it won't disappoint if you give it a try.

Atomic Comics R.I.P.

The market for the tablet has exploded in the wake of the success of the iPad, with nearly every electronics company rushing their own models in to production. Of course, the tablet is just the right size for reading comics, and the popularity of apps such as Comixology is growing right along with the tablet market.

But, where does this leave the traditional shops? Long seen as a haven for dyed-in-the-wool nerds, many people have normally strayed away from comic shops...For most shop owners that may not know how to adapt to changing times, the announcement of same-day digital releases can be a little scary…

- Me again, Examining the DC Relaunch Part 01: The Business, Examiner.com


Several news bits have come out this week that have made the above statements a lot more interesting.

First of all, did you see the movie Kick Ass? Remember the comic shop the gang hung out in? That was Arizona-based Atomic Comics, one of the biggest and most popular comic shops in the country. And earlier this week, they closed their doors for good.



All About Books and Comics is working to fill the shop’s orders to customers that have been left out in the lurch. That having been said, it has to be tough to be any comic shop owner and watch one of the giants fall with virtually no warning. Makes you wonder what hope any of the other shops have.

Interestingly enough, one of the biggest threats to brick-and-mortar shops is stepping in to help out. Digital retailer ComiXology has opened more than 100 digital “storefronts” for comic shops. The move is part of ComiXology’s comic shop affiliate program to help physical shops serve online customers as well, and seems like a good move. However, some owners of physical shops don’t think ComiXology’s terms are fair at all and are afraid that this may only hasten the death of the comic shop as we know it. And would that serve as the death knell for the market itself?

There’s certainly a lot of behind-the-scenes going on right now in the comic world, and some of it looks scary. Depending what side of the coin you call on, however, the future could look pretty bright as well. All of this merits keeping an eye on, because the future of an industry...check that, a culture could be at stake.