Comics by comiXology is the number one app in the iTunes store right now, and I spoke to comiXology CEO David Steinberger about what sets this one off from the others. I believe it’s the first to take advantage of in-app buying (so you buy all your comics from within the app, rather than having each one be a separate app), but beyond that, it allows you to locate the print edition in a nearby bricks-and-mortar store. The partnership with retailers is a new twist, and I’m interested to see how it will play out.
Kevin Hodgson test-drives the comiXology app at The Graphic Classroom, and Charlie Sorrel of Wired’s Gadget Lab kicks the tires as well.
The New York Times covers the boom in cell-phone manga in Japan. It’s still well under 10% of the manga market, according to the numbers cited in the article, but the growth rate is steep.
Owly is now available on the Kindle!
The Yaoi Review checks out some yaoi manga on the Kindle and finds the fonts are too small to be readable. This looks like a first-genration Kindle, though, so a later one might work better. TYR also presents a handy downloadable list of yaoi manga and novels available on the Kindle.
This is a useful article. I’ve been feeling cynical about comics on handheld devices after so much early hype and poor results, and you’ve cheered me up. Thanks.