Here’s some good news for digital comics industry watchers: Three of the five most popular iPad book apps of the last week were comics apps. Here’s some bad news for DC, though; their app was downloaded less than Marvel’s, and that was the week when Justice League #1 debuted, and the publisher’s digital push was given a lot of press.
According to the eBookNewser blog, ComiXology’s Comics app was the second most popular iPad book app of the week (behind Al Gore’s Our Choice app), followed by the Marvel app and the DC app at #3 and #4 on the chart. The Bible app slips in at #5, which means that – for one week, at least – comics are bigger than Jesus, in the same way that John Lennon once claimed the Beatles were (Insert your own outrage here – and comics publishers can always feel good about the idea that someone will have to buy their comics in order to burn them, if it came to a worse case scenario).
Now all we need is a digital sales chart, to see who’s buying what books…
September 8th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Have fun waiting for that chart!
Or is there any reason at all why the publishers would release one?
September 8th, 2011 at 10:00 am
I don’t see Marvel having a more downloaded app than DC as being bad news – DC’s comics are all available direct through the (much improved) Comixology app, whereas Marvel’s aren’t.
I know I prefer to buy through the Comixology app rather than DC’s storefront as I prefer having the books in one place.
September 8th, 2011 at 10:15 am
I downloaded the DC comics app first, but they didn’t update their app as quickly as comixology so when the new issues came out, I was able to buy them in the Comix app but not in DC comics app so I’ll just use the Comix app.
September 8th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Yeah, as stated DC’s app didn’t update as fast. I ended up having to force quit the app on my ipad and when I went back in there it was updated with the new #1′s.
I wonder if they’re going to enable subscriptions in the DC and ComiX app. When iOS 5 comes out it’ll have automatic downloads and delivery for subscribed magazine issues. This would be a nice feature for the Comic book apps too.
September 8th, 2011 at 10:21 am
I buy paper…
September 8th, 2011 at 11:10 am
some bad news for DC, though; their app was downloaded less than Marvel’s, and that was the week when Justice League #1 debuted, and the publisher’s digital push was given a lot of press.
———————
WOW, you seriously can’t figure out why that was? First off, DC only released 2 books that day; Justice League and Flashpoint. Second, JL sold out everywhere, and already has two reprints planned. Clearly, people want to buy the physical book, which is good for both retailers and DC.
September 8th, 2011 at 11:15 am
I LOVE…LOVE…how people are trying to crap on DC’s parade. “Digital Sales are up but oh wait bad news for DC, Marvel’s app got downloaded more!” Gimme a break. DC does something that has people more excited about comics than we’ve seen in awhile and somebody has to find something (ANYTHING) to try and rain on it. Who cares which app got downloaded more as long as MORE people are reading comics? Sheesh. Some people and their dogged attempts to find the negative in what should be a good thing.
September 8th, 2011 at 11:21 am
This doesn’t mean that more Marvel comics were downloaded. This means that the app got downloaded more.
They can get DC comics off the comixology app. Marvel too but that was only recently.
September 8th, 2011 at 11:23 am
As long as more people are reading comic books, whether on paper or digital, it’s a great thing for the industry.
September 8th, 2011 at 11:30 am
Graeme, Calling you a reporter is like calling the Amazing Jonathan a magician. You’re really just a hack who got lucky for being friends with Luke Siegel.
September 8th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Graeme how many sites can you be a hack writer on?
September 8th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Uhhh. are they saying marvel comics were downloaded more than DC comics last week? Justice League or not DC only had ONE digital offering last week. How many did marvel have. I’d be more interested to see. What the most bought and downloaded single issue was?
September 8th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Who are these writers of these articles? Do they research anything before they put their fingers to the keys? Sheesh,man.
September 8th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
@benwahbob and Rob:
Like.
September 8th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Sure, the marvel app may have been downloaded more, but if youmlook on ComiXology’s app, go under top paid popular comics, you’ll see that DC Comics are KILLING the competition. The top 8 are all dc, and all of dc books are within the top 25. And Justice League is still selling like crazy, sitting at number 3 I believe. Also, if you look at Apple’s top grossing apps, ComiXology and Dc app are sitting in the number 2 and 3 spots, respectively.
September 8th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Actually, a proper article would also show how much JUSTICE LEAGUE 1 was downloaded as opposed to any single Marvel comic. Regardless of whether DC or Marvel did better in that scale, a thorough article would have looked that angle. (Not stop digging at the first chance he gets to DC because he is not an objective reporter but rather a Marvel Zombie who got a job at Newsarama.)
Remember, Flashpoint was NOT released digitally at the same time.
Graeme did later mention that we need a sales chart to determine who’s buying which books but the fact is, he made his conclusion about DC in reference to Justice League 1′s performance, thus opening himself up for all the shots he’s getting here.
September 8th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Heck, looking at the charts…DC’s performance on 8/31 shows that it was a spike UP from its previous ranking while Marvel had been consistently good. So it shows DC”s efforts DID get them the boost they claimed it would.
September 8th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
To quote:
“Here’s some bad news for DC, though; their app was downloaded less than Marvel’s, and that was the week when Justice League #1 debuted…”
Boy, you guys at Newsarama.com will do anything to give DC Comics bad press! Ever since DC Comics announced The New 52 launch, I have seen Newsarama.com put out article after article that bashes or tries to diminish the importance of The New 52 launch!
September 8th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
I’ve been a DC fanboy since Man of Steel, Batman Year One and JLI and I’ve decided to make the switch to digital. I love the Comixology and DC App but I’m waiting a month for the price point to drop.
I wonder how many other iPad/Tablet users are planning the same. Crazy to pay full print price if I can get the same book a dollar cheaper if I wait.
September 8th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
To be fair Kooster they’ve also had plenty of interviews with the writers of the new 52 launch, but if I have to read another goddam piece on the importance of Oracle I just might loose my mind.
September 8th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
plus the fact that one of the worst writers in the comics press is Graeme Crackier hgimself when will these site learn that this guy needs to learn how to write or form an opinion that actually has some merit and backbone… and stop posting opinions a fact and news…
Graeme do yourself a favor ands please get off these sites! My god how mmany people have to tell you you are an idiot every week for fasle assumptions and misleading non researched articles
This site is diminished every day it keeps this amatuer
September 8th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
I too think i’ll be uninstalling the DC App. Comixology’s main app is just that much better now… i’m actually thinking of getting rid of all my specialized apps except for the marvel app now. Since I only read irredeemable and incorruptible from BOOM and The Walking Dead from Image, it might be nicer to have them all consolidated on one app… like it was when comixology was first introduced.
Unless the other publishers update their apps too, wink wink nudge nudge
September 8th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
I think the digital sales numbers are going to be a little hard to read for the 1st couple months. They will definitely take more critical thinking than the writer of the article was willing to invest. There were a lot of great deals if you go all the #1′s in paper. I’m going to go digital exclusively but I couldn’t pass up getting all the #1′s in paper. Add to that the fact that these books are going to have a 1/3 price drop in a month and it’ clear we really need to wait for any meaningful sales numbers.
I’m a big DC fan and I love what there’s doing right now. I think the digital move is brilliant and I’ll be buying a lot of DC digital books a month. That being said, for the reasons above I won’t be purchasing any digital books until November. It’s probably going to be December before we get any sales numbers we can draw any real conclusions from.
September 8th, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Can someone explain why every article on Blog@ is written by the same guy now? It’s more than a little frustrating and I really miss the coverage of other folks. It’s actually making me want to read Blog@ less. And I’ve already stopped reading the regular ‘rama site about a year ago.
September 9th, 2011 at 10:45 am
My core titles will be catwoman, detective, red hood, night wing and suicide squad which il buying print, any other titles I’ll try out in digital – I really like this zahedan digital thing!
September 9th, 2011 at 10:46 am
*same day lol autocorrect on iPad sucks lol
September 9th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
You do realize that both the Marvel and DC apps were just rebranded Comixology apps, right? With limitations on which bits of the store they could show (well, I suppose in Marvel’s case it’s gone the OTHER way – you can now shop for Marvel comics in the basic Comixology app instead of needing the Marvel specific one). If I recall correctly, you could even buy Marvel comics in the Marvel app then READ them in the regular app once you bought them. Frankly, now that you can buy Marvel from the main app I’m surprised anyone downloads the publisher-specific apps.
September 28th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
The DC app not being downloaded as much as Marvel—the week that the Justice League came out. Well, I’m sure—like me, folks downloaded the DC app a few months ago. Marvel’s WAY behind in the digital world. And more ridiculously expensive too. I’m fairly certain that if digital sales are all shown to the public, DC will be blowing away Marvel’s numbers. thing is, the big two are scared to let the retailers see the digital numbers.
December 7th, 2011 at 9:01 am
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Check it out:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/archie-comiclab/id441164492?mt=8
Contest- submissions due December 31,2011:
http://bitesizedcandy.com/archie/
December 15th, 2011 at 8:13 am
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