On Wednesday afternoon, July 17, 2019, just hours before Preview Night opened the 50th anniversary of San Diego Comic-Con International, ComiXology held a press conference to commemorate their ten-year mission to create fans around the world for comics, graphic novels, trade paperbacks, and manga.
Co-founder and President David Steinberger opened up the press event by sharing historical statistics from when ComiXology first introduced digital comics to the industry in 2003 and how the company has experienced growth three times over since then. Steinberger stated that the growth has revealed three trends: (1) a demographic shift to younger readers; (2) a resurgence of manga; and (3) a readership population motivated by “value” of reading over collecting comics as an investment. Today, ComiXology has over 25,000 titles in their digital library, including over 1,000 complete series.
ComiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited, and Amazon Prime Reading members have access to ComiXology Originals, a line of new exclusive content that is available the day it ships. Head of Content and Senior Director of Communications Chip Mosher took the stage to share important new titles and the creative teams behind them. Titles discussed included:
- Eisner-nominated action adventure, The Stone King, written by Kel McDonald and illustrated by Tyler Crook
- Kodasnsha Comics’ epic manga series, Initial D, written/illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno, now available for the first time in English
- The highly anticipated young adult graphic novel, Adora and the Distance, created/written by Marc Bernardin (who was inspired by his daughter), illustrated by Ariela Kristantina, and edited by Will Dennis
- Promethee 13:13, a prequel written by Andy Diggle, and based on Christophe Bec’s 19-volume sci-fi French series; Shawn Martinbrough (artist), Dave Steward (colors), Jock (cover artist), and Will Dennis (editor) round out the creative team.
Mosher also announced popular titles that will be returning for a second season, such as Richard Starkings’ sci-fi series, Elephantman, Joe Glass’ The Pride, Jim Zub (writer) and Max Dunbar’s (artist) Stone Star, and another Starkings title, the fantasy horror series, Ask for Mercy, with art by Abigail Jill Harding.
Finishing up the event, Mosher introduced Chip Zdarsky, who has rebranded himself as the “serious writer” and fielded questions about his new five-issue series, Afterlift. Illustrated by Jason Loo, this action/horror story follows the downward spiral of a ride-share driver whose mysterious passengers bring new meaning to emotional baggage: otherworldly forces that take a bad day straight to hell. This title will be available on November 1 and concluded ComiXology’s press event.
