AppleInsider Staff
After being purchased by Amazon in April, popular iOS comic book app comiXology on Monday announced its "Summer Reading List" campaign that gives users 20 free comics over the course of 20 days.
As noted by TechHive, comiXology is already one day into its summertime promotion, but new and existing users can still take advantage of 19 free comics to be released in as many days.
The first comic, DC #871 "Batman — The Black Mirror Part 1, was released on Monday, while today's freebie is a special digital edition of Gold Key's "Magnus: Robot Fighter." The company will continue to announce new titles through June 14, when the promotion is scheduled to end.
ComiXology ruffled some feathers in April when it discontinued its longtime Comics iOS app, which effectively removed in-app purchasing from the title. Instead of paying Apple's usual 30 percent commission fee, parent company Amazon released a new version of the app that forces users to make purchases through Safari.
At the time, the comiXology offered existing account holders a $5 gift card to switch over to the new app, which was last updated on May 6.
Monday's summer promotion is the latest bid from comiXology to gain a fresh user base after Amazon bought the company in April. It was speculated that Comics' unique "Guided View" technology for reading made-for-print comics would be integrated into Amazon's Kindle ecosystem.
Alongside its proprietary comic reading tech, ComiXology is responsible for digital copies of content from a wide range of publishers including Marvel and DC Comics. In addition, the company holds exclusive iOS content rights to major titles like "The Walking Dead."
Malcolm Owen
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20 Comments
POUNCE!
Thanks for the heads up AI.
No thank you. By removing the ability to purchase content through iTunes, they've lost me as a customer.
Amazon really messed up a good app.
I've heard nothing less than across the board criticism of the change to the purchasing experience they've instituted.
No Thanks.
Amazon is the sort of company that will spend 40% of the sales price in marketing activities to avoid a 30% cut through the platform that effortlessly delivers them customers. Worse, they'll then squeeze the content creators and license holders to make up the difference, and then some. This tactic is only available to those who hold a monopoly. Amazon's treatment of vendors is not what we want to see in comics, the idea that Amazon will artificially hold back new or existing titles to negotiate a fraction of a penny in shareholder value is repugnant. If they were legitimately interested in serving customers, they'd negotiate without harming the content creators and customers who can't get what they want. The savings Amazon negotiate are negligible to the end customer and only serve to offset their monopolistic undercutting activities. We all know what is better at putting money in the bank. It's not switching off potential sales streams as a negotiation tactic.