Amazon’s overhaul of Comixology ignites concern from comic creators and readers
This week Amazon, launched a new app for its digital comics platform, Comixology, and a new Amazon-native online storefront that will eventually replace Comixology’s browser-based store and reader. But the new changes have alarmed both users and creators.
Long-time Comixology users have taken to social media to list all the ways the new web and app user experience represents a step backward from what they’re used to. Chief among the many complaints is a new web reader that doesn’t display double page spreads correctly, has removed creator credits from book listings on the storefront, and lacks both panel-by-panel and zoom functions, rendering most comics in illegibly small images.
Dear God. This is a disaster. Comixology's reader is going away, so as of next week here are my options to read comics on desktop. There is no two-page view. There is no zoom. I have not altered these pictures aside from markup. Witness the work of the great J. H. Williams III. pic.twitter.com/8rFzaOSO16
Things Amazon has gutted from Comixology, for zero end-user gain: — DRM Free downloads — Subscriptions outside the US — In-Browser Reading — Submit — LITERALLY AN ENTIRE FUNCTIONAL WEBSITE — Probably a lot of jobs
Think it's impressive that certain comics piracy sites will actively now have more fucking functionality than Amazon comics now that they're folding Comixology
When Amazon bought Comixology in 2014, it largely left the digital comics giant alone, other than eliminating in-app purchases on the platform. Comixology is unrivaled in its space, to the point of holding a near monopoly on access to digital comics from American publishers — it’s the primary digital store for the likes of Image Comics, BOOM Studios, and more.
The new
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