WOWIO TO DEBUT @ SDCC

[MattBrady]

Press Release

WOWIO, a new, York-based, online bookstore, will unveil the company’s free, downloadable comic book concept, WOWIO COMICS, at Comic-Con International: San Diego, July 20-23, 2006.

Founded by entrepreneur, author and comic book afficionado William Lidwell, WOWIO has contracted with numerous publishers to offer thousands of free, downloadable comic books by the end of this year.

Regis Maher II, president of WOWIO, says “Comic-Con is the ideal venue from which to introduce our company to the world. I believe Comic-Con’s hip, multi-genre audience will be especially receptive to our revolutionary idea of ‘eComics’ for free.”

WOWIO is able to offer comic books at no cost to the consumer by featuring paid, targeted advertisements in the material. The company plans to expand the concept by adding free, downloadable graphic novels and games to its inventory in the near future.

Comic book fans, industry personnel and publishers are invited to visit the

WOWIO booth, which is number 1115, at Comic-Con. Demonstrations on how to download WOWIO COMICS will be conducted throughout the convention. Attendees who register to join the company mailing list will receive a free comic book.

[N. Blownapart]

I like how X-men jumped up from 3.50 to 4.00 in the space of a panel. Art imitating life.

I know this is a pre-hype press release, but a little more concrete info wouldn't destroy their SDCC presentation. If the service isn't incredibly crippled, I may just switch from those other "free" online comics.

[Dreighton]

Founded by entrepreneur, author and comic book afficionado William Lidwell, WOWIO has contracted with numerous publishers to offer thousands of free, downloadable comic books by the end of this year.


I hope this works. With the price of hard copy comics going up, and the quality going down, I hope this succeeds. There are a lot of comics and characters, I would like to check out, and keep up with, but I'm not too crazy about paying $3 a pop to do so.

It will be interesting to see how this effects comics, and collecting comics in the future if this works....will it drive people to buy hard copies of stuff, they like on line? (I think it will) Will it drive publishers to focus online as their hard copy sales gets smaller and smaller? Will this reach a new comics audience, as the old fans slowly drift away? Will it reach old fans that have drifted away for one reason or another, and pull them back in?

Anyway...hope this succeeds!
Dreighton

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by N. Blownapart

I like how X-men jumped up from 3.50 to 4.00 in the space of a panel. Art imitating life.

really?

Which X-Men book currently on the market is 3.50 that has now jumped to 4.00?

[N. Blownapart]

Originally Posted by Blind Assassin

really?

Which X-Men book currently on the market is 3.50 that has now jumped to 4.00?

I dunno ask a Canadian. But I was commenting on the quickness on which the prices rise, not on the actual prices themselves. There now, up to speed?

[TerryX]

Gayest couple in a comic strip ever.

TerryX

[Blind Assassin]

I agree with N. Blownapart (nice screen name! ) in that this is a pre-event hype press release with little or no information.

WOWIO has contracted with numerous publishers to offer thousands of free, downloadable comic books by the end of this year.

What publishers? What comics?

What (if any) companies declined to be part of this service?

WOWIO is able to offer comic books at no cost to the consumer by featuring paid, targeted advertisements in the material.

I am not sure I understand that part....don't 'regular' comics feature paid, targeted advertisments in their books?? How is the above different from that?

I have to work the store next weekend, so I can't make it to the roll-out.

Does the company have a website that better explains its goals and how it will achieve them?

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by N. Blownapart

I dunno ask a Canadian. But I was commenting on the quickness on which the prices rise, not on the actual prices themselves. There now, up to speed?

now that you actually explained it, yes.

The way you initially wrote, it was kind of crappily worded.

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by TerryX

Gayest couple in a comic strip ever.

TerryX

Hate to be an uppity gay man, but what about that 'couple' makes them 'gay'?

[N. Blownapart]

Originally Posted by Blind Assassin

Hate to be an uppity gay man, but what about that 'couple' makes them 'gay'?

I think he meant "gayest" as in happy that the comics are free. Another mark against your reading comprehension. (I keed, I keed )

[TerryX]

What, you think you have the market cornered on being gay? Those two desperately need to get a room. lol.

If it will make you feel better then you can use the meaning that Blownapart pointed out.

TerryX

[JimShelley]

Wow - I'm having a mixed reaction to this news.

On one hand, I'm happy because I like the idea of downloadable comics.

On the other hand, I'm a little disappointed, because I thought my Flashback Universe was going to be the first thing like this. :\

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by TerryX

What, you think you have the market cornered on being gay? Those two desperately need to get a room. lol.

If it will make you feel better then you can use the meaning that Blownapart pointed out.

TerryX

I was more interested in how you meant it, not how I, or others interpreted it.

and no, I don't think I have the market cornered on being gay.

I just hate when I see people go 'that's the gayest thing ever', or other comments in the fashion that you mentioned it.

Whenever I see it, I ask them what they meant. That way I don't get the wrong impression of them.

your remark that they 'desperately need to get a room' is very telling.

I didn't see that at all, so maybe I am missing some hidden context in the panels....?

[TerryX]

Ok, on a more serious note. I don't care for the idea because of the potential to put comic shops out of business. The guy in the comic strip can afford to buy a laptop computer and have internet, but not to buy comics. That is lame. I prefer hard copy comics myself, printing them onto paper off the printer just would not be the same.

TerryX

[TerryX]

Originally Posted by Blind Assassin

your remark that they 'desperately need to get a room' is very telling.

That was a joke. Not a slam or hating remark. Dude, free your mind. (<--another joke)

TerryX

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by TerryX

Ok, on a more serious note. I don't care for the idea because of the potential to put comic shops out of business. The guy in the comic strip can afford to buy a laptop computer and have internet, but not to buy comics. That is lame. I prefer hard copy comics myself, printing them onto paper off the printer just would not be the same.

TerryX

Ha ha ha.


good point.


I was talking to a kid today who said he can't wait for the Civil War trade.

I said "why don't you get the single issues?"

he said "I can't afford them."

My response was "But you can afford a trade???"



Cost of comics is a dicey thing.

I have noticed that books that come out with a 3.50 price tag as of late really don't move. Despite being a #1 issue.

If this company can get people interested in checking out other books, I am all for it.

But, as a manager of a comic shop, I will be watching this very closely in regard to sales down the road.

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by TerryX

That was a joke. Not a slam or hating remark.

TerryX

No worries, terry.

don't mind me.

With all this anti-gay marriage stuff in the news, its getting me down on a personal level (my hubby and I are about to celebrate our 1 year anniversary in Mass. on 8/12, and I think I am a bit 'over sensitive'. I didn't mean to jump on you....(so to speak. )

[TerryX]

Originally Posted by Blind Assassin

No worries, terry.

don't mind me.

With all this anti-gay marriage stuff in the news, its getting me down on a personal level (my hubby and I are about to celebrate our 1 year anniversary in Mass. on 8/12, and I think I am a bit 'over sensitive'. I didn't mean to jump on you....(so to speak. )

It's all good. We are all comic lovers here and ultimately want what is best for our fav hobby.

TerryX

[Fxdx522]

I am actually really excited for this. Where someone else may have stated "What comics? What publishers?", I think it really doesn't matter. With the opportunity to follow a series with no finacial risk, material that may have never found it's audience now has a shining chance. Books will speak for themselves, and, although I will admit I read mostly and am a huge of DC, indie publishers may finally be able to give the big two serious competition.
What books, What publishers? Who cares? Free Comics!!!

[N. Blownapart]

Originally Posted by TerryX

Ok, on a more serious note. I don't care for the idea because of the potential to put comic shops out of business. The guy in the comic strip can afford to buy a laptop computer and have internet, but not to buy comics. That is lame. I prefer hard copy comics myself, printing them onto paper off the printer just would not be the same.

TerryX

Why yes, laptops have no function other than entertainment. Not like comic books, they're good for so many uses.

I have 2 laptops and a tablet monitor, but I can barely afford the few comics I do buy. Of course I only use my laptops for posting at Newsarama so I consider those the better investment.

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by Fxdx522

I am actually really excited for this. Where someone else may have stated "What comics? What publishers?", I think it really doesn't matter. With the opportunity to follow a series with no finacial risk, material that may have never found it's audience now has a shining chance. Books will speak for themselves, and, although I will admit I read mostly and am a huge of DC, indie publishers may finally be able to give the big two serious competition.
What books, What publishers? Who cares? Free Comics!!!

The reason I asked, is that I am wondering if 'the big two' opted out of this.

The recent question asked of both DC and Marvel about 'downloadable comics' got two polar opposite answers from each company.

In light of that, I was wondering which books these companies may offer for download, if any.


I agree, that more exposure to titles that people normally wouldn't check out is a good thing....

so, the idea of offering free books.....I have a lot of questions...

*are these going to be 'first issues' only?
*will you publish older books that aren't in print (I'd love to see some Milly the Model and Night Nurse, or the early 50's Kirby Sci Fi/Monster work that wasn't included in that Marvel Masterworks book?)
*have you contacted 'self publishers' and 'web sales only' comic creators about getting their work out there (which isn't being carried by Diamond?)

It was wanting more info and asking question because I am interested, not because I was bashing the project.

Also, as a retailer, I am curious as to how this type of thing will impact our store, which is a valid concern. The owner just celebrated 17 years in business this year (I have only been here two years) and I would like to have 17 more.

We have had to adapt the store a bit, but business has been up. If this type of thing can help us continue that, then great.

[TerryX]

Originally Posted by N. Blownapart

Why yes, laptops have no function other than entertainment. Not like comic books, they're good for so many uses.

I have 2 laptops and a tablet monitor, but I can barely afford the few comics I do buy. Of course I only use my laptops for posting at Newsarama so I consider those the better investment.

Having only my desktop at home, I still manage to squander alot of money on comics. Between playing Runescape and work and a multitude of other things, my comics mostly pile up and it takes me forever to get to actually reading them. But I still get to my LCS every wednesday to add to the pile.

TerryX

[Blind Assassin]

This is where my job comes in handy.

I am required to read many books from many different publishers so that when customers have a question, I am able to answer it honestly, and with knowledge.

If I haven't read something, I don't lie. I always will say "I don't read/havent' read that book"

Recently, I have found myself branching into manga. It was/is my weak spot here, because I never read any, even with so much of it here.

But I finally found the right book(s) and am following 2 manga books now, and just picked up a 3rd title to try this week.


(and , I get an employee discount on what I buy, so I am VERY lucky)

[JimShelley]

My questions for this company are:

What format? CBR, Acrobat, Flash or proprietary?

When are they launching?

What titles are the going to have?

Will the comics be *locked* so you can't copy them to another pc or laptop?

How do I get in on the action?

[Blind Assassin]

Originally Posted by CapVsBats

How do I get in on the action?

"operators are standing by....."