JOSH BLAYLOCK: INTRODUCING PULLBOX ONLINE

[MattBrady]

Wowio was the first service to make a big splash with the idea, and today, Pullbox Online has thrown its hat into the ring as a means of delivering comics to readers via the internet.

The endeavor is operated by Josh Blaylock and we caught up with him for more about the site, its contents, and its delivery method.

Newsarama: To begin with Josh, what was the impetus for starting up Pullbox Online?

Josh Blaylock: It's something people have approached me about for the past few years or so, but no one has been able to quite hit the nail on the head. At first, the technology just wasn't there yet, nor enough of a demand for the content. Now there are thousands of people downloading comics, and it's only going to grow exponentially with technological advances.

It was Chris Crank who really pointed out to me how large the community of downloaders was getting, and helped kick things into gear to get started on the project. Chris is behind one of the most popular growing podcasts in comics, the Crankcast, and is in charge of Computer Operations for Devil's Due Productions, and now lead developer for PullboxOnline.com

NRAMA: How long have you been working on it?

JB: Discussions started about six months ago, and production not long after. While everyone else was talking about doing something, we really wanted to have a working model before going around and pitching the thing to companies. We knew we could put the DDP library on there, but that is thinking way too small - it's all about a larger amount of quality content.

NRAMA: With downloading comics, both legally and illegally, there seems to be a "format war" going on between pdf and CBR formats. You hit both, right? Will people need anything special to read these comics?

JB: Pullbox offers both PDF and CBR formats. It was going to contain CBZ, but CBR seems to be taking over. Almost everyone can read PDF files with a simple image viewing program or Adobe Acrobat, but a lot of readers prefer to view through special comic book reader software popular in the download community. I'm not an expert in that area, though, so I leave that to the tech gurus. I'm a PDF guy.

NRAMA: Are these formats compatible with other media viewers/players, such as ipods, PSP, phones, etc?

JB: For now our mantra is simple simple simple. We're offering the PDFs and the CBZ files, and if anyone has a portable device that can read that, then yes, but as far as iPods and PSPs, probably not for a while. We want people to come to the site and be able to tell exactly where to go and what to do.

Everyone's trying to make everything too complicated with special animation on the balloons, animated "page turning" features, etc. If someone wants to see animated content, there's a hell of a lot more places to go online for that. People who are downloading comics just want to read a comic, not be distracted by something that makes the reading experience more complicated.

As our online community grows, and PDF reader technology explodes with gadgets like the new Sony device coming out soon, we'll be expanding our offerings to encompass as many formats as possible. Who knows, in 5 years we may not even be using PDFs, but some new format that doesn't exist yet.

NRAMA: Do the specific formats allow for any type of rights management or security? That is, if a guy from Hoboken downloads Loaded Bible, can he then share it with friends?

JB: We are not going to overload the site with tedious DRM features. After a lot of consideration and study, it was decided that it's more important for Pullbox to be the easiest place to download a comic. We want to embrace the currently existing online community of downloaders, not exclude them. Most of these communities are looking for a cheap legal alternative and we're providing it.

People are already sending them around via scans from print comics, so if they're determined to do that they're going to do it anyway. And to be frank, if Pullbox can sell 10,000 downloads of a title and reach a new audience, we don't care if 100,000 people are reading that same product. That will just make us try to get the circulation up to 1,000,000 so we can be selling 100,000 downloads.

This is how iTunes captured the Napster market when they first debuted. They had much more lax DRM features than they do now, and closely resembled the methods for downloading music that millions of people were used to. We're the website closest to the comic book downloading networks currently out there, with the highest quality products.

NRAMA: That said, what's your base price for a single issue?

JB: 99¢ is the magic number!

Prices for regular 22 page story comics - typically a 32 page print book - are 99¢ across the board. Right now there are 48 page books on sale for 99¢ as well. Trade paperbacks can range from $3.99 to $5.99, and we'll soon be adding a feature that allows the buyer to download multiple issues one at a time but get the trade paperback price.

NRAMA: That said, your base (not 99-cent sale) price is about half the cover price. Is it safe to say that, at least for the books here, that half of the cover price at the store is made up from distribution, printing, retailer costs, etc?

JB: Exactly. A publisher really only makes about 75¢ a book for a $2.95 product after deducting all of the costs associated with it. That's not counting the loss of overstock that never sells. Also, it's not like anyone's discontinuing to print the books, so there's really nothing to lose with the downloads. It's gravy!

NRAMA: How is this working with licensed properties? You have some - Voltron, Family Guy, etc, but not others - GI Joe, namely. Why some, but not all?

JB: Pretty simply, Fox and World Events were cool with it, and Hasbro didn't feel comfortable granting those rights. This is not a DDP site, though, and while Pullbox would love to have the entire DDP library, the operation is more than thrilled to have brands like Family Guy on board which can be promoted to anyone on the web and get immediate attention.

We are also in discussion with IDW about offering more of its licensed titles, as well as other publishers. Maybe DDP will be able to offer its complete library to Pullbox someday, but the website is focused on growing far beyond one specific series or company product. On a side note, Universal has approved Chucky for download sales, and RA Salvatore has approved DemonWars - both will be released by DDP and added to Pullbox.

NRAMA: But still – and obviously, the entire GI Joe comic library online would be quite a coup and a draw - is that something you're working on or fighting for?

JB: No, if it's offered to us at a later date we'd be thrilled, but it's not anything we're pursuing. It's already hard enough to keep up with the amount of content coming in as is.

NRAMA: What effect do you think this will have, a) on your print titles, and b) on your properties overall? Could you see a revival of, say, your superhero line?

JB: I think this is great for print titles and the sale of trade paperbacks. Think of the most common scenario for hundreds of independent series out there that fail. As a customer, you see something at the store you like, and pick it up. After two issues, you're hooked. Suddenly, you can't find issue #3, and then when issue #4 comes out, you're not sure what's going on. Then you never even know if issue #5 comes out. Now, if you can't find issue #3, you can easily go read it online for 99¢, and continue to collect the print series. I think the downloads are going to help a lot of new series succeed. Likewise, this is where you will see a surprising number of traditional "paper" collectors downloading who never thought they'd partake in it. Grant it, they'll be the smaller portion of the customer base, but they'll be out there.

This is even more powerful marketing for trade paperback sales. Even readers who have never collected comics before, who don't care about the whole bag and board tradition, still like to own the physical product. Readers who collect a series solely online will look forward to purchasing the trade paperbacks, and will help that category of the printing business continue to grow. The online comic strip trend has already proved this with books such as MegaTokyo and Penny Arcade.

NRAMA: So what’ve you got so far online?

JB: Currently we have DDP titles, including Family Guy, a selection of IDW books including Zombies: Feaste and Desperadoes, which will be coming soon, Jim Mahfood's Grrl Scouts and Stupid Comics, and a number of books from other creators and publishers currently wrapping up negotiations, including Steve Rude. Anyone interested in contacting the site to discuss joining the catalog may contact info@pullboxonline.com

NRAMA: What are your expectations for this service, both an in terms of volume of downloads and as a revenue source?

JB: Being such a new medium, there's not many ways to predict it. If we're asked three months from now, after there's been a chance to track the data and response to ads, we'll be able to give a better estimate, but the potential is limitless. For the first time a massive ad campaign such as television commercials, MySpace ads, and even street advertising can have a huge direct impact on the sale of the books. That's never been able to work in the past because the content was too hard for customers to find.

NRAMA: What are you looking at in terms of amping up the number of titles available? Weekly additions? Monthly?

JB: As our categories grow, new additions will be added every Wednesday, continuing in the tradition of the comic reading community. As a side note, we will not be releasing any titles before the print version hits, unless we are offering an online only version of a product. In the beginning, though, readers are encouraged to check in more frequently as we may be adding to the catalog throughout various days of the week.

[Charlie Hustle]

wow didn't know the community of downloaders was that big, i guess i just like having the books in my hands.

[The_Adventurer]

Interesting, and at those prices I'm actually interested in checking out some titles. 99 cents is a good price for "previewing" a series I'm on the edge out.

[c_andrew_s]

I love this. I am a huge fan of this distribution method.

[JimShelley]

This sounds awesome! They offer CBR format!

Wonder if I can submit my Flashback Universe comics to them? It would save me on Server Bandwidth which is starting to get a little out of control... (I have had over 5,000 downloads so far...)

[transmetro]

Originally Posted by Charlie Hustle

wow didn't know the community of downloaders was that big, i guess i just like having the books in my hands.

I agree. I'd much rather have the book in my hands then read it off my computer screen.

[Dr. Crane]

Downloadable comics? Who the hell wants to read comics sitting at their computer? Obviously there's a market out there somewhere for that. I just have a problem with all this. Pretty soon we'll be able to download everything... what next?!

It's just not the same as having the real thing in your hands.
Pullbox advertises "download your FAVORITE (????) comics online." Sorry, none of these are my favorite - they're sub-par titles no one cares about (Family Guy? ...please).

I hope this whole ridiculous concept eventually gets squashed.

But whatever, I'm not a downloader... I enjoy that CD, DVD, comic in my hands. Thank-you very much.

[TheFoo]

I'll be given this a shot.

[The_Adventurer]

It's not ridiculous, people just fear change.

And yes, there are still signifigent pros to printed comics. Mostly because there is no easy way to transport digital comics to read on the road, yet.

But ultimately the future is digital, getting the kinks out now is just paving the way for that future.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

There's an insanely large marketplace of illegal comics out there in CBR format. I think Rich Johnston has the number pegged at 80 or 90% of all Marvel and DC comics are available to download somewhere on the web.

People like reading their comics this way.

Yes, I'd prefer a print version, also, but that's not always available. And, in some cases, it's nicer to sample something for a dollar on-line before laying out the cash for the trade or hopping on board the regular series. Josh's attitude towards this market is dead on -- make reading comics on-line easier legally than it is illegally, and people will do it. You can't ever destroy the pirates. So beat them at their own game. There are honest people out there. I wish him luck with this.

-Augie

[CthulhuDragon]

I'm impressed they chose to go with an easy to use, DRM-less format like CBR. PDF is too bloated for me, so it's nice to have an alternative. The CBR readers are easy to use and fairly feature complete.

If they ever add any titles I'm interested in I would give this a shot.

[Effect]

I agree there is a huge community of downloaders and like said it's going to happen no matter what. The best you can do is try to adapt to it. That's what iTunes did and look how it's grown now. With a comic you have to take out the price of publishing and shipping and that drops the price down.

99 cent for a song that averages 3 to 5 minutes isn't bad at all. Most comics only take that long to read anyway so why not charge the same price. A lot of effort is put into both anyway. CDs are still sold in stories and comics most likely will be as well. By offering this format I think it will get people to pick up the trade when its out so they can read while traveling instead of having to take. They key here I think is to get more people to read comics easily in general and then the sales will come as a result. Music on the radio works to the same idea I believe, which is why it's free. You get masses to hear the songs and enough people will like it enough to get the single or the album CD.

This almost has to be done I think for the comic industry to stay healthy. While music stores are easy to find comic stores are not and they most likely will never be easy to find again outside of an act of God. Either the adapt to downloading, start releasing magazines with comics (ala Manga weekly books in Japan), or released more TPBs in bookstores and get those stores to increase their selection. You just have to get comics out to as many people as possible. Like said the downloading is huge and a lot of those people would be willing to pay to download to have official versions cause access to comics just aren't there. Online ordering usually isn't worth it when it comes to price (shipping, etc) if you just want one or two comics and the wait for TPB is to long.

[saiyanspider]

Originally Posted by transmetro

I agree. I'd much rather have the book in my hands then read it off my computer screen.

yeah I wonder when they will invent a button that when pressed will send PDFs to a printer? hmmmmm?

[saiyanspider]

Originally Posted by Augie De Blieck Jr.

There's an insanely large marketplace of illegal comics out there in CBR format. I think Rich Johnston has the number pegged at 80 or 90% of all Marvel and DC comics are available to download somewhere on the web.

People like reading their comics this way.

Yes, I'd prefer a print version, also, but that's not always available. And, in some cases, it's nicer to sample something for a dollar on-line before laying out the cash for the trade or hopping on board the regular series. Josh's attitude towards this market is dead on -- make reading comics on-line easier legally than it is illegally, and people will do it. You can't ever destroy the pirates. So beat them at their own game. There are honest people out there. I wish him luck with this.

-Augie

I agree, I love itunes, and as a matter of fact I bought two songs last night, and on payday I will buy the whole album. I much rather have some offical copy than some crap I got for free. I agree with the old saying, you get what you pay for.

[saiyanspider]

I hope down the line, when Pullbox grows there will be an itunes like program for downloading. Something about that appeals to me.

I'm very excited about this, I hope Udon's stuff will get added soon, while I doubt Marvel or DC will offer their content to pullbox, I can see Image maybe partnering with these guys, maybe even Darkhorse. I wish these guys the best of luck!!

[Effect]

Yes, I can finally get issue #11 of Voltron. I have all of it but that one before the series was stopped. I really hope Marvel and DC take part in this. Or even offer their own services. Maybe not their newest titles (wait a year or so for that) but a LOT of their old titles could be released this way. There are huge libraries of comics when it comes to DC and Marvel, stuff that is no longer in print or very hard to get unless backordered that could be put up. They could only be gaining money from this in a lot of cases, not losing it.

[McAlice]

Great news, I'm a big supporter of the format, just electronic paper to go and we're there

CBR all the way for those in the know

[cookiejar]

Originally Posted by transmetro

I agree. I'd much rather have the book in my hands then read it off my computer screen.

I wholeheartedly agree...

besides, my computer is hard to get into my comic sleeves, and the backing boards are practically worthless.


BTW...which sites are the best ones to manage your subscriptions? mile high? please let me know... looking to get away from the weekly trip to the store.

[JimShelley]

Dr. Crane said:

I hope this whole ridiculous concept eventually gets squashed.

Wow! Dude, feel free to read what you want, how you want, but why would anyone actively WANT a company to fail? Especially one that might end up helping the comics industry

[smitch]

I don't get it. Has zero appeal for me. And I'm only 28, not some anti-techno geezer...
Music I understand, but a static visual medium? Ah well, to each his own, but I suspect this is an extreme niche.

[prolix]

Originally Posted by Augie De Blieck Jr.

There's an insanely large marketplace of illegal comics out there in CBR format. I think Rich Johnston has the number pegged at 80 or 90% of all Marvel and DC comics are available to download somewhere on the web.

People like reading their comics this way.

Yes, I'd prefer a print version, also, but that's not always available. And, in some cases, it's nicer to sample something for a dollar on-line before laying out the cash for the trade or hopping on board the regular series. Josh's attitude towards this market is dead on -- make reading comics on-line easier legally than it is illegally, and people will do it. You can't ever destroy the pirates. So beat them at their own game. There are honest people out there. I wish him luck with this.

-Augie

Exactly. I like to hold the book in my hands but this beats the heck out of buying the first 3 issues to find out if it sucks or not...and saves trees!

[boxfish]

Finally someone gets it. You can't make the legal version of a product infinitely worse than the pirated version and expect people to flock in droves to purchase it. That's what DRM effectively does and that's why all these new video download services such as Amazon's have been a dismal failure. I will fully support this endevour with my money and I urge others to as well. Hopefully if they are successful they can get some better content!

[Effect]

It's about choice in the end I feel. Some people, a LOT of people don't have access to comic shops and online order can cost to much when you factor everything in. Then there is the huge downloading community that can't be stopped. It's not like they are going to force people to buy things online.

I like holding comics as well but it just isn't worth it for me a lot of the time unless I wait for TPBs or get them ordered.

Companies can only profit from this and make comics mainstream again. iTunes proves there is a market for services like this.

[Futtbuck]

99 cents versus 2.99?

Easy math there. If they can offer Marvel and DC, I would do it.

The amount I spend in a year on comics- saving 2 dollars a piece- I could buy a tablet PC and be able to read them on my couch, and no longer irritate my wife with stacks of longboxes and unread books.

I don't mind reading off a screen, but sitting at the desk, or hunching over the laptopn is a pain. Tablet's are nice, just undock the screen and take it anywhere.

[McAlice]

Originally Posted by smitch

I don't get it. Has zero appeal for me. And I'm only 28, not some anti-techno geezer...
Music I understand, but a visual medium? Ah well, to each his own, but I suspect this is an extreme niche.

I personally own digital copies of most of my books.
It's great to be able to sit on a 6 hour train journey and reread the whole of Tranmetropolitan.
I understand why certain people don't get it, but some of us do, quite a few from the circles I move in, and we all embraced it a while ago and love it