ComiXology To Become A Subsidiary Of Amazon
According to the ComiXology Tumblr, the digital comics company will become a part of Amazon's ever-growing media empire sometime in the second quarter of 2014, which would mean before the end of June.
The news is a pretty big surprise. Though there have been a few rumblings about a possible acquisition over the past few weeks, they were not much more than rumors. Now, it appears to all be a done deal.
“ComiXology’s mission is to spread the love of comics and graphic novels in all forms," ComiXology CEO David Steinberger said in the company's post. “There is no better home for comiXology than Amazon to see this vision through. Working together, we look to accelerate a new age for comic books and graphic novels.”
Steinberger also noted in an open letter on the ComiXology website that, "ComiXology will retain its identity as an Amazon subsidiary," which indicates it won't be renamed.
The post notes that the terms of the sale aren't being disclosed. Nor does it discuss any changes to leadership, staffing, ComiXology's business operations, or creator compensation that could result from the acquisition.
David Naggar, Amazon's vice president of content acquisition and independent publishing, said, “We’ve long admired the passion comiXology brings to changing the way we buy and read comics and graphic novels. We look forward to investing in the business, growing the team, and together, bringing comics and graphic novels to even more readers.”
Amazon has been dipping its toes into digital comics for some time now. In September 2012, the company's Amazon Studios launched a digital comics imprint with the hopes of turning comics into movies.
ComiXology, meanwhile, has been touting its success in recent months. In January, Apple announced it was the top-grossing non-game app for the iPad, and in September, ComiXology announced that users had downloaded more than 200 million comics on the platform since its launch in 2007.
In many ways, ComiXology emerged as the winner of the digital comics format war when Graphicly got out of the digital comics business back in April 2012.
We'll update this story as we learn more about just what this will mean for the world of digital comics.