Dark Horse Comes to Hoopla With Hundreds of Titles

The Dark Horse Comics catalog is an incredibly extensive and diverse collection of books ranging from sci-fi to horror and manga to fantasy and everything between. Since it was founded in 1986, Dark Horse has been home to the likes of Hellboy, Aliens, Sin City, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Astro Boy, Blacksad, and a host of other fan-favorite characters and franchises. Now all those stories can be found at your public library thanks to a new deal with Hoopla, which will see 125 different Dark Horse trades and collections added to its catalog this week, with 900 planned by the end of the year.

If you don’t know, Hoopla is a digital/streaming service that’s partnered with thousands of public libraries across the US to offer library members access to music, movies, books and comics through your mobile device. A month ago, Hoopla added Image Comics to its service, which already included DC and Vertigo, as well as IDW Publishing and Boom Studios offerings. Adding Dark Horse now means there will be close to 4000 comics alone within the app for you to borrow from the digital library.

Now, we did spend some time with the app when the Image deal was announced, and it’s quite serviceable, even if it’s not up to the standards established by the likes of Comixology. Even Dark Horse’s own mobile app offers a bit more functionality, however it doesn’t have nearly as many free titles for users to take advantage of reading. Even though Hoopla’s services are free, the app does come with the price of losing out on certain features and the high-definition offered from commercial digital comic apps.

You can see if your public library is compatible with Hoopla right here, and check out the full list of Dark Horse titles through the app itself. We’ve also included the full press release from Hoopla about the Dark Horse deal.

HOLLAND, Ohio (Sept. 30, 2015) – hoopla digital (hoopladigital.com), the category-creating mobile and online service for public libraries, today announced a new deal with Dark Horse Comics, publisher of best-selling creator-owned properties. With the agreement, hoopla digital’s app and online service adds iconic titles including Mike Mignola’s demon action-thriller, Hellboy and fictional government intelligence saga, B.P.R.D.;Joss Whedon’s supernatural vampire drama, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and Frank Miller’s neo-noir suspense, Sin City.

Dark Horse Comics titles and more are now available for patrons to access instantly on hoopla digital’s app and online service via their smartphones, tablets and computers.

The addition of Dark Horse Comics titles broadens hoopla digital’s catalog of more than 380,000 movies, TV shows, music albums, eBooks, audiobooks and comics. hoopla digital partners with public libraries across North America to provide patrons with online and mobile access to dynamic digital content. The service’s catalogue includes titles from DC Comics, Image Comics, and BOOM! Comics, to name a few.

“We are thrilled to partner with Dark Horse Comics to bring Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other iconic titles to patrons of participating libraries anytime, without any holds or waits,” said Jeff Jankowski, founder and owner of hoopla digital. “We developed hoopla’s Action Viewtechnology especially for comic book fans to enjoy the artistry of these stories on a mobile device.”

hoopla digital’s innovative Action View creates one-of-a-kind immersive digital reading by allowing for full page and panel-by-panel views of comics and illustrations.

“Many of our biggest fans grew up reading comics they found at the public library,” said Mark Bernardi, Dark Horse Comics’ Director of Digital Publishing. “Our partnership with hoopla digital not only enables us to offer comics digitally to a new generation of library patrons, but to showcase the artistry of our comics through technology that makes the experience just as captivating and intimate as reading a physical comic book.”

There is no waiting to borrow titles on hoopla digital since on-demand content can be enjoyed by multiple patrons simultaneously. Patrons who use hoopla digital also avoid library late fees as digital content borrowing periods simply expire without charges.

“With our partner libraries growing across North America, we’re constantly looking for new ways to evolve and expand our content offerings and comic books are high on that list,” continued Jankowski. “Patron reception to our new comics offering has been overwhelmingly positive, with thousands of titles being circulated every week, and we want to continue to offer dynamic content when and how patrons want it.”

 

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated all 900 titles would be available through Hoopla at launch. There will be 900 titles available by the end of 2015, with 125 arriving in the first week.