Digital December: IDW Launches Digital Graphic Novels on the iTunes App Store [Exclusive]

Last week, during our interview, Jeff Webber, IDW's Director - ePublishing, mentioned that IDW had plans for bundles of digital comics. At the time, however, Webber couldn't expand on his point and promised some news "within the next month." Luckily for us, we're getting the news sooner, rather than later. Today, ComicsAlliance has the exclusive announcement of IDW's Digital Graphic Novel initiative. These are full-page adaptations of IDW's books available exclusively on Apple's iPad, and currently priced between five and ten dollars.Other than a few notable exceptions, mainly The Walking Dead and Atomic Robo, digital comics generally take the form of a traditional floppy comic book: 22 pages of story. While this is a commonly accepted format, it isn't the ideal one for digital books. Part of the beauty of digital comics is that you can read a lot all at once, without worrying about space, weight, or digging into longboxes. Long-form digital comics, whether in the form of graphic novels or otherwise, are definitely going to be a part of the future of comics.

IDW's Digital Graphic Novels are an interesting stab in that direction. Rather than the panel by panel view that most digital comics use right now, the DGNs are taking advantage of the iPad's increased screen size to present the comics in a way that comes the closest to emulating how we read comics. We see the full page before we see the panels, and the impact of each panel is therefore exactly as its creator intended.

The price point, and the fact that the books come as individual apps, are similarly interesting choices. Digital Graphic Novels being individual apps makes them searchable in the App Store, which isn't possible with books that are located within an umbrella app. For full-size books, meaning longer than pamphlet form, five to ten dollars is a pretty reasonable price. It's in the same price range as mass market paperbacks and overall cheaper than the print release, despite including all of the same content as the printed book.

IDW is currently planning to release new Digital Graphic Novels every Tuesday alongside their other digital offerings. As part of this inaugural launch, we have codes for a free copy of Bloom County, Parker: The Hunter, Parker: The Outfit, Tribes, and After the Fire to give away to a few lucky winners. Tell us about your favorite graphic novels in the comments, no matter the publishing company, and we'll pick out five winners.

San Diego, CA (December 17, 2010) – Leaping ahead in the world of digital books, IDW Publishing is proud to announce its line of digital graphic novels, now available exclusively for the Apple iPadTM. Digital Graphic Novels launched this week with six graphic novels, including Darwyn Cooke's award-winning THE HUNTER and THE OUTFIT, and BLOOM COUNTY: THE COMPLETE LIBRARY VOLUME ONE. Each book contains all the material found in the print editions, all spectacularly formatted for full page reading on the iPad.

"This is an exciting way for us to reach yet another new audience," stated Jeff Webber, Director of ePublishing. "We are continually working to bring out our books in a variety of formats. Our comic storefront apps, such as IDW Comics, are focused on single issues and appeal most to readers who want to collect entire series. These new Digital Graphic Novel apps are complete stories that appeal to fans of the brand who might not be familiar with the comics, much the same way as trades and hardbound collections are discovered at large book retailers."

Available as individual applications through iTunes, each digital graphic novel has been specifically formatted to optimize reading on the iPad. The iTunes gift features makes these novels perfect gifts for anyone with an iPad, or those lucky enough to be getting one for the holidays. To gift an iPad app, readers can tap the arrow next to the "Buy" button and follow the prompts.

This week, the Digital Graphic Novels line offers the STAR TREK MOVIE ADAPTATION, TRIBES: THE DOG YEARS, and the "direct to digital" original AFTER THE FIRE, in addition to the books listed above. IDW will release new Digital Graphic Novels on a regular basis.

Parker: The Hunter is now available from iTunes for $7.99. Click here to download from iTunes.

Parker: The Outfit is now available from iTunes for $9.99. Click here to download from iTunes.

The Bloom County Library Vol. 1 is now available from iTunes for $7.99. Click here to download from iTunes.

Tribes the Dog Years is now available from iTunes for $7.99. Click here to download from iTunes.

After the Fire is now available from the App Store for $4.99. Click here to download.

IDW digital comics are available on more mobile devices and platforms than any other major publishers, including Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Sony PSP, Nokia Ovi Store, Amazon Kindle, AT&T, Blackberry and more to be announce in 2011.

Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books.

About IDW Publishing

IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro's The Transformers and G.I. JOE, Paramount's Star Trek; HBO's True Blood; the BBC's Doctor Who; and comics and trade collections based on novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studios; and is the print publisher for EA Comics and ComicMix.

IDW's original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.

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