Week Three!
As of Wednesday September 21st at 2pm EST, the following links should go active at our (finally official) Digital Store!
Again, these links will not be live until Wednesday at 2pm EST, so until then, or if you missed any last week, check out:
Bird? No! Plane? No! It’s the House of Secrets Digital Storefront!
We just got it up and running and thought it’d be fun to take it out for a spin, so we made this little tutorial, wherein Paul Grimshaw, Store Owner Extraordinaire (and self-proclaimed Luddite) buys his very first digital comic. He’s written here before supporting them in theory, so we thought we’d put his technological tolerance to the test. I think it went well!
(Our infinite gratitude goes to Zeke Pinheiro for shooting this and putting it together for us.)
The good people over at Comixology (who are pretty awesome, I think) have made available to us (and other Fine Retail Establishments) a pretty amazing option. They’ve been selling digital comics for a while now, and we know many people, including some of you, our beloved regulars, are taking advantage of that availability.
And we think it’s great! It’s already helping us out; the other week I was chatting with a customer who bought the most recent issue of Mark Waid’s “Irredeemable,” and he mentioned that he had stopped reading it a while back when he got behind. Then, on a business trip the previous week, he got a hankering… one downloading-and-reading-on-the-plane binge later, and he was caught up, hooked all over again, and eager to buy the next single issue. So that’s a buck or two we got from digital comics before we even had a way to sell them ourselves.
And now we can do both! Please let us know what you think and how you like it; we get the design and content directly from comixology, but they’ve encouraged us to pass feedback on to their team.
Q: Do you guys determine what shows up in the store?
A: Right now, no. Everything you can buy through comixology is available through our version of their storefront, though, so we’ll get new content as fast as they can put it up.
Q: What’s the difference between buying a comic here and buying it at the comixology site or from a mobile app?
A: The difference is that when you purchase something through our site, part of your purchase price goes to the House of Secrets! How great is that? (It’s a little like one of your favorite sites being an Amazon affiliate, but for now it’s only available to us Dead-Tree-Edition Retailers).
Q: Speaking of apps and iPads and such, can I access your site that way?
A: Yes and no: you CAN read your comics on your iPad, iPhone, iShoePhone, etc. You need to be able to access comixology (which means an internet connection) to get to your collection, but otherwise your collection goes wherever you do.
You CAN’T, however, buy comics through the House of Secrets portal without pointing your browser at it, and it’s currently Flash-based, which means no joy on iOS. Comixology is working on that. We could theoretically try to build our own app, but (a) we’re not 100% sure how to do that and (b) we’re not sure its worth cluttering your desktop with another app just for this. If we’re wrong and you would love that, let us know, and we’ll make it up as we go look into what that would take.
Q: Can I get my House of Secrets discount on items from the digital store?
A: I’m afraid not. As far as I know, there isn’t a way for us to make that available. The pricing schemes are set by comixology and the publishers they’ve partnered with, so we can’t alter them, but you can look out for comixology’s frequent sales, and DC Comics, for instance, drops prices on digital copies of new releases by a dollar after 30 days. (We were thinking of spotlighting things that just hit their 30 days. Is that something people might be interested in?)
Let us know what other questions you have, or what you’d be excited to see, or what you think is most hideously embarrassing about our video, and most of all…
THANK YOU, as always, for your support. We were eager to get the digital storefront up and running mostly because you guys kept asking about it; it’s an honor and a privilege to have regulars like you all who love us enough to want to support us even with your Digital Dollars. Hold on, I’m getting all sniffly.
FREE: Read the first Batman story ever, from Detective Comics #27
FREE: Preview of “Tumor” from Archaia
FREE: Preview of “Afrodisiac” from AdHouse Books
Week Two!
As of Wednesday September 14th at 2pm EST, you will be able to download every one of the above comics at OUR BRAND NEW (STILL CLASSIFIED) (IGITAL-DAY ORE-STAY):
Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #1
Again, these links will not be live until Wednesday at 2pm EST, so until then, or if you missed any last week, check out Week One, Sept. 7th
SUPER SECRET EXCLUSIVE BONUS time!
As of Wednesday September 7th at 2pm EST, you will be able to download every one of the above comics at OUR BRAND NEW (STILL CLASSIFIED) (IGITAL-DAY ORE-STAY):
Justice League International #1
Again, these links will not be live until Wednesday at 2pm EST, so if you want to test things out between now and then, or if you missed it last week and don’t want to wait for the next printing to come in (we’re sorry! We really thought they’d last longer!):
Ladies and gentlemen: Justice League #1
He’s a star! (He’s going to kill me when he sees this.)
Look who popped up over at the L.A. Times’ Hero Complex site:
They came and covered our midnight shindig last week for the launch of the New 52, and they got a few words of wisdom from the man himself.
Full Article: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/09/02/get-a-look-at-green-arrow-1-and-dcs-new-52-midnight-madness/
As for the comics, Grimshaw said, “I am on the fence until I read these books. I will be very happy if they’re entertaining and fun.”
(Thank you, Matthew Todd, for sending the link our way!)
Some I’ve read, some I’m excited to read, and a couple that are just so adorable I can’t even stand it. (Try to guess which are which!)
(I’m testing out some of our Retailer tools from the lovely folks over at Comixology! What do you think?)
EDITED TO ADD:
Ooh, SUPER SECRET EXCLUSIVE BONUS time!
Read a FREE ten-page preview of “Any Empire” on our brand-new, top-secret *CLASSIFIED*!
Just click here: Any Empire Preview
And if you happen to notice anything while you’re there, enjoy your pre-release sneak peek at the CLASSIFIED section of our store.
See, I don’t even know why you’re still reading, down here. That’s why I’m rewarding you with secret links. Look out for next week, when we actually make these announcements! And, er, let me know if anything’s broken, because I’d rather like it all to go smoothly.
The future! It’s coming!
I couldn’t resist cutting and pasting last month’s post a little, because what do I need to say besides the following?
“Comics! Free! Limited time only! All Hail Dark Horse!”
Spike is waiting for you! In a sense.
The second Dark Horse Digital Retailer Exclusive is here! I’m writing as quickly as I can, because I promised myself I wouldn’t read it until I post about it.
Pick up a coupon from the store (I know we’ve had at least one call about them already, so if that was you, please call again! We’re all set and ready to distribute).
THINGS TO NOTE: we only have 100 codes to distribute.
Okay, 99 codes.
(Look, I need it, okay? I know I should always strive for selfless devotion to our customers and their reading pleasure, but there’s selfless and then there’s just CRAZY. This is Jane Espenson we’re talking about, people! With Georges Jeanty! Writing Spike! Don’t make me beg!)
THE OTHER THING: You have to redeem them by the end of August! If you’re as bad with time as I am (SO BAD) this means you should HURRY and pick it up soon.
See this week’s announcement on the Dark Horse blog for more info, or the original announcement from our generous friends at Dark Horse for the full scoop.
Come get yourself a code, and then:
REDEEM IT at http://digital.darkhorse.com/retailerexclusive
Comics! Free! Limited time only! All Hail Dark Horse!
(Now go away! I’m done writing! I need to read some Buffy comic goodness!)
Gaze into the terrifying future with me: a future filled with FREE DIGITAL COMICS!
Yes, it’s true! Until July 31st you can come to the House o’ Secrets and request your EXCLUSIVE code, good for one (1) totally free, super-badass BPRD story.
SEE the announcement from our generous friends at Dark Horse!
GAZE at the cover of the comic you could soon be reading on your space-tablet-machines, absolutely free!
HURRY, because we have a limited supply of codes, and also because you have to redeem them by the end of the month!
ASK us for one of these lovely coupons:
REDEEM IT at http://digital.darkhorse.com/retailerexclusive
READ your delightful BPRD goodness!
And finally…
STAY TUNED! We’ll have more codes in the months to come, including, for August: a Buffy comic! Exclusive! Free!
Please forgive me for the outrageous sideshow barker style. I’m just excited.
Comics! Free! Limited time only! All Hail Dark Horse!
(Want a sneak preview?):
It’s been almost a month now since the big DC news, and to say it’s been on our minds would be an understatement. In fact, I think I’m going to remember this June as “that month when we talked about DC news continuously for an entire month.”
Our general conclusion here at the House is that we can’t really know what we think of the relaunch until we get to read the new books, but the announcement has raised a lot of questions about what we read and why. One of the most interesting (to me) is the question which usually takes this form:
(Best representation of this perspective: this hilarious take from the webcomic “Gutters”)
I thought about it for a while, and my answer surprised me. I realized that I think
to re-evaluate our pull lists, because
If I knew the clock was ticking and we were all doomed, I would be pretty busy with the wailing and gnashing of teeth, but I would still need to know what happens in the next “Unwritten.” Because I love that book with a love that is more than love, whether or not it affects anything else; whether or not it ‘matters.’
Of course I understand the pain of investing so much of our lives into ongoing stories and then being denied the futures of those stories; that collective shared reality and the idea that these things will matter are major contributors to the power and distinctiveness of comics as a literary tradition.
But this is our hard-earned money we’re talking about, and as grateful as we are that DC ignited the trend towards un-crazy-fying the price point (VERY GRATEFUL), even $2.99 really adds up.
This is your chance, fanboys and girls! In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, declare your independence from the obligatory purchase list, and exercise your right to buy and read those comics and ONLY those comics which you specifically want to read.
The next time you stand in line at the House (if you’re not too busy admiring our Competitive Discounts, Excellent Selection and Friendly, Courteous Staff! </corporate shilling hat>), no matter what company’s logo is on the books you’re holding in your hands, stop and ask yourself the question,
Life is too short and there are too many wonderful comics out there (addictive little buggers). Reward only the work that’s engaging you consistently; put your money where your mouth heart is, and as a bonus you’ll be doing your part to shape a better, more compelling comic book industry.
And if you’re curious: if the world were going to end this fall, would I still want to read Flashpoint #3?
Are you kidding? Are you reading this storyline? That exchange between Wayne and Gordon in “Batman: Knight of Vengeance” #1? The surprisingly poignant “World of Flashpoint?” The awesome soap opera stylings of the Aquaman/Wonder Woman backstory? Are you, like me, a total sucker for alternate universe re-imaginings?
Of course I would.
Stupid addictive comics.
Without a doubt, my favorite thing about the Merc with a Mouth is his devotion to spotlighting the silliest tropes in comics.
Exhibit A:
And don’t worry, more is on the way, like the cover to the upcoming Wolverine and Deadpool: Decoy #1:
…which is, of course, a reference back to this classic moment:
(Immortalized here: scans_daily | Even X-men got to shout.)
